Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks for clarifying. Yes, it's an English Springer Spaniel. Have you narrowed down what food you might go with? And congrats on the new puppy.
Well no, not really LOL! I was really set on the idea of the CostCo brand until I realized it was Diamond and from what I read about the contamination the company was totally at fault. That makes me second guess that. The breeder has had the pups on the Purina for 3 weeks now so them being on it for a couple more weeks while I figure it all out isn't going to be detrimental to them! I'm going out to a few places today to see what I can find.
When does your pup come home? We get ours Saturday.
One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that alot of the food people are talking about are not full of preservatives.The shelf life is not as long as the grocery store brands or science diet that are loaded with preservatives so I myself would not get a puppy a 30 or 40 lbs bag as that may take awhile to finish and the food may go bad.
It took Jazz and Dash who were 45 and 50 lbs over a month to finish a 30 lb bag of Innova. That is both eating the food from the same bag. It is also very important to store these open bags of food properly so they do not go bad. Rancid dog food can make a dog quite ill. If you have a pet store that features holistic type foods you will have quite a large selection to choose from. If you have a pet smart near by I do know several people that are happy with Blue.
I'm probably going to get a whirlwind of negative comments to this post but I just don't agree with all this "must have special food" hype. My Choco Lab lived till he was over 15. My Black Lab is over 11 and doesn't look or act it. My Chessie who is just coming up on 7 is also in very good health and still the terror she has always been. All of them eat Purina One products, considered by some on here to be one of the worst foods out there. I've heard all the analogies and comparisions but - sorry - I don't buy into them. I look for results. My dogs are healthy and happy. Their coats shine and their eyes are bright, they have lots of energy and are not overweight. In fact, they just went to the vet for their yearly check up & vaccinations. I was told that whatever I am doing - keep it up! Thats what I care about - their health, not the hype. For the record, if I needed to spend a boat load of money every month on special food to keep them healthy, I would do it without hesitation. Since they are healthy on the food I have them on, I don't see any reason to change it!
And what would you do if you found out that your dog got poisoned because of these foods? I love my dogs too much to chance it . Im sorry but if a company burns me once , I dont give them a second chance to burn me twice . as the old saying goes , " burn me once shame on you , burn me twice shame on me for being the fool " . I dont even entertain the thought of putting my dogs on a grocery store food . I will tell you what a vet told me . any dog food sold in a grocery store is garbage . Dont misunderstand Im not attacking you I just think maybe we can all educate each other .
Well no, not really LOL! I was really set on the idea of the CostCo brand until I realized it was Diamond and from what I read about the contamination the company was totally at fault. That makes me second guess that. The breeder has had the pups on the Purina for 3 weeks now so them being on it for a couple more weeks while I figure it all out isn't going to be detrimental to them! I'm going out to a few places today to see what I can find.
When does your pup come home? We get ours Saturday.
Yes, I'm worried about Diamond, too. It's enough to make me steer clear. I'm glad I read that here. Our breeder is giving us some of the dry food she has already been giving the pups, so that I can mix it with whatever I buy. Not sure what dry food she's been using---but she said she's been feeding them Eukanuba canned food. So I also have to find a good quality canned food. I have SO many questions; how often to feed the puppy, whether to mix it with wet food..... It's been years since I had a puppy! It's a very exciting time, and I'm also nervous about doing it "right", since it's been so long. We pick her up the 13th, so I have a bit more time than you. More time to bite my nails and wring my hands. LOL
Okay have been doing more research and I see that TOTW/Kirkland/Natures Domain is a Diamond product. Isn't Diamond the company that had the massive contamination a couple years back resulting in the death of hundreds of pets?
If so that makes me really nervous.............
You are correct, it was Diamond. The Diamond company owns many brands besides those you've mentioned.
To the OP: Why not read about and consider feeding a home cooked or raw diet? YOU will then know exactly what your dog eats.
The difference between raw feed and kibble fed dogs is truly amazing, especially their teeth and coat. The "output" is surprisingly less too, because there is no "filler."
To get started you can buy premixed raw, then as you get more comfortable with it, start preparing your own.
There are a number of Yahoo raw lists that are helpful and a dog food nutrition forum where you can gather a lot of information, even if you want to stick with dry kibble.
In Va-Cats defense I have always fed INNOVA and mix in a bit of canned Merrick or Evo or some Stella and Cheweys freeze dried duck or even some fish if I am having fish and or fresh veggies . My brother and his wife fed their first dog that was a larger Shar Pei what I considered junk food like Kibbles and Bits . He also got table scraps and often it was things I would not feed mine like Chicken/turkey skin and Fat from meats as I would be afraid of Pancreatitis. Well that dog was not sick even one day and as he aged he did not develop any lumps and bumps which often are fatty tumors that you do see on so many older dogs.He did not have skin issues either and he lived to be 13 which is good for a large Shar Pei is I can honestly say his junk food diet did not seem to have harmed him. It is worth mentioning that he also did not get vaccines past his puppy ones and they did not even do the rabies except for maybe 3 or 4 times as they never got him a license! I did not consider them to be very good dog owners with him but with the bulldogs they have changed and buy expensive food and get vaccines on a reduced schedule not yearly and yes the dogs do have licenses now.
My sister's collie that lived to be 16 also ate Junk food dog food which was usually what ever she found on sale and ate table scraps and he too was a healthy dog and lived well past the age most big collies do.
I can also say the dogs I grew up with tended to eat Purina and table scraps and they were healthy dogs that rarely needed to see a vet . So while I tend to not agree with this type of diet I have seen dogs do very well on it.
