Puppy Food need input for large puppy food

[Marty]

My puppy won't stop scratching herself and I couldn't figure out why. The poor thing is in agony.I have bathed, treated for fleas, you name it and she still itches around the clock. Its horrible. I hoped I was not going to have a puppy with skin issues but now I think she is allergic to IAMS. . As per her breeder and my vet, they recommend IAMS puppy chow. After doing some research I found that there is a notation on the Iams that a side effect may cause itching so therin may be the culprit.

But here's the thing:We all know you can research till you are blue in the face and nobody is going to agree on the best food. There have been recalls on what is considered the worst dog food to the best. I need something for large puppies which is affordable with no corn. Suggestions please

 

[bevann]

I use Taste of the Wild bison or salmon It was recalled a while ago but I am now feeding it and love it.I think they make puppy formula.I would suggest any food that has only meat and vegetables or fruit No grain of any kind - there are several different brands out there.Don't know what you can get in your area.So many dog foods have all kinds of ingredients that dogs don't need or tolerate.

 

[l082257]

Sounds like it is allergic to Gluten-wheat and corn. Go for food that has meat as the first ingredient. Not animal meal. I have a 12 year old dog that is allergic to gluten and will get bad hot spots if not fed correct food. I feed Blue Buffalo. Dick Van Patton's Natural Balance is another good food. Are you using a topical flea med? I use regular Pantene shampoo on my dogs. No dog shampoo or she itches. Treats can have gluten too. My vet recommended mini marshmallows as treats. Can use vinegar as a rinse after shampooing to help with fleas. Witch hazel soothes the skin. You can also give Benedryl to dogs to help with the itch.

I have 8 dogs with three being medically fragile. Both of the foods above have been consumed by all of mine with good results. I have to watch the protein level due to one with a liver shunt so I feed the chicken version.

Also can put small amount of vegetable oil in food for skin or feed small amount of solid coconut oil.

 

[anoki]

Marty,

Go to http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com OR http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com (the later one is a little dated now and doesn't have some of the newer foods on it).

~kathryn

 

[chandab]

Sorry to say it, well not really, but IAMS is crap food; can't be that great for dogs if the first ingredient is corn (they don't digest it any better than we do, corn is food for cattle).

Sometimes its hard to completely avoid foods with corn in them, but for us, it works ok to find food where the corn is very far down the list. My Aussie was sensitive to corn if it was high up on the list, but did fine if it was at least 5th or further down the list; she did pretty good on Purina ONE Lamb and Rice. I know what I've fed my dogs doesn't come out to well on the website Kathryn linked to, but sometimes you have to go with the lesser of two evils (I have to be able to afford it and find it). [i'd avoid Science Diet too, except perhaps their new grain-free versions, they might be better.]

 

[anoki]

Ok, here's the list of foods I have tried and the results with *my* dogs.

I started out feeding Nutro (many many years ago), but too much scratching.

Switched to Nature's Varietyrairie. I LOVE this food, but it is getting more difficult to find a source for it up here for the one dog that I can't feed chicken based foods to, and of course she does not like any foods I've tried with lamb in it.

Nature's Variety: Instinct - grain free, good food, but can't afford to feed all my dogs on it.

Fromm: dogs got dull coats, and I ended up feeding almost double to what I normally fed.

Canidae: dogs did ok, but more poop, fed a bit more than the Prairie, had a few odd things on it, and I finally quit feeding it with my last litter of pups because it gave them extreme diarrhea, and one of the pups actually would NOT eat it and started losing weight...had another dog after the pups were born come in and did not do well on it either (every week it would have a bout of diarrhea & vomiting), so the food is no longer in my house.

Merrick's: dogs did ok on the varieties I fed (I only picked it up when I was in the US and could bring it back with me)

Currently, I have one dog on Orijen (the one that can't eat chicken)

And the rest of the crew is on one of the Acana grain free. Yes, a bit pricer, BUT I feed far less than I was feeding and they are doing really well on it. Nice shiny coats, less poop.....so far so good.

