MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 hi, im just wanting to know what are the best & worst things to feed puppies? puppy food or not?? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 what do you mean by puppy food? Cans, milk, wheatbix, dry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 hi, im just wanting to know what are the best & worst things to feed puppies?puppy food or not?? thanks Do you mean brands ie, Royal Canin vs Advance? Quality, premium vs supermarket? types, wet vs dry? Varieties, puppy vs large breed adult vs all life stages...? The best thing to feed a pup is a good quality nutritionally balanced diet, whether that be processed or raw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 sorry i should have explained in more detail, my appologies. i mean all supermarket puppy food (ie pal etc) ,puppy cans, puppy dry, puppy rolls etc. im just trying to figure out whats best to give my little boy, processed puppy food or natural? or a bit of both? if i was to give him the raw diet, what are the things that are safe for pups that will give him all the nutrients he needs to grow? and what are the no no's?? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 If you do a search on "raw feeding" or BARF that will probably give you some good threads to start with re raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 thanks, i have googled it a bit and have found very mixed advice as to whats good and whats not are bones (not cooked obviously) ok at this young age?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) i mean all supermarket puppy food (ie pal etc) ,puppy cans, puppy dry, puppy rolls etc. Cans and rolls are expensive ways to buy water. I would be cautious feeding a SBT puppy supermarket brand dry food as most of them have high quantities of wheat and corn which can cause probems if your puppy is going to have allergy issues. IMO if you want to do dry go for one of the high end brands to start with - personally I like Canidae (ouchy exxy ), Nutro, Royal Canin (medium breed junior) or Blackhawk (search on here). None of these are cheap nor are they sold at supermarkets. Once your pup is a bit older and you know if you have allergy issues or not you can branch out and mix cheaper with the more expensive. That said I personally think the best diet for a SBT is the raw diet and raise all my pups on raw with some dry food chucked in. If he hasn't had raw food before you must introduce it slowly as it requires quite a different gut flora than processed and while adults can be changed cold turkey I wouldn't recommend it for a puppy. DO NOT CHANGE HIS FOOD AT ALL UNTIL HE HAS BEEN WITH YOU FOR 7-10 DAYS AT LEAST. Raw diet for a breed like the SBT is quite easy really. They are strong enough to munch things but small enough size that you don't have to totally freak out about them like you do when raising a giant breed. My pups get whole eggs (raw, in shell), chicken wings, turkey wing tips, lamb off cuts, sardines, cheese, chicken bodies (usually 1/2 each), sheep hearts, chicken livers (which this lot hated), beef heart and lumps of roo meat. Basically they will get a an amount of food which is roughly the size of their head 3 x per day and a 4th meal which is likely to be the sardines, liver, cheese etc. with some dry food I feed them as big a pieces as I can. Search on here there's hundreds of threads. no-nos.: any cooked bone of size shape or description. onions raw potato (or cooked in large quantities) grapes/raisins aren't great one or two probably won't hurt meat on it's own (without bone) for more than one or two meals in a row. excessive amounts of liver (any species) - causes Vit D issues (calcium absorption). Excessive to me would be more than a head-sized piece per week. You need to be comfortable and confident with what you're feeding him. ETA: yes, he's perfectly capable of munching bones at this age - but they need to be bones he can actually chew up and eat, not huge leg bones. The point of the exercise is for him to eat the bone Edited February 7, 2011 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 What breed do you have? If you are not confident in a full raw diet, I tell people that at least during the growing stage find a good dry food, as good as you can afford, and raw meaty bones as one meal of the day. You can't really go wrong with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 i mean all supermarket puppy food (ie pal etc) ,puppy cans, puppy dry, puppy rolls etc. Cans and rolls are expensive ways to buy water. I would be cautious feeding a SBT puppy supermarket brand dry food as most of them have high quantities of wheat and corn which can cause probems if your puppy is going to have allergy issues. IMO if you want to do dry go for one of the high end brands to start with - personally I like Canidae (ouchy exxy ), Nutro, Royal Canin (medium breed junior) or Blackhawk (search on here). None of these are cheap nor are they sold at supermarkets. Once your pup is a bit older and you know if you have allergy issues or not you can branch out and mix cheaper with the more expensive. That said I personally think the best diet for a SBT is the raw diet and raise all my pups on raw with some dry food chucked in. If he hasn't had raw food before you must introduce it slowly as it requires quite a different gut flora than processed and while adults can be changed cold turkey I wouldn't recommend it for a puppy. DO NOT CHANGE HIS FOOD AT ALL UNTIL HE HAS BEEN WITH YOU FOR 7-10 DAYS AT LEAST. Raw diet for a breed like the SBT is quite easy really. They are strong enough to munch things but small enough size that you don't have to totally freak out about them like you do when raising a giant breed. My pups get whole eggs (raw, in shell), chicken wings, turkey wing tips, lamb off cuts, sardines, cheese, chicken bodies (usually 1/2 each), sheep hearts, chicken livers (which this lot hated), beef heart and lumps of roo meat. Basically they will get a an amount of food which is roughly the size of their head 3 x per day and a 4th meal which is likely to be the sardines, liver, cheese etc. with some dry food I feed them as big a pieces as I can. Search on here there's hundreds of threads. no-nos.: any cooked bone of size shape or description. onions raw potato (or cooked in large quantities) grapes/raisins aren't great one or two probably won't hurt meat on it's own (without bone) for more than one or two meals in a row. excessive amounts of liver (any species) - causes Vit D issues (calcium absorption). Excessive to me would be more than a head-sized piece per week. You need to be comfortable and confident with what you're feeding him. ETA: yes, he's perfectly capable of munching bones at this age - but they need to be bones he can actually chew up and eat, not huge leg bones. The point of the exercise is for him to eat the bone thankyou soooo much for that, its a great help!! yeah i was thinking more along the lines of chicken necks and wings, smallish size off cuts etc. thankyou!