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Advice on Dog Food please...

Nico'sMom

Nico'sMom

New Member
Hello! We are getting a doberman puppy soon and I am so confused on what to feed our boy. I really want to be prepared when we bring him home and know which food we will be giving him as to not have to switch foods on him. Does anyone think Wellness is too rich, especially for puppies? Thanks!
 
Maybe this is a stupid question, but what is the breeder feeding him? Perhaps you could stick with that. Sophie came to us eating Innova large breed puppy and she did fine on that.
 
I believe she said that the Mom and Dad are eating Iams but I am hearing that Iams has a lot of fillers, etc. I don't know if the breeder started the puppies on dog food yet (they will be six weeks old on Saturday). Thanks for the advice - I read good things about Innova...
 
You'll definitely have to keep him on what the breeder is feeding at least for a while. If you aren't fond of what he's getting now you can gradually switch it and I don't think Wellness is a bad food at all, but I can't remember the specifics on what it has in it either.

What is the breeder feeding now, and what do you have available in your area? That would help narrow it down a lot. :)
 
Nico'sMom said:
I believe she said that the Mom and Dad are eating Iams but I am hearing that Iams has a lot of fillers, etc. I don't know if the breeder started the puppies on dog food yet (they will be six weeks old on Saturday). Thanks for the advice - I read good things about Innova...
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I don't blame you for wanting to switch from Iams at all. Not a good food with all of the fillers, like you mentioned.
 
Thank you.. I am going to call or email her soon and ask if the puppies are on Iams now. If they are, then I will do exactly as you said, keep him on it and gradually incorporate a better food into his diet. I have all the premium brands available in my area so that's not a problem.
 
You're so lucky to have the better foods available and it's great you're doing your research ahead of time! As a rule, it's better to give larger breed pups a lower protein food (less than about 25%) do they don't grow too fast, but there are lots of great brands out there without the junk fillers that will fit the bill. It also varies from dog to dog on what they will do best on so at times it's a bit of trial and error to figure out what they do best on.
 
Addie came to me on Iams and I had to switch her over. What ever brand you choose I would do a premium large breed puppy and I think you will be fine. Dog food can be very confusing, there are so many different ones and everybody has an option!
 
I would stick with the tips Jan gave you. Dog food advisor is a great website to read up on the ingredients and to get an idea of what is good stuff and what's not. It's also a great site to help you learn how to read the labels on your own so you can do a quick rundown of something at the store on your own if you come across a new food.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/?s=wellness

I always recommend people to feed at least a 3 star food, if not higher. But 3 star is better than Iams!
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dry/
 
Here's another good site which gives you the run down on each food they've reviewed telling you what's good and bad about it etc:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

and another:

http://dogaware.com/diet/dryfood.html

I only wish I had the choice in Mexico - I went through a lot of hassle and expenses importing food the last time I was in the US. I'm feeding Ashra 'The Honest Kitchen' dehydrated food (Thrive & Embark) and I've found she does really well on it, small firm poops that don't smell, and it's not full of fillers so you don't have to feed as much.

www.thehonestkitchen.com
 
First congratulations! :congrats: on your new baby... we love the 'reds' here too.... lovely baby boy from the photos!

How old will he be when he 'comes home' to you guys? It would be helpful to know how long he has been being fed a low nutritional value food like Iams....
There are numerous foods you can feed him but what is your own personal feeling about what you want to feed "your new four legged child' when he comes home?
That should help you in your search.
Personally I am know as and I proclaim with unabashed commitment that I am a somewhat "MILITANT" advocate of Raw feeding and I make no 'bones' about it... (pun intended) :) :drama:
I can highly recommend some very helpful sources of information on how to go about feeding any dog and especially a doberman a raw diet and there are TONZ of links in various threads on this very forum about raw feeding and or what 'level' of premium foods you might want to choose to take on as your own personal choice about how you hope to feed your new 'baby' for his entire lifetime.

if it where me?
I would get him off of Iam's as fast as possible if it were me, but I am never going to feed my dogs anything less than what nature intended for them to eat.
in the past couple years I will admit that I have strayed from my 'commitment' and I have compromised a bit now and again and tried to fed foods like Taste of the Wild for a while, Timberwolf, Honest Kitchen, Acana/Orijen and the latter I found the best of the 'kibbled' foods available... Timberwolf and Orijen would be my choice IF I were to feed Kibble again... but after much, much research and soul searching I wont feed them anything but raw anymore...
I myself prefer raw food and natural food over processed anything and I take a 'hard line' on it with my dogs.
To each their own.... Do your own due diligence and you will find something you feel comfortable with!
congratulations again on your new red baby! :2cents
 
Wow, thanks so much for all this great advice!! I am definitely going to get Nico off of Iams as fast can I can and incorporate a premium food into his diet and having these websites and brands recommended to look into will definitely help me find the right one. We are bringing him home when he is exactly 8 weeks old - a little over 2 weeks away and seems like forever....

Another question: Does anyone recommend bringing a blanket or something with us to let his siblings and mom and day lay on so we can bring it home and he can still smell them once he's away from them?
 
There are many that feel a blanket will help. I send a stuffed toy home with mine that they have all played with and slept with as I was crate training. That way they have something familiar to take with them and cudddle with that they are used to.
 
My family eats a lot of raw foods / nothing processed / no preservatives and are actually vegetarians - so I don't want Nico eating anything like that either. I feel the better they eat, the longer they will live, the better they will feel and it will help prevent any illnesses in the future just like us humans! Can anyone give a sample of a raw food diet for a dog? I don't think we would do a full raw diet but we would incorporate with premium dog food.
 
Thank you. I don't know if my breeder is going to be giving us anything that they have all been around but I will bring something and let them all cuddle with it. Breaks my heart to take him away from his mommy, daddy and brothers but I know he will have a great home with us and I will be his new Mommy.
 
Nico'sMom said:
Can anyone give a sample of a raw food diet for a dog? I don't think we would do a full raw diet but we would incorporate with premium dog food.
Click to expand...
We have a whole raw section here, so it might be helpful to take a peek through the threads there. :)
http://doberman-chat.com/community/index.php?forums/raw-home-cooked-diets.108/

I guess you could check with the breeder to see if they're going to send anything home, and if not, you could always send something ahead of time so it can get the scents on it.
 
Nico'sMom said:
Can anyone give a sample of a raw food diet for a dog? I don't think we would do a full raw diet but we would incorporate with premium dog food.
Click to expand...

I have heard that you shouldn't feed raw and kibble together because one processes differently than the other and it can make it hard on the system. That is just what I've heard but I feed kibble so I have not done too much research into raw other than mere curiosity, so I would follow the link Jan posted and take a read through there to see if you can find more on that. :)
 
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