Snout Girl Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Hello everyone I apologise if this question has already been asked. I have looked through old posts but could not find the answer I am after. I am looking for recommendations for a good quality puppy food to feed my pups. We have a 6 month old border collie and a 4 month old pug. At the moment we have been feeding them puppy food from the supermarket but it seems to upset their tummies a bit. I want to make sure I am feeding them the most nutritious food possible, without having to mortgage my house to buy it! lol We are looking at feeding them a combination of wet/dry food Any suggestions would be most appreciated Thankyou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aziah Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 What did the breeder feed them before they came home to you? A good breeder will send your puppy home with a diet sheet and you should stick to that and slowly wean them over to your choice (whether that be a good dry food or raw or a combination)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 (edited) I want to make sure I am feeding them the most nutritious food possible, without having to mortgage my house to buy it! lol You can overdo the economy at the expense of good nutrition. I'd be heading out of the supermarket to a larger pet supplies place and looking at a premium brand. You actually end up feeding less of the more expensive stuff because it's not full of cereal. That's less to pick up in the back yard too. Advance Puppy is popular with a lot of folk - not top of the range but not crap either. Buying a larger bag tends to be more economical and most pet supplies places have loyalty cards for pet foods. Wet dog food is a shocking waste of money - it's mostly water. You'd be better off feeding some raw meaty bones like chicken wings to supplement the kibble. Better for your dogs' teeth too. Edited August 27, 2009 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snout Girl Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Hello everyone I apologise if this question has already been asked. I have looked through old posts but could not find the answer I am after. I am looking for recommendations for a good quality puppy food to feed my pups. We have a 6 month old border collie and a 4 month old pug. At the moment we have been feeding them puppy food from the supermarket but it seems to upset their tummies a bit. I want to make sure I am feeding them the most nutritious food possible, without having to mortgage my house to buy it! lol We are looking at feeding them a combination of wet/dry food Any suggestions would be most appreciated Thankyou Thanks for your reply We stuck to the breeders diet sheet for both pups for the first 8 weeks, slowly changing the wet food over to the supermarket brand. We have continued to feed them the breakfast that both breeders recommended, as well as mixing in some high quality mince with their dinner. One of the breeders recommended supercoat but said any puppy food should be fine. I am just overwhelmed with the variety and am unsure which is the most nutritious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aziah Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Thanks for your replyWe stuck to the breeders diet sheet for both pups for the first 8 weeks, slowly changing the wet food over to the supermarket brand. We have continued to feed them the breakfast that both breeders recommended, as well as mixing in some high quality mince with their dinner. One of the breeders recommended supercoat but said any puppy food should be fine. I am just overwhelmed with the variety and am unsure which is the most nutritious Yes, there are so many options it can be rather daunting! I'd suggest you continue with the mince (raw) and add chicken necks/wings and feed that for one meal and if you wish to feed dry food for the other meal your options are endless Advance, Proplan, EaglePack, Artemis etc. Buy a large bag (after trying it out - small bag first) and it will last you a long time and be economical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 (edited) It's not really a matter of "nutritious" but what suits YOUR dogs, which is hard to know until you try it. ETA: all dry food has the analysis on the bag, so you can see for yourself the fat & protein etc levels, ingredients etc. You need to do some research to figure out a) what all the jargon means and b) what levels of fat & protein etc your dogs need. Bonny, Supercoat, Uncle Albers, Coprice, Big W Woofbix, Coles 'own brand' are all very affordable and they all have their supporters and detractors. Every single "premium" brand is the same - some hate it some love it. All dogs are different and this doesn't help either. See if you can find a place which sells different brands in small bags (some pet shops break up a 20kg sack of the cheaper foods into small plastic bags for samples) and try them out. See which ones agree with your dogs and which ones don't. Make sure you know what "flavour" you've got because some dogs can eat some and not others. I would think that with two dogs so very different in temperament (activity level), coat and general conformation as well as age & development it would be better to consider each of them separately rather than trying to find something to feed them both. Maybe you will find something to suit both but better to start out thinking you won't. I would suggest you use mince (pet grade with bone in) and/or chicken wings/necks, lamb flaps or brisket, canned or fresh fish (once or twice a week) and raw eggs (including shell, once or twice a week) instead of wet food. It actually works out cheaper because you feed much less and it could be the wet food causing their problems. Feeding them high quality (I assume human-consumption?) mince is actually not as good as feeding them a high quality PET mince which includes bone. The natural food of dogs is not "meat" but meat and bone. If you want to get everyone to agree on what's best it will never happen. Ask people who own your two breeds and you *might* get an idea of where to start, but even then I doubt you'll get anything more than even more confused Edited August 27, 2009 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Personally