please recommend some good puppy foods!

I have a GSD, so roughly the same size.  I just fed him regular food (as does the breeder, and she's never had dogs with food/allergy issues).  She used Nature's Variety so I kept him on that for a while and then transitioned to Californa Natural since that's what my other dogs eat.  An all life stages" food is fine as long as it's not too high in calcium.  Personally I think most of the "puppy formulas" are just a marketing scheme.

My in-laws have a cocker too and he has chronic yeast in his ears.  It's so bad that he can no longer hear :(  I've tried to explain diet to them (without being mean or giving too much unsolicited advice) but I don't think they get it.  I'm sure the crappy Walmart type food he's been eating for years is not helping.  I got them to give him a few spoonfuls of yogurt each day for a while.  Not sure if it helped since he's had infections for so long.

 Any of the food on Whole Dog Journal's list would be good - it just came out a month or so ago and should be available to purchase from their website - it's a much more comprehensive list than anywhere else.

As for probiotics, I just use human grade capsules broken open on their food.  I look for the probiotics in the refrigerated section that talk about *billions* of organisms.   Usually I buy mine at Whole Foods or a local supplement place.

Your dad's dog is likely getting yeast infections BECAUSE of the food she's on.  Adding stuff to it isn't going to help -- he *needs* to feed her something different. My family's Westie had chronic yeast infections in his ears for years and it wasn't until I talked them into switching him to a grain-free food that the infections completely went away.

I feed plain yogurt for the probiotic effect.  The dogs love it, and I actually learned to like it, too (so that I can just buy the big containers and we all eat the same thing).

KarissaKS

Your dad's dog is likely getting yeast infections BECAUSE of the food she's on.  Adding stuff to it isn't going to help -- he *needs* to feed her something different.

 I have spoken to them MANY times about this.  She also has chronic itching and he will not believe me that it's from her food.  He did try Canidae for 1 month, but said it didn't make a difference and went right back to the SD.  I told him with her allergy issues being as bad as they were, he didn't give it long enough, but he just pretended not to hear me. I also think she's allergic to chicken, she has the most POTENT gas I've ever smelled. I'd LOVE to take his dog for a couple of months and change everything and see if she gets better...it won't happen though.  I might be able to talk him into trying the probiotics though....so that's why I thought about doing that. 

I like Eagle Pack - I really like their large breed puppy.  Both their Holistic and Premium lines are nice.  Because the breeder was feeding such icky food before, you can start with the Large Breed and then go down to regular if you feel your pup isn't going to really get that size.  It's fine to feed a slightly smaller dog Large Breed but the growth of a large breed can benefit.

I'm really not a fan of chucking dairy products like yogurt down a pup willy nilly.  As part of a balanced diet it's fine, but yogurt doesn't have enough benefit to be worth while.  It's more effective, cost effective, and safer nutritionally to use a good quality human probiotic with at least a billion CFU so that enough of the little bugs can get past your pup's wonderful stomach environment into the gut, where it's needed. 

Good luck!  :) 

brookcove

It's more effective, cost effective, and safer nutritionally to use a good quality human probiotic with at least a billion CFU so that enough of the little bugs can get past your pup's wonderful stomach environment into the gut, where it's needed. 

  Exactly; that's what I do for Jessie. A probiotic won't do anything for yeast infections though, but it may help the gas. Do your parents clean the dog's ears at least once a week with a good ear cleaner such as Epi-Otic;   http://www.vetamerica.com/epi-otic-advanced-4-oz.aspx   If not, they should definitely try that and see if it helps.  I read on your other thread that the dog also chews her paws a lot and has anal sac problems (scoots). If they haven't had her anal sacs expressed they should. It's possible the paw chewing may be realted to environmental allergies and not food. Trying some fish body oil and Benedryl may help.

I think the best large breed puppy food, IMHO, is Orijen...I fed it with great results.

I appreciate you enthusiasm but don't forget that "the best" may be one thing for your dog and one thing for another dog - maybe even another dog you have down the road.  For instance, it would be a disaster for a dog allergic to chicken like Ben was.  Or a pup with a sensitive tummy like Lynn - she couldn't tolerate high protein foods at that age, sadly.  Even her homemade diet was pretty low in meat.  Growing the most healthy puppy possible isn't about giving them the sexiest food out there - it's about doing what's right for the dog.

I do agree they are a terrific company, which is what I think you are going for, more.  I think Eagle Pack is right up there, too.   Lynn did really great on the large breed puppy and would eat it even when she was recovering from the parvo.  Their Senior Holistic (I forget what it's called) is what I use to transition dogs off shelter food (although if I continued fostering, which I'm not, I'd probably switch to LifePac).

I am quite partial to PetGuard Lifespan and have had good results with it.  It's also all life stages, so wouldn't have to worry about switching around between puppy/adult/senior.

Thre are some pretty die-hard science diet fans out there!