What food do you feed? I need help :(

Hi there everyone!

Just so confused about feed! When we got them, they were fed Beta puppy which after a month we changed to Barking Heads Puppy Days. Now we're finding this isn't suiting them - there's sometimes straining and sometimes "splunder" overnight. Their tummies just don't seem settled. I don't think its the extras they get as we keep them fairly the same, but it could be them just eating things that they shouldn't.

Willow, like a lot of labs, is hard to keep slim, so our dog trainer recommended ProPlan Puppy Sensitive a few months ago. I've bought a bag so I'll put them onto that gradually over the next week. I saw a Royal Canin Labrador food in the pet store, which I guess would be ideal, but you can only feed it from 1 year old...our girls are 6 months!

What do you feed your dog? I'm overwhelmed by the choices out there, I went to pets at home last week and there's so many foods!! Ideally I like the idea of a high meat content (hence the barking heads) because it seems more natural. I don't want to feed them a raw diet as I don't have the freezer space (or the time, or the stomach for it - I don't eat meat!)

As I wrote this, Willow threw up on the carpet! Full of straw from the shed they're in when wet (knew she was eating it) and bits of the chew I gave them. I don't know what to do, I want to give them treats but it seems to upset them! They don't get our scraps, only proper dog treats or bits of chicken/meat left over. When using kongs I have to be so careful, and anything rawhide / chewy they seem to not digest right

Please help!

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Mine are gluten free so arden grange, james welbeloved and home cooked chicken, rice and vegetables, and tinned fish.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

First of all, don't be too worried about the occasional vomit Dogs have mastered the art of vomiting. I think that the straw would've been the main cause of the vomit, not the treats. Having said that, rawhide is not always digested that well. Instead perhaps you could try to find other chewy treats that are easily digestable, like bully sticks (aka dried pizzles) or pig's ears (you can get vegetarian versions of these!).

I won't list what we feed as it's mostly raw. But I think your plan to transition to the ProPlan sounds fine. Just see how they go on that. ProPlan is a decent food.

The variety of food out there is staggering, so you are not alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed by it

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Dog food is a minefield I can tell you.

Hollie came to us on gusto which is rubbish so we reseached and opted for simpsons 80/20/0 but found that far too rich for her so further research and she is on skinners field and trial puppy and raw bones 3-4 times a week.
This seems to be suiting her at the minute.

Good luck with your quest for food that suits

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

You'll get a million different answers to this question. Ours came on a Pedigree puppy food which I considered to be rubbish, so I've switched them to Hills, which isn't great, but it's the best I can get here. Willow is on raw for lunch, too - chicken wings, rabbit etc - and does really well on it. Shadow has just had his first chicken wing because we've not had him as long and we were waiting for him to get through his transition to Hills. I'd ideally like to feed just raw, but it's not practicable for me.

The Royal Canin isn't amazing, from what I've read. This website may help - it has a search and filter function and gives a rating for each food, so you can see the difference between what's available to you within your budget: http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

I don't think you need to stress too much about their food, unless they're showing intolerance to it. As long as they look healthy and fit, you can't be doing anything too wrong!

I also wouldn't worry about throwing up unless it's obviously due to sickness. My Willow threw up this morning, too, with a big chunk of wood she must have swallowed on our walk last night.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Eukanuba puppy large breed with a recommendation from the breeder not to change food until 6 months. Just starting to think about the odd treat, like chicken or sardines as Chepi is about 7 months now.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

We used proplan puppy (robust) and we found it was okay.
After lots of deliberation we have now settled on Simpsons 80/20/0 and Lilly does really well on it.

It really is a minefield, and no one food will suit all dogs.
Best advice is - feed the best you can afford, try not to chop and change too much (it really doesn't help if your pup is prone to runny poop), and have a good think about the whole raw feeding deal. Too many things against me personally to do it, but genuinely think it is the best.

Good luck.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Buster was on Beta which the breeder used, he never seemed to have normal poo's, ipto the vets a few times, when he was a out 4-5 months old we moved him to Royal Canin Labrador Retriever Junior and he has had no problems since.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Harley has a sensitive tummy so after trying 2 other brands of food we settled on Bob and Lush. It is quite expensive, but no more problems with Harley's tummy

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

I think you've just got to find something that suits your dog. I honestly don't think there is a huge difference in kibbles within similar price bands - at the end of the day, all kibble is highly processed food that contains carbohydrate. There is nothing "natural" about it.

