[Marquela]

Hi everyone:

I'm new to this site. I have a 4 month old boy named Pochy. He is my first dog (I had cats when I was little). He is the most adorable thing. I would like your recommendations about the food. I started with Science Diet as the breeder told me, but I changed to Eukanuba Lamb and Rice yesterday, since he does not like the Science Diet anymore. Is it normal that the stool changed the color now that I changed the food? Which food would you recommend?

I'll appreciate your answers a lot. Since I'm new to this breed I have a lot of questions which I"ll be posting.

Thanks.

 

[mylittlebella]

Bella was on Eukanuba until I found out the ingredients (it contains by-products) so I switched her to Innova. This is from a company called Natura that makes all their dog food from human grade products. Here's the website naturapet.com. She was first on the California Natural Puppy because her stomach was a bit sensitive but now she's on the Innova and doing great.

BYW...welcome to the site!!!

 

[doctorcathy]

Hi, i have my dogs on a homecooked diet(which is totally working for me)....but about the stool question...thats totally normal.

sometimes my dogs will have it dark brown or light brown/yellow.

 

[adorableaccentsdogbows]

Welcome. I use Purina One lamb and rice and my dogs do very well on it. As you change the food just make sure to do it gradually or your poppy could get loose stools.

 

[TikisMom]

Tiki eats Hill's Prescription Diet "canine t/d" small bites. My vet recommended it because I has having a hard time brushing Tiki's teeth when he was a pup. My vet has his own dogs eat it also. He feels it is the best for dogs that are prone to dental problems and I have to admit Tiki's teeth are great; very white and shiny .... I never brush his teeth though he does have bones and stuff to chew on.
Judi

 

[Mystify79]

Hi and welcome to the site! I feed Tuffy Science Diet and we haven't had too many problems with it. He is not very picky though, so I usually don't have problems with him not liking food. But one thing I found, if I mixed a little bit of baby food into his dry kibble he inhales his food.. so whenever he is picking at the kibble I just add a little bit of the baby food and it's gone in seconds. On the poop thing, when I started feeding Tuffy some baby food his stool changed color just a little bit.

 

[mylittlebella]

what kind of baby food do you mix. Bella likes her food but I would like to add a little flavor to it. I've heard of sweet potato baby food but are there any others that I shouldn't feed?

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Welcome! I also feed Lexi Innova. The pieces are a little bigger though so your puppy might have problems chewing. The pieces are flat and triangle shaped so it might not be a problem.

 

[Mystify79]

Originally posted by mylittlebella@Oct 18 2004, 10:41 AM
what kind of baby food do you mix.  Bella likes her food but I would like to add a little flavor to it.  I've heard of sweet potato baby food but are there any others that I shouldn't feed?
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I use the Turkey & Turkey Gravy baby food from Gerber mostly because it's not colored like some of the others (the sweet potatoes turned Tuffy's facial hair orange and was hard to wash out).. He loves it, when he hears me opening the jar he goes nuts! :lol: I have tried green beans, sweet potatoes, papaya, chicken and chicken gravy, lamb and lamb gravy, and beef and beef gravy and he's loved them all. I just make sure that the food doesn't have any broccoli, garlic, onion or grapes.

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[SNOWY]

Welcome!

This is a GREAT topic, this is something that I've been wanting to ask, Snowy is a very and I mean very picky eater, my husband say he is just too "finickie" (spelling????

) He used to eat IAMS, for puppies, that is the one the vet recommended, and in he was eating fine, but then he started eating less and less, so we change the brand, now we fed him Purina One, (for puppies also) and he like it the first day and then again, started eating less and less. The Vet said solid food is the best for his teeth, so I have not mixed with other stuff. Last wk I try to wet his food with some chicken soup but he did not like it either.


How much is ok and how much is too little??? Our Vet said that he should eat about 1/4 of cup of food 3 times a day, most of the time he ate just one, if we are very lucky one and a half or 2, I dont know what else to do for him to eat.

Both my husband and I work full time so we dont have time to cook a extra meal for the dog.

Any suggestions??? is that enough food??? HELP PLEASE!!!

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Originally posted by SNOWY@Oct 18 2004, 12:38 PM
Welcome!

This is a GREAT topic, this is something that I've been wanting to ask, Snowy is a very and I mean very picky eater, my husband say he is just too "finickie" (spelling????