When you look at the labels on the food, you want to see a meat as #1 (preferably 2-3 meats in the top 5 ingredients).

What I would watch out for and try to avoid: corn, wheat and keep an eye out further down in the ingredient list for beet pulp...that is an ingredient that can cause a lot of allergy problems (more so in the smaller breeds, but our Saint couldn't handle anything with beet pulp in it).

I don't know what you have access to, so can't steer you towards, or away from any certain brands. And keep in mind that not every dog will do as well as others on certain foods. Also, with the grain frees or anything with more meat in it, it will cost more, but you should not be feeding as much.....

I also would NOT recommend feeding most puppy foods.....

If you have any questions about certain brands or reading the labels, feel free to email me and I can try to help you out more....

~kathryn

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I have a Boston with sensitive skin and have been feeding her a horribly expensive speciality food I can only get a the vet clinic. She's small so even tho it is $150 for the big bag I've was willing to pay the price to keep her feeling good. I decided a while back that I was going to research what other foods were available for her that 'might' work. I settled on a Nutro product made for dogs with skin and stomach issues. Its Nutro, Natural Choice,Venison Meal and Whole Brown Rice Formula. It is referred to on the label as a limited ingredient diet (of course no food has unlimited ingredients ) but it has fewer 'filler' ingredients than most I've seen. My girl is actually doing better on it (her hair is softer and she is less gassy) than she was on the vet clinic food and it is at least 1/3 less expensive. I don't know if you can get the same products or not but what I did was go to the pet store and spend a couple of hours looking at what was available and reading labels. I expected to have to try a couple of different foods until I found one that worked so I bought small bags to start with and mixed it with her original food at first, until I was sure she was going to tolerate the change.

 

[disneyhorse]

I don't know what qualifies as "expensive" food because you do pay for quality in the competitive pet food market... And generally do get by feeding less of a higher quality food.

I've been enjoying Blue Buffalo brand dog and cat food. Certainly isn't the most expensive brand I've fed, either.

 

[shorthorsemom]

For large breed dogs I don't feed puppy food after 6 months of age. Too many problems with pushing the large breed puppies and causing lameness or growth plate issues. My adult food I am feeding right now is Verus' chicken.

For my puppy I am feeding science diet puppy food, but do not pick the one that says Original formula because the first ingredient is corn and that is not good. They have a new formulation of science diet that is chicken meal as first ingredient, prior to switching my puppy to the science diet puppy(new formulation), my pup was itching, and now she is not.

See if your bouts of itching coincide with 1-2 weeks following vaccinations. You can also add some probios to her diet. Be sure you don't have some sort of yeast brewing in the ears or something that might make her scratch too. Also, might want to take a skin scraping to make sure your pup isn't brewing demodex or something like that.

Watch your ingredients in your treats you are giving too and totally skip rawhide and that sort of stuff. I have had problems with Iams in the past. Bonus of good dog food is that you feed so much less and dog uses it better and has smaller poops and lots less gas. Lots cheaper that going to the vet. My feed store has warned me off a few brands due to recall so be sure you watch your brands. best wishes!

 

[Miniv]

We have a mixed breed cattle dog we rescued who has skin allergies. He came to us with the name of "Idgie", if that explains it. I buy a local dog food that contains NO CORN, NO SOY in it. Can only find it at our two feed stores. It's a lamb and rice formula and has helped him a lot.

I also give him a simple antihistamine pill once at night. He used to get one in the morning too, but doesn't need it anymore. He still gets his evening one because it seems when he's not very active, he starts scratching. Occasionally a small pink spot shows up on his belly from his scratching and I treat it topically with either Vetricin (sp) or Tea Tree Oil Spray. Right now it's almost 5 p.m. and he's napping and fine.

I agree with the others that the dog's diet is what one should look at first.

 

[Carolyn R]

Coming from an owner with a dog that has SEVERE food allergies, I can't stress the importance of running a blood allergyn panel to find out what may be the culprit. It could be as simple as picking up horse poo and having an allergy to Timothy or alfalfa.

