Hi all,

I want my little pup to have the best start possible - whether thats a $100 bag of kibble or a free range duck! However I have a couple of questions that I can't find the answers for on here.

Is he too young? I'm guessing the answer to this is 'no'. They eat raw from birth in the wild right?!

Also, we currently have an issue with Luka and his biting! He will rap his teeth round anything he can get to, whether that is my finger, arm or nose! Im worried that switching him to raw before sorting this problem out will only make it worse?

Any help would be appreciated!

Regards,

Erinc.

To answer what´s the best food is very hard, ther eis pro and cons to kibble, pros and cons to raw feeding andn so on.

When he bites your finger for example immediately make and loud high noise and turn around and leave him alone for a few minutes. And offe rhim alternatives like bones etc.

A raw diet is certainly the best diet for any dog but only if it's done right. No kibble or homecooked diet could compare but then again we all try to feed the best we can within our means and ability (and that takes into account more than just cost but also lifestyle, time, resource availability, etc).

As soon as a puppy is weaned you can feed them raw, of course you'd be feeding stuff with smaller bones and more size appropriate for a young pup obviously.

I honestly do not think switching to raw will make the grabbing issue any different. That's a totally separate issue that needs to be worked on but I don't think you need to have that sorted before transitioning to raw. But every dog is different so no one could say with absolute certainty.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!

The whole letting out a loud cry thing when he bites doesn't really work with Luka - he just assumes you're playing! I've started locking him in his crate for a couple of minutes and leaving the room when he bites and that seems to be having some sort of effect - the biting has calmed down a little since i started that. I didn't want to put him in his crate before in case he associated it with something negative but now that he loves his little den and keeps it mess free i can afford to lock him in there when i need him isolated

Thanks again for the advice, I'm going to look more into raw feeding and decide weather or not i can maintain it as a regular and balanced diet - if not, i'll probably go for a high quality kibble/wet food!

My advice is to find a better pet store (independent) and take a look at what they have. What are do you live in - our members can give you some suggestions on stores. Usually the better stores give out free samples. Look them up on dogfoodadvisor.com to see the ingredients and an analysis. Test them out and see what Luka likes. How old is Luka? If he's a puppy, that narrows down the food range.

Our Chili was pretty picky - which was good because it forced us to reevaluate what the rescue gave - Solid Gold (an ok 4 star food - but it has grains and made his poo soft). He's now fed a grain free Salmon food. We also supplement that and add a cup of the Nature's Domain Grain Free Salmon from Costco - very cost effective at $32 a bg - and is made by Diamond Foods who make Taste of the Wild. They're very close in nutritional details. Make sure to check the calorie count on the bag once you get it so you can calculate how much Luka needs to eat. We have to feed more of the Nature's Domain vs Nature's Variety because it's lower in calories.

i live in the uk, it seems there is a lot more variety in the US! maybe i should move?

i never thought about calories, is there a guideline to how many calories i should be feeding Luka vs his weight?

He is 2months and 2 weeks old :-)

Erinc wrote:

i never thought about calories, is there a guideline to how many calories i should be feeding Luka vs his weight?

He is 2months and 2 weeks old :-)

Your vet would be the best person to guestimate how many calories your dog should be getting. There are so many factors that go into how much a dog should eat that there is no "one size fits all" amount to feed. Factors such as food quality, calories per cup, age, weight, height, build, metabolism, activity level, exercise amount, etc all vary by the individual and will therefore affect how much your dog should be eating. It's really going to be trial and error until you find the right amount for your dog but the vet can probably advise you better than we can since they know your dog better. With processed foods I'd recommend looking at the feeding guidelines listed on the packaging and start out with a little less than they recommend, monitor your dog's body condition and adjust feeding amounts as necessary.

thanks Val,

He currently gets fed 3 times a day - however, he does still seem hungry between meals - is this normal or do i need to increase his food a little bit?

Erinc wrote:

He currently gets fed 3 times a day - however, he does still seem hungry between meals - is this normal or do i need to increase his food a little bit?

