Best food for 8wk old puppy?

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LittleLex

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After all the conversations on what people feed their dogs it has got me thinking.

What would you recommend feeding my 8 week old cocker spaniel puppy?

She is currently on Eukanuba but on the dogfoodanalysis.com (which was helpfully posted on the previous thread on dog food) it lists the 2nd ingredient as brewers rice and the third as corn. This has got me thinking whether it is really worth the money and if there is a better alternative for her!


Also, meet my little Lexie :D:
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When I brought my 3 cocker spaniel boys home at 8 weeks i started them off on boiled rice and chicken or scrambled egg - As per my vets instruction to help with digestion and its softer on their tiny teeth/gums. After about a month i very gradually started to add a very small handful of 'James Welbeloved' (spelling?) puppy biscuits in with the rice ect. Each day id put less rice/chicken/egg in and more biscuits until they were on 100% biscuits.

This particular brand are fairly expensive but I wouldnt have them on anything else.
 
HeatherAnn said:
Hanzybaby01 I feel bad for your pups, imagine going from rice chicken and egg to just dry biscuits :P
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I know me too:p

BUT they are still on this particular brand of biscuits - well 2 of them anyway as I lost my eldest at the age of 7 to a tragic accident a couple of years ago. I still have my 5 year old and my 18 month and they dont seem to complain, its a great biscuit for their teeth as they always look so clean!

I do spoil them from time to time with a little something different just to mix it up a bit.;)
 
Didn't your breeder give you a diet sheet to follow?

I don't feed puppies just dried food it gives them kidney problems I feed a barf diet so mine get bashed up chicken wings (really bashed up!!) chicken/turkey/lamb mince, fish (sardines mine eat whole), veggies bit of fruit natural yogurt etc and frozen carrots for teething. I don't tend to give beef as its a bit rich and gives them the runs and no pork. If you give any beef bones to chew on freeze them then defrost them fully before giving to your pup.

There are a couple of websites (not sure if its ok to post them on here as links but mods if not ok can you just delete) you can look at if your interested all these do ready made barf foods:

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/ - this company are fantastic you could if you wanted eat the food yourself as its human grade and they bent over backwards to help a friends dog who was dying and needed a special food made up.

http://prizechoice.co.uk/
http://naturesmenu.co.uk/
http://www.ukbarfclub.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=10
http://www.naturediet.co.uk/

Dr Billinghurst does a book called 'Grow your pup with Bones' you can probably pick up a copy cheap on ebay or amazon. Also does one called give your dog a bone but thats really for adults dogs. Bit hard going but you get the gist of it.

Berriwoods (http://www.berriewoodwholesale.co.uk/cgi-bin/sitewise.pl) do breeder boxes of naturediet but make sure you check them carefully because sometimes the packets can blow - they do replace them pretty quick though and do home delivery.

that should give you a good start. Enjoy your new puppy
 
Hanzybaby01 said:
When I brought my 3 cocker spaniel boys home at 8 weeks
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:eek: :eek: :eek: 3?! Wow, you're brave! :D

Eukanuba is very expensive given now many fillers it has. I've used James Wellbeloved before and liked it. There's tons to choose from but remember to check the ingredients. I'd not but if it says EC permitted additives because whilst they're not all bad, some of them might be E numbers or the dreaded BHA/BHT. You can always email the manufacturer to ask for exact content. :)

Can we have a lik re kidney disease being linked to dried diets? I've never heard of that other than in cats.

Some breeders send their pups off with food that may not be brilliant and I think most owners seem to change what is given at first. I switched mine off Pedigree dry ASAP!
 
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Ohhhh... I thought id posted a picture in the original post :(

Lex066.jpg


Can you see it now? if not I think I need a crash course on how to use H&H forums :p
 
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I'm feeding My three month old collie pup dodson and horrell puppy food beta lamb puppy and mik some adult pero and D&h working crunch plus tinned meat and duck egg, then she goes out in field and thinks sheep and horse sh/t is the best diet, believe you can feed too much protein and grow too quickly.
 
Mon, it was the sheep ***t which added balance to the diet! ;):D

It's been a while since I reared a litter of puppies, though I now have a litter of a week old, so ought to give it some thought. From memory, I gave puppies the same diet as the adults, but well soaked in milk, or if that was in short supply, then bovril.

I have very grave misgivings about the high protein and commercially produced puppy meals, especially for the larger breeds, those that are prone to OCD. I'm currently feeding Eukanuba to a lactating bitch, as she didn't appear to have any milk, but after a rocky start, the puppies are round and fat and sleek and permanently full, it seems. They wont be getting 30% protein feed though!

As you only have one puppy, then I'd go along with Hanzy's suggestion. Sensible and suitable kitchen scraps with milk and eggs beaten up in it, occasionally, that sort of thing.

