Recommended dry puppy food

BBP

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 July 2008
Messages
6,587
Visit site
Another thread from me, apologies. Puppy came to us on Arden Grange weaning/puppy kibble. He has gradually been moved onto Arden Grange Puppy/Junior a season he is old enough and no-one stocked the other one. But he just isn’t interested in it. He is eating only about 50% of the recommended daily ration. I’ve tried soaking in warm water and feeding dry, he just isn’t bothered. He also isn’t that bothered by the treats I have bought him. He is very bright in himself and full of energy but I’m worried he is burning more calories than he is consuming. What puppy foods would you recommend as being good quality and tempting for non greedy eaters? Needs to be dry rather than wet food long term (although we can soak dry food) and we can’t do the raw diet.

Many thanks.
 
Millie's wolf heart. Mine are all on it, the company are very helpful and it has no rubbish in it.
I would say though that unless he looks like a bag of bones he probably is doing ok.
 
I'm using VetSpec currently and happy with it, last pup was raised on Acana and did well on it also
 
I’ve just given him the very last of the weaning mix and he has wolfed that down so he must really not like the new one. He isnt a bag of bones yet but it’s only the last few days that he has stopped eating, since the proportions have switched to mostly the junior one. I’ll take a look at Millie’s, is it easy to get hold of?
 
Another Millies Wolfheart user, 4 on it, 2 from puppies. They don't do a 'puppy' food. All their foods are suitable for all life stages.
It's mail order and you can buy small trial bags.
 
Another Millies Wolfheart user, 4 on it, 2 from puppies. They don't do a 'puppy' food. All their foods are suitable for all life stages.
It's mail order and you can buy small trial bags.
 
Pets at home online do the weaning/puppy food. Try mixing for a few days to get him used to the different taste. If you. Hop and change too much he may become a picky eater. What breed is he
 
We feed Millie’s to our 12yo and 9 month old. Both doing well on it. Free delivery usually 3/4 days, or you can pay £2.50 (I think), for next day delivery.
 
We feed Millie’s to our 12yo and 9 month old. Both doing well on it. Free delivery usually 3/4 days, or you can pay £2.50 (I think), for next day delivery.
What do you pay for the biscuits ? Just had a look, do you really think each dog gets a different recipe ? Do you get a list of ingredients ?
 
I wouldn't rush to change the food. You run the risk of just creating fussy habits.
If he is hungry, he will eat ;) Remember the guidelines on the bag are just that, guidelines and the manufacturers want you to go through a lot ;) Feel your puppy all over and condition score him, feel his tummy, is it nice and full? Put his food down for 10 minutes and if he doesn’t eat, take it away and give him nothing more until the next feed time and repeat. He will not starve himself. Arden Grange is a really decent food.

What treats are you giving him? At this age it’s advisable to use a portion of their meal as treats. For example my puppy might have her ‘dinner’ all delivered as rewards for training/games. One really good one , especially with a BC, is to quietly reinforce just lying down calmly beside you. So quietly and calmly deposit bits of food to him while you watch tv/read etc and reinforce ‘calmness’.

For training purposes if you DO want something else, sometimes you need the treats to be higher value to increase the desire... I always use the following, without fail. Take a chicken breast and pop into an oven proof dish, add an inch of water, liberally (and i mean lots ;) ) cover with crushed garlic. Bake in the over for around 20 mins and then chop the chicken into tiny pieces to use. It will stink :D They love it though and also, you can freeze little portions to use later.
Tiny pieces of cheese and hot dog sausages are also popular but with a young puppy I find keeping it simple so as not to upset tummies is advisable.
 
i fed my puppy jwb puppy food which he always ate and changed him gradually to adult after 6 months and he didnt really want it. i gave him less and i just added something on top to tempt him , i used a small portion of tuna in spring water, pilchards in tomato sauce, cooked chicken or wet meat in pouches.. this did the trick and although he always gets something added to his morning meal i give a smaller helping of kibble in the evening and he scoffs it down...i prefer to give mine 2 meals a day but know many people only give 1...i was determined he wasnt going to be a fussy feeder and am glad i didnt give in...
 
I keep saying this, sorry, but if you study the ingredients, the only difference between puppy and adult food is up to 1% protein. Seems absolutely pointless. Wainwrights grain free has good reviews, as does their Fishmongers, which contains more fish than Fish4dogs. This website is useful for comparing foods.
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

5 star ratings (includes Millie’s Wolfheart, but the owner’s diatribe about the obscene amount of e-coli shedding by raw fed dogs put me off her!): https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory
 
Last edited:
House dogs are on Simpsons Premium for their evening meal and the workers are on Markus Muhle. All are fed a raw breakfast. I have been hearing good things about Millies for a few years so if I do decide to try something new, I will give them a go.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I apologise I thought I had added to this thread previously but clearly my reply didn’t save!

I realised that it wasn’t the food that was the problem, it was the association that I had trained. I thought of his meals as a good distraction so I would pop his food down in his puppy pen, then leave him to eat whilst I fed the cats and myself. But what I actually was doing was making him think that eating meant I left the room, which he really didn’t want. As soon as I realised that I started to put it down and would stay in the room whilst he ate. (I also added a little warm water to draw the smell out a bit). Like magic he now eats it all, and it’s still the Arden Grange stuff. Then I go off and feed the others, or feed cats/people first.

I’m learning as I go!
 
I keep saying this, sorry, but if you study the ingredients, the only difference between puppy and adult food is up to 1% protein. Seems absolutely pointless. Wainwrights grain free has good reviews, as does their Fishmongers, which contains more fish than Fish4dogs. This website is useful for comparing foods.
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

5 star ratings (includes Millie’s Wolfheart, but the owner’s diatribe about the obscene amount of e-coli shedding by raw fed dogs put me off her!): https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

That website is so useful! I remember when it was called whichdogfood.co.uk :)
Another great food is Akela. It is not too expensive, either.
 
I've only fed Millies Wolfheart to an adult dog, who loved it. Dogs usually prefer food with a high meat content, which Millie's is, so your puppy is more likely to want to eat it than a kibble like Arden Grange which has a lower meat content. I fed the Riverside and Countryside varieties, these are the cheaper ones in their higher meat content ranges. There are absolutely loads to choose from, between 40 and 80% meat/fish content. Canine Choice and Simpsons 80/20 are also very good, with a high meat content. My boy loves the Canine Choice salmon and chicken varieties.
 
Top