Puppy food confusion!!

miami2007

Need some advise.......im looking for a good quality food that doesn't have more than 27% protein. Our little Weimaraner bitch is coming home on saturday and im still no closer to finding a food!

Royal Canin is very high, as is James Wellbeloved.....dont want her to grow too quick, need good stong bones to develop slowly!

smilerf

put her on burns mini bites and eventally move over to the burns adult range..
its 21% protein i think with no fillers so less poo
we feed our westie it and he loves it and hes coat is nice and shiny

miami2007

thanks smilerf, how do you know there is less fillers? how are they described on the ingrediants list?

ISDW

What has the breeder been feeding her? I'd be asking them for advice on what would be the best food for her.

sungem

Hi there, I have a one year old Weimaraner and he has been fed Burns since we got him last year and he has thrived. Please keep us updated on how you are getting on and just one piece of advice be firm with her, our Fitz likes to try and be the boss!!! Best of luck...

smilerf

miami2007 wrote: »

thanks smilerf, how do you know there is less fillers? how are they described on the ingrediants list?

ye there are no fillers at all just chicken etc brown rice and peas
its rated a very good dog food and personally i think its great
bit of advice when researching listen to the dog owners and not these so called expert sites(yes dog food analysis is comprehensive but they seem to by the theory the more meat the better rating it gets even if there are fillers haha)

miami2007

the breeder has her and the 9 (!!!) other little ones on pedigree puppy - im not a fan of pedigree, its so stinky and our other dog (a sheltie) never did well on it at all.

our sheltie is on JW and its really suiting her - shes 15. suppose im looking for a good feed that promotes healthy growth in a larger dog - with right balance of protein and calcium

elainepie

Has anyone ever tried Bento Kronen. it is a Belgian food but my local petshop sells it. It is €42 a big bag .the book that comes with the food (yes a book, not just a leaflet!)says it provodes immunity booosters, dental health, cardial protect, calcium and is chicken based.. among other things. I asked another pet shop which didn't sell it and they said it is a good food and they would reccomend it...

ISDW

miami2007 wrote: »

the breeder has her and the 9 (!!!) other little ones on pedigree puppy - im not a fan of pedigree, its so stinky and our other dog (a sheltie) never did well on it at all.

OK, yep, agree with you on that one, don't rate it at all.

Have you checked to see if there are any Weim forums out there, either in the UK or even the US? The people on there would probably have very good advice for you, because you're right, you need to be careful about the rate of growth etc.

Ahem, we are going to need a lot of pictures of this pup you know!

Sigma Force

So many foods out there it's so confusing, one of mine has a sensative tum and she's back on Burns and does well on it. They have a new adult flavour Potatoe and Pork and she loves it even more than the chicken and rice. I thought perhaps the spud wouldn't agree with her but so far so good.

Molberts

I called Orijen last week as I think Molly may have a grain mite allergy and as their range is grain free I figured it might be worth a try.

I asked about protein and he was saying that its the quality/source of the protein rather than the % that is important.

Smilerf, as dogs are carnivores, technically even the best of brown rice is a "filler" Dogs dont have amylase in their saliva to break down carbs like we do so it just goes through them mostly. But I get you about Burns, like its not chock full of random cheap fillers/bulkers for example my all time fave:

"derivatives of vegetable origin" :eek::mad:

miami2007

ISDW wrote: »

OK, yep, agree with you on that one, don't rate it at all.

Have you checked to see if there are any Weim forums out there, either in the UK or even the US? The people on there would probably have very good advice for you, because you're right, you need to be careful about the rate of growth etc.

