Julia Hunt Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 I'm wondering if someone can tell me the current recommendation on when to switch pups (specifically BC pups ) from puppy food to adult maintenance. I know studies have shown over doing nutrition contributes to HD. Since I feed super premium food (i'll wean with Innova Puppy, then switch to Innova maintenance or Canidae), how young can i switch the babies over? What is the risk of switching too soon? Thanks Julia Dot's Page : http://hometown.aol.com/jhunt16723/homepage.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Originally posted by Julia Hunt:What is the risk of switching too soon? I don't know that there is a risk. Personally, I have switched all my pups over at about 10 weeks, when I fed kibble. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyH Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Daphne was never fed puppy food and always done quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Most folks I know don't bother with puppy food at all--they wean pups straight onto a good adult food. My young dog never got puppy food. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia Hunt Posted January 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Well I think i'll go and read the back of the bags at the store today! I would like to go straight to adult maintenance if I could, or at least switch them over by about 12 weeks. I suppose I just feel there must be 'some' good reason for the existance of puppy chow, other than just to sell more dog food! Even the good companies make some kind of puppy chow. I feed their mother a special order food from the Innova people, 'Healthwise Performance', its 30% protein, 20% fat, and the kibble is tiny. I could probably wean them straight onto it. Julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 30% protein sounds high to me, especially because the goal of puppy nutrition should be to promote healthy but not rapid growth. We had good success weaning our last litter of pups onto Canidae, well-soaked for softness of course, until their adult teeth came in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia Hunt Posted January 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Yeah, I wondered if 30% is too high, which is why I need to go read bags! Julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaileysMom Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Bailey never ate puppy chow either. It is better for the puppys not to grow too fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitten4Kim Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Wow. This is all great information I just read! I have a 1 yr old Tibetan Spaniel mix who just recently switched to Natural Balance (not puppy). I am getting a 8 wk old BC puppy in a couple weeks. Is the Innova recommended by you 'expert' BC owners? I want to do right for both of them (my 1 yr old is about 16 lbs). Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaileysMom Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Here are links to the foods I think are of very high quality. Wellness- www.oldmotherhubbard.com , Innova, California Natural and Healthwise- www.naturapet.com , Azmira- www.Azmira.com , Canidae- www.canidae.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia Hunt Posted January 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Well I did some online bag reading, and my conclusion is that puppy food is a big scam! Just within the Natura line of foods they have puppy foods with protein contents of 26% to 28% and fat contents of 12% to 18%. i'm leaning towards just whelping onto Canidae (24%, 14.5%). Julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Natural Balance is a great food. I usually feed Wellness or Pinnacle when I feed kibble, and had to buy a bag of NB while traveling. My dogs loved it and it seems to suit one of them better than any other food I have tried. I have also fed Innova in the past. Innova is too rich for some dogs, and just right for others. If I were you, I would buy a small bag to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitten4Kim Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thak you all for the valuable information. SoloRiver...what do you mean by 'when you feed kibble'? I have come across that phrase several times now on this 'board' and don't have any idea what it means. Does it mean in between meals? I'm a little naive here I guess. Natural Balance seems to be a perfect fit for my lil girl I currently have. I will check out all the sites indicated above..thanx. Karyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Originally posted by karyn:Thak you all for the valuable information. SoloRiver...what do you mean by 'when you feed kibble'? I have come across that phrase several times now on this 'board' and don't have any idea what it means. Does it mean in between meals? I'm a little naive here I guess. Natural Balance seems to be a perfect fit for my lil girl I currently have. I will check out all the sites indicated above..thanx. Karyn Karyn, Some people feed home-cooked meals to their dogs, and some people feed a raw diet. Usually when someone says "when I feed kibble" it means they probably feed one of the other two options. The pups are being weaned on to Go!Natural (which, in Canada, is not tainted by the scary problem that happened with the food manufactured in the US a while ago) because a large quantity of it was donated to us for that purpose, and because as far as kibbles go, we generally recommend it. Their foster mum can discuss food choices with you when you go to meet Kim. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 My dogs get an eclectic diet. Some nights they get kibble, some nights they get cooked, some nights they get a partly-raw meal. I was perfectly happy with their conditions on an all-kibble diet, but I enjoy fixing meals for them and they enjoy eating different kinds of stuff. No philosophical reasons, just the way we do things around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Remember that wild canids are weaned onto exactly what the parents are eating, with the addition of some moisture and digestive enzymes. The litter I reared for a friend was weaned onto Precise Sensicare (lamb and rice -- about 22 percent protein and 14 percent fat). The bitch had a wonderful habit of snarfing down and barfing up the puppys' meals when she was weaning them. Not real pleasant for us to watch, but the pups loved it. I tend to think that most American dog food is too high in protein and too low in fat, although that 30/20 mixture has the ratio that I was told is the best. Puppy food and high-protein dog food has more to do with marketing than it does with canine nutritional needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 We have 8 working Border Collies ranging in age from 15 months to 11 years, and we have been happier with Canidae than with any other commerical kibbled dog food. We fed raw for a while and that was great except for the time spent in preparation and, quite frankly, travel was not that easy with all those dogs and all that raw food Our dogs have great stamina, silky coats, and no skin or other problems. We feed the older bitches just about 2 cups a day; the leanest of the youngsters is getting nearly four cups...3 in the evening and 1 in the morning. Good luck with your new pup! She is very cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassies mom Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Please help me...I have checked every site on line for the foods recommended and no one sells even close to me. i also checked within a 1oo mile radius....no luck. I thought I was doing OK feeding Iams puppy but after reading all the posts I too am ready to switch....only the best for my girl. I would appreciate any and all suggestions you may have for me in getting her the ideal food....i live in the far southeast corner of KS. Joplin, MO. is 40 min away, and Springfield, MO. is about 3 hours,but we are over there about every three weeks...thanks for any help... Kassies mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaileysMom Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 There are many sites online that you can order food from. Type in the food you want to purchase in a search and you will get tons of online retailers that will ship the food to you. It may cost a bit more because of shipping, but it is well worth it. You can also set up automatic shipping on some sites, they will automatically send out the food every month or however often you need it so that you don't have to remember to order it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitten4Kim Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 I fed my previous dog (who died at 15) cooked food pretty much all of his life, and of course he loved it and looked terrific. I'm not sure why this time around I went the store-bought dog food route. I really enjoyed cooking for my dog (and me). I may need to revisit this endeavor. Thank you for the info on the pups, MrSnappy. If Kim and Foster Mum like me, maybe I'll be able to pick up some of the food while I am up there. I'm assuming you can take Canadian dog food across the border?! Do they limit the amount like alcohol? (kidding) Thanks all! Karyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 Blackwood makes decent kibble & their shipping is free. http://www.blackwoodpetfood.com I feed 12 border collies & 2 caucasian mountain dogs. 2 are on a premade raw & the others are on a kibble with 3 raw days a week. On the commercial feeds, I look for a moderate amount of protein (about 22 to 24 percent) & a higher fat content. Most of the commercial dog foods have a lower fat content, even the quality ones. Diamond Premium (the green bag) has an 18% fat content, which I've used & liked the results. Diamond's newest kibble, "Chicken Soup..." is also good, as far as a kibble goes. Also, what might work for one dog might not work for another. I couldn't wait to try Canidae, all the good I heard about it, but some of my dogs would "go" 3 - 4 times a day when on Canidae, so for us, it didn't work. Read labels and do a lot of research until you find what works best for your dog(s). There are a lot of good books and articles out there on k-9 nutrition. It's a fascinating subject. If you find something that works well---great----don't be afraid to try other things as well. In spite of we've been told for years by pet food companies, dogs who eat a varied diet do as well, if not better, than those fed one type of food, day in, day out. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.