Switching my puppy's food

[mmgy]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, and that's the way I've fed my cancer dogs. I'm just not in agreement with Healthwise having less carbs!

Innova is the flagship product, and has more meat than anything else Natura makes.

[Rott-Wiley]

If you do a comparison on Innova Dry and Healthwise Adult Dry food, it looks like there are more desireable ingredients in Innova. See here: http://www.naturapet.com/display.php...id4=&x=31&y=11

It looks like Healthwise is using oatmeal/rolled oats to increase the protien content where Innova uses turkey and chicken.

[Dieselrott]

Ok, this may be a stupid question, but when you refer to "raw food" do you literally mean raw? I bought a book on Rotts and it said to give it chopped up pieces of raw meat. Does it matter what kind? Obviously he cant have raw chicked or turkey, but what beef would be best?
I am feeding Diesel 4 times per day, but he is only eating about 1 cup per meal, and a little less since switching over to the Innova. He was eating 4 cups of Euk a day. My vet told me to give him 1/2 a cup 3 times per day and thats it.

[frontierrots]

Healthwise uses chicken meal a dry product and has 2 carbs (oatmeal and brown rice) and no veggies/fruits

Innova has chicken meal and herring meal dry products, plus whole turkey, whole chicken, whole milk and whole eggs which are wet products subject to SUBSTANTIAL weight loss in the cooking/drying process. PLUS 3 carbs (white potatoes, barley and white rice) AND apples and carrots.

Cancer dogs should avoid carbs, starches and sugars. Innova is very high is carbs, starches and sugars (albeit natural ones)

The canned Innova is higher in meat % wise than the kibble

No dry food is truely cancer dog suitable, however Healthwise is closer than Innova

[Rott-Wiley]

Yup, raw sure does mean uncooked meat. I would still feed him 4 meals per day at his age unless he starts to ignore one of those meals. He'll tell you when he's ready to switch to 3. I'm sure he will consume less Innova and get the same nutrients out of it as he would on the Euk.

For puppies, I like to go to the grocery store and have them grind up a whole fresh chicken for me (bones, gizzards, and all) and feed that. Lots of people feed puppies chicken wings and necks, backs, etc. I have heard too many pups choking on those bones, that's why I get the chicken ground up. You can do the same with turkey too.

As I said above, if you feed hamburger, add human grade bone meal to it to balance off the high amount of phosphorus. I use a teaspoon of bone meal to a quarter pound of burger.

Another thing to feed is organ meat, beef heart is excellent but don't do feed too much of it. Once a week is good.

Don't forget the fat free yogurt (only needs about a tablespoon per day), fat free cottage cheese, and raw eggs. And I like to add vitamin C and B complex along with fish oil and brewers yeast.

[Dieselrott]

The Euk I used to feed Diesel says he should eat @ 4 cups per day. The Innova (puppy food) says @ 2 cups per day. Is this enough, or should I be giving him more? He is 8 weeks, about 18lbs and VERY cute.

[Rott-Wiley]

I would offer him a little more then that. Are you feeding him 4 cups of Euk now? Is that like one cup four times a day? I would start giving him a little less then a cup of Euk mixed with a little Innova (total amount being just under a cup). If he's leaving a lot in the bowl every time, cut back some on the Euk. You have to kinda see how it goes. Plus if he gets more exercise he'll want more food and some days they just eat more then others. Also, are you feeding the puppy or adult food?

[Dieselrott]

Yes, he was getting the Euk 1 cup 4 times per day. I have been weaning him off the Euk and onto the Innova (puppy) for 3 days now. I still feed him 4 times per day. He got 3/4 cup of Innova and 1/4 cut of the Euk this morning and he gobbled it down. Then his second meal (same as first) he ate only about half. About 4 or 5 times in the past 2 hours when he went for water he looked for food, but there was none... I am still going to wait till 5pm for his 3rd meal. How does 3/4 cup of the Innova 4 times per day sound? Also is there a good canned dog food that could be supplemented for a kibble meal?

By the way Rott-Wiley could you please take a look at my post on the general discussion titled "Diesels back foot....."
Thanks.

[Rott-Wiley]

If he will eat 3/4 cup 4 times a day, that's fine. It's hard to say, he may be in a growth spurt and he'll do that for awhile then start eating less so don't be surprised at that. The amount of exercise he gets and how much he sleeps in a given day will effect how much he wants to eat in a given day too. Sounds like he's doing well on the Innova.

[Dieselrott]

Thanks Rott-Wiley... what about the canned food?
I am doing some reading on raw food. Just so I am not mistaken, its ok to give raw chicken to dogs? They dont have to worry about selminial?

[Rott-Wiley]

Innova makes a canned food but I've never used it. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of canned dog food. They put an awful lot of weird stuff in there. Maybe Innova is better about that then others, I don't know.

Raw chicken is fine. I've never had a problem with seminial. When it's not ground up (that's the way I like to feed it, ground up with bone, gizzards, and all) I wash it in running water before giving it to them. I know some folks are concerned about bacteria and they freeze all the chicken for 3 weeks prior to feeding it, others pour hot boiling water over it. LOL, my wife is always saying that I feed that dog a bunch of crap. I've just never had any problems with bacteria, especially if you start the dogs off early on eating raw.

[mmgy]

A dog's digestive system, as a rule, is much sturdier than a human's. Still, with a young puppy, it doesn't hurt to start slowly.

Are y'all talking about salmonella??

I used to not be much on canned food, but I've changed my tune lately. All it takes is one old dog that decides she doesn't care for kibble much anymore, and suddenly canned food is platinum!

It also makes it much easier to pill these old dogs.

[Rott-Wiley]

Yeah, it's amazing what we'll do to get a good meal into an older dog or cat. A tablespoonful of canned cat food under the kibble often works wonders.

And, yes, we were talking about salmonella and bacteria and parasites in general. As I said, I haven't seen it to be a real problem with anybody that does feed raw.

[Shelloaz]

Fat Free Yogurt ??? I have been feeding 2-3 tablespoons of the full fat kind? Should I not be doing that? Does the flavor make a difference ?
Rott-Wiley-

I like to go to the grocery store and have them grind up a whole fresh chicken

What store does this for you? Stores where I live say they can't do that because of health dept. regulations.

[rotties29]

hi feeding your puppy eukanuba is not a good choice i suggest that you try feeding him pedigree for puppies that is a good dog food and it is less expensive all rotties dont like all food so you may have to shop around

the reason eukanuba is not good is because it provides the weight on the puppy very rapidly before his body can mature and remember depending on the puppies parents their is a possibility that he will be large and his body have to be able to move with all that weight and you dont want his hips coming out of place that can become a costly problem so try another dog food

give him food in moderation and make sure he has plently of water and excerise and he will be find a rottie doesnt truly blossam until they are at least 2-3 years old and you want him to be very healthy at that age and not have complications

i know because i had a rottie for 14 years and im looking for another one cause he passed away that was my baby--ROCKET