Puppy Food

[Bessie7o7]

Its been a while since I posted here last. I have still been lurking but mostly just reading.

Anyways, last time I posted I had just put down my beloved old girl in Feb. Now that some time has past we decide it was time to invite a new dog into our family. Cammy our shepherd loves company and would like a new friend, so she has been to all the rescue shelters in our area visiting new dogs. Today we adopted a 6mo old Chocolate Lab pup. If I could have talked to my Old Girl Star, she would have wanted me to adopt, so that's what we did.

So, the question now is what do I feed a puppy, and how much should I start with. Puppy food? all life stage? Currently we feed our adult EVO but like many we are soon switching. I hope to be able to afford Orijen or Acana. But I still need to look into a local or online source for it.

Our new puppy is currently on Science Diet (its what the shelter feeds) and weighs 40 pounds at 6 months old. He looks to be pure breed, and if he isn't Pure breed he is damn close. I don't get to bring him home until Friday because tomorrow (Thursday, July 1 2010) he gets Fixed.

Thank you
Jeremy

[luvMyBRT]

My vote is for Orijen Large Breed Puppy. Congrats on the new addition!

[93-5G20]

Some ideas:
Orijen is very good, however your puppy may not like it, it is fairly pricy too. They do sell a tinny bag to see if your dog like it. The one I bought was 3 dollars for slightly under a pound of kibble. As it turned out while the food seemed to agree with his digestion, it was a chore to get him to eat it.

The Chicken Soup for the Soul puppy food is quite good quality, and where I shop I can get a bag for 8.99, which is near half the price of Orijen. Artemis puppy food seems to be an exact clone of the chicken soup, but with a few more lower ingredients. The top ingredients are 1 for 1.

Many like Innova, but I have not used the puppy formula, just the adult.

Lastly you can look at the Costco brand of Puppy Food, its about 1/4 the price of Orijen, and may be the better option for the larger dogs. When I looked at the ingredients at the store they seemed very good, especially for the price.

I bought some puppy vitamins at Walmart, for a very low cost, and give him about a 1/4 of the amount it recommends on the bottle. So a low does of a multi-vitamin.

If I had a large dog and was on a budget, I would think the Costco Kirkland brand would be the best option.

[CorgiPaws]

I would not worry so much about if your dog likes the food you pick. A dog will NOT starve himself in the presence of food. YOU pick the food, he eats the food, plain and simple. A finicky dog will eventually learn to eat what you give him. I would never compromise the quality of my dog's nutrition based on what he or she decides they want to eat.

[LabbieMama]

Congratulations on the new Chocolate Lab pup. I love Labs and think you made an awesome choice by going to a shelter and adopting. As far as food goes, I always say: whatever is within your price range and is easy for you to get. I'm sure you will choose a good quality food for your new pup. Have fun with the new addition!

[Bessie7o7]

Well we picked up our pup yesterday afternoon and he is adorable. I don't think he is going to reject any food simply becuase he doesnt like it. When I put his bowl in his crate he finishes it all before i can relatch the door lol. He arrived at the shelter very under weight and still is a little under wieght. I went ahead and ordered a large bag of orijen large breed puppy. I'm sure he will love it. Right now he is eating science diet and has the biggest poops I have ever seen. lol. He is very smart boy and him and my shepherd are getting along well. Although he has been in his crate most of the time since he was just neutered. He is very playful and while in the crate he is very quite and sleeps a lot. Oh to be a puppy. Lol.