# Small breed / large breed puppy food?



## Pinmin (Nov 17, 2008)

What dog food would you recommend for a Miniature Pinscher puppy?

I see things mentioned about the protein and calcium content for puppies
and it seems that there are different requirements for large breed and small breed puppies.

Is there a grain free puppy food out there that has the right percentage of
protein and calcium for a small breed puppy?


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## LoveNewfies (Jun 18, 2008)

Orijen puppy is, I think, the only grain free food appropriate for growing puppies.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Orijen and the new grain-free Canidae (all life stages) are only ones I can think of right now. 

Do calcium and phosphorus levels have to be as specific for small breed puppies as they do for large/giant breed puppies? I'm not sure! Oh and I've also heard that if you're feeding a high quality dog food you don't necessarily have to worry about whether it's marked "puppy" or not, so long as it's high quality but then I think the puppy has to eat more to get all the calories and nutrients needed.


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## LoveNewfies (Jun 18, 2008)

Calcium levels are crucial for any size puppy, large and giant breeds tend to show more problems due to improper levels than small breeds do.


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

I fed Solid Gold Wee Bits to our Boston Terrier as a puppy. She is over a year and the majority of her diet is still Solid Gold.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

TOTW is an all stage food


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## clockcycle (Dec 22, 2008)

Pinmin said:


> What dog food would you recommend for a Miniature Pinscher puppy?
> 
> I see things mentioned about the protein and calcium content for puppies
> and it seems that there are different requirements for large breed and small breed puppies.
> ...


I've tested several with my Min Pin. Blue Buffalo caused my dog to have diarrhea. She didn't like Natural Balance. She enjoyed Solid Gold Wolf King/Cub and Wysong Maint.

Check Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble, see which you like, can afford, and find readily.


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## LoveNewfies (Jun 18, 2008)

Taste of the Wild may be classified as an all life stage food, however, at least in the Pacific Stream (only one I've analyzed) the calcium level is high for a growing pup.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

clockcycle said:


> I've tested several with my Min Pin. Blue Buffalo caused my dog to have diarrhea. She didn't like Natural Balance. She enjoyed *Solid Gold Wolf King/Cub* and Wysong Maint.
> 
> Check Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble, see which you like, can afford, and find readily.



why would you give a small breed dog a food for large breed dogs such as wolf king and wolf cub? 
also, did you mix any of the foods with the old food before switching? if not that explains diarrhea.


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## clockcycle (Dec 22, 2008)

PeanutsMommy said:


> why would you give a small breed dog a food for large breed dogs such as wolf king and wolf cub?
> also, did you mix any of the foods with the old food before switching? if not that explains diarrhea.


Yes in one day she instantly became violently uncontrollably diarrhea, mixing 2 Tbl new 4 Tbl old. 

A week prior, I got some samples from a local Feed store and gave her 3-4 kibbles of those Solid Gold foods I was given, and those were the ones she actually would eat.

Currently feeding her Boiled Chicken + brown rice for a few days to recover.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Poor puppy butt! I've never heard of a dog getting violent diarrhea from BB before, that is very unfortunate! How's she doing on the boiled chicken and brown rice thing? Feelin any better? 

I forget, did you try Solid Gold Barking at the Moon or Just a Wee Bit? (not sure why they can't just name their formulas normal things like "grain-free" or "small breed") Those are more for smaller breed dogs and it sounds like she likes the flavor of SG so that could be something to try if you haven't already and don't want to stick with BB.


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## clockcycle (Dec 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> Poor puppy butt! I've never heard of a dog getting violent diarrhea from BB before, that is very unfortunate! How's she doing on the boiled chicken and brown rice thing? Feelin any better?
> 
> I forget, did you try Solid Gold Barking at the Moon or Just a Wee Bit? (not sure why they can't just name their formulas normal things like "grain-free" or "small breed") Those are more for smaller breed dogs and it sounds like she likes the flavor of SG so that could be something to try if you haven't already and don't want to stick with BB.


No samples of Wee Bit, she didn't like Barking at the Moon. But Wee Bit is Bison, it looks like the same formula as Wolf King / Cub in smaller bites.

Yea she got better as soon as I did that for her.

I am shooting for California Natural's Lamb Meal & Rice Puppy. I am not sure yet, since she also turns up her nose to the Natural Balance Lamb & Rice snacks.

I am gonna keep her on the home cooked meals at least threw the weekend.

I don't know what's different about the small breed and large breed in the Solid Gold Forumlations, I'll have to take a closer look.

Any reasons why I shouldn't get her on SG King (she likes to eat them like snacks) or Cub? SG is just easier to find (PetSupermarket 1 blk from my house carries it)


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Ooh Pet Supermarket! What about Wellness? I know they carry that there.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

clockcycle said:


> Any reasons why I shouldn't get her on SG King (she likes to eat them like snacks) or Cub? SG is just easier to find (PetSupermarket 1 blk from my house carries it)


Is the dog large or small breed?
I think that as treats it wouldnt be so bad but I beleive that wolf king and cub are formulated for the sketetal structure of a larger breed dog and feeding too much to a small breed dog you may be giving too much calicum/phosphate to the dog.

Side note...I was just given a 3 oz sample of Wolf cub at my Petco...the food had a very powerful fish oder...did yours have this same smell?
I feed BB Wilderness/Innova Evo and those foods don't have such a strong fish smell as the wolf cub did..wasn't sure it it was just the sample bag or not but I didnt want to give it to my boy i didnt want him to have ucky breath


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## clockcycle (Dec 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> Ooh Pet Supermarket! What about Wellness? I know they carry that there.



Yes my local big box have wellness, no samples to see if she'll like it.

In looking for local California Natural, I found a "Pets Best", they carry most of the 5-6 star foods. They had over 30 samples. Clerk hooked me up with Innova, California Naturals and Fromm samples.

Gave her 2-3 kibbles of each by hand, no hesitation ate them all up and looked for more.

What concerned me is that when I got there he was with another customer asking questions about foods and he mentioned that California Naturals was a great food and good for them, but they get bored of it quick because it's bland.

I can see this as an example; Oatmeal might be good for us, but I doubt we'd eat just that alone for too long. (don't know if it's good for us really, just used it as an example)

Anyone experience this with CN?


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## clockcycle (Dec 22, 2008)

PeanutsMommy said:


> Is the dog large or small breed?
> I think that as treats it wouldnt be so bad but I beleive that wolf king and cub are formulated for the sketetal structure of a larger breed dog and feeding too much to a small breed dog you may be giving too much calicum/phosphate to the dog.
> 
> Side note...I was just given a 3 oz sample of Wolf cub at my Petco...the food had a very powerful fish oder...did yours have this same smell?
> I feed BB Wilderness/Innova Evo and those foods don't have such a strong fish smell as the wolf cub did..wasn't sure it it was just the sample bag or not but I didnt want to give it to my boy i didnt want him to have ucky breath


Nope, my samples smelled like slight dog food/grain, no strong fishy odor.

Thanks on the info about the calcium/phosphate. I feed her only 4-6 tablespoons of food twice a day usually.


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