# What dried food to feed my puppy



## JaneLee (Mar 16, 2012)

I am picking up my chocolate Labrador puppy next week and the breeder is feeding her on Purina Beta. I see from the forum that is not a particularly good food. I want to change her to a better one. I know this has to be done gradually. I have a few questions :-
When should I start to change her food?
What should I change to I have researched it and narrowed it to Arden grange, James wellbegood or royal canin.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated


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## Souris (May 24, 2010)

What I would say is that if you want to change her to a better food, I would have a quick browse of Dry dog food index and the Wet food index, or even raw. Whilst the three foods you've suggested aren't bad par sae (and I say this with a pinch of salt as different foods will suit different dogs), it's worth noting that there are 'better' foods out there if you wanted to further your research.

I would give her three, perhaps four days on the breeders food- and then start it gradually. So, 95% Beta, 5% new food for the first day: if there are no apparent problems then go up to 90% Beta, 10% new food for the second day and so on and so forth until it's 100% new food. This way you can go back a step (or two) if there are any tummy problems, and you'll be doing it slowly- which is the way to go when introducing new foods!

I personally wouldn't start straight out changing it from the get go just encase 5% does give her problems. You don't want a stressed out puppy having just left it's mother feeling oogish because of a diet change. Also, she may be a bit loose in those first few days due to the stress of it all, and if you start changing her food you can't be 100% sure of the culprit of the diarrhea.

Best of luck with her/him!


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## Dober (Jan 2, 2012)

Congrats on your new pup!  Looking forward to pics.

On the link above there a bunch of good foods depending on your preference and budget.

If the budget can stretch, Orijen and Acana are my favourites. Fish4Dogs is a good cheaper alternative IMO


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## vickycole (Mar 13, 2012)

Hi there,

I have had my 9 week old chocolate lab a week and just started changing his food gradually onto the royal canin labrador junior. he too was on the purina beta puppy food with the breeder... I posted a similar thread to yours above, and was given helpful advice from the lovely people on here - however on the dry food list Royal Canin does NOT come out very high. I decided to proceed however with Royal Canin on the advice of 2 vets in my area and the fact that the royal canin I have chosen appears to be tailored for a labrador which commonly put weight on easily... I am probably someone with very little knowledge compared to some of the experts on here lol but that is my approach.
Good luck and enjoy your bundle of joy when he/she joins your family...we are loving ours


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## Bowwowpets (Mar 9, 2012)

I like the 'New kids on the Block'...namely, Barking Heads...But also have fed James Wellbelloved too


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## Souris (May 24, 2010)

The reason why Royal Canin is not very high is because of it's ingredients. There is a quick reasoning in the sticky, but I thought I'd write it out exactly why I feel that way. Here is the ingredients list from the pets at home website.



Royal canin said:


> rice, dehydrated poultry meat, vegetable protein isolate, maize, animal fats, maize gluten, barley, hydrolysed animal proteins, minerals, fish oil, vegetable fibres, vegetable oils (soya and borage), egg powder, beet pulp, fructo-oligo-saccharides, psyllium husks and seeds, L-lysine, sodium polyphosphate, yeast extract (source of manno-oligo-saccharides), hydrolysed crustaceans (source of glucosamine), taurine, DL-methionine, marigold extract (source of lutein), L-carnitine, hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin).


For me, before I even look at anything else, the meat sources to me strike me as being odd. Firstly, "Poultry meat" - what bird, what part- it's very vague. The story continues with "animal fats", "vegetable protein isolate" - neither of which say which animal or what vegetable is used.

Then there's the "hydrolysed animal proteins"- hydrolysis is the protein of splitting proteins into it's amino acids- often by prolonged boiling in a strong acid, or using a strong enzyme to break it down. From what I understand this breaks the proteins down into tiny molecules so the dog is less likely to have an allergic reaction: however, there are also meat meals in the list (in fact a few different proteins which the dog could have a reaction to), so it begs to question why it is there. Whilst perhaps not the biggest crime in the world, it certainly makes you wonder why they're going this far to put protein into the food when popping in another meat meal would do the same job.

Finally, the product is also packed full of grains/cereals which can cause dogs to have allergies- there's maize, barley, beet pulp (a contraversial filler), maize flour and maize gluten. Secondly, rice is the primary ingrediant here which means that the food really doesn't have much actual meat content.

As for weight loss, any dog will put on weight if they're fed any food in excess. The best way to combat dogs that "put on weight easily" is to manage their food: weight put on? Less food. Too lean? More food. Recommended daily allowances are just that, they're recommended but not exacting for each dog: some dogs do better on less food, some dogs will lose weight on an RDA.

As much as I say well done to your vets for giving you advice, what you need to know is that vet school is only five years, and in that five years very little of the course is based on nutrition (understandably). Vets are not experts on nutrition by any means, and more often than not their knowledge will be based on what the companies selling the dog food have told them. I think every owner should have a good think for themselves as to what they feed their dog,and decide based upon their budget and knowledge.

Here's Orijen's and Fish4dog's ingredients list if you want to compare the two, as I really do feel the ingredients lists are self explanatory.



