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  1. #1
    Real Retriever PinkDragon14's Avatar
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    Iams Puppy Smart?

    Yes, before I post this, I know that this is not the *best* food to feed your Lab. I wanted to keep Murphy on the same food for at least 2 weeks before we switched over to another brand.

    Anyway, does anyone know what "side effects" the Iams may have on a Lab? I've noticed that he smells awful (not just regular dog smell, but oily and gross) and he has a lot of dandruff that started once we started feeding him the Iams regularly (I gave him a "bath" last weekend and that helped for a few hours until the smell returned). He also has a case of skunk breath, but I suspect that's not related to the food at all. Murphy is also EXTREMELY hyper after he eats, and I've read online that the food may make some dogs very hyper.

    We're going to go out today and purchase a small bag of Blue Buffalo's puppy food and see if that makes a difference at all. Of course, it'll take a while until we can give him a meal that is fully Blue Buffalo without Iams, but in the meantime, I wanted to see what side effects Iams may have on a Lab.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Will this be the second time you've switched his food in the 3 weeks or so that you've had him? I'm not sure what he came home on, but lots of food switching in a young puppy is generally not recommended by the breeders who frequent this board. Most people recommend keeping the puppy on the food they come home on unless it's a really poor quality food. It can take a few months to determine whether a dog is doing well on any given food. Some people do think their puppies/dogs smell better or worse on different foods, I can't say I've noticed a bad smell from any of the foods we've fed. As for online reviews, you can find glowing reviews of most foods, even those of dubious quality. As for being hyper after he eats, lab puppies can just be hyper and it may not have anything to do with his food.

    Young puppies can have nasty breath, you'll find people talking fondly of loving the smell of puppy breath. It isn't pleasant to my sense of things. When they start losing their teeth, their breath may seem kind of fishy/metallic and that generally goes away once all their adult teeth have come in.

    Don't hasten to change foods without doing a little reading up on various foods/ingredients. A couple members like The Dog Food Project for giving fairly unbiased advice but it doesn't rate individual foods. The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare?
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    I second the link from Smartrock. Some members guided me there when I was having yeast problems with Maverick. The site does an excellent job of telling you what is good and bad to be in dog foods. You can take that knowledge and make your own decisions.

    As as for puppy food, we left Maverick on what his breeder was feeding him until he was about 8 months old. I would recommend leaving him on what the breeder feeds for at least a few months. We switched at that age because his teeth were in and growth had slowed. We were ready to put him on an adult food and we did so. We kept him on that for almost 6 months before we decided that it wasn't working for him. It all takes time.

    As as for the smelliest, it seems another member has a super smelly pup. The only time we bathe is in cases of severe dirtiness. We use water to spray down if it's pretty dirty, towels for coming in the house, and wipes or wet rags for touch ups. If you give a full on bath, make sure you really work the shampoo in and RINSE RINSE RINSE. And when you think you're done, rinse more. When you dry him, towel dry him as much as you can. Residual soap can be an irritant that will make him itchy and smelly. Also make sure you use a shampoo made for puppies. It's easier on their skin and is more sensitive to his baby eyes if it gets in there.

    as for the breath, is he a poo eater? Either his or a cats? Puppy breath isn't pleasing to me either, but it's much better than the just ate a kitty log breath.

  4. #4
    Real Retriever PinkDragon14's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    Will this be the second time you've switched his food in the 3 weeks or so that you've had him? I'm not sure what he came home on, but lots of food switching in a young puppy is generally not recommended by the breeders who frequent this board. Most people recommend keeping the puppy on the food they come home on unless it's a really poor quality food. It can take a few months to determine whether a dog is doing well on any given food. Some people do think their puppies/dogs smell better or worse on different foods, I can't say I've noticed a bad smell from any of the foods we've fed. As for online reviews, you can find glowing reviews of most foods, even those of dubious quality. As for being hyper after he eats, lab puppies can just be hyper and it may not have anything to do with his food.

    Young puppies can have nasty breath, you'll find people talking fondly of loving the smell of puppy breath. It isn't pleasant to my sense of things. When they start losing their teeth, their breath may seem kind of fishy/metallic and that generally goes away once all their adult teeth have come in.

    Don't hasten to change foods without doing a little reading up on various foods/ingredients. A couple members like The Dog Food Project for giving fairly unbiased advice but it doesn't rate individual foods. The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare?
    Iams smart puppy is the same food that he came home on (my fault - I should've made that clearer). He definitely gets a bit "cranky" when he's hungry (biting, barking, craziness, etc.), but it seems like the food turns him into the Energizer bunny LOL. Thank you for the link - I will definitely check that out. As for his breath, I thought puppy breath was supposed to be sweet and inviting, not like he ate a skunk. I started giving him Greenies the other day, so I'm waiting to see if that helps a little bit. I plan on purchasing the toothbrush/toothpaste for dogs as well.


    Quote Originally Posted by Meeps83 View Post
    I second the link from Smartrock. Some members guided me there when I was having yeast problems with Maverick. The site does an excellent job of telling you what is good and bad to be in dog foods. You can take that knowledge and make your own decisions.

    As as for puppy food, we left Maverick on what his breeder was feeding him until he was about 8 months old. I would recommend leaving him on what the breeder feeds for at least a few months. We switched at that age because his teeth were in and growth had slowed. We were ready to put him on an adult food and we did so. We kept him on that for almost 6 months before we decided that it wasn't working for him. It all takes time.

