puppy food

[kaiserchief]

Hi, can anyone reccommend a good quality puppy dried food with 28% or less protein for a 10week leonberger. this is to be eaten alongside raw meat. Thankyou.

[lankeela]

I have reared my GSD on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy/Junior. It is 26% Protein, and he has maintained good bone and excellent coat/healthy skin etc. Nice firm poos too! He also has raw chicken wings morning and night with a main meal of Eukanuba at tea time. He will be 18 months on 27th August. He is shown regularly and has won well, also doing well at obedience. I have fed Eukanuba since 1988 when it first came over from the US, and although I actually sell dog food as part of my job and have tried lots of different foods I always go back to this one. My small breed have Eukanuba Adult Maintenance Small Bite.

[lankeela]

Thats him at six months on my avatar! Who bred your Leo?

[RATTER15]

our last two wolfhounds were reared on a raw meat diet, just do the research and leave out the commercial food altogether.

[lankeela]

So predictable Ratter! Sounds to me like kaiserchief has done some research and decided on the type of feeding regime. Why not just give your own experience without trying to enforce your personal choice on others? What is it about raw feeders - they all seem so obsessed with getting other people to do the same!

[Ann]

Have you tried Pedigree Chum Puppy Food?

[lankeela]

"Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no one has the
right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose
to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you. If you find some
point which may be suitable for you, then you can carry out experiments
for yourself. If you find that it is of no use, then you can discard it. - Dalai Lama"

[RATTER15]

Lankeela, Does it really bother you that much what I have said in one and half lines!!

Just because I am A RAW feeder does that mean I should not give an honest opinion of feeding that is now accepted across the world.

I may have a different view on feeding my dogs, but im not sure you need to get unpleasant about it Lankeela, if you dont like my views dont read them.!

This is not your thread, the OP can voice his or her own opinions im sure.

[Ratty2E]

Well at the risk of getting myself in the middle of an argument I don't think Ratter is forcing anyone to feed RAW anymore than Lankeela is with Eukanuba. The problem with recommending a dry food is that it's all very well if your dog will eat it. Some dogs do not like some brands even when another dog may wolf it down. I think the best bet is to get some small bags or trial packs if you can get hold of them and see which your dog likes. Be careful how you do this though as chopping and changing food may upset your dogs stomach. I feed my 2 a variation of minced 'inards' I get from my organic butcher or tripe with mixer and some days they have complete. You just have to make sure that they are getting all the vitamins, minerals etc that they need which can be a little more complicated if you are not feeding solely with complete.

[RATTER15]

Well said Rattyratgirls, dont worry about Lankeela, she loves me really :-)

It isnt easy or convenient to feed RAW, it take a lot of time and effort.

The good thing about feeding RAW especially with the large and giant breed puppies is it grows them out slowly, this is far better for their joints. I always recommend people do the research into RAW feeding as if you just guess your way through it you may get it very wrong, then you could be in trouble with your dog.

There are so many great sites now to help you through this and due to the rapid increase in RAW feeding there are now quite a few companies selling ready prepared minced and chunks of human grade meat.

[bednobs]

is it just me or does "human grade meat" just sound really wrong?

[nannybooby]

ooh soylent green or what

[RATTER15]

bednobs, I think it is just you lol :-)

[Ratty2E]

I have looked into RAW feeding but the bones bit puts me off as my 2 are too competative and there would be heated arguments or one would choke itself to death trying swallow it whole rather than let the other one get it.

[jules77]

I have to agree with Lankeela. The OP asked for a recommendation on a dried puppy food to be fed alongside a raw meat diet, not for someone to come along and suggest leaving out the dried food. I also get fed up with raw feeders suggesting their way is the best. I feed a mixture of dried food (Hills Natures Best) and cooked meat with vegetables. However, I was told by a nutritionist that you shouldnt feed raw or cooked food at the same time as dried food as they are both digested at different rates. You feed what suits YOUR dog.

[lankeela]

Ratter only feeds raw cos there is a plentiful supply when he goes looting the butchers in Devon (sorry folks, private joke unless you are on chatterbank!). Personally I think its whatever suits the owner as well as the dogs, and I know I wouldn't have the time or the inclination to prepare a complete raw diet and be certain of getting the right blend of vitamins, minerals etc. which is why I prefer to use a food where they have spent ££££££s working out the correct formula for the age/type of dog. The small amount of raw fed alternately during the day helps keep the teeth clean and gives them something to think about. And I do still luv ya Ratter!

[RATTER15]

Lankeela ;-) xx

[Carakeel]

Mind you, lankeela, it is easy for ratter to go on about this, lol! All he does is cut up a few green tripe every two to three weeks. I have to then bag it all, which is a really messy job, and I do all the daily feeding, the veggies, oils etc etc etc. So, I do understand that not everybody has the time or the inclination to do all this. Sometimes I get a bit fed up doing it myself, but together we decided we would go this route, so I really can't complain. I do sometimes use commercial foods, when we are travelling or as a supplement on occasion, as raw can be difficult to feed in some circumstances. Main thing is they are healthy, happy dogs and that is all that matters!

[lankeela]

Aha!

[Carakeel]

Just to put that streight ... I don't normally feed commercial foods, but if I am out for the day with the dogs (at shows etc.) and can't easily take two meals of raw food with me, then I will try to take at least one raw and feed them a good quality commercial food to top it up. But to be honest, this has only happened twice so far. Travelling is to me the only time raw feeding can be a bit of a problem. But then again, when we went up to Scotland we bought fresh from the butchers while up there and that was fine. So, I really should not have used the work supplement, sorry. That was a bit misleading.

[Carakeel]

lol, meant straight!