Puppy food recommendation?

Question

We have just brought home our beautiful stafforshire terrier pup and we want recommendations on diet and what foods are best. Our pup is 8 weeks old and we want to give him the best start to life. Can you please suggest diets that are nutritionally complete and will benefit our pup.

Answer 1

This is the best pit bull site on the net. Dianne Jessup tells what she feeds and rates foods at the bottom of this page: http://www.workingpitbull.com/Nutrition.html

(She recommendsTimberwolf Wild & Natural and
Eagle Pack Performance)

Pit bull lovers will LOVE the entire site.
I have tried many brands over the years, and I love what Canidae does for my dogs. You can't go wrong with Canidae.

Answer 2

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. (Or in this case, the "puppy" variety of whichever dog food you choose.) A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don't digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of "by products" listed.

Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

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Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf - http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen - http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness - http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

When switching foods, do it slowly. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A

Answer 3

You can try Innova, California Natural or Eagle Pack. These are all very high quality foods, but they are not available at grocery stores or "Big Box" pet suppliers. You are more likely to find them at privately owned feed stores. They cost a little more (I pay $35 for a 33 pound of Eagle Pack Holistic Giant Breed Puppy Formula), however, you reallly do get what you pay for in terms of quality, and you feed less. Above all, read the labels. You want a food that has meat as 3 of the first 5 ingredients. Corn and wheat are not natural things for dogs to eat. They are carnivores.

Answer 4

You can obtain calcium supplements from your veterinarian, and get some more pointers from him/her.

Check out this website. There is a list of dog foods, A+ being the very best, and F being the very worst of something you could ever feed to your dog. My dog is being fed on Iams, and its a C, and she is doing really well. So imagine what an A+ levelled dog food would do !!!

http://canecorsolinks.com/canecorsolinks.com/list_of_dog_food_brands_scores_alphabetical.htm

Try out Innova Large Breed Puppy ... and then gradually turn to Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry as s/he gets older... from what I've heard, you can't go wrong with the two.

Answer 5

I have American Pit Bull Terriers and they eat http://www.frrco.com/121668 They love the taste, and this does not contain by products, animal digest, artificial preservatives, corn, or other harmful ingredients.

You feed up to 25% less, and they poop less too.

This food is healthier for your pet than store shelf ones, which means your vet bills will be lower in the long run.

Good luck with your pups! You can read more about why we feed the food at http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 6

I started my baby girl out on Canidae. As far as kibbles go its one of the best. I have since switched her to Nature's Variety which is one of the raw diets. It parallels what they would eat in the wild alot closer. 95% meat, 5% fruit and veggie, no grains. Also because it is not cooked, the enzymes and vitamins are intact. For a happy healthy dog I would suggest the raw diet. There are several commercial varieties, most of the specialty food stores carry them like Mud Bay.

Answer 7

For a full run-down on nutritional information here's a good article:

http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.com/basicnutrition.html

Based on the info they give, you'll be able to judge wether a dogfood has enough of everything your dog needs for that best start in life.
Congrats!

I can't be of a lot further help, except to mention my doxie back home gets Science Diet as a basis, then boioled chicken and white rice three to four times a week. She's in brilliant condition.

Answer 8

My dog is still a pup, but she's almost fully grown. She's 8 months old and she eats twice a day, in the morning we give her milk. her dog food is science diet,which is actually a really good brand. my dog likes the small bites better, she used to eat the regular ones but she didn't like them as they were too big for her and now she gets the small bites. and be sure to get the science diet for puppies. if you want, you can add vitamins to her diet. it isn't really neccessary but if you want your dog to get the best diet possible, you could. my dog used to take vitamins but to be honest it didn't really have its effects.
i would recommend you to not give your dog human treats because of a couple of reasons :
1. your dog will demand more and more
2. some human food will cause your dog to shed its fur
i know this because i give my dog human treats and that's the result. if you want to teach your dog tricks and give her treats,buy dog treats. now i give my dog dog treats whenever she learns/does a trick.
good luck

Answer 9

As unhelpful as this is going to sound, be sure to check the FDA site before buying any food and make sure that it is not on the list of recalled pet food, just as a precaution.

Answer 10

Contratulations on your newest memeber to your family.
I feed Canidae; it is an all natural dog food.
What I feed my dogs is the all life stages;
here is a link about Canidae all life stages dry dog food
http://alpha-nutrition.stores.yahoo.net/cadrydogfo.html