What do you feed your dog?

[CAJ1]

I have been feeding my 16 week old lab on pedigree puppy dog food, just the dry food as the vet said the canned stuff had no nutritional value and was mainly water. I looked online though and Pedigree seems to have a lot of bad reviews! Pup seems fine on it and likes it. I was also wondering if I can add anything to dry food that would add a bit of variety to her meals, preferably something that has nutritional value and won't upset her young tummy!

What do you feed your dog and what would you recommend for a puppy?

TIA

[woofgang]

oo caj, there are as many answers to this as there are pebbles on the beach. There are hundreds, if not thousands of different dog standard foods and then on top of that, there are folk who feed a raw diet, either preprepared or they just buy the meat themselves and feed it.

Wet food yes has a lot of water in it so you need to feed more of it to get the same amount of nutrition.
Mine are fed on Royal Canin dry food. I have to be a bit careful as one of mine has allergies so i need to know exactly what is in the food..He can't have pork or dairy so I have to be a label reader.
I add little bits of human leftover both meat and veg to their bowls and give dry baked meat as special training treats.
Pedigree does seem to be viewed as the dog junk food of the pet world and it can make some dogs very gassy but if your wee one is doing well on it.....

[ladybirder]

I would recommend Nature's Diet. It's good stuff with no rubbish in it at all. Here's their website.
http://www.naturediet.co.uk/

[heathfield]

http://hubpages.com/h...digree_Dog_Food_Rated

[divegirl]

I'm sorry to disagree with all of the above but at 16 weeks you should be following your breeders diet sheet! If you did not buy from a reputable breeder then I would suggest that you join a good Labrador forum and ask what foods are suited to the breed! Each breed can have different dietary needs and I would not know what they are for such a young dog.

Lisa x

[kimmartin20011]

dog food !! x

[mumsie_wumsie]

We have a German Shepherd, who we have had since 8 weeks old. She has been fed on JAMES WELLBELOVED, starting with the puppy formula, then Junior and now on the adult formula.She has done very well with this food, and it is what the breeder recommended.She is now 11months old.

[merciasounds]

http://www.freebiesiteuk.co.uk/animal.htm

you can get some free samples before you commit to a big bagful!

[Purple_Popple]

IAMS is good as a beginner food for a lab...I used to also give my lab pup a cod liver capsule every day - and continued throughout his/her life, lots of boiled filled bones to keep him entertained and his teeth and jaws exercised...please dont feed rubbish and dont let anyone feed him tid bits, it used to annoy me when everytime I took my lab into pubs etc people automatically want to feed him crisps, chips, sweets - then they looked at me 'gone out' when i told them kindly NOT to feed him ! "Oh but he is drooling, he wants some" for heavens sake....that is why you see so many fat labs as owners just feed them crap.

[woofgang]

When we got ours, they were on JW puppy but DH couldn't stand the smell of the malt so we had to move them off it pdq. Yes the breeder will have an opinion but by 16 weeks if the owner wants to change then there should be no reason why not. If you go to a lab forum, you will find as many different opinions on feeding as there are forum members.

[icemaiden]

I feed our terriers nature diet and plain biscuit. Both with no added colours and cr@p! They have no other treats except plain bonio in the mornings. The behaviour of one of my terriers has improved dramatically since feeding him this diet.

Whatever you decide, you must introduce the food gradually over 10-14 days. Any sudden food change will have disastrous results! Please do your homework. Maybe talk to other owners of Labs.

[lankeela]

I always make sure puppies have a variety of foods before they leave home so its not such a big change if the new owner wants to feed something different. They have a basic dry food with a little tinned meat or a pouch mixed in, but also have raw chicken wings and raw tripe sometimes. Just a spoonful of meat in with the dry. Pedigree complete is fine if she is doing ok on it, fortunately most Labs will eat anything so you won't need to tempt her. Give her some biscuits such as bonios occasionally, and either raw or cooked marrow bones to help her with teething. Don't change for the sake of it, and provided her poos are fairly solid 'sausages' then she's doing ok. If her poo is loose or runny or she is pooing massive piles of the stuff then she is not getting the goodness out of it. The better quality food, the more they digest and the less they poo out! I feed Eukanuba but any of the good quality extruded (pellet) foods are fine. Avoid the flaky cornflake like foods like Valuemix, or brightly coloured stuff like Bakers.

[craft1948]

I feed my westie on Burns...............

[DaisyNonna]

Poor James. Must have been a big bloke to last so long.

[RATTER15]

Been here before lol. We just feed ours on raw fresh butchers meat, bones, fresh fish, a few veggies thrown in, a bit of rice and some pasta.

Its not a straight forward feeding regime and unless you are prepared to put a lot of time and effort into this way of feeding its probably best avoided. It is without any doubt the best, most natural way to feed a dog but does require research and dedication, price wise it probably works out a little cheaper.

[jules77]

I feed Hills Natures Best and add vegetables, sardines, eggs and sometimes pasta. As has already been said, there are many good foods on the market, but what suits one, doesnt always suit another.

Some of the links on this page may help....

http://www.collienet.com/foodandnutrition.htm

[lankeela]

Ratter again I have to say its YOUR opinion that your way of feeding is best, doesn't make it right for everyone and as I have three dogs aged almost 14, 15 and 16 I don't think my feeding regime can be all that bad.

[RATTER15]

Lankeela, I answered the question! "What do you feed your dog?"

I would recommend it for every dog but not for every owner, I think I made that clear in my posting.

[jules77]

Ratter, I think the problem is you say a raw diet is the best diet.....what Lankeela is saying is that it is 'your' opinion that raw is best, based on 'your' experience and 'your' dogs.

[barb1314]

Lottie is on Arden Grange Chicken and Rice Dry Kibble. She is great on it and,according to my vet,is in fantastic condition. One thing I cannot stand is a fat labrador...and luckily Lottie is a slim,petite 25kg! (from working breeding not show) If you go on Lab Forum,they rave about Skinners but I tried it and it made Lottie really ill so I gave it to a friend who feeds it. You will find many recommendations but every dog is so different it's a case of try it and see. Most companies will send you samples. One thing to remember is to change over very slowly.Mix small amounts into the old food and increase a little each day to get her tummy used to it. I give variety by using things like apple,carrot and other veg as treats instead of fattening biscuits. She also gets tinned mackerel once a week mixed in as it's very good for the coat (in oil not brine) Good luck.

[karenmac60]

Baker's complete - the dry stuff that you add water to and it makes gravy. Oh, and whatever cat food he manages to scoff when my back is turned ;)