Puppies do eat more than adults and you've got a young one on your hands. Feeding 3 times a day is good for his age. Whether or not you should increase his food will depend on what you're feeding and how much. My apologies if you've posted that info previously, but can you share how much and what you're feeding currently? Also, what do the feeding guidelines suggest on the bag for your size and age pup?

Well the breeder gave me a bag of purina pro plan, i started with that and then did my research, i understand its not great kibble so now that its coming to an end I'm going to switch him onto james well beloved whitefish n rice this week! The vet gave me 2 complementary bags of science diet as well when i got his first jabs done so i have been incorporating that into his daily feed!

He had giardia and has just finished his medication, as a result he is currently on chicken and rice - i also mix some of both kibbles into this when feeding it to him. The guideline daily amounts are very little on both kibbles, something like 100g a day for his weight - he gets a lot more than that - pretty much double lol.

He seems healthy, lively & well - stool coming out as they should and haven't had any other diet related problems! He does have dandruff however, and i've done a little reading on the forums and will start supplementing him with fish oils to try and combat this! Maybe when i i switch to JWB - that will help his coat as well.

Sorry for all the newbieness, I'm a first time pup owner and although i did months and months of research before bring Luka home there is still loads i want to know

Don't wait until the Purina is gone to feed the other brand.
What i do is slowly mix the new with the old.

Started mixing today, within a week or 2 he should be soley on JWB - i got the white fish one and boy does it smell fishy!

not sure i can keep up a raw diet atm so going to see how he does on his new food! i hope it helps his coat and if the dandruff persists ill supplement some fish oils into his diet!

Erinc wrote:

so going to see how he does on his new food! i hope it helps his coat and if the dandruff persists ill supplement some fish oils into his diet!

if your still having issues with the dandruff it might also be the grains in the food. you really want the protein to be listed first in the list of ingredients. it is also a fish meal listed not whole fish. since it says it has fish oil in it i don't know if adding more fish oil will do anything for the coat. when was the last time you washed him and how often are you washing him, and with what?

info for the food you are switching to:
Ingredients:
Rice (min 28%), Ocean White Fish Meal (min 23%), Barley (min 10%), Potato Protein, Olive Oil, Whole Linseed, Fish Oil, Vegetable Gravy, Peas, Alfalfa, Sodium Chloride, Natural Seaweed, Chicory Extract, Lysine, Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Yucca extract, Threonine. James Wellbeloved special ingredients are also included these are: Anti-Oxidants from Natural Vitamin E and C, Essential Vitamins, Essential Minerals and Prebiotics from Chiccory extract.

Nutritional Information:

Protein 30%, Oil 15%, Fibre 3%, Ash 8%, Omega-3 Fatty Acids 2.8%, Omega-6 Fatty Acids 1.6%.

Dandruff can also be humidity related sometimes. We had a problem with our sibe and dandruff when we lived in FL where it's hot and humid most of the year and he was on excellent, grain free kibble at the time. But Jenn is right, the grain in the JWB may or may not have an impact on the dandruff. When our sibe had a dandruff problem our vet suggested a moisturizing oatmeal shampoo or a medicated shampoo specifically for dandruff. We went with an oatmeal shampoo and that combined with frequent use of a force dryer to keep his skin and coat dry in the humidity did the trick.

I know you folks across the pond have less food options than we do here in the states but I know several people in the UK that feed Orijen and/or Acana which are much better options than JWB if you can find them. Is Taste of the Wild available to you over there? I thought it was but I'm not positive.

We gave him a wash on Tuesday evening just gone, it was the first time he has been bathed, well, by us anyway! We used an antibacterial puppy shampoo that we brought from pets at home.

As far as food that is available goes, i've done quite a bit of research and it seems JWB is the best available to me over here - i haven't thought about ordering online yet as i wanted to see how he does on JWB - but everyone i speak to says its the best i can provide him with as far as kibble goes... I haven't seen TOTW in-store but i believe it is available online from www.zooplus.co.uk - as are Orijen and Acana.