Ahem, we are going to need a lot of pictures of this pup you know!

pics will come asap! cant wait till she comes home!

the weim forums are good but mainly US based, and we just dont have some of the foods they rate.

bought some Iams there this morning, just 28% protein and .8 calcium. think this is probably one of the best ratios ive seen so we'll try her on that.

hoping she'l be a good agility and obediance dog so want to be sure from the start that she doesnt have any growth spurts which will be bad news for her joints

nautical star

Ive been using Orijen for 3 months now and its by far the best dog food ive ever used and ive used them all, Burns, Royal canin, Hill, the lot,

just check out dogfoodanalysis.com and see for yourself,

and a list of Orijen suppliers can be found here:
http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/acatalog/stockists.html#eire

plaese be carefull what you feed your dogs everyone so many well know brand names are awfull and its taken me many years to figure this out,

smilerf

dog genetic make up has changed down through the years and i havent come across a vet magazine or site who reccomends a high protein diet
also brown rice is not a filler yes its a grain but a good quality one

Molberts

Smilerf, i think you missed my point. Yes brown rice is a grain, but my point was it may as well be a filler as its not a whole lot of good to a carnivore as they cant digest most of it.

As regards vet magazines/sites, anything funded/sponsored by pet food co's are of course going to be one sided so I would be be careful what you believe

Dogs genes may have changed over the years but the fact remains that they are still carnivores! Their jaws still open and close straight only, they cant gnash side to side to crunch up grains like we can... we humans (omnivores) *need* carbs, dogs don't.

This is just IMO, not trying to preach to anyone, just sharing what I've learned and concluded during extensive research on what to stock and feed my own dogs

smilerf

Molberts wrote: »

Smilerf, i think you missed my point. Yes brown rice is a grain, but my point was it may as well be a filler as its not a whole lot of good to a carnivore as they cant digest most of it.

As regards vet magazines/sites, anything funded/sponsored by pet food co's are of course going to be one sided so I would be be careful what you believe

Dogs genes may have changed over the years but the fact remains that they are still carnivores! Their jaws still open and close straight only, they cant gnash side to side to crunch up grains like we can... we humans (omnivores) *need* carbs, dogs don't.

This is just IMO, not trying to preach to anyone, just sharing what I've learned and concluded during extensive research on what to stock and feed my own dogs

its all about personal preference really isnt it.
for me orijen has too much protein but u are ok with it aslong as its not your pedegree purina bakers iams beta etc we are on the right track

Sigma Force

But rice is easier digested when cooked as is carrot, I've sometimes thought how strange it is that dog food hasn't got all that much meat in it. Wolves, foxes etc. all eat insects even berries etc. but meat is the main part of their diet but then again they have to work a lot harder to get it so need it.

I've tried various foods over the years and Burns has worked well for our dogs, poops better, skin is better etc.

Red mills is a good food I think esp. if on a tight budget.

nautical star

burns is far from the worst food out there but dogs are carnivors and burns having only 20% meat and 63% rice??? how much is a 15kg bag of rice?? not over €60 thats for sure! and red mills??? wouldnt feed it to my rats.... read the ingridient list, a bag of Orijen last my 24kg collie nearly 8weeks, thats about €1.20 per day.... thats not expensive....

teckster

Rice and peas :eek: in dog food are cheap fillers, but by far not the worst.
60% rice is way too much. Bad ingredients are what make dogs fat and unhealthy.

The Burns' website is good, in that it tells you how to actually feed your dog on a homemade diet

We feed meat & veg, and occasionally Orijen. No carbohydrates, no soya or maize etc.. My dog won't even touch the other so called 'dog foods', he does not know what they are

Sigma Force

My dogs have good muscle tone and in general excellent health on the Burns so it can't be all bad.

What % of meat should a dog food have do people rekon?

High protein diets aparently make some dogs a bit nutty.

Blueprint

My dog was nutty as a fruitcake when I first got him (he's a collie x terrier, so it's genetic as well as anything else!) and he was on Pedigree puppy at the time. He's still a bit of a loon at times, but only when it's appropriate and he can sleep all day when you don't have time for him, so in his case the high protein Orijen isn't driving him up the walls.

smilerf

has any1 heard of acana grasslands? ive been thinking maybe i should switch him to that for awhile now

nautical star

the acana isnt bad,

the high protein thing is a bit missunderstood, the important thing isnt the amount of protein but where it comes from, if you go onto the orijen website they have it all up there and elsewhere on the web people agree with it,

My dog is not at all hyper on the Orijen good energy levels when out for a walk but very calm at home,