# Grain free puppy foods



## Belles Mom (Jun 24, 2011)

I am researching what to wean my pups onto (they are still cooking inside mama).

I really prefer grain free in my adults, but they do fine with grain kibbles too.Currently, they rotate through various kibbles (Nature's Variety, Canidae, TOTW), but the primary bulk of their diet is Honest Kitchen and NDF2, so semi-raw.

I am looking at various kibble to wean them to, as I know most of the buyers will not even do the semi-raw.

So, in particular right now I am looking at Blue Buffalo. Their regular puppy kibble is 27% protein, and 16% fat. Their grain free puppy food is 36% and 16% fat. My question is, what is the opinion on such a high protein content for puppies?


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Hi Karen

Feeding raw or minimally grain free is a requirement in my contract, among other things. People are getting more on board. Personally I have not used puppy food in over 20 years. We had issues when we did. Before feeding raw all my pups were weaned onto the adults food and did excellently. I think they grew a tad bit slower than their puppy food counterparts but they reached their maximum in a more steady pace and did very well. We raise collies and shelties. I have fed from Costco brand to grain free Nature's Domain, Taste of the Wild, Nutrisca, Acana and Honest Kitchen. They did well on all these throughout the years. JMHO

As for puppy buyers sometimes the more you expect the more often the meet your expectations. I do have several feeding raw and I know they are because I pick up food for them when I go into seattle, I even package for one of them. LOL The others feed raw weekly for dental benefits and grain free.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

A breeder can be the best educator for diet, because a new dog owner sure isn't getting it from the normal sources - vet, trainer etc.

My trainer requirs new customers to attend an hour session on dog nutrition, which is a sales pitch for the dog food he sells.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Belles Mom said:


> I am researching what to wean my pups onto (they are still cooking inside mama).
> 
> I really prefer grain free in my adults, but they do fine with grain kibbles too.Currently, they rotate through various kibbles (Nature's Variety, Canidae, TOTW), but the primary bulk of their diet is Honest Kitchen and NDF2, so semi-raw.
> 
> ...


Their grain free puppy formula @ 36/16 seems fine. Also most ALS no grain foods from reputable mfg's would be fine. It's not wrong per say to label a food as a "Puppy" food but it's more a marketing thing. I am a stickler for training the pups to eat their kibbles wet. I'd recommend you start with that immediately and also emphasize for new owners the importance of this, specially for no grain high protein foods. Tell them to feed less but more frequent if the pup won't eat it all. Also supplement with cooked and/or raw foods. Give them taste of variety from the start, suited to their lifestage of course. It doesn't have to be that much of a hassle for the new owners. Hope this helps.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

I hear a lot of people saying their dogs tend to have very soft stools on the Blue Buffalo formulas, but I haven't used them myself.

There aren't very many grain free brands/formulas geared toward newborn puppies. I'd take a look at the grain free Acana Wild Prairie (an all life stages formula) with 33% protein and 17% fat. Feed the appropriate mount for the age of the dog and then you really don't have to worry about switching formulas unless you want to do some rotation when the dog is older. I personally don't think the 33% protein is too high for a puppy, but I know some people do.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I have been feeding my 4 month old puppy Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy formula since 8/31. When I first brought her home I fed her Simply Nourish which has grain. Her stools are a bit softer on the BB but otherwise she has done well on it. I like to change her food regularly for variety but also transition over 9 days. I do 3 days of 75% old / 25% new, then 3 days of 50-50, then 3 days of 25% / 75%. She did have some digestive issues the first week or so with some gas and rumbling in her tummy. I put 1 tbsp plain yogurt in her morning food and she got through it.


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