What does grain-free mean exactly? If all doesn't go well with JWB i will try one of those 3 - JWB is obviously more available to me as i can just walk in and walk out with it so would be a more convenient option if all goes well. Seeing as all of the 3 suggestions are available, which one would be in Luka's best interest if i were to move on from JWB?

Thanks again for all of your input - much appreciated! Learning with every reply i read.

edit.
It is cold and dry here at the moment.

All 3 are great, some offer puppy stage food and others are all life stages, Sibs do better on a grain free diet as its easier to digest and all the food is being used, with grains they offer not much for the dog and end up going in one end and out the other. but there have been some sibes that don't do well on the higher protein foods because they are not being "worked" enough to burn it off. i feed TOTW to our two and i know a few here feel very highly about Orijen. since price is not an issue to you maybe you can get some smaller bags and see how it goes at first. it will be hard to tell till he is on that one food fully for at least one month. thanks for caring so much about your boy he will have a great life with you once you can figure this all out.

As far as getting worked goes - he gets the bulk of his exercise from his walks/jogs which I have limited at the moment to around half an hour at most as i've read that its not great for them to be exercising too much at such a young age due to his bones and joints still developing. I won't get much of an opportunity to cycle with him nor will he regularly be able to pull anything - would the running alone be enough exercise for such a high-protein diet?

Considering the price ranges of food, I can afford the more expensive kibble, thats probably down to me living with parents and not having to pay rent I'm saving a lot of money at the moment as i'm not going out as much due to having this fur ball in my life - I do care about him lots, after all - i decided to bring him home and he deserves that level of commitment. It would be unfair on him if I didn't provide him with the best I can!

sorry don't remember how old your pup is but he should not be run until about a yr and it should be done on packed dirt or a trail. concrete and roadways are hard on any age dog. running around the yard playing is fine since he will stop when tired. i forget what they say but i think walks should be limited to 5min per month of age on the dog. puppies need higher protein for growing but it becomes a issue when they get older and cant burn off the protein then they tend to put on weight.

He is 10 weeks old :-) I also heard of the 5min per month thing but that only gives him just over 10minutes! He is so active that he just wants more. Im considering ordering a bag of TOTW now but seeing as he has such a sensitive tummy the jump in protein from something like purina isn't the best idea so is it worth switching him to JWB and use that as a transition to TOTW?

if you can take the bag of JWB back i would just switch to TOTW, his tummy might do better as it will not be trying to digest all the grains.

the 5min is a rule for walking (NO RUNNING), you can do all the inside/out side "playing" you want (chase, fetch, wrestling, tug of rope) . working on some training is also a great mental way to wear him down and learn something!

We followed the 5 minute rule with our pup as well, and then supplemented that with ample play time in the back yard. That combination worked very well for us and kept Ghost happy and well exercised

If you are considering TOTW, go on their website and ask for a sample through their "Contact Us" section. I did that a few weeks ago and they sent me 2 sample bags each of their puppy formulas. The High Prairie formula gave Ghost horrible gas, but she's done great on Pacific Stream. We've now switched her over completely and she loves it.

hmm ok, TOTW it is! i'll go and take the JWB back tomorrow, wish we had this convo last night now lol

oh thats great, i'll do that now! Pacific Stream sounds more like their cup of tea anyway

Well its been delayed slightly but i just ordered a bag of TOTW - the puppy formula isn't available in the UK so i've just got the one for all life stages - is that ok?

Im just sick of Luka's diarrhoea - i think its the food, he's on James WellBeloved - When i get the TOTW ill change him over to that and see how he does!

The website tells you how much to feed an adult dog of particular weight but it doesn't mention puppies? Any ideas how i can apply that to a 3 month old? Also, the protein content in TOTW is 25% compared to the 30% he was getting from JWB - should i supplement his TOTW to make up for the extra 5%?