The Influence Of Breeders?

[miava]

I am currently involved in something of a discussion with a few friends in regards to the influence of breeders on puppy buyer's future behavior. I personally think most puppy buyers remain quite loyal to the breeders recommendation especially regarding feeding etc, but I am interested in other peoples thoughts Feel free to list your poll response as what you have done, or what you have known your puppy buyers to do. Thanks!

(My poll didn't seem to work, but these were the options I had )

"How loyal were you to the breeder's suggestion on diet?"

Very Loyal (kept puppy on breeder diet for entire lifespan/plan to)

Somewhat Loyal (generally kept puppy on breeder's diet, but with some modifications/additions to suggested diet)

Hardly Loyal (changed diet almost right away/open to and took diet suggestions from vets, pet retailers, other advertising)

Edited March 3, 2011 by miava

[Spudd]

I am currently involved in something of a discussion with a few friends in regards to the influence of breeders on puppy buyer's future behavior. I personally think most puppy buyers remain quite loyal to the breeders recommendation especially regarding feeding etc, but I am interested in other peoples thoughts Feel free to list your poll response as what you have done, or what you have known your puppy buyers to do. Thanks!

(My poll didn't seem to work, but these were the options I had )

"How loyal were you to the breeder's suggestion on diet?"

Very Loyal (kept puppy on breeder diet for entire lifespan/plan to)

Somewhat Loyal (generally kept puppy on breeder's diet, but with some modifications/additions to suggested diet)

Hardly Loyal (changed diet almost right away/open to and took diet suggestions from vets, pet retailers, other advertising)

Hi Miava. I think i am very Loyal When i picked up my puppy i got a sample of every thing the breeder has been using for years now and if i ever want to change a thing, i will contact her because i trust her and i think she would know what's best for the dogs she breeds and sells :D

Edited March 4, 2011 by Spudd

[Dory the Doted One]

From a Vet Nurse perspective...I'd say there is a good proportion of people that don't follow their breeders recommendations on feeding.

From what I have seen in clinic, people who stick to the breeders recommendations are the minority rather than a majority. But then again

a large proportion of clients didn't purchase from ANKC breeders and have petshop puppies or oodly-shitz from backyard hobby breeders.

And sometimes in those cases I think the change of diet has been a good thing.

[Mystiqview]

I will agree.

I sent my puppy home with a 3kg bag of what it had been eating (premium food). Puppy buyer went into local pet store/vet who talked them into a different premium brand.

They did not take my advice about if they choose to change food, to mix what the pup was used to gradually to the new brand. They finished the bag, then started it on the new food the sales person talked them into.

Next thing, I get a phone call to say the pup had diahorrea soon after changing brands.

Told them not to feed hard beef bones until the pup grew its adult teeth or there was a good chance of breaking the canines. What happened?? They feed it beef bones and she broke her canines. I get a phone call asking me about that.

I also told them when they took their puppy home to refrain from doing the drive around the rellies to show and tell. They went over to the rellies the following day after brining the pup home for show and tell. I also advised not to feed the pup for a few hours before travel as motion sickness is in that line. They did and she was sick in the car.

My puppy owners get a thorough going over with recommendations, and hand outs a week before they collect their pup. They are also given a care sheet in the folder that goes home with the pup. I encourage questions and these people asked plenty, took notes.

My point I suppose. Is it does not matter how much you can give people. Some just don't listen. They think they know better or just don't think.

[SmoothieGirl]

I am currently involved in something of a discussion with a few friends in regards to the influence of breeders on puppy buyer's future behavior. I personally think most puppy buyers remain quite loyal to the breeders recommendation especially regarding feeding etc, but I am interested in other peoples thoughts Feel free to list your poll response as what you have done, or what you have known your puppy buyers to do. Thanks!

(My poll didn't seem to work, but these were the options I had )

"How loyal were you to the breeder's suggestion on diet?"

Very Loyal (kept puppy on breeder diet for entire lifespan/plan to)

Somewhat Loyal (generally kept puppy on breeder's diet, but with some modifications/additions to suggested diet)

Hardly Loyal (changed diet almost right away/open to and took diet suggestions from vets, pet retailers, other advertising)

I'm guess I'm 'somewhat loyal'.

I always match the breeders diet to the letter for the first two weeks. Then, I'll move my pups onto my dry food of choice over the space of another week. I'll adjust their other diet bits and pieces to exclude anything I think is a waste of time and move them to meat and meaty bones if they weren't previous getting enough. So far, three pups and three breeders have been feeding fresh meat and dry food, so the fresh meat stays with my choice of dry.

Have picked up the use of Calcium Syrup from a breeder, so much easier and more palatable that calcium powder.

Never really had a huge change to make though.

