Best type of puppy food (odor, size, brand, poop)

[DreamChasers8]

Originally Posted by PitBullMommie1206

Thanks so much for your help. I will definitely check out the link you posted. I want to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can, I am so excited to get Brooklyn on his raw diet. I did have two other questions/concerns though, if you don't mind... When I do actually switch Brooklyn to a raw diet, do I need to switch him over gradually over a few days like I do when I change him from one type of dry dog food to another type of dry dog food? Also, DH and I have tried giving him raw bits of steak, or whatever it was that we were cooking at the time, and he wouldn't eat it until it was cooked! I would have thought he would have liked it better that way, that's why we gave it to him like that, but nope. He would take it from me and then spit it right out! lol! And he did that a few times until I gave in and cooked it for a second for him. Do you think he will like the raw diet? I mean, to me it seems like a dog would like a raw diet way better than some dry kibble.

Some people do it differently. I have fed our dogs raw food and kibble since they were pups when we got them at 4 months old. The breeder where they were born also fed raw food and kibble, tho not as good of kibble as I do. I still use kibble (Solid Gold) because for me to go 100% raw cost more than I can currently pay and feed 6 kids, 1 cat, 6 dogs, 6 horses, and a flock of chickens. I have quite the monthly feed bill. I have been researching alot and I will still continue to go with the majority of their diet being different types of raw meat but still using the kibble for now.
I guess it depends on if you want to go 100% raw (which is the best) or partly raw. I know that if you are having trouble switching than start with one protein source for the week like chicken. I personally do not think it would hurt to cook the chicken (not the bones tho, pull the meat off and cook that) for a minute to get him to eat it and then until you only have to cook it for few seconds, kind of like gradually making it rawer and rawer each meal, until completely raw. If you had to you could always skip a meal to make him more hungry, a great incentive for any animal switching to a new type of food. You can give him a little kibble with the raw, but some advise against that because the raw digest much faster (and is safer that way) than the kibble does. When I feed raw I actually feed a raw meal once a day and a kibble meal by itself. Depending on what raw meat they are eating, like fish than I will give them that on top of their kibble as one complete meal. But I don't serve our kibble dry either which may be why they have never had any digestion issues.
I soak their kibble in hot water and sprinkle seameal on it. Let it soak for a few minutes and swell up (helps prevent bloat in large chested dogs) and cool down. Then a big handful of fish or a 1/2 fish (bones and all) on top.
There are lots of different ways to do it. I definitly think 100% raw is best, but as long as you are feeding a portion of their food everyday with some kind of raw and raw meaty bones (don't forget those) than you are doing a much better job than just straight kibble.
I hope that helps. Just research all the different ways to go raw and decide which works best for you and Brooklyn. Best of Luck I hope I answered your questions

[PitBullMommie1206]

Originally Posted by DreamChasers8

Some people do it differently. I have fed our dogs raw food and kibble since they were pups when we got them at 4 months old. The breeder where they were born also fed raw food and kibble, tho not as good of kibble as I do. I still use kibble (Solid Gold) because for me to go 100% raw cost more than I can currently pay and feed 6 kids, 1 cat, 6 dogs, 6 horses, and a flock of chickens. I have quite the monthly feed bill. I have been researching alot and I will still continue to go with the majority of their diet being different types of raw meat but still using the kibble for now.
I guess it depends on if you want to go 100% raw (which is the best) or partly raw. I know that if you are having trouble switching than start with one protein source for the week like chicken. I personally do not think it would hurt to cook the chicken (not the bones tho, pull the meat off and cook that) for a minute to get him to eat it and then until you only have to cook it for few seconds, kind of like gradually making it rawer and rawer each meal, until completely raw. If you had to you could always skip a meal to make him more hungry, a great incentive for any animal switching to a new type of food. You can give him a little kibble with the raw, but some advise against that because the raw digest much faster (and is safer that way) than the kibble does. When I feed raw I actually feed a raw meal once a day and a kibble meal by itself. Depending on what raw meat they are eating, like fish than I will give them that on top of their kibble as one complete meal. But I don't serve our kibble dry either which may be why they have never had any digestion issues.
I soak their kibble in hot water and sprinkle seameal on it. Let it soak for a few minutes and swell up (helps prevent bloat in large chested dogs) and cool down. Then a big handful of fish or a 1/2 fish (bones and all) on top.
There are lots of different ways to do it. I definitly think 100% raw is best, but as long as you are feeding a portion of their food everyday with some kind of raw and raw meaty bones (don't forget those) than you are doing a much better job than just straight kibble.
I hope that helps. Just research all the different ways to go raw and decide which works best for you and Brooklyn. Best of Luck I hope I answered your questions

