Hi! I have some questions about kibble and protein amount. I'd like my dog to be as healthy and happy as I can get him, and therefore I have startet to switch from the kibble my breeder was using. He has been eating the new food for about 2 weeks. And I'm about to go 100% on the new food. I have been mixing with 25%, 50%, 75% in the period. The thing is that Nero has a little loose stool and I wonder if it's the food that is the problem. Of course he maybe have to get some more time to get used to it. And it's not like it's diarrhea, he is getting a good shape on it be it's soft in that way some still sits in the grass when you pick it up with a doggy bag. I'm currently trying to feed him on the Orijen Puppy - http://www.orijen.ca/products/dog-food/dry-dog-food/puppy/ . And even though it's supposed to be some of the best kibble on the market I wonder if the protein levels are to high for a little pup, 12 weeks old? I want to feed a grain free diet for the dog, maybe i can add some vegetables or maybe some coocked rice? And i've seen a remarkable improvement in his fur after switching to this ( I have also supplemented with fish oil, so maybe it's because of that to ). A friend of me also suggested that i was feeding him to much and that i should be adding liquid to the kibble. I don't think he has to much body fat and i think i've read here that you don't have to add water to good quality kibble? Anyways thank you for answers, will add some pictures in some minutes
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? Hi Kimso Sounds like you've got it well under control, good choice of food, expensive but certainly 5*, lucky pup! You didn't say how old your pup was but if he is under 6 months I'd drop the fish oil - it's too much for them; maybe even wait until he's nine months before adding it. You may be over feeding as well, go with about 85% of recommendation amounts and see how that affects stools. Adding water is your personal choice, it does being out the flavour and smells and if he's very young makes it a little easier to eat but really it's up to you; adding or not makes no difference to anything much. Just make sure he has access to water (I'm sure you do that anyway) as any kibble , even Origen, is a little drier than a raw diet. I'm not sure on adding vegetables to Origen, not sure it needs it to be honest. Don't bother with rice, it has no nutritional value and just adds bulk. It won't help the soft stools - feeding amount and adding oil is almost certainly the cause of the soft stool. Looking forward to seeing the pictures!!!
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? I would give him a little more time to adjust to the new food. When our Nero was that age he had very runny poos and switching to Arden Grange puppy large breed fixed this....also it made his coat lovely and shiny!
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? With a good quality food you actually need to feed a lot less than a lower quality food. So it could simply be the quantity that is making his poo a little soft. When he is 100% on the new food try cutting back each meal by a couple of handfuls of biscuits and see how you go. Penny eats Arden Grange but before that she was on Beta and then Wainwrights. On the old foods she was having to be fed almost twice as much as she has of the Arden Grange to maintain her weight and her poo was always loose on those foods.
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? Nothing to,add on the food advice but just wanted to say he's a lovely puppy x
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? Lovely puppy I fed Orijen for a while too. It is a really nice slightly moist kibble but I still added water. I didn't use it when Lilly was a puppy though. She did really well on it and her poops were well formed and smaller than when using the previous food. Her coat was great There are other 80/20/0 foods on the market though if you feel you need to reduce costs
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? I'm on 100% Orijen now, and will maybe try to cut back on the fish oil a little bit and see how things go. Also i cut down the amount a little bit. No other opinions about the high protein level for a puppy? (38% Crude ). What brands are you thinking about drjs@5 ?
Re: Feeding my pup Nero - Grain free and high protein? I have tried Eden Hollistic Pet foods and Simpsons Premium 80/20/0 versions. Both have been good in my opinion. I wasn't so keen on the smell of the Eden product, Simpsons is a better smell but a little less moist than the Orijin. I am a bit of a convert to this type of food, my choice, but there are loads of other good foods around.
