Help me pick a food brand for my new puppy (1 Viewer)

Based on one of the previous threads here on dog food, I switched my 9 year old labrador's food to Canidae. She has done relly well on this food. No more dry skin, hot spots and she just seems to have more energy. Next week I'm picking up a new Labrador puppy and I'll need something to feed her. Canidae seems to promote their food as a "one size fits all" for all stages of a dogs life. Is this possible, or just a marketing gimick? Lots of other brands make a specific puppy food so why not Canidae?

I don't konw about the dog food but every vet I've ever met recommends Science Diet for cats. Of course they're paid to recommend it but six cats older than 18 don't lie.

BTW, thos six cats aren't mine. Only mad old cat ladies and my in-laws own six cats.

Nutro's claim to fame is that they use all natural ingrediants. However, if your pet is already accustomed to brand X, switching to Nutro should be a slow process. Sometimes switching to a new food can cause some problems with the pet. They may not like it, or it may upset their stomach.

Science Diet is very good as well. Vets like it alot. Iams has a good rep as well. Stay away from the obvious bad stuff, like Old Roy.

I thought IAMs rep wasn't as good as it used to be now that they've moved into the mass market shops like wal-mart?

I forget exactly what brand we were on for our old dog but as a general rule make sure the first ingredient is a meat product not a cereal.

Our breeder gave us Mighty Dog. She still loves it after 2 months ! Now... if we can get some food that stops her from teething, I'll switch ASAP !!!

Making the switch from Science Die to Nutro Max Cat was very easy.

I tried Felindae and Wellness, considered to be the ultimate but Ali didn't care for it.

He loves Nutro Max Cat, which was third choice. Still considered very good food.

Rule of thumb I learned from the last thread Rain participated in was, first ingredient should read MEAL not BY-PRODUCT. Which Iams, Science Diet and Eukanuba all read by-product.

I called each company and spoke with reps. I was most impressed with the staff at Nutro.

Took Ali to the vet yesterday, I was concerned that he put on a few pounds since switching to a 75-25 (dry-wet) Nutro diet. Our Vet confirmed his weight is healthy and admitted he looks and feels(coat) better.

You could try and e-mail Rain, he knows a lot of the do's and dont's. He was very helpful.

I have a 12.5 year old female Dalmatian (Angel) and she's been on the Nutro Lamb and Rice all her life. Her coat is perfect, no hotspots, dry skin or hair loss and her poops are solid. My 10 month Dalmatian (Gumball) is also on the same and is doing just as well.

Dalmatians are very, very prone to skin problems and the Nutro is working perfectly. They are one of the few breeds that produce acid in their urine and skin which can result in lots of skin problems. One plus to this is no flea problems, they cannot live or breed on the dogs due to the acid, it kills the fleas and eggs.

I cannot recommend the Nutro line of dog food enough.

Angel just got back from a physical check-up at the vet 4 days ago. The vet said she is in exceptional health for her age.

Yes, Ron's Dalmations are really pretty. Angel, doesn't look her age at all.

Mark, call Nutro, they are really cool people.

I use Innova brand foods for my 2 samoyeds. Wellness is another good brand. Just read the ingredients and you'll see why these are better than the tradional store bought foods.

http://www.naturapet.com

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com


Good Luck!

Jeff

I posted this in the other thread too, but you should read the book by Pat Lazarus called "Keep your dog healthy the natural way". I think you'll have a better understanding of what to feed you dog after you read it. I picked up a copy at the library and it was fairly easy reading, check it out! (no pun intended)

Regards,

Mike

We have a small toy poodle we inherited from my father when he passed away almost a year ago, she was a pup when we got her and he was feeding her Science Diet "Small Bites" for Puppies. We recently upgraded her to the Science Diet "Small Bites" for Adults, no problems what so ever and the size is just right for small dogs.

On a side note; Speaking of Dalmatians, we have a pair, male and female, we have never had any skin problems as mentioned above and have always feed them Purina Dog Chow, no problems what so ever. Like Ron said NO fleas...

I fed my pup pro plan puppy food, then switched her to cannidae and wish I hadn't. For one pro plan has the AAFCO stamp, and cannidae does not.

We feed all three of our cats Science Diet and it's been great. Our one Tabby named Casey was a monster cat at a portly 25 pounds, now he is down to 18 since going on the Science Diet.

On a side note, I would NEVER feed any animal I own with Iams food, after seeing a horrible video on how they test their product, it made me sick watching it.

No we're not.

If we are, where the f*** is my check?

I apologize, I just assumed vets were paid to endourse products. Don't you even get free stuff like doctors do.

Don't know much about dog food, but for cats, Science Diet & Purina are crap. Just read the ingredients. From all the research Iv'e done, Science Diet, & Purina are the companies teaching nutrtion at vet schools. Very little class time is spent on nutrion. Just like Bose, advertising sells. Do a little web searching for pet nutrion & you will be amazed.

Beautiful Dals Todd. Although you can't really see their faces, here's a favorite pic of our two sleeping. Gumball is the one that's upside down.

Please explain what what happened to your dog once she was on Canidae? My dog has been on Canidae for the past few years and along with proper diet and exercise is in exceptional health. I have also witnessed other dogs that are on Canidae and have seen the same results with each and everyone.

BTW, the AAFCO stamp can be found on a bag of ALPO, which is the equivalent of feeding your dog McDonalds everyday.

After comparing the Pro Plan ingredients to Canidae, I don't see us switching anytime soon......

To answer Mark's question, I would feed the puppy Canidae with no hestiation, but if you feel more comfortable going to a food that specifically says Puppy on the package, you won't go wrong with Nutro, Solid Gold and most other premium dog foods. Innova is excellent as well, but can be a little rich for some dogs.

Steve

I'm not putting much faith in the AAFCO stamp either. I looked at the ingredients in Pro-Plan and they really can't compare to a food like Canidae, California Natural or even Nutro. I have had good luck with Nutro in the past so I may give that a shot. I'm going to look for the book that Michael.Hoffman reocmmended as well. Thanks for all of the tips, info and pet pictures. I'll post some of my puppy once I pick her up.