In Va-Cats defense I have always fed INNOVA and mix in a bit of canned Merrick or Evo or some Stella and Cheweys freeze dried duck or even some fish if I am having fish and or fresh veggies . My brother and his wife fed their first dog that was a larger Shar Pei what I considered junk food like Kibbles and Bits . He also got table scraps and often it was things I would not feed mine like Chicken/turkey skin and Fat from meats as I would be afraid of Pancreatitis. Well that dog was not sick even one day and as he aged he did not develop any lumps and bumps which often are fatty tumors that you do see on so many older dogs.He did not have skin issues either and he lived to be 13 which is good for a large Shar Pei is I can honestly say his junk food diet did not seem to have harmed him. It is worth mentioning that he also did not get vaccines past his puppy ones and they did not even do the rabies except for maybe 3 or 4 times as they never got him a license! I did not consider them to be very good dog owners with him but with the bulldogs they have changed and buy expensive food and get vaccines on a reduced schedule not yearly and yes the dogs do have licenses now.
My sister's collie that lived to be 16 also ate Junk food dog food which was usually what ever she found on sale and ate table scraps and he too was a healthy dog and lived well past the age most big collies do.
I can also say the dogs I grew up with tended to eat Purina and table scraps and they were healthy dogs that rarely needed to see a vet . So while I tend to not agree with this type of diet I have seen dogs do very well on it.
My husbands family had Goldens and many of them were raised as seeing eye dogs etc. Gorgeous dogs with no health issues. The last one they had lived until 14. All were fed the basic shelf dog food and Milk Bones as snacks. He is of the theory that a long with the designer dog mentality of today comes the designer dog food hype.
That said my theory is when you know better you try to do better.
I will say this ,my breeders dogs are on the Purina One and they are beautiful dogs! Would they be better on something else or look any different? Perhaps. Since I don't have a side by side comparison my choice is to do the best I can within our budget After researching I think I can do better that what they currently are having and that is my personal choice.
I certainly hope by asking a question about dog food I have not created a judgemental debate, as that was never my intention. I am trying to educate myself and nothing more.
It is worth mentioning that he also did not get vaccines past his puppy ones and they did not even do the rabies except for maybe 3 or 4 times as they never got him a license! I did not consider them to be very good dog owners with him but with the bulldogs they have changed and buy expensive food and get vaccines on a reduced schedule not yearly and yes the dogs do have licenses now.
Actually, I consider them to be very good dog owners because of that. I cannot believe that people give their dogs rabies vaccines annually (or even every 3 years), especially since we know how detrimental that is to their health. Study after study shows that immunity from the first rabies vaccines lasts at least 7 years. But, Big Pharma needs the money at the cost of our dogs, so they make it either annual or every 3 years, which is way too often. If people were told to vaccinate their human kids for say MMR every single year, I'm sure there would be an uproar. Why don't people think twice when it comes to dogs, especially given their short life spans? There are legals ways around the rabies vaccine, just sayin'...
And I'm totally against vaccinating every single year. PC hasn't had a shot since he was 8 months old and he is done for the rest of his life. I'm so glad to have a vet that doesn't believe in over-vaccination. His titers are off the charts, that's how high his antibodies are to some of these specific viruses. And this is almost 2 years after most of these vaccines were administered!
For anyone interested about learning about modified vaccines schedules and which are worthless, check out this site.
Actually, I consider them to be very good dog owners because of that. I cannot believe that people give their dogs rabies vaccines annually (or even every 3 years), especially since we know how detrimental that is to their health. Study after study shows that immunity from the first rabies vaccines lasts at least 7 years. But, Big Pharma needs the money at the cost of our dogs, so they make it either annual or every 3 years, which is way too often. If people were told to vaccinate their human kids for say MMR every single year, I'm sure there would be an uproar. Why don't people think twice when it comes to dogs, especially given their short life spans? There are legals ways around the rabies vaccine, just sayin'...
And I'm totally against vaccinating every single year. PC hasn't had a shot since he was 8 months old and he is done for the rest of his life. I'm so glad to have a vet that doesn't believe in over-vaccination. His titers are off the charts, that's how high his antibodies are to some of these specific viruses. And this is almost 2 years after most of these vaccines were administered!
For anyone interested about learning about modified vaccines schedules and which are worthless, check out this site.
i know that pc is a very sweet and good boy, but i hope for his sake (and yours) that he never nips a kid or adult and doesn't have proof of current rabies vacc ..... i totally agree with you that the annual or even every 3 years vaccs are probably too much..... i am looking for a vet that will stagger bailey and dave's shots the next time they are due.....
i'm just sayin' this though..... bailey nipped a neighbor kid on the calf a couple of years ago.... TOTALLY the kid's fault and the father even told the animal control officer that SEVERAL times..... didn't matter though.... they had taken the kid into the doctor (he was in the foster system and they felt like they had to) and since it was a dog bite, she was reported to animal control. this happened on a sunday.... get home from work monday afternoon and there is a big ol' yellow sign on my front door demanding her shot records because my dog had attacked a human..... .... i was at animal control when they opened the next morning with her shot record, and was able to quarantine her at home for 10 days..... even with proof of vaccination they required quarantine..... and had i not been able to produce the shot record, they would have taken her from me and quarantined her there at the pound...... something she would NOT have done well with......
and now she has a bite record with the county and state......
and fwiw .... the dad and the mom were very apologetic to me for the trouble we had to deal with.....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's been years since I had a puppy! It's a very exciting time, and I'm also nervous about doing it "right", since it's been so long. We pick her up the 13th, so I have a bit more time than you. More time to bite my nails and wring my hands. LOL
After researching I think I can do better that what they currently are having and that is my personal choice. 
.... i was at animal control when they opened the next morning with her shot record, and was able to quarantine her at home for 10 days..... even with proof of vaccination they required quarantine..... and had i not been able to produce the shot record, they would have taken her from me and quarantined her there at the pound...... something she would NOT have done well with...... 
