MaggieMaysMom

We are starting week three with sweet Maggie May today. She came to us with a full unopened bag of the food she had been eating all her life" per previous owner, beneful. So we paid no attention really to what was in the bag and just went right along with it. When I realized we would be needing a new bag next week I actually checked out what she was eating this morning. It seems, unless we were lied to, which is very possible, that poor baby Maggie has been on healthy weight formula beneful her first 6 months now of solid food eating. After some internet surfing I found that healthy weight=low calorie food. For a growing puppy?!?
Needless to say we have to make a change. I started today during my shopping errands looking around at what's available, at what price and with which protein and fat contents. And of course, I am overloaded with choices.

At 6-7 months we should be looking at a puppy formula, right?

And for how long, the next year or so with the puppy formula?

From the three stores I went to today it seems that pedigree puppy formula has a nice level of nutrients for the price, does anyone have an opinion on that brand?

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I did a search on the board here for food and read several past threads with lots of differing advice. So, I thought I'd just ask what y'all think.
Thanks!
Stevie

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~Maggie May b. Jan 2011~
1/2 basset
1/2 pointer
1 whole love bug

Wworm

Hi Maggie May,

I et Kirkland Puppy Food (from Costco) at first from my breeder. And like Maggie May, came with a big bag of that.

After that, we had to find something else, 'cause my person does not have a Costco membership.

We, too, were overloaded w/choices!!

eventually, we have settled on Large Breed Puppy Food (there are some benefits to this, and you can see previous threads on this), and I et Solid Gold Wolf Cub Large Breed puppy food. here's a link to it:

PETCO.com - Solid Gold Wolf Cub Large Breed Puppy Dog Food customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

i prob will eat this until i am 1 1/2 to 2 yrs old, or something similar.

then later i will be eating Turducken and Grammy's pot pie, by Merrick. They also have a Puppy Plate dog food (tho not large breed specific...)

Merrick Pet Foods - Dry Dog Food
Merrick Pet Foods - About Us

i likes my food a lot : ) well, food is my FAVORITE subject! tho i don't eat more than 1 cup/day, so a bag lasts a long time. (i get other food everyday, too, like wet food and chicken/brown rice that my person makes).

also, it's ok to rotate between different brands of food, if puppy tummy ok w/it. that is a way of mixing less expensive brands with more expensive brands, for example.

hope that is helpful, Worm

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

mhvonalmen8908

Both of mine were on IAMS puppy food and did great. There's a new formula out called Iams® Healthy Naturals® Puppy Food with Chicken - New Puppy Center - Dog - PetSmart. I fed Virga this and she loved it and did great on it. I feed them the adult Healthy Naturals now and they're doing great on it.

We switched Doppler over to adult food at about 9 months because we noticed he was beefing up. So we finished out his last bag of puppy food and started him on adult food. He slimmed back down and is now maintaining a great weight. Virga started doing the same thing about a month ago at about 10 months old so we switched her over too. It all depends on your dog.

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Megan & Chris
-Mom & Dad to Doppler (2 year old Basset/Redbone/Golden mix) and Virga (1 year old Basset)

Princess Buttercup

Worm: My human wants to know if your human might feed her too? Sounds tasty you had me at Turducken!! I eat Pinnacle Duck & Potato because everyone thought I had skin allergies. Between you & me I don't really feel any different though. Does anyone else really like the first cup out of a fresh bag of food? I'm drooling just thinking about it. Mmmmm mmmmm!!

Kirska

My advice is to check this website: Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

In comparison to other foods available Pedigree falls in the worst category of 1/5. Most of the brands named so far in the thread are 3/5 or 4/5. I know very few people that actually feed a 5/5 star food. Ours get Life's Abundance which is a 4/5 food: Life's Abundance - Improving the Health of People, Pets & the Planet.

The big stores carry a handful of decent brands like Blue Buffalo.

