Hi, will be picking up our puppy on Tuesday and looking for recommendations for puppy food. Breeder has been givin puppy Gain Big Puppy dog food which from what I've read is OK but not great. I live on Ireland, any recommendations? !
As we always say....ask 10 different people, and you'll get 10 different answers. It just depends on what suits your pup, and your budget. Some people swear by 'grain free', others rely on 'dog food advisor' websites, a few actually read the back of the packets and make an active decision about what they want to feed. I'd say avoid the bottom end of the market, find something that suits your pup and budget, feed a large breed appropriate puppy kibble, keep your puppy on that until fully grown, and that's about it.
I'm picking up my puppy on Monday and am intending to transfer her gradually onto James wellbeloved. I looked into a lot of brands and I decided on James wellbeloved or Royal canin Labrador. I went onto the petsathome website and read all the nutrition information for each brand. I also went into my local independent pet shops and asked their opinion. I thought it's important that the protein content is sufficient. And be aware that some brands that might seem cheaper actually require you feed more weight of the food per day so don't necessarily work out cheaper. Also read lots on here. There is another thread here about food http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/what-do-you-feed-your-labrador.17522/page-2#post-266839
Royal Canin is good but expensive. All Guide Dog pups and adults are on it, they do lots of versions. If I were raising my own pup again I would use Royal Canin until 12 months old then move to Skinners salmon and rice (which is cheaper and has better ingredients but they don't do a puppy version)
Which version do they use? Luna came on RC Maxi Junior, but she's really not keen on it. She was far better with the small bag (1kg) of the medium version I got from the breeder (before the voucher for the Maxi was delivered), but obviously it's not as appropriate. I'm slowly transitioning her off it, but she actually doesn't seem keen on the new food, either. Sigh.
She gobbled up the Medium, though :/ And she will sell her soul for any of the training treats I use. Or raw chicken. Or mince Kongs. I flit back and forth between thinking she's not really a foodie, that she just doesn't like the food, or she's being fussy because she prefers the other stuff. She will eat it, though. Eventually. She's just not excited by it.