) He used to eat IAMS, for puppies, that is the one the vet recommended, and in he was eating fine, but then he started eating less and less, so we change the brand, now we fed him Purina One, (for puppies also) and he like it the first day and then again, started eating less and less. The Vet said solid food is the best for his teeth, so I have not mixed with other stuff. Last wk I try to wet his food with some chicken soup but he did not like it either.


How much is ok and how much is too little??? Our Vet said that he should eat about 1/4 of cup of food 3 times a day, most of the time he ate just one, if we are very lucky one and a half or 2, I dont know what else to do for him to eat.

Both my husband and I work full time so we dont have time to cook a extra meal for the dog.

Any suggestions??? is that enough food??? HELP PLEASE!!!
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Go according to what it says on the package. How old is your puppy? Lexi started getting feed twice a day at around 5 months.

 

[k/c mom]

Originally posted by SNOWY@Oct 18 2004, 01:38 PM
Welcome!

This is a GREAT topic, this is something that I've been wanting to ask, Snowy is a very and I mean very picky eater, my husband say he is just too "finickie" (spelling????

) He used to eat IAMS, for puppies, that is the one the vet recommended, and in he was eating fine, but then he started eating less and less, so we change the brand, now we fed him Purina One, (for puppies also) and he like it the first day and then again, started eating less and less. The Vet said solid food is the best for his teeth, so I have not mixed with other stuff. Last wk I try to wet his food with some chicken soup but he did not like it either.


How much is ok and how much is too little??? Our Vet said that he should eat about 1/4 of cup of food 3 times a day, most of the time he ate just one, if we are very lucky one and a half or 2, I dont know what else to do for him to eat.

Both my husband and I work full time so we dont have time to cook a extra meal for the dog.

Any suggestions??? is that enough food??? HELP PLEASE!!!
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[/QUOTE]

My Catcher loves the Royal Canin small breed puppy kibble. It is teeny tiny triangular shaped pieces... nice and small for a small baby. It smells so good, I'm tempted to take a bite myself!

IMHO I would stay away from any food that has by-products or any ingredients that you have never heard of such as a lot of fillers.

Innova that Lexi's Mom mentioned is also a fabulous brand but they don't have a puppy food for small breeds so I'm going to wait until Catcher is on regular food before switching to Innova.

I don't believe there is a brand sold in grocery stores that does not have by-products. Seems "odd" but IMHO the grocery store is not the place to buy dog food.

 

[ButterCloudandNoriko]

Marquela and Pochy--First off, WARM WELCOMES TO YOU

I feed my babies Bil jacs. It's more expensive than science diet, but, they like it, so I like it. Sometimes they get into their "I dont feel like eating mode." I only feed them twice a day now (they're almost 10 mos). I feed them at around 7-8am and then at 5-6pm. Half a cup each time. If they don't eat after a certain time, then I pick up their food until their next feeding. I like to have them on a schedule.

As far as by-products, my vet said some by-products aren't bad. For example, if it has bone by-product, it'll have lots of calcium.

 

[mee]

welcome!!

u'll love this site !!

here is another thread that was talked about a couple months ago and we talked about food...

Food Thread

i also listed some "advantages" of holistic food etc and which brands are out there..

hope it helps~ :lol:

 

[Sunshine]

Hi Marquela & Pochy! Welcome

I feed Abby a mixed diet. She has home-made beef/rice/vitamins/nutrients mix made by a state-wide home delivery service here in Queensland, Australia. They also have a chicken/rice/vitamins/nutrients mix which I will be trying next time. I mix that usually with some sort of baby food. Usually a pea & potato one, and a little pumpkin & potato mix. Abby loves this. She eats this wet combination twice a day - morning and night. For lunch, she has dry puppy biscuits. I was feeding her all wet food when she was younger because she had no teeth, but since growing some teeth she likes this better. The dry food is Lucky Dog Puppy food at the moment. This is the brand that the breeder was using for her, so I bought it before I got her (a big 3kg bag of it!). As soon as she has finished this bag, I am going to put her on Eukanuba, Iams or Science Diet - still researching cos I have plenty of time! LOL

My vet recommended something like Eukanuba to be given once a day to the pup. Reason being that it is rich in nutrients. That way, you can chose what to give her at her other meals and (within reason of course) not be overly concerned... ie I preferred to feed Abby a home-made meal as opposed to tinned food, so feeding her something like Eukanuba ensures that she gets everything she needs.

