Staffordshire Puppy - Food

[bivanov]

I'll be getting my very first staffordshire bull terrier when he's 9 weeks old, on the 4th of September.

I have been researching for days now the best dry food to give him, and how much, but I thought I should really join this forum & find out for myself!

I know they are susceptible to allergies, so to keep them away from corn/wheat.

If anyone can let me know the best type of dry food to feed him, how often, and any other treats that would be great! :)

[persephone]

How exciting :) if you are getting the puppy from an ethical and careful breeder - the pup should come with a recommendation for diet..and sometimes even some food to take home.

Unless the puppy is on something inadequate, like weetbix/farex/milk follow what he has been getting . :) Easy!

This helps puppy settle in , and goes a long way to stopping tummy upsets from different foods.

If the puppy is not doing well on the original food, or you really need to change - then , yes research is good , talking with the breeder is useful , and GRADUALLY easing into any new diet is best for puppy :)

[Bullmastiff Addict]

i second what Persephone said.

My 6mth old stuffy boy flew down from Qld with an extensive puppy pack, a bag of Royal Canin Junior, toys, a bed,and so much information.

Hes fed Royal Canin Junior, plus Premium beef mince Twice daily, with a nice meaty bone once a week. he does also get chicken necks occasionally too.

But if your buying from an ethical breeder, they should tell you what they have been feeding the pups and what to continue on with :)

[VizslaMomma]

I'll be getting my very first staffordshire bull terrier when he's 9 weeks old, on the 4th of September.

I have been researching for days now the best dry food to give him, and how much, but I thought I should really join this forum & find out for myself!

I know they are susceptible to allergies, so to keep them away from corn/wheat.

If anyone can let me know the best type of dry food to feed him, how often, and any other treats that would be great! :)

How exciting! I hope you come back with photos later. We love photos :D

What should happen is your breeder will give you his (current) food preferences. they would also suggest the amount to feed him.

But, for the first months, Puppy will need to be feed at least 3 times daily.

You can look at frozen chicken wings, chicken necks as treats. Avoid weight bearing bones.

If all is OK, you may not need to worry about allergies. Please ask the breeder about that too.

With treats, I avoid anything that has dyes in them. One particular brand causes my puppy to pass poos the same colour as the treats! Boy, does that give you a shock.

Big Welcome to the forum. It's great to read of a new owner taking the steps to welcome their puppy. Keep the questions coming too.

[WreckitWhippet]

A food with limited or no grains, avoid preservative and colours and also limit the chemicals you put on or in them.

They thrive very well on a mix of raw and dry. Limit the veg intake, they don't need it and it does little for them. Raw meat on consumable bone is great, chicken necks, wings , carcass, turkey necks, rabbit, roo tail, lamb flaps, duck. Eggs can be given whole and raw or boiled with the shell if you want. Salmon heads are great. I subscribe to the chuck it at them Stafford diet. Avoid weight bearing bones, as tempting as it is to give them all day chewers it's the fasted way to cause teeth fractures and wear them down.

They don't need puppy porridge, tinned puppy food or any of that junk, an 8 week old Stafford pup should come to you eating dry and charging through chicken wings, necks and carcass. No need to freeze anything.

Edited August 21, 2014 by WreckitWhippet

[Staffyluv]

A food with limited or no grains, avoid preservative and colours and also limit the chemicals you put on or in them.

They thrive very well on a mix of raw and dry. Limit the veg intake, they don't need it and it does little for them. Raw meat on consumable bone is great, chicken necks, wings , carcass, turkey necks, rabbit, roo tail, lamb flaps, duck. Eggs can be given whole and raw or boiled with the shell if you want. Salmon heads are great. I subscribe to the chuck it at them Stafford diet. Avoid weight bearing bones, as tempting as it is to give them all day chewers it's the fasted way to cause teeth fractures and wear them down.

They don't need puppy porridge, tinned puppy food or any of that junk, an 8 week old Stafford pup should come to you eating dry and charging through chicken wings, necks and carcass. No need to freeze anything.

Best advice..

[jOeyyBRUH]

simple and to the point ! awesome post , will definitely be using this for my pup :)

you said not to freeze anything .. what if I bulk buy meats is that okay to freeze and defrost for later ?

[suziwong66]

jOeyyBRUH, ; the comment about not needing to freeze anything is because some puppies gulp their meaty bone component of a raw diet and freezing them slows the eating process down; WW was saying that an 8 week old Stafford puppy will be fine eating the meaty bones like chicken wings, necks and chicken carcasses raw so it's not necessary to freeze them.

Raw food is fine to defrost and refreeze once. From what i understand (and follow) it's fine to purchase frozen raw wet mix, defrost and then refreeze.

My raw wet mix comes in 1kg tubs that are frozen and when i get the tubs home, i defrost, divide the mix into appropriate meal sizes for my dog and store it flat in zip lock baggies and then refreeze. If you are buying frozen bulk meat to make up your own wet mix, it's fine to defrost it and then freeze it again - but don't defrost and then freeze it a third time.

hope this helps.

[jOeyyBRUH]

jOeyyBRUH, ; the comment about not needing to freeze anything is because some puppies gulp their meaty bone component of a raw diet and freezing them slows the eating process down; WW was saying that an 8 week old Stafford puppy will be fine eating the meaty bones like chicken wings, necks and chicken carcasses raw so it's not necessary to freeze them.

Raw food is fine to defrost and refreeze once. From what i understand (and follow) it's fine to purchase frozen raw wet mix, defrost and then refreeze.

My raw wet mix comes in 1kg tubs that are frozen and when i get the tubs home, i defrost, divide the mix into appropriate meal sizes for my dog and store it flat in zip lock baggies and then refreeze. If you are buying frozen bulk meat to make up your own wet mix, it's fine to defrost it and then freeze it again - but don't defrost and then freeze it a third time.

hope this helps.

that definitely helped ! Ill most likely be feeding my puppy a raw food diet from what I've recently read in this thread . Could you possibly explain the pros and cons of a raw diet as opposed to lets say tinned dog

food and packaged stuff ? Could you recommend something for me to read ? apart from the training aspect of owning a dog, I really want to get the health aspect right !

[suziwong66]

if you want a comprehensive list of reading do a DOL search for things that DOLer 'yellowgirl' has posted using search terms like 'BARF" "Prey model" or just search for yellowgirl's profile and then click on "my content" ; she created a wet mix for her then petfood business which she eventually sold to another DOLer. If you want to speak directly with the current owner you can speak to her via fb at Adelaide Dog. Karina is very knowledgeable and always happy to help anyone who is interested in the advantages of feeding raw. Karina and yellowgirl before her have fed my boy for the past 3 years and i've just ordered ready for when the new pup arrives next week.

I mostly use a BARF type model of feeding and sometimes i add Prey model stuffed with roo meat.

here's yellowgirl's content on DOL

Edited September 25, 2014 by suziwong66