Some benefits that we have seen with our food:
- Harley's hypothyroid medication has been cut in half
- Both dogs have fur so soft that when people pet them they assume they very often ask if they were just bathed that day
- Home delivery means you don't have to haul it around and also that you know it is fresh since it is straight from the source, not sitting in a store

Don't let the higher cost scare you because you feed less per serving since they are so much more wholesome.

I don't know about puppy food as neither are puppies but this is what I would recommend for adults, or at least something of similar quality.

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Mom to Anabelle and Lila, rescued ladies and Harley, Corgi/Beagle/Basset/?? mutt

"Saving just one dog won't change the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog." - Richard C. Call

Boomer's Mom

Boomer finished his last bag of puppy food right after he turned 1, and I gradually started mixing in adult dog food before that. The transition went well.

I now alternate feeding him 4Health from Tractor Supply Company, and Eagle Pack brand. I was able to pick up a bag of Science Diet Naturals from my work for a steal (discontinued!), so he'll get that next, but after that, back to his regular rotation.

However, whatever agrees with your dog is the way to go. Don't get too caught up in "This brand is better because... or this brand is awful because..." If he eats it and it agrees with his digestion, and he seems healthy and active, then there you go!

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Boomer: Born 4/18/2010
Biscuit: Rescued 1/26/12, approx. 2 yo

Chez Basset: Come for the kibble, stay for the belly rubs.

charady2

We decided to go with Taste of the Wild because it is available here in town at our farm store (otherwise most foods beyond grocery store brands would require at least an hour's drive!)

On the site listed previously, it was a 5 out of 5. We bought a 15 lb bag for Flash that is lasting forever! The food is an all life stages food and while I wasn't sure about that, he looks good, is FULL of energy, and (excuse me for typing this) his poo doesn't look like grainy dog food. Purina puppy chow was coming out almost the same as it went in!

As for dog food sites, I prefer Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble because it seems to have more options, but that can be extremely overwhelming too. But the reviews break down the good and the bad, according to them of course.

Good luck. We had one rottie that just couldn't handle the higher protein food-diarrhea no matter how small of an amount we put in with her other food. So she ate cheap food (and by cheap...it was like 6 bucks for a 15 lb bag! But she loved it and did great).

Penny Arcade

I had a chaweenie puppy that ate a Purina brand for puppies. She did really good on it. Penny isn't a puppy, but she also eats Purina (Healthy Morsels). I found a homemade recipe for food too; all it is is cooked ground turkey, brown rice, and a dash of garlic powder. Penny won't eat unless she's got a spoonful of the mix in her food. She's done well on that too.

Honestly, I'd love to get her those organic foods they have at our local H.E.B., but that's gonna have to wait til I find a better job with better money. Its so expensive. :/

Mikey T

not necessarily before the advent of large breed puppy foods that a lower in caloric content than regular puppy food along with tweeks of the calcium and calciium phosphorus ration lower in large breed standard recommdation was to switch a basset to adult food in this age range or a little earlier and it is still not bad advice. The growth rate is slowed down so the dog need less extra calories for growth, and because the dog is larger a greater portion is to maintence so a poper adult food is not a bad alternative. to a large breed puppy food, i would avoid an all breed puppy food however.

Personal I am not in favor of weight management food for dogs. Weight can be managed easly by how much food you put in bowl in the first place. Most wight management food reduce calories by substituting fat cor carbs. While this may have health benifits in humans that is not the case in dogs. Fat is a much better energy source for dogs than carbs. If you look are a bag of dog food you will see minimium protein and fat content but nothing about carb conent That is because affco has determend carb are not required by dogs hence not listed that is not quite the case but the amount of carbs required is quite minimal.

Wworm

PB-- do you know I always think of Peanut Butter when i think of you? it's one of my favorite foods

of course you can come over and my human would feed u too! I LIVE FOR the 1st cup out of a fresh bag of food... too bad it comes so rarely poo. your food sounds yummy too, w/the Duck & Potato. maybe i'll beg my human to let me try it sometime too...
--peace out, Worm

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/