Petfinder.com forums :: View topic - What's the best puppy food? Soft or kibble? [ ]

My husband and I have a 3.5 month old Boston Terrier puppy. She came with a bag of Purina Puppy Chow but we noticed the ingredients weren't healhty so slowly switched her to something new. The food we purchased at PetSmart is called Nature's Recipe Farm Stand Selects. It has no beef, corn, or wheat, no by-products or fillers and no artificial preservatives. It has turkey and real fruits and vegetables and says it's suitable for all life stages. It doesn't appear to be AAFCO but states that it is "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food nutrient profiles for all life stages."
Ingredients:
Turkey, Turkey Meal, Ground Rice, Barley, Chicken Fat, Oatmeal, Potato Protein, Cranberries, Apples, Peas, Carrots, Animal Digest, Tomato Pomace, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Flax Seed, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (E, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Inostol, Niacin, A, D-Clacium, D3, Folic Acid, Biotin, B12) Minerals, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Yucca Schidigera, Rosemary Extract

We also purchased a can of soft/canned food called AvoDerm Natural Chicken and Rice Puppy Formula which contains Avacados. Now we are feeding 1/3 cup of Farm Stand Selects with a teaspoon or so of the AvoDerm. AvoDerm has the same nutritional statement about being formulated to meet AAFCO.

Ingredients for AvoDerm:
Chicken, Chicken Broth, Ocean Fish, Chicken Liver, Ground Whole Rice, Flax SEed, Avocado Oil, Lecithin, Guar Gum, Kelp, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin B-12, Riboflavin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-6, B-1, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin c), Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper, Calcium, Sodium Selenite.

Are these good choices for a puppy? What are others using? Is it most ideal to mix canned/soft and hard food while they're pups? There are so many choices at PetSmart and we're not sure which key ingredients to watch out for in pupplies.

Thanks!

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:57 pm Post subject:

I think you did a good job with the puppy food.I think the way you are feeding your puppy is pretty good too.One thing to remember though you may have a hard time getting the puppy to eat just dry food later down the road.If you don't mind always buying the soft food though,you made a very wise choice.

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:43 am Post subject:

thanks for the input, Catsmom! We are feeding her 1/3 cup dry kibble at lunch. At breakfast and dinner we give her 1/3 cup dry kibble and 1 teaspoon of the canned food mixed in. Hopefully we aren't over feeding her! We need to look into obtaining a puppy toothbrush and toothpaste today to get her started on oral health (she only has Nylabone and an occasional Greenie now. We give her Roasted Chicken and Oatmeal flavored Pet Botanics Training Rewards, which she really loves and seem to be healthy. We're not sure about the cornmeal and sucrose in them but otherwise they seem good.

We have given her a few human foods. We let her have one chunk of pineapple, a small bit of wild Alaskan Salmon, and a few bits of Roast Chicken. I need to obtain a list of foods that dogs can absolutely not have (I've heard onions, chocolate, and potatoes but not sure about this)

Anyone else have suggestions on which foods/treats are healthiest?

Posted Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:45 am:

Oh, also... the Nature's Recipe Farm Stand Selects contains Animal Digest as one of the ingredients (about halfway down). Is this bad? I've heard it could be beaks or such?

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:11 am Post subject:

The most important thing is good training. Please do not worry too much about which diet is "best". I'd rather a dog was fed Ol Roy and trained very well, than given the best chow and wild in the neighborhood. OK, I said my bit about training. Back to feeding.

I think both the dry and the canned you chose are very, very good.

Canned contains a lot of water so it is more expensive per calorie That should not be a major factor because you have one little terrier.

You may be aware that some people feed raw diets and swear by them. Discussions about raw can get very passionate. There are benefits and risks to both raw and commercial, and dogs have done well and badly on either type. I only mention raw because it is like canned - it contains a lot of water!

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:19 am Post subject:

thanks, Petsrtherapy!

I am glad to hear you think the food is OK. I went on Kong's website yesterday and found some recipes for stuffing and freezing Kong Toys. I am making on today for Lila with pumpkin, Carrot, chicken, and Kibble probably. I am looking forward to hearing about more recipe ideas.

Regarding training, we think Lila is pretty smart and have already trained her to sit, give high 5's, and dance pretty. She usually comes when we call her name but is not good about walking next to us on a leash yet (it's very cold here this time of year and she hates being outside). We have a DVD and book on Boston Terrier which offers training tips and that has helped but we are going to enroll her in a PetSmart obedience/training class after she gets spayed, microchip, and another booster shot (that's all happening March 11)

The local PetSmart offers Beginner Education classes for 8 weeks. The description is:

Beginner Education
Specifically tailored for puppies over 5 months and adult dogs that have had no previous training.

* Certificate of completion earned.
* Course length: 8 weeks.

Key topics include:

* Simple cues, such as sit, come, down and others
* Problem solving
* House manners
* Canine health, grooming and nutrition
* Relationship-forming games

I think that would be perfect for her. The only thing we have to do is see if they can work around our Easter Schedule because we will be out of town with Lila for 4 days over Easter.

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:39 am Post subject:

Sounds like you are doing a great job! I just wanted to say that you can't feed a dog salmon its like chocolate and grapes a big no no.

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:13 am Post subject:

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject:

Only raw, Pacific Northwest Salmon contains the parasites that are harmful. The parasites are also killed by prolonged, deep freezing. Cooked or canned Salmon is fine to feed to dogs, although I would feed it in moderation.

Salmon oil can also be used for the Omega 3, but you would still want to watch for Mercury and other contaminants.

The statement "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food nutrient profiles for all life stages," indicates it meets AAFCO standards, so that should not be a concern.

From what I have heard, PetSmart trainers are kind of hit-and-miss. If you get a chance, you may want to observe a few classes before commiting to them to be sure you are comfortable with the instructor. Also, for pups that are easily distracted, training in-store is often not the best introduction to training. However, since you have already started her training, that may not be as much of an issue.

Good luck with Lila. It sounds like you are off to a great start.

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject:

thank you jotkee! It's good to have the clarification about Salmon and the AAFCO food. We have been in PetSmart a few times and looked in at the training. We spoke with one girl about it and she seems nice. We are going to try it and if it doesn't end up working out we just won't go on to the next level of it (they offer like 3 different levels of classes).

We think Lila has a lot of potential. We are ordering a beginner agility set for her so we can have fun this spring! She's a good girl!

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:41 pm Post subject:

The foods you chose sound like all very good selections. I prefer to only feed dry as it is supposed to be better for their dental health. And, like someone else said, once you get them started on wet, it's often hard to switch to just dry later down the road.

Congratulations on your new puppy!

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject:

Petfinder.com forums Forum Index -> Public Forums -> Pet Care -> What's the best puppy food? Soft or kibble?

	Petfinder.com forums Forum Index -> Public Forums -> Pet Care -> What's the best puppy food? Soft or kibble?	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1