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Black Hawk puppy contains wheat. Royal Canin and Nutro can do the trick if you want to avoid wheat. Yup if you want to follow what the staffy people here are feeding I would go for it. Better for your dog in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 yeah i was thinking more along the lines of chicken necks and wings, smallish size off cuts etc.thankyou!! Don't bother with necks. He will swallow them whole and they're the perfect size and shape to get caught in his throat and kill him. Great food for Chihuahuas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Black Hawk puppy contains wheat. Royal Canin and Nutro can do the trick if you want to avoid wheat. Yup if you want to follow what the staffy people here are feeding I would go for it. Better for your dog in the long run. sorry, i didnt see your first post... yep he's a staffy thanks thats great, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 yeah i was thinking more along the lines of chicken necks and wings, smallish size off cuts etc.thankyou!! Don't bother with necks. He will swallow them whole and they're the perfect size and shape to get caught in his throat and kill him. Great food for Chihuahuas oh ok, thanks for the tip!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirst_goldens Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 if u pm SBT... Cant remeber the rest of the name hopefully they will chime in... they should have some great raw feeding tips if u wanna go raw but are worried u will miss something get pre package barf patties many brands to choose from, then u just add ur raw meaty bones - i agree necks wont last long with a stafford so wings and frames would be good or turkey parts as well I wouldnt let a pup eat processed foods as in dry or wet but thats just me... since i went raw i could never go back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMetal Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 if u pm SBT... Cant remeber the rest of the name hopefully they will chime in... they should have some great raw feeding tips if u wanna go raw but are worried u will miss something get pre package barf patties many brands to choose from, then u just add ur raw meaty bones - i agree necks wont last long with a stafford so wings and frames would be good or turkey parts as well :DI wouldnt let a pup eat processed foods as in dry or wet but thats just me... since i went raw i could never go back thanks so much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy82 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Nutro and Royal Canin are actually quite crappy as far as food goes. They are better than Pedigree and any other supermarket food, but they are still full of grains and fillers you don't recognise the names of. Canidae is one of the best foods out there, and it actually works out cheaper than RC for the big bags. And the first 5 ingredients are meat, and they list the type of meat, not just "meat", and almost every ingredient on the list is something you recognise, and it's completely grain free. I have to buy it online, can't get it in the stores here. I buy it here: www.petdeli.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseava Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Nutro and Royal Canin are actually quite crappy as far as food goes. They are better than Pedigree and any other supermarket food, but they are still full of grains and fillers you don't recognise the names of. Canidae is one of the best foods out there, and it actually works out cheaper than RC for the big bags. And the first 5 ingredients are meat, and they list the type of meat, not just "meat", and almost every ingredient on the list is something you recognise, and it's completely grain free.I have to buy it online, can't get it in the stores here. I buy it here: www.petdeli.com.au Every dog is different and just like humans will have different needs. However, I agree, Canidae is the best dry dog food I have used. I have had my 2 cavs on it for a few weeks now and would not go back to using a supermarket brand. They are full of corn that caused allergies with their skin. The scratching was driving everyone crazy. I don't do raw for my 2 either, the runny poop for weeks on end was a nightmare, but this is different for every dog. I also know that Canidae wound up costing me aprox $2.00 less per kilo than the supermarket brand. There are some pet supply stores that have it in stock, go to the Canidae AU website and you put in your location and it will bring up where you can get it from. Also have seen it online from one website in particular for very reasonable price for 13kg and a very low delivery fee (have not used it myself as my local pet food supply have it in stock all the time). My general rule of thumb when choosing a dry dog food is to have only one protein and one carbohydrate. Always check the ingredients list, most of the time the label will say chicken and rice but it will be packed with beef, lamb and goodness knows what else. I will not buy any dry food with Corn (maize) or meat "by products". Also the protein in the food, be it chicken, lamb or salmon etc, really should be the first ingredient listed. I believe (please anyone correct me if I am misinformed) that the order ingredients are listed is the same with human food. The ingredient that is the biggest percentage in the package is first, second highest percentage is second etc. If you have trouble selecting one without corn, make sure corn is not in the top 3. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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