Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold.....

IMO

I was feeding Canidae until they recently changed their formula and my boys didn't like it - well, I didn't like cleaning up after them as much.

After switching to Wellness I am quite pleased with it although I have never tried Solid Gold.

Like you, I've only had large breed dogs so I'm not sure when to switch from puppy to adult formulas.  I've also never fed raw, I don't even like cooking for myself! LOL  I did notice at my local food store that they have raw/frozen available for purchase but I don't know how good it is.

Good Luck with your puppy!

I've heard great things about all the above - but never used them personally.

Casey is on Blue Buffalo - and does GREAT. He also gets EVO 95% meat canned as a topper - and loves that stuff (we rotate with yogurt, eggs, canned food, none, etc.)

It depends on the dog how they will react to the food. I've though about switching Casey, but he's done SO well on the BB - I would rather not risk it.

ETA: I usually start the transition to adult food around 10 months.... I got Casey at that age, and he was never on puppy food. I think the shelter had him on science diet puppy, but I got rid of that right away.

1/3 is Wellness, canned. I LOVE the brand and really recommend them.

If you were curious, the other 1/3 is homecooked :P

Casey said he's going to come to your house for dinner....

Of those I would feed Wellness Just for Puppy and switch to adult food around 12 months. Although the food I've had the best results with is Eagle Pack Holistic. I don't know if you have that available near you, but if you do I really recommend trying it.

I fed my medium sized boy, i.e. 53# at now 17mnths old, Innova large breed puppy for quite some time. He did good, but always seemed like he was hungry.

We switched to Orijen, in my honest opinion, a MUCH healthier food then Innova, and I like Innova. He did GREAT on it, but it is a very rich food, and I found that if I fed him a tad too little, he dropped weight real easy, if I fed him a tad too much, he'd get the poops.

We're now on homecooked meals with the help of The Honest Kitchen Preference formula veggie/vitamin mix that's actually VERY affordable, even with 3 dogs. You simply add your choice of meat to the mixture at a ratio of 1.1 or 2.1 (meat to veggie mix)

My dogs absolutely love it and have been eating this way for 3-4 weeks now, BIG improvement even from top quality dry food.

I will never go back to dry food, I do feed Nature's Variety Prairie canned venison and lamb formulas once or twice a week as rotation, but that's the only quote-on-quote dog food we feed anymore.

I tried a few rounds of mild raw meals, big dog can't tolerate it, just seems to act weird following a raw meal. So we don't even bother anymore, they're getting much healthier ingredients coming from the grocery store even if they are cooked rather then what comes out of an overly cooked dry kibble.

Canidae's quality is just not there anymore, they used to be a great food til just a few months back.

stanton

Canidae's quality is just not there anymore, they used to be a great food til just a few months back.

I've been out of the loop lately- what changed with Canidae's ingredients? I just now went to their website and saw that they've added 3 new formulas, but I didn't really see anything wrong other than "ocean" fish meal.

I personally like Taste of the Wild and have had awesome results with Harley on this food.  I am not sure about how long you need to feed puppy food.  My only experience with feeding a puppy was my Rottie and that was until he was 5 months old.  I got Harley when he was 2.

if you're going to feed commercial foods it's best to rotate often among good brands. No need to feed special puppy formulas ever.

I agree with rotation.  My 20 month old lab has grown up eating many different dry food since I got him home at 8 weeks...Canidae, Healthwise, Canine Caviar, Nature's Logic, and etc.  Right now, we trying Solid Gold Hunchen Flocken and By Nature Salmon, Ocean Fish & Yogurt.  He also has eaten canned food, home cooked and some raw food.

What I learn from rotation .....are the things my lab cannot handle (potatoes --- so no grain free foods for him), things can tolerate in moderation (like sweet potatoes and barley), foods that give him best result so far (nature's logic and healthwise), foods that give him large poops (Canidae) and therefore I hate cleaning up after and etc.

Good luck.

p.s. - - I never really worry about the puppy or adult stages.   

What does rotation entail? Do you just buy one bag of one brand, then the next time buy a different one? And then phase into the new one so as not to upset their digestive system? What are the benefits of rotating? We always just stayed with Innova, and supplemented some meals with whole yogurt and fish oil. But as I mentioned, I don't think we'll go with Innova anymore. We are going to the pet store this afternoon, and will be doing some thorough comparing.

 We would like to give our new dog raw bones as well, for the benefit on her oral health. I am wondering though, when can you begin giving them to your dog? Is it safe to feed puppies raw bones (under supervision)? And how often and what types of bones do you all feed? Sorry about all the questions, I just figure it's better to have a solid plan in place before we get her. Thanks alot,

-bernerbear 

I wouldn't say any of those foods are the greatest premium brands out there. Canidae has cheapened their ingredients and is now manufactured by Diamond, which many people don't trust because of past recall problems. Wellness was recently sold off as well, so I'd watch for any formula changes with them. My dogs didn't do well on Wellness because it was very grain-heavy and I found them eating grass all the time.

My dogs are now on Orijen and have never looked better. I just think the quality of the ingredients is much higher, and the company produces it themselves instead of sub-contracting it out. I'd highly recommend it if you can find it. But they do have a specific puppy formula because it is grain-free and high in protein. You have to watch some of the grain frees because they are not all suitable for puppies.

If you can't find Orijen, I would go with Eagle Pack Holistic. It's what I recommend for rescue dogs that I adopt out.

I had a few pups on Orijen, and they looked fantastic. I think if I ever switched Casey's food - it would be to Orijen, but he's doing so well, I'm leaving things alone for now. Plus - BB is less expensive and avalible closer to my house....