The only tinned food I like (that I have tried) is an Australian brand called Nature's Gift. This food is made of human-grade foods and, from my research, appears to be quite good for them.

The products out there are limitless, I guess you just have to find one that you feel is right for your baby and that they like! The way I see it, if you supplement one meal a day with a high quality, high nutrient dry food then you can play a bit with the wet food until you find something you are happy with.

Good Luck!

 

[doctorcathy]

sunshine you're sooo lucky you can get food delivered!!!!

 

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by doctorcathy@Oct 20 2004, 08:54 AM
sunshine you're sooo lucky you can get food delivered!!!!
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I know! It's awesome! It costs around $AU5 (I think that's about $2-$3 American)for the food (that's for a 2 Litre tub of it) and free delivery. A 2L tub lasts Abby 3-4 weeks ($5 for a month of food is AWESOME!)

The best thing is, when you find what your puppy likes, and how often they need it - you place an order and say that you want it delivered every month or every two weeks or however often you need it. You just remember the day and leave your money out (and an esky if you won't be home) and come home to healthy home-cooked meals for your baby!!

Then all I do is break it down into daily amounts and freeze it in separate little bags. I take a new bag out each day!

It's cheaper too because you recycle your containers - you pay 50c extra on your first order and then just more or less exchange containers each time. You can get up to like 5kg containers (of course however many you want) which is great for my mum cos she has two large dogs. As long as you are in the areas that they deliver to there's no worries! Mum is in a coastal town about 1/2 hour away, so she gets her delivered to my place and all is well!!

 

[doctorcathy]

geez, i know we definitely spend a lot of money on the dogs just for meat and stuff. like gruffi eats at least a pound of meat every day. we usually wait till the chicken is 99 cents a pound...and then we'll buy A LOT. we stock the outside freezer(which is only for meat and 1/2 shelf is of ice cream. lol) and we go shopping like once a month doing that. we eat their meat too...so i have no idea how much we really spend on them. it's definitely more than $5 a month though. <_<

whats an esky? do you leave your money on your doorstep? OH, is an esky a cooler? its sooo weird how you speak english...but you say words that i have no idea about. and this has nothing to do with anything----have you ever pet a koala? i always thought they were the cutest things.

well, their hands freak me out a little...but they're still cute.

 

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by doctorcathy@Oct 21 2004, 08:36 AM
geez, i know we definitely spend a lot of money on the dogs just for meat and stuff.  like gruffi eats at least a pound of meat every day.  we usually wait till the chicken is 99 cents a pound...and then we'll buy A LOT.  we stock the outside freezer(which is only for meat and 1/2 shelf is of ice cream.  lol)  and we go shopping like once a month doing that.  we eat their meat too...so i have no idea how much we really spend on them.  it's definitely more than $5 a month though.  <_<

whats an esky?  do you leave your money on your doorstep?  OH, is an esky a cooler?  its sooo weird how you speak english...but you say words that i have no idea about.  and this has nothing to do with anything----have you ever pet a koala?  i always thought they were the cutest things. 

  well, their hands freak me out a little...but they're still cute. 

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Sorry, I forget that I speak "Aussie"!!! Yeah an esky is a cooler. As I was reading your message I thought, oh no, what else do you call an esky???? Then you said cooler - so you made it easier for me!! LOL

Yeah I usually just leave my money in a little plastic pocket on the doorstep with the empty containers. I put it in the containers sometimes, but it's usually just easier to leave it out where the delivery guy can see it, and just weigh it down with a rock or something so it doesn't fly away!

I'm assuming it will get more expensive to feed her as she gets older - she's only 12 weeks old! LOL (Oh and she had her shot today.. didn't even make a noise! Good little baby!!

)

HA HA Yeah I have pet a koala before - but only at a nature park. You wouldn't pat one in the wild - they'd rip you to shreds with those claws.

They are adorable. The baby ones are really soft and fluffy like our babies

, but the adult ones have hair that feels like wire - my guess is to keep out the wet etc. It's funny cos we are always asked if we have koalas in our back yard and stuff. The truth is, if you found one in your back yard, you'd stay well away from it and call someone to come and take it back to the bush! And with kangaroos, again, beautiful animals - but those hind legs are powerful. They could rip your stomach open in one go too! You only ever pet those in nature parks too!