I wouldn't be feeding any dry or processed food at all but I feed a RAW/BARF diet. Info on BARF feeding If you decide you want to continue with dry food I would be feeding minced chicken carcusses, chicken necks, chicken wings etc and raw meaty bones rather then just plain mince. If you would like help menu planning let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I'd seriously be forgetting the wet food for a start. It simply isn't economical to be paying so much for something which is essentially water with some thickeners, colours and flavours added to it. You're better off spending that money on a good quality mince plus chicken frames, necks and wings. Of the dry foods, Supercoat is the only dry food that I DON'T recommend. If you wish to purchase food at the supermarket, you can feed Optimum or either the You'll Love Coles brand dry food or Woolworths Select depending upon which supermarket chain you use. I feed these myself on occasion and my dogs do just fine. I have also fed Woofbix from Big W with good results, but my dogs do best on Great Barko or Uncle Albers which are manufactured by Laucke Mills in South Australia and are very economical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aziah Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I've fed Optimum (you can purchase from the supermarket) with success in the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 My pups have always had Proplan and raw mince. Not overly expensive and they do really well on it. Optimum is also not too bad either for a cheaper option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetty Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I have feed my puppy pet mince or beef mince mixed in with his dry dog food. I started off with advance, but then switched to Purina Pro Plan which I found I could get more for the same price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snout Girl Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Just one more quick thing if I could: I have read a few posts about a chicken shop (not lenards) in airport west that has very good quality pet mince. does anyone know the name of it? i live quite near there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puglvr Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I breed pugs and my puppy diet is meant to cover the first twelve months not the next eight weeks. I would also suggest that the dietary needs of your Border collie would be different to your pug. I would stick to the breeders recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aziah Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I breed pugs and my puppy diet is meant to cover the first twelve monthsnot the next eight weeks. I would also suggest that the dietary needs of your Border collie would be different to your pug. I would stick to the breeders recommendations. I'd normally agree but not if canned/wet food was recommended! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TYLER23 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Where do you guys source your pet mince (with bone)? Do you ask your local butcher to make it up for you, can you find it at woolies, leanords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I breed pugs and my puppy diet is meant to cover the first twelve monthsnot the next eight weeks. I would also suggest that the dietary needs of your Border collie would be different to your pug. I would stick to the breeders recommendations. I'd normally agree but not if canned/wet food was recommended! Absolutely agree with you Aziah. I briefly "mention" canned/wet/roll food in my puppy guide, but only to point out that it is the "Maccas" of dog food. OK for the occasional meal but has very little nutritional value for a balanced diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 There is a really good dog roll called Ecopet. I used to keep it on hand for emergencies when Benson was a puppy, and it contains all natural ingredients, no artificial anything and it smells very nice and has a really firm, meaty texture....unlike the supermarket rolls which tend to resemble damp polystyrene. I haven't bought it in ages, as my guys get mostly raw meaty bones now, but it was a good alternative when I'd forgotten to defrost something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busters crew Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 does anyone feed Eukanuba? this is what our breeder fed and recommended and our lab loves it ( though he is a lab , he loves eating dirt also!! :D ) We do give him mince a few times a week and also brisket bones. He has now taken to completely demolish the bones also ie crush and eat them. At first I was really worried that he was swallowing the bones but I sit there and watch him and he just pulverizes them with his teeth and hasn't seemed to have any issues coming out the back end so I'm guessing its alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 They are supposed to eat the bones. My guys get bones for a lot of their meals. Ths morning they each had a fist sized brisket bone for breakfast. Tomorrow night, they will each get some raw chicken frames. Later in the week I have more brisket bones for them....big and small pieces. They regularly get non-weight bearing bones for meals. However, they rarely get the big heavy marrow bones as they are too hard for them to chew and can damage their teeth. If they get one, it's as a "toy" and not as a meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monica666 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 hello my pug puppy has just turned 5 months old. i didn't get a diet sheet from his breeder. this is what i feed him. i work at Leonards (chicken shop) in NSW, and i give him our minced up chicken frames - pet mince. nothing but the frames go into the mince. i then cook some pasta and frozen vegies, and add this to the pet mince. Snuffles loves it. and his poos are firm and easily picked up. i did first start with puppy can food, but, stopped pretty quick. i then started buying mince made for human eating. but was advised this is full of preservatives., so i stopped that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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