Orijen Puppy said:


> Deboned chicken (23%), Dehydrated chicken (17%), deboned salmon (9%), dehydrated turkey (6%), dehydrated herring (6%), russet potato, chicken fat (5%), sweet potato, peas, dehydrated turkey (3%), whole eggs (3%), chicken liver (2%), deboned lake whitefish (2%), deboned walleye (2%), alfalfa, pea fibre, deboned herring (2%), organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary.





Fish4dogs puppy said:


> Composition: Ocean White Fish (over 70% fish in food), Potato, Fish Meal, Salmon Oil, Beet Fibre, Brewers Yeast , Minerals,


Please don't take this as a dig, I just feel that people really do need to look closely at the ingredients in dog food for themselves. Personally I feed raw as I believe dogs are carnivores, but if I was going to go back to kibble (and sometimes do when we go on holiday) I go back to Orijen. You would not go to a doctor for a full nutritional report, you would go to a nutritionist, and it is the same with vets.


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## vickycole (Mar 13, 2012)

thankyou souris for taking the time to talk about the quality of dog food on this thread...I have decided to change my lab to Orijen after your post prompted me to read more into the contents of dog food


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## Dober (Jan 2, 2012)

vickycole said:


> thankyou souris for taking the time to talk about the quality of dog food on this thread...I have decided to change my lab to Orijen after your post prompted me to read more into the contents of dog food


Excellent choice! He only thing is say is just make sure you change him very gradually as Origen is much richer than most foods. I personally would go through a 13.5kg bag and if you find he had a bad tummy or gas, switch to Acana. Just from personal experience, most dogs do great on it but some do not and you need I give it a proper chance before dismissing it.


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## xkirstyx (Jan 9, 2012)

We will be feeding our westie pup James wellbelloved


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## sianrees1979 (Feb 27, 2009)

dai was eating eukanaba dry and butchers wet when i bought him, i then changed him to james wellbeloved dry and naturediet wet, he then stopped eating james wellbeloved so i put him on burns dry, he then had infected anal glands before christmas so i changed his dry to arden grange sensitive.
my sister feeds her dogs james wellbeloved dry and the pouches for the chihuahuas and wainwrights trays for the dachshunds.

lex was on csj for over a year but had to change his food as he was always having the squirts and had bits of corn in his poops (it also stank) he now has vitalin active and loves it 

so i'd say feed what food agrees with your puppy and what's is available in your budget


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Souris said:


> Heres Orijens and Fish4dogs ingredients list if you want to compare the two, as I really do feel the ingredients lists are self explanatory.
> 
> Please dont take this as a dig, I just feel that people really do need to look closely at the ingredients in dog food for themselves. Personally I feed raw as I believe dogs are carnivores, but if I was going to go back to kibble (and sometimes do when we go on holiday) I go back to Orijen. You would not go to a doctor for a full nutritional report, you would go to a nutritionist, and it is the same with vets.


I think people get confused by 'fresh fish' too and think it's good. Not realising that fresh meat/fish is added before it's dehydrated and this comes out after dehydration a lot less. So that fresh fish will only add 3-5% more meat.


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## stigDarley (Jan 2, 2010)

vickycole said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I have had my 9 week old chocolate lab a week and just started changing his food gradually onto the royal canin labrador junior. he too was on the purina beta puppy food with the breeder... I posted a similar thread to yours above, and was given helpful advice from the lovely people on here - however on the dry food list Royal Canin does NOT come out very high. I decided to proceed however with Royal Canin on the advice of 2 vets in my area and the fact that the royal canin I have chosen appears to be tailored for a labrador which commonly put weight on easily... I am probably someone with very little knowledge compared to some of the experts on here lol but that is my approach.
> Good luck and enjoy your bundle of joy when he/she joins your family...we are loving ours


Check the protein please... It's very high. I own a pet shop and i had a customer on the royal canin lab food and convinced her to give skinners senior light a shot and she called me to say how puupy like he was again. Even though the protein was 17.5%.

Royal canin breed food seems to be put a picture of your dog on it so you'll buy it. Seeing as them and James wellbeloved are own by the same people. They are at the same level. So James wellbeloved is going after the "natural" feeding market were as RC is putting pictures of dogs on the bag. I personally couldn't see any difference in the ingredients from bag to bag except for the shape of the kibble?


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## stigDarley (Jan 2, 2010)

sianrees1979 said:


> dai was eating eukanaba dry and butchers wet when i bought him, i then changed him to james wellbeloved dry and naturediet wet, he then stopped eating james wellbeloved so i put him on burns dry, he then had infected anal glands before christmas so i changed his dry to arden grange sensitive.
> my sister feeds her dogs james wellbeloved dry and the pouches for the chihuahuas and wainwrights trays for the dachshunds.
> 
> lex was on csj for over a year but had to change his food as he was always having the squirts and had bits of corn in his poops (it also stank) he now has vitalin active and loves it
> ...


I love Natures menu nuggets and the AMP frozen mince as well as the Natures diet trays with skinners + all my table scraps. My two look really good off the complete combo! but again its personal choice this diet realy suits my babies .... although I can't get them to eat chicken wings for anything. Tried them frozen raw holding them letting them have them every which way no success there  But they like raw bacon chopped up small


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