Hi,
New to the forum and here because I'm confused? I have an 8 week old puppy who's been home for a week now. We have been following the breeders feeding advise, but also saw the vet for his 1st jab yesterday and his advise differs.
At present pup is on 3 meals; Butchers puppy choice mixed with Beta dry puppy food for breakfast and dinner, 1 x scrambled egg for lunch.

He's a cavalier king charles spaniel so not very big. Very energetic though!

I do not want to keep him on Butchers and aim to change to a brand that contains more meat. I also would like my dog to eat raw meat. He had some minced beef a couple of days ago and to be honest it was the quickest he had ever eaten! My vet has recommended Purina products and I suspect he's towing the practice line as his "they're working more scientifically" jargon was muttered with little enthusiasm. A friend suggested Wainrightsand I've brought a pouch to try my dog with.

So this is where I'm stuck? Is a food with a better meat content better than the foods marked as a better balanced diet?
Is scrambled egg good for my dog?
What is the best way to mix raw meat meals with pouch/tinned meals?
I'm considering a slight step backwards and feeding my dog 4 smaller meals instead of 3 larger meals, just for the time being. My pup sometimes struggles to finish his food and (a). He'll eat a bit more. (b) It gives him a more even balance of nutrition throughout the day. Is this idea sensible or am I being a nervous new dog owner who's trying to hard?!

Any help would be appreciated so that I can absorb all options and make an informed choice. Thank you

Hi - welcome. I don't feed raw so if you want to go down that route, I'm sure someone else will advise you, but personally I would pick a high-quality, high-meat content puppy food and feed that 4 times a day until your pup is three months old and then drop to 3 times a day, reducing to 2 meals a day when your pup is six months old.

I also like to feed some high-quality wet food as well. You could mix this in with the dry (obviously reducing the dry a bit to compensate).

Personally I don't like anything by Purina, Beta, Hills, etc. I prefer a high-quality, natural food with no additives, etc. Avoid anything you can buy in the supermarket and buy from either PAH (Wainwrights, Naturediet, Natures Menu, etc) or you could order online from Vet UK, Pet Planet, Berriewoods, etc.

Wainwrights trays are good (the pouches are not as good quality with less meat in them). For wet foods I would recommend Wainwrights (trays only), Naturediet, Natures Menu, Natures Harvest, Arden Grange Partners tins.

For dry foods I would recommend Arden Grange Puppy, Fish4Dogs Puppy, Wainwrights Puppy or Burns Mini Bites.

Good luck with your pup! Claire

NatureDiet

Congratulations on the new Addition

For a dry food i wouldn't hesitate to recommend Barking Heads

Scrambled egg is OK for dogs but not sure i would include it as part of their everyday diet, i would watch for constipation with it

There are losts of threads on RAW feeding on here you just have to search about for them then ask any specific questions you aren't sure of

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I've raw fed my dogs since they were pups (Labs), swapped over a couple of rescue dogs, and helped a lot of other people swap over and plan their menu as well. I don't stick to a particular diet, but give mine general proportions of meat/bone/offal etc, and stick to lamb and chicken, as the bones from other animals can be from older animals, so more dense/brittle and prone to splintering. I also avoid weight bearing bones for the same reason.

There are many different ways to raw feed, some use blended veggies, others don't, others follow the prey model, so include the whole dead animal. I think as long as you feed a range of good, fresh food, then a dog should be able to derive what it needs nutritionally. Some commercially available foods may be able to provide this, and if your dog does well on them, I see no reason to change unless you feel another way of feeding would provide them with a better diet.

If you pm me your email address, I'll send you over some information on raw feeding from a pup, it's based on Labrador weights, so you'd have to adjust it if you wanted to give it a try.

And, just my own personal view, but I don't believe in puppy foods, it's a modern concept and purely commercial.

Welcome

Like you've already discovered, Beta, Butchers, Purina etc aren't the best foods on the market. Lots of good foods have been recommended here - you want something with meat as the first ingredient.

I would be feeding 4 meals until 12 weeks, I think they need this as their tummies are so tiny at this age.

I wouldn't feed scrambled eggs every day. It's fine now and again but there is no need to feed daily and I think the pup would get more nutition from a complete food instead.

If you're thinking of feeding raw the main rule is you shouldn't mix raw and cooked foods (which includes kibble and wet dog food) together as they digest at different rates and can cause tummy troubles. Usually for dogs fed twice a day it's ok to feed one in the morning and the other at night, but as you are feeding 4 times a day I think you're probably better off not feeding cooked and raw in the same day.

Good luck

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Hi - Definately agree with all that's been suggested but just to add -
I would probably keep him on the food he has for a while longer. If you've only had him a week it's been a big upheaval for him and his food is probably the only thing that has remained constant. Plus, he has just had his jabs.
Changing diet can sometimes cause tum upsets and if he isnt settled in himself yet, it would be more likely.

Hope you manage to find something you will both be happy with. I feed mine 100% wet and she's much happier with that than kibble

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Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

Oh yes, agree with Mum2Heidi. And when you do change, do it gradually over a week by mixing a little more of the new food every day. Except you can't do this if you're going raw - it has to be a straight change (so I'd probably hold off a little longer on the raw).

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100% reccomend wainwrights dog food trays, really high meat content and has done wonders for marley. His poos are really small and within a few hours dry up in to little rocks lovely for picking up in the garden

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If you want to go the raw route, make sure you're prepared in advance or it's very expensive. Source your food first then do it. I didn't and it cost me tons!

Read the raw stickies, huge but worth it. The easiest thing to remember is the 10:10:80 ratio, bone, offal, meat. Check what is offal and what is meat (heart is classed as meat) and check out the various companies. Dog Food Company, DAF, Raw to Go.

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