question about puppy food
Hey guys! I have a 14-week-old corgi. I've been feeding him Nutrisource puppy food for small and medium breeds, as recommended by his breeder. Then I hopped on here and read that he should be on large breed kibble. I bought an 18lbs bag a couple weeks ago .. I've been mixing it with Freshpet Vital complete meals (which is for all life stages) because he started getting picky about just dry kibble. (Ratio is about 1:2, with more kibble) Would it be safe to keep feeding him the mix or should I just get rid of the kibble bag and get him large breed puppy food right away?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Small breed puppy food is usually to prevent conditions like hypoglycaemia. Breeds like the Yorkshire Terrier, or the Shih Tzu need to keep their blood sugar levels afloat by having fairly nutrient-dense, high-protein, high-fat foods. At that age, your puppy won't be packing on the pounds but I would be worried about accelerating his growth. Why people recommend large breed food (and to stay away from puppy food entirely) is because the slower a corgi's dwarfed bones grow, the healthier and sounder they will probably be throughout his lifetime. His needs are closer to a Great Dane's than a Pomeranian's.
I'd just bin the small breed stuff, and get him on a large breed ALS food that suits your expense budget and overall taste. If you know what proteins he tends to prefer (fish, chicken, beef, or other) then you can try to help him be less fussy. Fish-based kibbles tend to work often because they're very pungent and smelly compared to blander lamb or chicken. I have a fussy Border Collie who'll willingly not eat for days if she had it up to her, and I put her on Orijen 6 Fish. She will gobble it up like mad!
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I prefer ALS also. You can also try adding a bit of warm water to his food. I have 2 that eat every meal with water. It works for me...maybe smells more? Maybe use the kibble you have for training treats....I know that's a lot of food to just throw.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea on
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My breeder and vet specifically stated that corgi's need to be on either an All Life Stages pr Adult food. Puppy food can cause them to have issues with growth and pain. We chose to do Orijen at first and now we're phasing over to Acana. Dogs should be on a food with no grain, no by products, and no corn. You want the first few ingredients to be some sort of meat or meat meal. I would look into to switching to Orijen, Acana, Fromms, Wellness, or Evangers.
Also, for our pup we do 3 tablespoon of Evanger's Grain Free canned mixed in for the morning meal, then at dinner we do a dollop of yogurt and salmon oil mixed in.
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Permalink Reply by Avey & Zeke on
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Thanks guys .. I will bin the puppy food and go get some adult kibble when the store opens today. Guess it's worth an extra bag of food to have him grow up with no issues!
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Permalink Reply by sarah & tapiola on
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I find it confusing that people say "do not feed corgis puppy food; it has too much protein and will make them grow too quickly. I feed my puppy Orijen." But the protein percentage in Orijen (38%) is considerably higher than that in, for instance, Wellness Puppy formula (28%)...?
Doesn't make sense to me.
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Pups should only have 24-25%. TOTW has salmon that is that amount. Canidea I believe has a puppy ALS.
Do you go to Pet Expo? I always get the samples and use them for treats or for the dogs to try. My dogs would "live there" if the could. Jennie has a Corgi so any time we come and she's there...other staff goes to let her know there's a corgi in the store.
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Personally I did research and there is tons of conflicting information out there regarding protein percentages. I talked to both my vet and my breeder and they said the Orijen was a great food and that it is fine for Ein. The big deal is the calcium and phosphorus levels in food that creates a rapid growth. I'm not trying to argue with you Jane. I know your a breeder and know more than I do. I'm just saying what my breeder (who's been breeding for 35 years) and my vet (who owns 4 Corgi's) says. Also, everyone suggests TOTW. However, it's made by Diamond and Diamond follows bad meat practices. They use meat that lower grade than anything humans would eat or what most normal dog food companies would use. Like meat that slaughter houses would fling to the side not safe for human consumption.
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I believe that both Canidea and TOTW are made in a different factory than the cheaper Diamond foods. Thus some of the "junk" they put in the cheap food(which can include chicken feathers also). There is also a chemical(melanine?) that the cheaper Diamond foods also have used and if I remember correctly that is used to make the higher protein rating in the cheaper factory. I used to use Premium Edge and all my dogs loved it till I found out it was made in the "wrong" factory. I also have had "good luck" when I called Canidea with some questions and actually talked to one of "their vets". I like TOTW but with many dogs it gets a bit spendy but also nice to get the single meat protein which I had to use for Bella. It works for my dogs and the protein level is "right" as Corgis are considered Large breed pups and don't mature till almost 2 so thus the lower protein level for them is important.
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The ratio of calcium to phosphorus is a better indication of what food is suitable to a dog. I know that it sounds weird to "disregard" protein content (but no one said to, it is important to be mindful of it!) but I e-mailed Champion, the company behind Orijen and Acana on this very question. I asked how it was possible, according to their nutrition experts, to have a large breed puppy food with SO MUCH protein content. Allow me to quote myself from a similar topic in 2011:
On the topic of high protein for puppies, I emailed Orijen asking about this exact subject. Basically, the Customer Care Representative told me that it was an excess of calcium and phosphorus (created by using high-ash fowl/fish meal) that creates the problems usually attributed to high protein diets. Orijen specifically lists low-ash chicken in its ingredient list in order to prevent their calcium:phosphorus ratios from climbing up.
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Permalink Reply by Angie on
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I took two animal nutrition classes, and the calcium to phosphorus ratio is more important and you do want a food with higher protein because dogs are supposed to have a high amount of protein.
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