# Golden Retriever - best food??



## Sampuppy (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi. Harvey is only 12 weeks now and is on James Wellbeloved puppy food. (this is what breeder was feeding). Was just wondering what other GR owners feed their dogs?? Thanks.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

If he is doing ok on JWB then I wouldn't mess with it. Royal Canin do a golden retriever food, but then they cash in with different foods for all different breeds and it is really not the best. My old retriever was fed on Chunky - we did not use dried food. My husband once insisted on trying this dried food because some idiot he works with said it was great; I told him Sammy would not touch dried food and refused to have anything to do with it. You know what it was? Bakers! Didn't know the difference in those days, actually, but of course it was a waste of money because Sammy would not touch it.

Toward the end of his life he was on Chappie and I know that Rona still feeds this. It has done wonders for my two as well, though I have to mix it with Barking Heads because they are simply too big to feed on just tinned.

Retrievers are prone to digestive problems though, so you should keep an eye on it.


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## Sampuppy (Oct 22, 2008)

Thanks. I know he needs to stay on puppy then junior for a while yet but am thinking ahead to when he's on adult food. Think i'll keep him on JWB until he's older then decide what may be worth a try depending on what other people suggest. Thanks again


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## dorothy80 (Feb 25, 2011)

My dog is also a golden retriever. I read an article about it. It said,

Golden Retrievers loves human food which are excellent foods to include in a Golden's diet to keep him healthy, including chicken, turkey, oatmeal, brown rice, raw vegetables and fruit.
:thumbup:


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

Hi, One of my goldens 4yr old is on JWB cereal free but its making her a bit constipated, so in the process of changing her to AG chicken and rice and all seems fine so far with mixing it.
My other goldie 18 months is on wainwrights salmon and potato and has been since 8 weeks and she has been excellent with no problems on that kibble although it would be easier if they both were on AG from my point so maybe I try her on it aswell.

If your pup enjoys JWB and it agree's with pup then I would continue it

Its easy to get into a mode of keep changing foods as I have done it myself


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## tashi (Dec 5, 2007)

Royal Canin golden retriever is for adult dogs, if JWB is suiting him then stick with it, we will catch up long before he needs adult food so dont worry


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

My golden retriever came on JWB too (and Pedigree pouches) but he didn't do massively well with it (cut the pouches out at one point) and was just a bit loose.

He does well on fish based foods and at the minute its Fish4Dogs Working Fish and Nature's Harvest wet food, been on them since Feb 2010 (F4D) and May 2010 (NH) and so far he's doing really well, probably the longest we've ever stuck with a food! As a pup we tried out tonnes to see what worked for him as he can't really handle beef/pork and isn't great on some cereals we think. 

All I would say is if you do change, I would do your best to stay on a cereal free diet (rice is OK, but not wheat/corn/maize) because goldens often have sensitivities to these and they are just a filler, do them no good.

Uncle's lab puppy is on an adult food at 15ish weeks, Skinners Salmon Field and Trial, its about £23.50 for 15kgs and is hypoallergenic (no cereals etc) so it doesn't have to stretch the budget too much, but if you do go to change in the future its worth considering


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## Sampuppy (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi - thanks for all the replies  He currently has weetabix for breakfast but we are thinking of stopping it this weekend as he is a little loose - could the weetabix be the reason for this?? Also - does he need to progress to Junior food in time or straight onto adult?? What's the general opinion? Thanks.


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## henry (Mar 16, 2009)

Sampuppy said:


> Hi - thanks for all the replies  He currently has weetabix for breakfast but we are thinking of stopping it this weekend as he is a little loose - could the weetabix be the reason for this?? Also - does he need to progress to Junior food in time or straight onto adult?? What's the general opinion? Thanks.


I would definitely stop the weetabix - wheat is something to avoid for dogs and there's little of nutritional value in the weetabix for a dog. I would replace it with another meal of the puppy food.

I think JWB recommend changing to Junior at around 6 months and then to Adult at 12 months. A lot of brands don't actually make a Junior food, so you could go onto Adult if you wanted, but if so, I would stick with the Puppy until at least six or seven months and then go to Adult (if you want to skip the Junior, that is).

Claire


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Sampuppy said:


> Hi - thanks for all the replies  He currently has weetabix for breakfast but we are thinking of stopping it this weekend as he is a little loose - could the weetabix be the reason for this?? Also - does he need to progress to Junior food in time or straight onto adult?? What's the general opinion? Thanks.


I don't think weetabix on a regular basis is very good, especially if you are mixing it with milk? Milk is definitely not good for a young dog. I always liked mine to go on to Junior, but then they are a giant breed so they had RC baby, puppy, junior. I would also stick with the puppy till he is six months or so as long as he is ok on it.


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Sampuppy said:


> Hi - thanks for all the replies  He currently has weetabix for breakfast but we are thinking of stopping it this weekend as he is a little loose - could the weetabix be the reason for this?? Also - does he need to progress to Junior food in time or straight onto adult?? What's the general opinion? Thanks.


I would probably stop the weetabix. Rupert had some of this when he came as a pup and because I'm soppy/lame I used to give him the odd bit of Shirley's puppy milk too  I like to think its a nice little treat but its probably not good for them or something 

Like Henry said most don't do a junior food. If you can I would have a look at the ingredients/values lists of puppy/junior/adult and compare them. If there is a lot of difference you might like and understand why they do it, or you may think there isn't much difference etc.

I think in the future when I change food from whatever the breeder has given, providing pup is an OK weight I will go straight onto adult. With retrievers they really don't struggle to pile the pounds on and they don't need to grow incredibly quickly, most people I know say three years old is when they are fully mature in body/coat, so I don't see why they should grow too fast, Sleeping Lion helped me realise that was a point. She explained in a way which made lots of sense to me a couple weeks ago (on my visitor wall).

Its up to you but I would check the differences between puppy/junior/adult you may feel junior is too similar and to go straight to adult etc. I put Rupert onto adult when he was 6 months, sometimes foods have glucosamine and chondroitin in for large breeds hence some people use those but you can add those supplements yourself if you really want to.


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## Sampuppy (Oct 22, 2008)

Thanks everyone - no more Weetabix for Harvey!!!! I'll keep him on puppy and then decide later on down the road whether to change brand etc.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Hi,
As already mentioned, if it aint broke ............. the last thing you want to do is change if he is doing well on what he has. If you run into problems, (not all dogs get on with all foods), then you can reassess. Changing alone can cause digestive problems so no point if it's not necessary.
Good to hear you are going to drop the Weetabix, I'm sure he will be happier with a bit of JWB for brekkie.


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## tashi (Dec 5, 2007)

Guess what Royal Canin has now released Golden retriever Junior food :lol: had the paperwork through in the post this morning :lol:

Cant remember what JWB ages are, not a food that we got on with so would have to read up on the info


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

My golden retriever is fed. Fish4dogs, naturediet, forthglade and raw

She came to me on JWB too, I tried arden grange but foods with rice in make her smell 'doggy'


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