Edited March 5, 2011 by SmoothieGirl

[corvus]

I let both breeders know that we feed raw and what goes into it and both were happy with that. Kivi was on a puppy kibble when he came home to us so we could switch him to raw gradually. We tried to do that, but he was sucking the mince off his kibble and spitting it out again, so we gave up after a couple of days. So we didn't really follow our breeders' diet recommendations so much as agree together on a diet.

[poochmad]

I listetened to everything our breeders told us and actioned it. I'm just a goody-two-shoes.

However, I wish they had warned me that Fields are incredibly vocal pups as we didn't know what happened to our perfect pup when we put him down in his pen and he howled non-stop for an hour! If we had been told that would happen, then maybe we could have done things differently. Later when we were telling the breeder what had happened, she just laughed and told us that they all do that and to ignore it. At least now we know what to do the next time we get a pup.

[newfsie]

(My poll didn't seem to work, but these were the options I had )

"How loyal were you to the breeder's suggestion on diet?"

Very Loyal (kept puppy on breeder diet for entire lifespan/plan to)

Somewhat Loyal (generally kept puppy on breeder's diet, but with some modifications/additions to suggested diet)

I seem to fit in between, My diet is completely different, but I discussed with my breeder what I wanted to feed my dogs, RAW. and asked what she thought of it

She was happy with the plan. She stated that she was quite positive about RAW, just found it too involved for her Kennel and number of dogs.

I feed all the supplements she uses and also if i have any problems health-wise or otherwise, I always contact her.

She is my Mentor on the Breed and I value her opinions. All my newf puppies have come from her and all my newf Rescues have come via her.

Hardly Loyal (changed diet almost right away/open to and took diet suggestions from vets, pet retailers, other advertising)

[FHRP]

I was somewhat loyal with my first pup from a breeder. I fed what the breeders had been feeding for a while before doing my own research and deciding to feed raw. Since then any pup has come home and straight onto the diet I think best. I have advised breeders that I will be raising my pup on a raw diet.

[Mystiqview]

Have picked up the use of Calcium Syrup from a breeder, so much easier and more palatable that calcium powder.

Never really had a huge change to make though.

If your dog is being fed a quality diet of premium dry and fresh meaty bones, then why are you feeding calcium?

The dog should be getting it from it's diet. I went to one seminar where the expert warns against feeding of calcium suppliments. Their claim "It reduces the effectiveness of the gland that draws it out of the food. By closing it down because it does not have to work to get calcium (and other elements), when the dog DOES Need calcium, then the time it takes for the gland to "fire up" can be detrimental."

I would only feed calcium suppliments on direction from my vet/specialist.

[parrotpea]

I don't think I would use the word loyalty, but I do have a lot of respect for my breeder. I discussed with her my preferred brand of dry food, and she approved and explained about the changeover process. I kept pup on the food she had been on for the first two weeks before changing her over. I kept feeding her mince and bones as the breeder had been, and I am also using the supplement that she uses and recommends.

I consult her about just about everything.

[Odin-Genie]

I don't think it's a loyalty issue. My dogs are part of my family, who grew up as part of my family and I know their food requirements better than anyone else. I check their poos, I watch their weight and know exactly what they do well on. So I decide what they eat based on my research and observation of my dogs. My dogs get Canidae grain free salmon food along with barf patties and raw bones. The vets have recommended Hills's Science but I wouldn't feed that to my dogs.

[Bjelkier]

Somewhat loyal I suppose.

My first boy I stuck to the breeder diet sheet for a long time and he was scratching and had a lot of runny poos so we changed and he has been much happier.

I will feed my dogs whatever I believe them to do the best on.

[whiskedaway]

I suppose I'd be considered somewhat loyal. We didn't follow Akira's breeder's instructions at all - she got home and had dandruff, was itchy and was underweight being fed chicken frames, so we changed her over to Supercoat which she flourished on. We have since realised that she has a very sensitive gut so needs pretty bland food. However she had the smelliest farts, so we made the decision to switch her to Pro Plan which we knew that Halo's breeder recommended. So when Halo came home, we were already feeding what was recommended by the breeder, so we've stayed the same.

[Diesel's Mate]

"How loyal were you to the breeder's suggestion on diet?"

Very Loyal - we brought the dog food she was feeding them and will keep puppy on breeder diet for entire lifespan (unless cannot do so due to medical reasons)

Our breeder was WONDERFUL. We will certainly keep in contact with her and will continue to take all of her advice seriously and intently.

:D

[W Sibs]

A selling point for me when it came to Emmy's breeder is that she told me the starts feeding her pup raw when they are 6 weeks old. But, the dry food she recommend me feeding Emmy, I didn't want too. I put her on a better dry food :D

I will listen and take on board what breeders suggest I will feed the pups (and will give it a go), but at the end of the day, I think I will end up feeding my dog what is best for them.