I won't condemn or praise any food on the market simply because you can feed food laced with gold and silver, but still have your dog have an allergy to it, then on the other hand you can feed crap can alpo full of horse meat and it may work for your pooch.

Without testing, it is near impossible to pinpoint the cause of the allergy. Example, would have never thought the all natural veggie based chews would cause my mini Aussie to have explosive bloody stools ( contains potato) same with high end food that has venison, beef, buffalo, veal, lamb, corn, yeast, just to name some of the allergies she has.

 

[Sterling]

Whichever food you decide on keep yourself updated on recalls. Seems like every time you turn around something is coming up recalled.

Kathryn, I know a few years back Canidae changed production companies without telling the public and therefore changed some things in their ingredients. Many people were finding their dogs were suddenly getting diarrhea and gastro problems.

 

[Boss Mare]

Natural Balance was just bought out by Del Monte, it's ashame too. I was a NB advocate and recently swithed my dogs. The NB rep I know personally assured me their formula wouldn't change, however that doesn't promise the source for their formula won't..

Just don't want to take a risk of a company that also makes crap like pupperoni and canine carryouts..

 

[anoki]

Sterling, Yes, I knew about that, but I wasn't feeding Canidae at the time....still don't trust that they haven't done something of the same again though. I was never as happy with the Canidae as I was with what I was feeding before, but when I started having problems getting the first food, I had to do something (and was getting a pretty decent breeder price on it). Just took me a little to bite the bullet and switch food (and I'm really not spending any more dollars on dog food than I was before...even with the 'breeder' price). I've been much happier with my dogs since, and no unexplained diarrhea and vomiting!!! It is strange though, the last dog that came in that I had issues with on Canidae had been on really really low quality food, but I've not had one issue with her since switching her on to the Acana.

Boss Mare, I heard about that too...was disappointed to hear that.....

~kathryn

 

[Jill]

We have used before and are using now Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy.

 

[Reble]

Until you find the right puppy food to help the puppy from scratching can use childs benydrl or any childs allergy liquid which will give some relieve from the itching..
Lamb and rice puppy food can help... Good Luck Marty..

 

[Jill]

By chance, we have been using the lamb and rice formula for our puppy, but that's what we have for our dogs now, too (the adult kind).

The vet may also have some insight. I remember hen Dozer was growing (on Nutro Large Breed Puppy), our vet said if he limped or grew too fast, she might suggest moving him to an adult formula.

We have used children's benedryl for an issue one of our dogs had previously.

 

[susanne]

Puppy food is not recommended for giant breeds, as they can cause too rapid growth, which can exacerbate bone and joint problems. This doesn't mean vets don't still recommend them...just be sure to read up on the current research.

I'm not sure, though, if this is equally true for GSDs and other large breeds.

 

[shorthorsemom]

ditto on no puppy food for large breeds, for my smaller dogs I do 6 months of puppy food, for the large breeds, its adult food from the start.... One of the breeds choosen for research for puppy food vs adult food in large breeds at Penn (forever ago) was the GSD. A friend of mine that used to breed GSDs provided data for their research with her dogs and those that were not given the high protein puppy food did better than those that were given puppy food and forced to grow faster. It did not affect their ultimate size and body type, but the ones on adult food had less cases of the growth plate issues and lameness and better hip sockets. Now this was back in the 80s and I am not sure what is popular opinion now, but if she were my dog, I would go with a limited ingredient (lamb rice) (poultry rice) (fish and potato) etc...high quality adult dog food and see if that fixes your itching. switch food gradually. No corn as number 1 ingredient. Check the protein. I would stay under 25 on protein if you can. Those foods that have no wheat or grain are very high protein and that might cause problems.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My vet also recommended we skip the puppy food for our Rotti pup. It was something new to me at the time but I have always wondered why we forced our dogs to reach their mature size as early as possible, glad to let them take the long way there now. They will still get to the size their genetics intended as long as they are still fed a quality diet.