    As as for the smelliest, it seems another member has a super smelly pup. The only time we bathe is in cases of severe dirtiness. We use water to spray down if it's pretty dirty, towels for coming in the house, and wipes or wet rags for touch ups. If you give a full on bath, make sure you really work the shampoo in and RINSE RINSE RINSE. And when you think you're done, rinse more. When you dry him, towel dry him as much as you can. Residual soap can be an irritant that will make him itchy and smelly. Also make sure you use a shampoo made for puppies. It's easier on their skin and is more sensitive to his baby eyes if it gets in there.

    as for the breath, is he a poo eater? Either his or a cats? Puppy breath isn't pleasing to me either, but it's much better than the just ate a kitty log breath.
    I usually wipe his feet when he comes in the house from outside with puppy wipes and I towel him down if it is raining or the grass is wet. When I gave him a bath last weekend, I used gentle puppy shampoo (the oatmeal kind) and some warm water. Obviously, he hated it, but he smelled terrible. From now on, I'm going to give him a bath roughly once every 2-3 months, depending on how dirty he gets.

    The closest he gets to his poo is sniffing it, but I've never seen him eat/lick it. We don't have any cats either, but I do catch him eating leaves/grass/moss/etc and the minute it touches his mouth, I'm right there to take it out. I'm hoping the smelly breath (and the eating everything like a Hoover) is just a phase and once his adult teeth come in, he'll have more "pleasant" breath

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Georgia's Avatar
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    A teething puppy can have really disgusting breath!
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  7. #6
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I call puppy-breath "skunk breath". I don't mind it but it does smell skunky to me. Teething breath is due to the blood.

    My Grace was weaned on Iams and we kept her on it for a 20# bag. Which is what I recommend to you as well. Side-effects? None. She's been out healthiest dog to date! And she's 10 1/2 now.

    Blue Buffalo still has some sort of spell on people even though they were sued by Purina for LYING about their ingredients. They aren't as "natural" as they claimed to be. If you want to try a different food that's similar to what you are feeding (to avoid tummy problems), look for a Eukanuba puppy. Or you can go the route of Pro Plan Puppy. I have 2 pups coming this Sept....one is being weaned on Purina One, the other on Royal Canin, they are both going on Pro Plan Puppy. If you absolutely feel the need to go for something that you think is "better"....look at something like Fromm's. Keep away from the BB.

  8. #7
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I also think that maybe you had a different idea of what dogs smelled like. Whether it's "sweet" or not is in the nose of the smeller. Lots of folks complain about the "wet dog" smell. I am kind of fond of it though its not actually "pleasant". And labs don't need baths unless they have rolled in STINK. Sometimes TOO MANY baths lead to dogs getting a funky smell.

  9. #8
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    I wouldn't touch Blue buffalo with a 10ft pole; LOTS of dogs have become ill from eating that food & they source their ingredients from China; they are not alone in that aspect though....unfortunately probably 90% of your foods out there source from China, just the way it's become in the animal feed industry.

    If I had a new puppy this day & age, I'd keep it on what the initial breeder had the pup on for the first few weeks; after that, just like the older pup I have now, it would be switched to a raw diet. But if one is not acknowledged in raising a *puppy* on raw, don't switch until after 8-9mnths of age.

    But seeing the differences in a dog raised early on kibble, versus one raised on raw from 6mnths of age and forward, I will never depend upon what's in a bag to provide everything the dog needs.

    Iams is far from the worst food; and blue buffalo is definitely NOT the best....not sure there is a *best* dry dog food, as they are all sourced with *feed grade* ingredients and not human-grade like Beneful wants the world to believe.

    My sister feeds Iams, her dog & cats do just fine; there is nothing wrong with sticking with that for now; at least the first few weeks. If you care to switch after that, I would look into Eukanuba puppy, at least it contains meat as the first 2 ingredients, IIRC.

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  11. #9
    Real Retriever PinkDragon14's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    I call puppy-breath "skunk breath". I don't mind it but it does smell skunky to me. Teething breath is due to the blood.

    My Grace was weaned on Iams and we kept her on it for a 20# bag. Which is what I recommend to you as well. Side-effects? None. She's been out healthiest dog to date! And she's 10 1/2 now.

    Blue Buffalo still has some sort of spell on people even though they were sued by Purina for LYING about their ingredients. They aren't as "natural" as they claimed to be. If you want to try a different food that's similar to what you are feeding (to avoid tummy problems), look for a Eukanuba puppy. Or you can go the route of Pro Plan Puppy. I have 2 pups coming this Sept....one is being weaned on Purina One, the other on Royal Canin, they are both going on Pro Plan Puppy. If you absolutely feel the need to go for something that you think is "better"....look at something like Fromm's. Keep away from the BB.
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by Woofie View Post
    I wouldn't touch Blue buffalo with a 10ft pole; LOTS of dogs have become ill from eating that food & they source their ingredients from China; they are not alone in that aspect though....unfortunately probably 90% of your foods out there source from China, just the way it's become in the animal feed industry.

    If I had a new puppy this day & age, I'd keep it on what the initial breeder had the pup on for the first few weeks; after that, just like the older pup I have now, it would be switched to a raw diet. But if one is not acknowledged in raising a *puppy* on raw, don't switch until after 8-9mnths of age.

    But seeing the differences in a dog raised early on kibble, versus one raised on raw from 6mnths of age and forward, I will never depend upon what's in a bag to provide everything the dog needs.

    Iams is far from the worst food; and blue buffalo is definitely NOT the best....not sure there is a *best* dry dog food, as they are all sourced with *feed grade* ingredients and not human-grade like Beneful wants the world to believe.

    My sister feeds Iams, her dog & cats do just fine; there is nothing wrong with sticking with that for now; at least the first few weeks. If you care to switch after that, I would look into Eukanuba puppy, at least it contains meat as the first 2 ingredients, IIRC.
    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.

  12. #10
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    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!!

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