Wow! You have a lot of mouths to feed! lol! You have definitely been a huge help. Just hearing how you feed raw helps me feel a lot more confident. I guess I was worried about doing something wrong, but it doesn't sound like it's anything hard to do. I was over thinking everything. I think we will start out by slowly working the raw food into his regular meals. We feed him twice a day, and he normally gets just dry Canidae, but we do mix his dry food with canned Canidae sometimes, as a sort of treat. I am thinking I will start out by cooking some of the chicken meat for just a minute (so he will eat it ) and then mix that in with his regular food. I am also going to start mixing the dry food and the canned food for every meal. I will just add more and more chicken to his meals with less and less dog food until he isn't eating anymore dog food at all. And I'll cook the chicken meat less and less every time. And like I said before, as long as he will eat the fish, I want to give him a whole fish at least once a week or so. Anyway, I think that's what we will try and hopefully it works! lol! Thanks again for all of your help!

[DreamChasers8]

You are so welcome! I hope he enjoys his new food and I know he enjoys the love you show him. The whole fish thing once a week is great. It's so easy. Sometimes I feed all raw sometimes a mix and so forth. Ours have beautiful coats, skin and are very healthy and fit. Still do your research and keep up on it and try to mimic the whole prey animal when you can if you go 100% raw. Keep in touch and let me know how he's doing. Pugluvr has a lot of good website info as well for raw feeding.
Stephanie

[mirandac]

For more info on flint River Ranch, visit the company website
Flint River Ranch ::: flash detection

[MAK802]

Originally Posted by mirandac

For more info on flint River Ranch, visit the company website
Flint River Ranch ::: flash detection

Our breeder wanted our dog to be on Flint River, but we didn't like the extremely low protein content (21%). It's far too low for any breed, puppies included. And they rated a 4 on dogfoodanalysis.com, which is not terrible, but we wanted a food with a 5 star or higher rating.

[mirandac]

The protein is 23% in some of the FRR formulas. You can also add a little meat mixed in if you want to get in a little more protein.

It's important to be aware that protein percentages that are too high ar not good either since it can shorten a dog's life. A high protein diet can contribute to kidney failure which is one of the leading causes of death as dogs get older.

Although I'm not a supporter of the huge pet food industry that was started by human food companies to dump their garbage at a profit, I do think that the studies indicating a protein percentage of 21%- 23% as optimal probably have scientific validity. Dogs as descendants of wild canines are opportunistic feeders and eat less protein than you might expect considering that they eat the WHOLE animal - even those parts that have a low amount of protein, scavenge and even eat grass and plants. I've had several dogs who loved raw fruits and vegetables. (I've also had some who wouldn't touch most of them).

The purity of the ingredients and the type of protein is important, too. We all heard about the deaths and subsequent pet food recalls from imported ingredients that contained melamine to increase the protein percentage.

I've always felt really comfortable with the quality control at Flint River Ranch. It's a small family owned company that was one of the first to make quality pet foods from human-grade ingredients. They've never had a recall of any of their products. For more info visit the company website:
http://www.frrco.com/120820

[MAK802]

Flint River rates only a 4 on dogfoodanalysis.com due to their lack of meat content. Dogs are carnivores. They cannot survive on such low protein levels. There are many great food companies out there that have never been part of any recall. Fromm, Taste of the Wild, Solid Gold, Orijen, and best yet, raw are some great foods to feed your dog (most of these are also grainless). Dogs do not need grain. Flint River uses oat and millet in their food and oat bran as a filler. Why the fillers? No amount of fillers is acceptable. I would never feed this food to my pet and would discourage others from doing so as well.

Dog Food Reviews - Flint River Ranch Premium Fish & Chip Dog Food - Powered by ReviewPost

[MAK802]

And the protein-kidney damage link is totally false. Read on:

The Dog Food Project - Is too much protein harmful?

"
There is no scientific proof that high protein diets cause dogs to get "hyper" or "aggressive". No biochemical or nutritional factors support this myth. There is also no conclusive evidence so far that protein intake actually contributes to the development of kidney dysfunction in healthy animals."

[GypsySoul22]

I feed kibble with meat mixed in every day. The meat can be beef, chicken, fish. Sometimes I throw in vegetables.
My dog is doing better now I eliminated canned food. She likes real meat not 'crap ends' or whatever they put in canned food.

I knew many people with dogs who ate 'people food' and they lived to ripe old dog ages. Our first dog when I was a kid lived to be 12 or 13 and he ate gainsburgers with some table scraps, when Dad had them to throw in. We also gave that dog the occasional steak bone.

I believe in good food (real food) but there are many factors that make a healthy dog.

I am still open to try and learn more about my dog and her health. I find cooking for her (planning her meals) a bit annoying sometimes.

[DreamChasers8]

Great thing about raw is you don't have to cook it for her, hell you really don't even have to cut it up, just give it to her and watch her enjoy "real food". Plus she will have to use muscles not normally used to eat that way which is really good for her.