What to feed?

Alleeluna

Alleeluna

Hi
I have a 11 week old little lady called Luna.
The breeder gave her a dry food called CSJ
Which I bought.
She never seemed to be overly thrilled with it and even more so when she sneakily got a taste of cat food. I have spoke to the vet and now mixing her dry food with Forthglade add ons which she loves.

Now she strips the dry food and just eats the wet. I am open to changing her to wet food with a side of dry for her teeth but it’s knowing which one.

Any advice? I don’t mind spending and only want decent food for her but would rather her eat her food and enjoy it then leave it.

thanks in advance
 
Natalie

Natalie

There's no reason why you couldn't feed a wet 100% complete food, Forthglade is decent. Have you checked out the all about dog food site?
www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

All About Dog Food: The UK's Best Dog Food Reviews & Comparisons Site

The UK's #1 dog food advice site! Find independent dog food reviews, feeding guides, nutrition tips, retailer locator and so much more!
www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk
It's independent and can help you pick out a quality food based on a huge number of variables you can filter out to suit you and your dog.

The upside to feeding at least some kibble is that it's easy, portable and can be used easily for all sorts of training, including scatter, find it, etc.

Though you could even make your own training treats if you have the energy and patience ( there's other threads on here about doing this)

If you are worried about her teeth, then just aim for a regular clean with a quality toothpaste, lots of people on here use Logic, I've got a different one from my vet.
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
If pups have gone off a specific food that normally they ate with gusto, and they are perfectly happy to eat everything else.... like the catfood. I would take a closer look at the kibble. Check there is plenty of time on the "sell by" date, especially if the pack has been opened for a while, the slightest trace of damp can really affect the quality of the kibble, so check where it is stored. You can get a small trial pack of the same brand and formulation, along with another brand and formulation to compare and contrast.

Try adding a drizzle of warm water, just to get the aroma of the kibble working it's magic, sometimes this can help.

Check the amounts you are feeding, they should be less than the guidance, as a rough guide I feed 25% less than the lowest end of the recommended amounts, split into 3 meals. Obviously this does vary, and later I am much more guided by how the puppy looks and feels. If you have a smaller than average labrador puppy then less, or a giant puppy it might be closer to the manufacturers guidance.

If this fails, there is nothing wrong with wetfood, preferably a complete food and one that is formulated for large breed puppies. Going down this route I would add fish chews, or other healthy crunchy treats to work those puppy gums and teeth, as well as stuffed kongs.

Talking about teeth, this is a great time to think about dental hygiene, but more on that later!
 
Alleeluna

Alleeluna

Thank you. I have tried her kibble with water etc and she is not interested m. It’s like she has had a taste of other food and she isn’t interested. Even when it comes to snacks (before I found out they drive her crazy) she wasn’t that interested. I’m happy to make her snacks and currently she is having meat and fruit and veg. I think I will try the Forthglade complete meals and look into other options for her teeth x
 
Naya

Naya

Moderator
Location
Bristol, UK
Hi and welcome to you both. Luna looks adorable 😍
My girl doesn’t particularly like kibble, so she has Nutriment which is a raw complete food that you can get frozen. She loves it and has never turned her nose up to it. We did previously use Forthglade and she enjoyed it, but did occasionally turn her nose up at it.
As others have said, you can brush her teeth (I advise you to start ASAP as it gets harder to train when they get older).
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Brushing teeth is important whatever you feed. Kibble doesn’t clean them, in the same way that eating biscuits doesn’t clean ours.
I personally feed home-cooked plus raw, but I’m not evangelical about it 😁
The most important thing is that your dog enjoys what she’s eating, otherwise you’ll always be battling with her and that’s no good for anyone.
If you’re happy feeding kibble, I’d be tempted to try a different one. My lot all loved the Fish4Dogs kibble and I used it as training treats for a while. They also do a complete wet food, although I’m not sure of its suitability for puppies. They’re a very responsive company if you wanted to contact them and ask.
Another option is pre-prepared raw which comes in frozen trays which you defrost and feed. It’s all ground up so looks very much like a regular wet food.
 
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