She's a smart puppy. ;)

Alec.
 
Thanks all for your advice and kind words :) Its been a while since I last had a pup but she is already very much loved and I want to do right by her! I will take all your suggestions on board xx
 
Alec, where I had her from in snowdonia, fed everything on dr Johns, pup very well bred trailing lines. Never use to feed fancy expensive food.
 
mon said:
Alec, where I had her from in snowdonia, fed everything on dr Johns, pup very well bred trailing lines. Never use to feed fancy expensive food.
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Dr. Johns is a low protein and therefore a low energy feed. I feed it to all my working dogs as neither spaniels nor sheep dogs need any more energy, thank you!! I suppose that soaked with milk or water flavoured with a meat extract, it'd probably do fine, for puppies. I've tried OXO but found it too salty, I think, so I went on to Bovril.

Snowdonia you say? That's where she'd have got the taste for sheep ***t! ;) The best Cockers are in Wales, generally.

Going back to puppy diets, and thinking about it, I seem to remember that I found that constantly switching from one type of feed, to another used to upset a puppy's tum. Unlike us, I think that they benefit from a basic and very same-y routine, and that the best indication as to a pups diet was by looking at what came out of the other end.

Alec.
 
I am old old fashioned I'm afraid, I feed a mix of scrambled eggs, weetabix, porridge in rotation and always with increasing amounts of Nature Diet. I use proper puppy milk too. I have never had a health issue with any of my dogs and have resisted all attempts by my vets to get me to feed a ready meal. The puppy stage doesn't last long enough for it to be a problem and eventually they move onto Nature Diet completely. I am not saying there is anything wrong with a complete meal, just that I prefer to stick with what I know works.
 
Nothing wrong with dr johns just not over priced, welsh people are not influenced by fancy prices and adverts. Chap I have pups from uses Aled Owens dogs which are just down the A5 from him.
 
Dr John Silver Medal (chicken)
Price 15kg £9.50
Suggested daily feeding amount 290g
Cost 18p
Ingredients: cereals, meat and animal derivatives, minerals, oils and EEC additives.
 
HBM1 said:
I am old old fashioned I'm afraid, I feed a mix of scrambled eggs, weetabix, porridge in rotation and always with increasing amounts of Nature Diet. I use proper puppy milk too. I have never had a health issue with any of my dogs and have resisted all attempts by my vets to get me to feed a ready meal. The puppy stage doesn't last long enough for it to be a problem and eventually they move onto Nature Diet completely. I am not saying there is anything wrong with a complete meal, just that I prefer to stick with what I know works.
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Absolutely! NOTHING in a sack can equal proper food.All our puppies start off on Tesco`s extra lean beef mince,graduating on tomashed up Menu coked meat,and the ox head meat mince the adults have. NO dry food whatever,and no milk either except their own mother`s. If we ever need to use milk it is always Goats milk,now easily available at the supermarket.Puppies over six weeks also get raw chook wings to play and practise carnivore ways on.
The very idea of the ghastly Dr Johns being given to any poor dog,never mind a growing puppy ..for goodness sake!:eek:
The vital growing period in a puppy`s life can never be caught up on later,as a breeder I have sadly seen so many potential show dogs completely ruined by false economy.:mad:
 
I've also seen puppies grow too fast not exercised correctly and have hip problems, I don't feed dr johns to my nine dogs but not going to afford £50/bag food either
 
EAST KENT said:
Absolutely! NOTHING in a sack can equal proper food.All our puppies start off on Tesco`s extra lean beef mince,graduating on tomashed up Menu coked meat,and the ox head meat mince the adults have. NO dry food whatever,and no milk either except their own mother`s. If we ever need to use milk it is always Goats milk,now easily available at the supermarket.Puppies over six weeks also get raw chook wings to play and practise carnivore ways on.
The very idea of the ghastly Dr Johns being given to any poor dog,never mind a growing puppy ..for goodness sake!:eek:
The vital growing period in a puppy`s life can never be caught up on later,as a breeder I have sadly seen so many potential show dogs completely ruined by false economy.:mad:
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*Like* :)
 
The best food on the market is orijen, its quite expensive and if i could afford it i would use it! instead i have to mix mince, and chicken wings! It is truely great dog food and every dog i know that had been offered it go mad for it. rumor has it a uk version is being made at a lower cost. other than that look at protien 21% and higher the better
 
Orijen can be too rich for some puppies they don't need that much protein best to trial it and decide for yourself if you want to go down that route. You can check with the manufacturers about soaking so that your 1) not over feeding and 2) so its easier to digest most recommend luke warm water not hot as hot can reduce the quality of the food or bring out chemicals that can be harmful.

Lovely looking puppy am sure is going to be a lot of fun :D
 
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