[Oscar&Murphy's Mom]

According to the breeder, she is feeding the pups (6 weeks old right now) Purina Puppy Chow. She scoops the kibble then adds equal amounts of warm water and then lets it soak and swell. Then feeds it to the pups. My problem is, is that I wanna feed Murphy the Eukanuba puppy food for large breeds when he comes home. So she said she would give me a decent amout of the Purina and over a 5 to 7 day period to slowly replace the Purina with the Eukanuba. My question is, how do I do this and at the same time slowly get him used to drier food. I eventually don't want to be putting any water in it at all. Can I do both at the same time? Or should I just ween (sp?) him onto the new brand first, then eventually get him on dry kibble? Also, should I give him a day or two to adjust to his new home before I even start messing with his food?

Thanks everyone, I know I've been kind of a pain in the rump over the past week or so. Just trying to make sure I do things right for my little one.

 

[Rocket]

Waiting a few days before changing food is a good idea. He has to adjust to a new place, probably won't be so hungry the first few days. Then you can change the food gradually. 80% old food, 20% new food for a few days, then 60% old food 40% new food etc., etc.

Feeding a really good quality food I think really helps with the health of your dog. A lot of dog foods have corn in them which is not easily digested. So I'd try for a food with no corn.

Good luck!

 

[Oscar&Murphy's Mom]

Is Eukanuba considered a "really good quality" food? Also, I noticed that the kibble pieces of the Eukanuba are really big, even though its puppy food. I'm worried they might be too big for Murphy's tiny mouth.

Oh well, I'm just overthinking this one I guess.

 

[Mikey T]

A lot of dog foods have corn in them which is not easily digested.

Untrue the processed corn in dog food is easily digested by dogs. The biggest problem with corn is when it is used as a or they major protein source. Animal protein is more digestable and complete than plant based protein. While it may be chic to pick on corn it does little good to substitute corn for another grain. It is not corn that is a problem but overall high grain content.


From my personnal experience puppies actually prefer the larger size kibble. The kibble in the Eukanuba large Puppy is specifical larger for the "Dental maintaince system" suppose to reduce tater by 50% or more. In order to work however the dog must chew the food. Small kibble has a tendency to be swallowed whole never chewed.

While I do not advocate this in regards to switching foods I don't generally practice the mixing protocol. I just change food, never had a problem doing so with either puppies or adults.

[ February 23, 2006, 07:48 PM: Message edited by: Mikey T ]