Iams Puppy Smart?

[PinkDragon14]

Make SURE U are NOT feeding him the adult/maintenance grain-free Wellnes version - that one is NOT suited for puppies and will cause growth plate issues BIG TIME!!!

Please post a picture of the one you are using or send me the link I will help U....this is VERY important.....Wellness has grain-free versions STRICTLY for adult dogs NOT puppies!!

We bought Wellness grain free for puppies (pic below). Definitely don't want anything happening! Thank you for the warning

[BaconsMom]

We bought Wellness grain free for puppies (pic below). Definitely don't want anything happening! Thank you for the warning

I do not personally feed it, but it looks like a good food! Hopefully it works well for your pup!

[Woofie]

We bought Wellness grain free for puppies (pic below). Definitely don't want anything happening! Thank you for the warning

Good...ok! I didn't know they were making a grain-free for puppies now; I stopped feeding Wellness 8yrs ago. Make sure the calcium MAX percentage is not more then 1.2% however, and be sure to feed it for at least the first 18mnths of age.

I do NOT recommend putting a dog younger then 4yrs or so on the adult grain-free Wellness version however; if you look at the bag of the adult versions, it literally states for *maintenance* only, or at least that's what they were saying as of a year ago when our store was still carrying the product.

We no longer sale Wellness, so I haven't kept up with the product; but I don't like any product that states for *maintenance* versus *all life stages*; to me, it feels like it's less then balanced for all situations of a dogs life or immunity.

[JenC]

I don't know, most of the labs I know are ones that are owned by breeders or those that do a lot of obedience/rally. I don't rarely hear of joint problems and most pups I see grow up nice and slow and evenly. Pups that I see and hear about on these boards always seem to have problems people are trying to fix. The difference, the folks I know are fine feeding foods like Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Euk or other mid-range foods. I just don't have any substantial historical evidence on how pups do growing up on Grain Free. I wouldn't feed it, but that's me.

[Charlotte K.]

For what it's worth, the Seeing Eye generally sends their puppies to puppy raisers/walkers on Iams.

[Annette47]

I don't know, most of the labs I know are ones that are owned by breeders or those that do a lot of obedience/rally. I don't rarely hear of joint problems and most pups I see grow up nice and slow and evenly. Pups that I see and hear about on these boards always seem to have problems people are trying to fix. The difference, the folks I know are fine feeding foods like Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Euk or other mid-range foods. I just don't have any substantial historical evidence on how pups do growing up on Grain Free. I wouldn't feed it, but that's me.

My adults do well on grain-free, but I agree, I wouldn’t put a puppy on it. We’re currently feeding Pro-Plan to the pups.

[barry581]

I fed Royal Canin Lab Puppy to Sophie until she was 15 months old, then switched to Fromm 4 Star, mostly the grain free versions. Their breeder had used Royal Canin for years. I had planned on doing the same with Bruce. What I didn't know was Royal Canin completely changed the formula here in the US, and it was completely different from what my breeders were using in the UK. After having issues the first couple weeks, I switched Bruce to Fromm Large Breed Puppy Gold when I found out about the Royal Canin issue. I put Bruce on the Fromm 4 Star rotation with Sophie when he was 12 months, and I've been very happy with how they have done on it. Recently my pet store started selling Petkind Tripe dry formulas. I've been mixing it with the Fromm, and will work them into to rotation with the Fromm food.

I also give the dogs a big spoonful of greek yogurt every morning, and some raw salmon mixed in their evening meal. Egg yolk a couple times a week, and a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar every other day.

[Woofie]

Jen - I actually agree with U highly; I myself don't recommend grain-free foods to puppies either. My response was simply to what owner has chosen on her own, I wouldn't even recommend Wellness foods - their foods have changed hands too many times to be respectable.

I myself fed Creek Fromm's puppy food (with grains) til she refused to eat it; after that switched her to raw, but she still got HK base mix, which included grains mixed in several meals out of the week. Now that she's 2yrs old; she only gets grains once or twice a week; seems to do better with more meat/organs rather then grains.

But, as puppies being fed commercial dry foods; I DO believe a proven all life stages food with grains is better at least until they are full grown - that includes - Fromm's puppy which has been around for a LONG time as well as your classic's - Eukanuba, etc.

[Georgia]

We ended up going with Wellness instead of BB due to higher ratings. So far, he seems to like it (of course, its only 25% right now) and his "smell" is starting to fade. His breath still smells, but it seems to be more "garlic" smelling now. He's been fed Iams ever since the breeder started the switch to actual kibble and he's had that ever since. We're slowly transitioning him to Wellness (grain free) and we'll see how that goes. The Iams just gave him a funky smell and he definitely didn't get into anything in the yard/house that could've caused it. Even one day into the transition, he's starting to smell a little better. Hopefully in a week he'll be even better.

I tend to think there was something environmental affecting your puppy's smell. Maybe a loose bleeding tooth or something like that. I just can't imagine a little bit of new food could change the pup's smell so quickly. Anyway, one of my dog's is on the Wellness Simple Solutions lamb and oatmeal formula. It's a nice food but I think it's way overpriced. When this bag is finished, I'll probably take him off of it. I hope the food continues to work for your puppy.

[PinkDragon14]

Jen - I actually agree with U highly; I myself don't recommend grain-free foods to puppies either. My response was simply to what owner has chosen on her own, I wouldn't even recommend Wellness foods - their foods have changed hands too many times to be respectable.

I myself fed Creek Fromm's puppy food (with grains) til she refused to eat it; after that switched her to raw, but she still got HK base mix, which included grains mixed in several meals out of the week. Now that she's 2yrs old; she only gets grains once or twice a week; seems to do better with more meat/organs rather then grains.

But, as puppies being fed commercial dry foods; I DO believe a proven all life stages food with grains is better at least until they are full grown - that includes - Fromm's puppy which has been around for a LONG time as well as your classic's - Eukanuba, etc.

Do you think that the raw diet would be beneficial once he grows up a bit more? I've considered that as well, but I guess I just need an opinion on it. Our other lab was always fed lamb and rice, as she had a TON of allergies (including chicken, corn, etc.) and really didn't have a choice. We're at least blessed that Murphy doesn't have all of the allergies that our yellow did. Anyway, we never really gave a thought (then and now) to using a raw diet. I would like to pursue dock jumping (if he takes interest in it) and want him to have the most energy possible if he decides that he enjoys it.