# Best complete food for my puppy?



## Flatcoat owner (Sep 4, 2011)

Hi 

I have a flatcoated retriever puppy (almost 4.5 months) and want to change his food but no idea what to change to...

He is currently eating Hills Science Plan Puppy but doesn't really like it and seems very VERY windy/bloated and has a touch of "dandruff". After reading a forums and looking at ingredients OH and I decided it might be a good idea to change food. I also noticed meat is not the first ingredient and a pretty long list of "E numbers" on current food and I'm assuming this is bad? 

Any suggestions for a complete food with more "natural" ingredients, I'm feeling a bit lost by the massive range on offer hmy:

Thanks


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

Do you want to feed a dry food, or wet?


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## LeeM018 (Aug 26, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Hi
> 
> I have a flatcoated retriever puppy (almost 4.5 months) and want to change his food but no idea what to change to...
> 
> ...


Always good to see more Flattie owners about 

It depends on your budget, but personally my boy did well on fish4dogs and Naturediet puppy when he was that age. The fish oil content in f4d might be helpful with the dandruff. If you do decide that f4d is a good option for you, there are massive discounts available for puppy food if you join their puppy club for about £1. Both foods are free from additives and e number type things. It's all natural and high in meat content (60-70%).

The links for the two are here and here.

I'm sure others will be along to offer plenty more useful pointers and opinions.

Good luck!


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## Rob Adair Pet Care (Sep 3, 2011)

I think choice of food is a very personal thing and there is probably no right or wrong answer if feeding the better quality brands. 

My personal preference is Eukanuba for our Labrador and Springer. They are both very active (out most of the day with me) and the shine on their coats has to be seen to be believed.

However, I wouldn't say to anyone that Eukanuba is the best as I've seen lots of dogs fed on lots of different things who are all healthy with nice teeth and good coats, I just find it works for my two.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Hi
> 
> I have a flatcoated retriever puppy (almost 4.5 months) and want to change his food but no idea what to change to...
> 
> ...


The main thing as you say is to look at what is actually in it, Meat should be the first listed ingrediant, and what type of meat. Meat derivatives,meat meal can mean virtually anything. So first and highest percent always Meat.
Followed by recognisable natural things with percentages given, vegetables,rice etc. With nothing artificial added no colourings or preservatives no bulking agent or fillers, things like wheat and maize some dogs can be allergic to.

Ones I have used and found good are the following. Ive enclosed links so you can compare without having to actually have to go to the shops.

The Natural Dog food Company The Natural Dog Food Company  where good health comes naturally

James Wellbeloved Natural Dog Food, Cat Food & Ferret Food | James Wellbeloved Pet Food

Nature Diet www.naturediet.net/

Natures Menu Natures Menu − Natural Dog Food and Natural Cat Food | Raw dog food, BARF diet for dogs, Natural Feeding

The first two are dried and the last two wet food.


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Hi
> 
> I have a flatcoated retriever puppy (almost 4.5 months) and want to change his food but no idea what to change to...
> 
> ...


Hello and welcome to the forum, it seems you already have a pretty good grasp on what to look for in a food  As you say there is a huge range so each of us will have a different preferred so I hope that doesnt confuse you more 
Before I fed raw, I fed Fish4dogs and Naturediet, I rate both of those foods very highly.

May I ask what your budget is? I understand Science plan to be quite expensive for what it is.


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## lisaloo1 (Aug 8, 2011)

I was feeding my puppy James wellbeloved but he didn't get on with it, a friend suggested advanced nutrition from pets at home, it's supposed to be on a par with science plan and buddy loves it, he looks great too it's £33.00 for a 12 kg bag


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## Flatcoat owner (Sep 4, 2011)

Wow thanks for all the advice and great to see the pics of dogs! 

We really prefer dry because don't like smell of wet and get worried about leaving it out for any length of time if he doesn't eat straight away.

Budget-wise, while he's growing up we don't really mind the expense for best food for him. Science plan was working out about £1-2 per day in big bags from PaH but has been on offer all time we used it. 

So am I right to think maize, corn, soy and wheat are "fillers" but rice is good?

Thanks again.


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## lisaloo1 (Aug 8, 2011)

When it comes to dog food it's so hard to know which is best I read up loads on it and everyone seems to have their own opinion on what they prefer, even the best foods out there have had some bad reviews, so it was so confusing, I hope you find one that suits your puppy x


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

yay!!! another flattie!!! PICS PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!


my girl has been on arden grange all her life (and fish4dogs on occasion) and she is the picture of health. people are always commenting on her shiny coat  
i would highly recommend either of these foods  

i reiterate.....PICS PLEASE


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

I love flat coats lucky you 

My girls have from PAH wainwrights dry salmon and potato and they love it and it loves them, good ingredients and no upset tummys.

I have used this for 4 yrs from pups to adults with good results after trying many other premium completes but this being a favorite of mine they do also have WW wet mixed with it....but thats my choice of feeding.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Wow thanks for all the advice and great to see the pics of dogs!
> 
> We really prefer dry because don't like smell of wet and get worried about leaving it out for any length of time if he doesn't eat straight away.
> 
> ...


Rice is also a filler, as is potato, they're just better fillers than the maize, corn etc.

If you want all natural (as natural as you can get with kibble- which by it's definition isn't natural food for dogs), I'd go with the natural dog food company.

They use all natural ingredients, and have a decent meat content.