It's worth comparing the ingredients of the foods you are feeding now and the one you intend to swap to though - just so you know what it is you are changing. Eg source of protein, or source of carbohydrate or the volume of each etc. This way if it doesn't work out, at least you'll know what you tried.

I fed Royal Canin junior to about 14 months and now feed Royal Canin Sensitive. The only reason I feed sensitive is that Charlie had a problem with vomiting, he was switched onto it on my vet's advice (although it was more as a precaution, there were other things that could have caused the vomiting) and I haven't switched away from it. Since he seems to do really well on it, I've just stuck with it. I have an ambition to switch to raw so put off changing kibble again. One day. When I have time... :

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=JulieT link=topic=8881.msg126342#msg126342 date=1416852071]
I have an ambition to switch to raw so put off changing kibble again.
[/quote]

Is that so you feel less guilty about not cooking?

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

My OH claims he has lived on frozen pizza for the last 2 years - that is an absolute lie. I'll have you know that Waitrose have an excellent and healthy selection of pre-prepared meals which I religiously order every Sunday evening. ;D ;D ;D

I do cook! Sometimes. I've got a hooligan dog to train though....

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

I did mean "for your dog"

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Ohhhh....maybe I'm a tad defensive about the whole let's-not-get-the-kitchen-dirty thing? Best make an effort over the Christmas hols....

;D ;D ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=snowbunny link=topic=8881.msg126358#msg126358 date=1416856564]
I did mean "for your dog"
[/quote]
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Sorry Julie
;D ;D ;D ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

As others have said you will get a ton of different responses each recommending something different - you could try all the foods suggested here and still not find something that would agree with your pups! It really is a huge minefield.

As you are already planning on switching to pro plan sensitive I would carry on with that idea until their tummies settle - even when changing over properly (eg doing it gradually) switching between so many foods in such a short space of time could cause a tummy upset. If the pro plan sensitive seems to suit them then there's no reason you can't feed that long term. Unfortunately sometimes we can't feed our pups what we want because it upsets them and you just have to compromise and go with what they can tolerate!!

I feed Arden Grange because it's gluten free and they do do a grain free one too; it's a personal choice though as I seem to be one of those lucky people with a dog who will tolerate anything!

You mentioned the royal canin Labrador breed specific food - you can get a junior version but you would probably have to get it online, however at six months your pups would probably be fine on adult food if there's no alternative.

Just thought I would mentioned it as I don't think anyone else has - over feeding. This is one of the biggest cause of loose poo and is definitely worth investigating, especially as you mentioned you have trouble keeping one of your pups at a normal weight. I would say the vast majority of us on here only feed a percentage of the manufacturers recommended amount for our sized dogs. For example my Penny is 19kg and Arden Grange recommend that a dog that size should be fed about 330g of food per day (I think, I haven't looked at the exact amounts recently) however if I were to give her that much she would be fat as a house within a week!! She only actually gets about 150-200g per day and this keeps her maintained at 18.5-19kg (she's only a small lab so this is a perfect weight for her size).

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

JulieT a girl after my own heart, I shall attempt to take a leaf out of you book after Christmas. Didn't Shirley Conran say 'life is too short to stuff a mushroom' ;D

Now back to dog food. I have tried many, my favourite was Simpson's Salmon and Rice, but the high protein made my Lab hyper.

Now trying Pero Labrador, but not sure it is suiting him.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

We have been on eukanuba large breed puppy since 8 weeks and still on it at 9 months. It suits Meg in every way, never had any hint of a digestive problem on it. The stuff she was on from her breeder did not suit her at all. It was chudleys puppy. Good luck with your quest to find what works for your dog

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=Stacia link=topic=8881.msg126369#msg126369 date=1416858479]
JulieT a girl after my own heart, I shall attempt to take a leaf out of you book after Christmas. Didn't Shirley Conran say 'life is too short to stuff a mushroom' ;D
[/quote]

Do I now have a reputation as a nerdy geek who doesn't cook?

;D ;D ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=JulieT link=topic=8881.msg126377#msg126377 date=1416860143]
[quote author=Stacia link=topic=8881.msg126369#msg126369 date=1416858479]
JulieT a girl after my own heart, I shall attempt to take a leaf out of you book after Christmas. Didn't Shirley Conran say 'life is too short to stuff a mushroom' ;D
[/quote]

Do I now have a reputation as a nerdy geek who doesn't cook?

;D ;D ;D
[/quote]

of course not... 8) ;D