We don't have our new pup yet. He will be 1 week old tomorrow....We are trying to decide what kind of food to feed him. We are thinking about Eukanuba (sp) Large Breed Puppy.

Do you have any recommendations?? Why do you use the kind you use??

All input appreciated~

DeAnn
Anxious mama to be!!!!

Hoping you get more replies to this than mine.

I would NOT feed Nutro Nat. Choice LB Pup again. We had dry coat and significant flaking and itching on it. It does not have balanced omegas oils in it...which many not be a problem for some dogs, but it is for mine. Also, that formula has wheat and corn in it.

If I were to do it again....the ones I would consider would be (in no particular order)

Diamond Pup Lamb/Rice
Premium Edge LB Pup Lamb/Rice
Eukanuba LB Pup
maybe even Pro Plan LB Pup.

My friend used Iams LB pup and was very pleased with it.

Suzie

I do use Nutro Natural and have had good results with my pup. I didn't experience any flaking or itching. I chose this food after asking others on this board. You can find lots of different posts about what to feed your pup. I also liked that Nutro didn't use by-products. But basically like I was told it has to be a personal choice and what your dog does best on. What works for one dog may not work for another.
Melissa

We've had Jack on Science Diet Large Breed Puppy since we got him, the breeder started him on it, and he is just fine...it all depends on what works well for your pup....some dogs do well on a certain kind of food, and then you hear stories of other dogs who had problems with the same kind of food...all dogs are different and like humans, can be allergic to certain ingredients....good luck with your choice:D

Roxy is also on Science Diet Puppy (hey know some of you don’t like it! Plez don’t give me the third degree LOL :p: ) But she is doing great on it as well... Honestly her poops are less stinky and she actually poops less :D , which led us to think that she is "using" more of the food, with less waste. But hey that’s just us. I’m sure their are better brands out their, I think we would all agree... use what is best for your pup. :D :)

I don't recommend any food to any one because each and every dog does differently on each food. I merely tell people what to look for in a decent quality pet food, then I want them to look around to see what is available to them, pick a food they feel comfortable with then see how their dog does on it.


Things I avoid in pet foods are:
-Added sugar
-BHA/BHT
-Ethoxyquin
-more than 1 or 2 food fragments
-Added coloring
-meat and bone meal
-Meat Meal
-Beef Tallow
-I also avoid a pet food that has only something like Chicken listed as the first ingredient and no other sources of meat. If the food only has one meat source as the first ingredients spot - I want it to be a speficic meat meal.

Things I want to see in a pet food:
-Whole ingredients
-something like Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal, or Beef Meal - something specific.
-I prefer to see more than one meat source. Check out the ingredients of foods like Innova, Canidae, or Eagle Pack - I know foods of the like are quite high in meat.

I know there is a tad bit more that I avoid and look for in pet foods, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

For any one interested in the meat vs. meal topic, here's a little more on that. Something like Chicken Meal is merely chicken with the moisture removed. Just Chicken listed on a label is in its wet state. Wet state meats contain something like 75% water - if I remember right. So if a pet food has only Chicken listed as the first ingredient, before processing one has 10 pounds of chicken, after processing one is down to only 3 pounds of chicken. Also, it doesn't take much wet state chicken to outweigh all of those already dry state ingredients following the chicken. Now with Chicken Meal one has 10 pounds of dry state chicken before processing and 10 pounds of chicken after processing. It takes *A LOT* more dry state chicken to outweigh all those dry state grains and other ingredients. Make sense?

You should be asking your breeder this question. Unless there is a really good reason not to, you should be feeding what they do. Most breeders have tried just about all the different foods on the market and know which ones work with their dogs. Since the breeder is the one guaranteeing the dog, we tend to be a bit anal about making sure the puppy buyer feeds the foods we recommend.

The reason for my question is that I am not getting my pup from a breder. The mother ran off and all of a sudden there were 10 puppies. It is possible they are not even full labs although the only male dogs in the neighborhood are also labs so they are pretty sure they are!! It is my sister in laws dog and being that she was not expecting puppies she may or may not feed the pups the quality of food that I would choose. I wanted input from the real "experts".

Thanks for all the good info!! I really appreciate it!!

Can you print this out for her to give her some ideas?

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html

My puppies go home on Eukanuba Large Breed puppy food. Some of my breeder friends use ProPlan puppy.

I am hoping perhaps your SIL learned a little lesson here...and after this litter will have her girly fixed. I love my Cooper, but I would never dream of having him bred, I know so little about what constitutes a truly good labrador.

I just wanted to let you know that there were many posts about food in the health and nutrition section. You could try doing a search and you will come up with a lot. Here is the link to the question I posted about food when I first got my pup. Maybe it will help in your decision. I had a lot of responses.

http://lab-retriever.net/board/showthread.php?threadid=3471&goto=newpost

My Abbey was raised on Eukanuba for LB

She seems good with it. My vet recently told us to take Omega supplement...I am still reading up on it...she seems healthy enough...but she does scratch and itch alot...but we are swarmed with mosquitoes...so I'm still watching and waiting to see...

But I agree with what's been said...different for every pup...you really should continue with breeders brand and slowly switch if you do....at least that's what I've read...

Now...me on the other hand, I eat just about anything...but that's another chat board!!!

Kahlua started off with Puupy Pro Plan, but my vet recommended Eukanuba. So now she is on Eukanuba for LB. She really likes it. :)

I have been feeding Madison, my 10 month old, a brand called Innova made by Natura Pet Products. Since I switched her over to this brand, she has stopped eating grass and her poop has become much more consistent and firm. However, like most other posts on this topic, I agree that you should feed whatever your pup seems to do the best on. All dogs (like all humans) have different allergies and will do better on one food or another. If you're interested, the link to Innova is:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

Just remember that if you're going to try switching food, do it gradually so as not to upset your puppy's stomach.

Drakken

We use the Costco brand Kirkland, which is Diamond's private label, Lamb and Rice. The most impressive thing so far to me has been that our Lab switched cold turkey from the family we adopted him from, without so much as a day of lower-consumption or loose stool.

I'm in the process of looking at dog foods myself. My breeder recommends FLint River Ranch...is anyone familiar with this?

I feed our two labs Wellness (Old Mother Hubbard). They do well on it and it keeps their coat full, free of any dandruff and they have a nice smell to them. Since we only feed dry, it makes a nice gravy when warm water is added. OMH makes great treats as well - I need low fat since my 8 yr old is on a diet.

Our foster dog is on Iams Puppy (don't know why she is at 18 months old) but I mix 1/2 Iams and 1/2 Wellness since the Wellness may give her the runs so I'm easing her into it!

We started Levi on ProPlan but he had the runs so we switched to Canidae and he is doing much better.

My Anubis has been on Science Diet, Innova, and Eukanuba. Out of the three, the Eukanuba has done the best for her. We do use an omega fatty supplement to help with the skin and also feed fresh fish from time to time. My little Akasha has been on Eukanuba since the day she was born.:)