Hickory

Hi all,

Hickory has just started his second 30 pound bag of puppy food at 17 weeks, and I just have a few questions. I am feeding him blue buffalo lamb and oatmeal for puppies currently, however, while he does have solid stools, has soft and watery stools at least one time every day. I am thinking of mixing it up a bit, and see that Innova gets some good reviews and is actually on sale now at petsmart. Would any of you recommend trying this brand out for Hickory? I read about all the hype in grain free food, but I feel that as his diarrhea is already a concern, I don't want to cut grains out completely. If I make the switch to Innova puppy food, my next question is which puppy food to get. There is a regular puppy food and a large breed puppy food. Normally I would get the normal one, but I've been reading the forum and a couple of people have mentioned that bassets do well on large breed food. Why is this the case?

Anyway, rather than rambling on any further, I'll just wait see what you guys have to say!

Thanks!

sadeyes2

Hi Hickory, never had a pup so can't offer advice, but I have read on here that bassets use large breed puppy food because even though they have short legs, they are considered a large breed because of the size of their body. Sorry I couldn't help more.

BassetHoundHank

basset's usually are large breed dogs. As adults, they can weigh in anywhere from 40-70 lbs., based on the size of their parents.
I decided that I would buy large breed dog food because it's what my vet had recommended for the size and breed of my pup, Hank. He needs the extra vitamins and minerals packed into the large breed dog food kibbles so his little body has what it needs to some day be a big weigher! hehe

As for innova, I just finished a bag of it last month and Hank didn't like to eat the stuff. I had to bury treats under the kibble to get him interested in it. But who knows, maybe Hickory will LOVE the stuff!

__________________
http://bassethoundhank.blogspot.com/
Visit Hank and me on our blog!

Mikey T

It is not a matter of basset doing well on it it is more that basset are large breed dogs on short legs. The have the same bone developmental problems pano. ocd etc that are common in large and giant breed dogs., so from a developmental point it is better for them. The main difference between regular puppy food and large breed is Large breed is reduced in caloric content. so it is a bit easier to keep the dogs weight down. Most developmental issuse are cause by too much growth, this is not coause by too high protein as one thought but simply to many calories consumed. You want to keep the puppy on the skinny side. Secondly is calcium and calcium an phosporus ratio. In humans we are taught that growning kids need lods of calcium to grow strong bones. However in dogs puppies do not have the mechanism full develpoded to regulate blood calcium level. High levels of calcium lead to abnormal bone growth and actual weaker bones. so large breed puppies food have lower calcium levels and lower calcium to phosporous ratio.


below are some links on these issues

The Growth OF Large and Giant Breed Puppies

Optimal feeding of large breed puppies

Dog Diet Do's and Don’t's

Wworm

Hickory, did u find some food to et?

Food is my FAVORITE subject, ya know!

Does Innova have large breed puppy food?
I et Solid Gold Wolf Cub large breed puppy food and it is YUM!!!!

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

Hickory

I just started another 30 lb bag of blue buffalo, but next thing I'm buying is Innova large breed puppy food. Hickory actually doesn't eat much lately, I don't think he ever really liked the blue buffalo food.

bubbad

I can tell you this, if you feed just a little too much of a good food loose stools will happen.You can try a new food but backing him down a little off the Blue Buffalo could fix the loose stool problem.Basets are considered a large breed but you don't need to keep them on puppy food too long.Six months you should be weaning him off the puppy food.It use to be we fed them puppy food for a year or year and a half before going to adult,not anymore.

houndmomma

Lucy is right there with ya Worm - every second of the day is spent trying to figure out a way to get more food. Vets don't even ask anymore is she eating - if she's breathing she's eating. Unlike Flash she's never found a food she didn't like.

Mikey T

dogs go through growth spurts so the need for caloric content changes constantly. A reduction in eating is more likely an indication than this because a hungry basset will eat just about anything. the only way to judge the amount to feed a puppy is adjusting food amount based on the dogs body condition feed more if too thing and cut back if putting on too much weight. there is no simple formula to follow.