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Permalink Reply by Beth on January 26, 2013 at 3:31pm

There is so much debate about this.  My personal view, after some research and some thinking and seeing what some breeders say, is to feed a large-breed puppy food.  Puppies can do ok with an all life stages, but there are some things like DHA and calcium ratios that are truly not the same for puppies as for adult dogs.  Also be careful of treats until after 6 months;  only buy treats that are marked as ok for puppies.

We fed Iam's large breed puppy food (the small breed foods can have a lot of fat and protein, because small breed puppies have tiny stomachs and can't hold much food so need more concentrated calories to avoid sugar crashes).   The breeder fed Eukanuba large breed, but it's more expensive and very similar (same company).   Corgis have the bone structure of large dogs, so you want them to grow slowly which is why the theory is to avoid foods with higher fat and protein contents.  Again that's a debatable issue, but I tend to want to stick with it until research proves something else.   Iam's large breed puppy food has similar fat and protein levels to its adult foods.

I know some give Iam's a bad rap, but they do a ton of feeding trials; they were the ones who discovered the importance of DHA in puppy development, for instance.   I think that they are a nice food at a reasonable price, and all the meat sources are named and the protein comes from meat.   The protein levels are more traditional too.  

We still feed Iams;  we switched to lamb and rice after Jack was an adult because he was having soft stool issues from chicken, but that is a quirk of his and not likely to be a problem with most dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Stevenson on January 26, 2013 at 4:03pm

I found a local Murdoch's that has a huge selection of dog foods so i might try looking through there. At the very least the lady on the phone sounded like she knew what she was talking about, more so then walmart sams or petco. Walmart also carries a basic iams large breed puppy that we may end up getting for now.

Just out of curiosity how long do you feed the puppy food? I kind of think it might be worth buying a larger bag of a higher quality food and just so it will last (i cant imagine a small corgi pup eating very much.) I just cant afford to be dropping 50 to 60 bucks on a bag of dog food in one sitting, that's half of our food bill lol.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on January 26, 2013 at 7:46pm

I don't know about about Murdoch's but we have a Fleet Farm/Ace hardware that carries several descent brands out here in the boonies. Corgis are considered large-breed as Beth stated. They get too much protein in a small breed puppy food...large breeds take up to 2 years to fully mature...even though they may have their height and length possibly their bones/structure is NOT matured. It's very important for their growth. I feed adults and pups Canidea and it gets very expensive. The food I love is Premium Egde BUT it is made in a factory that makes the cheaper Diamond dog food and there's some speculation that they use a chemical in that plant that is not healthy:(  Many sites have a locator also...if you are only feeding one dog a big bag will last quite awhile. At 8 weeks your pup should still be eating 4 times a day but my adults eat a handful 3 times a day...if I only had a dog or 2 that wouldn't be bad...try feeding 8 dogs and then pups:( **** when you pups gets to be about 12-14 weeks and doesn't want to eat...add warm water...they are teething and their gums are sore...so many people think they don't like their food...no, it's their teeth.

 

Enjoy your new addition...can't wait to see pics:)

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Stevenson on January 26, 2013 at 8:06pm

Murdochs is a local ranch style chain, they have stores mostly in Wyoming and Colorado with a couple in Montana. We don't use them very often but they seem to carry a lot of stuff that the other pet stores don't, no slip collars for instance.

We generally feed our other dogs(we have 7 other dogs,) Ol roy but have been thinking of switching lately since it makes em have to poo 24-7. Plus our old black lab shepard mix has been having issues holding it in for the last couple months, he will be going to the bathroom before he knows it and end up leaving a trail on his way to the door. Assuming he wakes up for it at all; and he just loves to sleep on the couch.

As for the new up we plan to check out Murdochs Friday and see what they have and if nothing fits we might just pick up a bag of Iams from walmart, It might be the better rout anyway considering we are going to have to dump 80 dollars to finish off what i owe on the puppy, plus around 100 in gas to drive down and pick her up. The breeder is going to give me a sample of her food, so I'm hoping it will be a decent sized sample so i don't have to switch food too much on her in her first couple weeks being here.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on January 26, 2013 at 9:08pm

make sure that you start mixing at least 1 week- 10 days before totally switching.or you could end up with a very sick pup and having to start over...

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