Puppy feeding advice please!

[Asl731]

Hello all,

Long time lurker, first time poster here!

Proud owner of a very spoilt 4 month old Jack Russell. Currently on the raw Luna & Me Puppy Power Little Dinner patties but not all that enthusiastic about eating them. I had bought a small bag of ZiwiPeak to try her on which seems to have gone down ok.

Here lies my problem- we have an 8 week old English setter coming next week- two puppies, yes I know I'm mad.

I Don't think I'm being ridiculously fussy but I have a few creiteria and wondered if you guys had any ideas;
1) a food both dogs can have

2) something that doesn't take up my entire freezer (at 3kg my JRT doesn't eat vast quantities of the Luna & Me so the storage isn't an issue but with a larger pup up on the way this is going to be a problem)- so realistically raw is out of the window

3) having done my reading and research, I'm not keen on the idea of dry extruded food/kibble due the depletion of nutrients etc- am I right in thinking this?

4) open to the idea of cold pressed, freeze dried, air dried etc

Having said this- ZiwiPeak is going to end up out of budget for both dogs

Any bright ideas? I want the best for my dogs and although I can't be spending ZiwiPeak territory I'm certainly not down the bakers/pedigree chum end of the scale! I've been in the dog food directory but it's a minefield!

I'm also not sure whether I need to be looking for a specific puppy food- if you look at the ingredient breakdown there doesn't seem to be a vast different once you're in "premium" territory

Sorry for the bombardment- just want to get this right!

Anna

[Tinyplanets]

Hello and welcome to the forum,
It sounds like either wet food or cold pressed will best suit your needs. Check out the coldpressed thread to see what choices are available. Most of them say that they are suitable for all age groups so should be okay for puppies.

In terms of air dried food, pure complete may work out a little cheaper than ziwiPeak. You can have a look in the directory for details but it says from weaning to old age. I haven't tried it personally.

If you want to look at wet options, you could use the quicksearchtool. just type in all your requirements and you should find something which appeals.
There are pros and cons to any food you may choose. All we can do is try to be as informed as possible and  draw our own conclusions from any research or theories out there.

Good luck finding something that both dogs will enjoy.

[Dottie]

Another hello and welcome to the forum.  As Tinyplanets has said, it rather sounds as if you need to narrow down your search to cold pressed or wet food.  Last year my three small dogs were on a good quality wet food for a little while and it was quite expensive. I halved the bill when I put them on a cold pressed food and fortunately they are doing well on it. 

If you decide to go with cold pressed food I think you would be better off choosing Gentle or Guru Surf and Turf because they are both UK businesses and you will get good support from the company owners. Puppies need more in quantity - think it is something like 2.5% of body weight but all dogs vary in requirements.  I top my dogs up with a bit of extra protein - they get cooked chicken, white fish or scrambled egg.  If you choose cold pressed food you could do the same thing if you wish.   You could also add raw meat from time to time as the two go well together. 

Please let us know what you decide and if you need any further help or advice, just ask.

[Asl731]

I think I'm preferring a cold pressed but to be honest I hadn't considered a good quality wet food. I'll look into that but Guru and Gentle were on my list as well as Platinum- does anyone have any experience of them? They have a specific puppy formula.

[Dottie]

I didn't think of Platinum, possibly because it is classed as semi-moist. The puppy version is reviewed here. Usually the only difference between puppy and adult is the higher protein in the former. If you decide to go with a wet food, good savings can be made online. Berriewood, GWJ Titmuss and Zooplus are three companies worth looking at.

[Asl731]

The guru and gentle seems to come out better than the platinum on reviews then- I have samples coming so hopefully fussy little madam finds them palatable - will let you know how I get on.

[Dottie]

I hope that your puppy likes the food and that it suits him.  It is quite different to other dry food so takes a bit of getting used to.  You can make it extra tasty by adding a little warm water - it brings out the aroma.  It will be interesting to know how your dogs get on with the food.

[Asl731]

Hi all- have had samples of guru and gentle- for some reason the Jack Russell isn't keen on the gentle but loves the guru.

Is it possible to use Guru and Raw mixed ie one meal raw, one meal Guru etc? I've read they can be used alongside each other quite well.

Then I would have move freezer room but still can feed raw

[Dottie]

Yes, you can mix the two - cold pressed is reputed to work well with raw.  I know someone who feeds Gentle or Guru Surf and Turf for breakfast and Natures Menu raw nuggets for tea.   The dogs are doing just fine on this and it is more affordable. Tinyplanets likes to add some cold pressed to her dog's raw diet to improve the stool.  Also her dog likes cp food very much.

[Tinyplanets]

Yes I sometimes feed a meal of cold pressed if the raw is still frozen or a couple of meals if I forget to get another out the freezer. I sometimes add a few pieces to the raw if it isn't a full portion left in the tub. I also give cold pressed as occasional treats. Not too often as the bits are quite big.  As Dottie says, if the stools seem to get hard to pass, I will try and factor in some cold pressed meals.

I only have one dog so cant regularly feed a mix. The frozen wouldn't keep long enough.

[Asl731]

Ozzy (the 10 week old English setter) actually got sent with Acana puppy and he seemed to be thriving on it so I ended up keeping him on that- feeding recommended amount for him at 6kg is about 160g a day split into 4 feeds although the table on the back I find to be quite "general"- but his poos are very smelly and soft, often unformed like a cow pat almost. I've got loads of it left so don't particularly want to waste it but wonder if either I'm over feeding or if it's just too rich for him?

I'd also like to add he's fully wormed and is very active, and gaining weight well- no signs of illness at all. VERY healthy appetite (greedy pup)

[Tinyplanets]

Soft smelly stools are usually a sign that something isn't agreeing with his digestive system. It could be that reducing the portions will help as that can be a sign of overfeeding. Equally it could be a little rich for your pup at the moment. It is hard to know unless you try reducing his portions or changing his food.

[matthew]

on your item #3, I think I've read somewhere that air/freeze dried food is where the nutrients are questionable because of the process of drying.

It says: "There is some concern of nutrients, such as vitamins, being lost during the dehydration process."
its on wikipedia. Can't post the link though.