What do you feed your pup?

[Amelia]

We have been feeding Purina Pro Plan to Amber since we brought her home. She loves it and is doing well but I have noticed her scratching herself some and I'm wondering if it's the corn in it that could be causing it. One of our local pet stores owners says corn can cause hot spots and I ask him about the grain free debatacle. He has been in business in our community for many years and said that the grain free dog foods sold in the grocery stores are different from the higher quality food that are sold in stores like his. Of course he sells the non grain free foods as well so he will make money no matter what his customers buy.
I'm really not thinking about going grain free at this time but just curious what others are feeding.

[kimbersmom]

Stormy's on Pro Plan chicken and rice for large breed puppies. We'll move her to the adult version after she's 1.

[Annette47]

Depending on how their daily waist check goes, LOL, they either get Pro-Plan Sport 26/16 with chicken and rice or if I think they're getting chubby Annamaet Adult which is also chicken and rice based but has fewer calories (less protein and fat - it's 23/12).

Cookie usually gets the Pro-Plan as she is less variable with her weight. Chloe and Sass tend to switch it up more depending on how active they've been.

[arentspowell]

We're sticking with the pro-plan puppy chicken and rice as that's what the breeder fed. I will admit I haven't looked into it all that much but there are some concerns with grain free foods causing issues due to the taurine content or concerns that the protein sources in grain free prevent taurine absorption. Someone else might be able to explain this better but there are concerns with grain free lately.

[Amelia]

I'm beginning to think feeding a dog is getting more complicated than feeding a baby with so many if's and buts. I have read that foods containing exotic meats like kangaroo, bison, etc. and also cause problems. A lot of people complain because Purina was bought by Nestle a few years ago and think they know nothing about making dog food. I just think Purina has been around for many years and I would think no matter who owns them they should still do a good job of making pet food.

We're sticking with the pro-plan puppy chicken and rice as that's what the breeder fed. I will admit I haven't looked into it all that much but there are some concerns with grain free foods causing issues due to the taurine content or concerns that the protein sources in grain free prevent taurine absorption. Someone else might be able to explain this better but there are concerns with grain free lately.

[SunDance]

I'm beginning to think feeding a dog is getting more complicated than feeding a baby with so many if's and buts. I have read that foods containing exotic meats like kangaroo, bison, etc. and also cause problems. A lot of people complain because Purina was bought by Nestle a few years ago and think they know nothing about making dog food. I just think Purina has been around for many years and I would think no matter who owns them they should still do a good job of making pet food.

This isn't specific to Nestle/Purina.....just a comment on the thought process.

Proctor & Gamble took over California Natural (excellent company, had been around a long time) and promptly trashed it. (as a lot of us suspected would happen)

[smartrock]

So there has been a lot of concern raised about various formulations of dog foods around the issue of Dilated Cardiomyopathy. While there was some concern that a taurine deficiency was responsible for the DCM in dogs not genetically predisposed to it, many dogs diagnosed with DCM have had normal taurine levels in the blood or serum. Is it exotic proteins? Is it the carbohydrate substitutes added when grains were removed? Is it something else? I think it's still under study. As for your dog food store friend saying the grain-free they sell is somehow better than grocery store grain-free, the Facebook group on Taurine-deficient DCM has been collecting information from members whose dogs have been diagnosed or died from DCM and the highest numbers of cases are associated with those high quality boutique pet store grain-free foods.

For now, the foods being recommended by the veterinarian scientists studying this issue are those that meet the guidelines published by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) which I'll link to below. The WSAVA doesn't approve or recommend foods, they just have guidelines that they consider important in selecting foods. The brands that meet these guidelines (which include employing a full time PhD level nutritionist, actually doing feeding trials, not just mixing ingredients to get achieve the AAFCO nutrient profiles, etc) right now are Royal Canin, Purina, Hills Science Diet, Iams, and Eukanuba but not their grain-free options. My dogs are on Purina Pro Plan. BTW, allergies to foods are more commonly the proteins rather than corn or grains.

https://www.wsava.org/WSAVA/media/Do...r-your-Pet.pdf

[Jen5200]

Bella is on ProPlan puppy lamb and rice, she had issues with the chicken and rice version (soft poops and itchy skin).

[Laura]

Raw.

[voodoo]

lg brd puppy chow from breeder...will transition to farmina puppy chicken maxi I think...after 12 weeks olds.