Or if you want grain free, Simpsons or fish4dogs.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Wow thanks for all the advice and great to see the pics of dogs!
> 
> We really prefer dry because don't like smell of wet and get worried about leaving it out for any length of time if he doesn't eat straight away.
> 
> ...


Corn soy and wheat add bulk but they are also known ones that tend to not agree with a lot of dogs. Rice tends to be in quite a few of the natural dog foods but in pretty small amounts compared to the rest of the ingrediants.
Seeing as how the remedy for upset tums and diarrheoa its usually advised chicken or fish and rice as its a resting diet and easily digestible then think it should be safe to say rice should be Ok.


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## dvnbiker (Dec 2, 2009)

You will get lots of replies as to which is the best but the best is really only what suits your dog. For my lot of border collies they have Bison Taste of the Wild kibble in the morning (completely grain free) and then Natural Instinct at night. They look fantastic on it and this diet has sorted out my elder lads dry skin.


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## Flatcoat owner (Sep 4, 2011)

Again thanks for all the great advice! 

In terms of feeding a mixture of wet and dry has anyone every fed dry in the morning wet at night for example, or would I have to mix wet/dry every meal?


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Again thanks for all the great advice!
> 
> In terms of feeding a mixture of wet and dry has anyone every fed dry in the morning wet at night for example, or would I have to mix wet/dry every meal?


That would be fine to do, depends if your dog can be fussy and being a retriever I doubt it
My golden would happily eat that combination. Whereas some dogs would start to favour the wet, possibly leave the dry, but as I say unlikely for the FCR to do this I would think


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Again thanks for all the great advice!
> 
> In terms of feeding a mixture of wet and dry has anyone every fed dry in the morning wet at night for example, or would I have to mix wet/dry every meal?


Mine get dried in the morning then their larger main meal at night which is wet. Personally and its just my preference others will differ of course, I have never with any of my dogs just fed a completely dry diet.


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

When we used to feed dog food, prior to moving to raw we also had dried in the morning, wet in the evening. In my experience wet food is liked more. 

As you have asked for advice and fully recognizing it is an area which can cause heated discussions, we did move onto raw as we felt it was the "best complete food". It needs to be researched and you would need to feel comfortable with it before you tried it. There are loads of threads in this forum on it and also lots of discussions around the web at large.


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

I've recently started feeding Simpsons Premium Grain Free Salmon and Potato to my Labs - and whilst it is still early days - I've seen a noticeable improvement in overall coat condition and a HUGE reduction in poo - something you apprecioate when you have 7 of them 

Whilst I did have a minor delay in my delivery (bank holiday) - which is normally next day - they text you an hour slot for delivery - mine arrived 7 minutes into the hour slot.

Are you looking to stay on puppy for a while or switch to adult food?

Sensitive - Grain Free


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## Flatcoat owner (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks again!

I think we might try the dry in morning wet at night. I've looked at "naturediet" and think it looks good so might go for that as the wet. The puppy version of that only goes to 6 months so would follow their advice moving to adult at that point. Dry food- again would follow advice on packet regarding moving to adult. He is still on 3 meals per day at min, but am planning on changing to 2 at ~6 months.

He might be fussy, he hardly eats current food- I have to put it in kongs or hand feed him, though it might be because it doesn't agree with him. If it became a problem with him only eating the wet I'd probably mix every meal.

I have had a look at the raw & bone feeding advice (some of the threads are amazing!) but I don't think it is a route we can take at the moment. 

May I ask why you feed a bigger meal in the evening? Is that something advisable with all dogs or just something that suits yours? 

Many thanks


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Dry food- again would follow advice on packet regarding moving to adult. He is still on 3 meals per day at min, but am planning on changing to 2 at ~6 months.


I wouldn't - puppy foods are invariably more expensive than their adult counterparts - so it is in the interest of the manufacturers to keep the dog on them as long as possible - but not so much so with breeds that have a higher dispostion to joint problems - and where questions remain around the impact of rapid growth and high protein intake on the causation of joint issues.

I switch mine over to adult food around the 6 to 9 month mark dependent on the dog - personally, I would ask the breeder for advice if possible - they will know their lines and be able to offer a good guidelines as to how best their dogs grow - I always include this advice in my puppy packs.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Flatcoat owner said:


> Thanks again!
> 
> I think we might try the dry in morning wet at night. I've looked at "naturediet" and think it looks good so might go for that as the wet. The puppy version of that only goes to 6 months so would follow their advice moving to adult at that point. Dry food- again would follow advice on packet regarding moving to adult. He is still on 3 meals per day at min, but am planning on changing to 2 at ~6 months.
> 
> ...


Mine are all adults now and I just find thats what suits them, they do most of the exercise and longer walks in the day, I do rest for an hour at least either side of feeding, as larger deep chested breeds can be prone to bloat, so by giving them the smaller meal in the morning then resting before going out it means they are not exercising with a huge meal in their stomachs. At night they have the bigger meal as they are nowhere near so active. It seems to suit them as I said.

When they were pups and very young dogs and still needed the 4 then 3 then 2 meals a day though, I did feed the daily allowance split equally into the number of required meals and given at equally spaced times.


> May I ask why you feed a bigger meal in the evening? Is that something advisable with all dogs or just something that suits yours?
> 
> Many thanks


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## Treacle44 (Aug 9, 2011)

My pup is on Royal Canin along with some wet packs, Wainwrights, naturediet and natures menu, as that's what the breeder fed but in a couple of weeks I'm going to change, probably to Orijen. Price per bag is more than most but daily cost is actually less due to having to feed less. 

It's a minefield out there isn't it? So much choice x


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