Hello All,

I am picking up my 9 week old show type Cocker at the weekend and wanting to give it the best start in life have been doing some research on the confusing complete food topic.

There are soooo many, and whilst I am aware that the home cooked variety might be better (although my cooking does leave a lot to be desired) the complete food will suit our lifestyle.

I have looked at Eukanuba, Arden Grange, Orijen, Wellbeloved etc etc and they seem to differ in additives, content and not forgetting price (although I understand but may be wrong but less Orijen needs to be fed?).

Just wondered what anyone else recommended for good bones/coat etc and what else can be fed ie. scrambled eggs, sardines etc?

Obviously whatever food I decide on, it will be introduced slowly into the diet to avoid any upsets.

If there is already a link for feeding puppies then if you could direct me to it that would be great.

Thanks Pat

We started our pups on BARF with some human food left-overs "type" food, soon stepped up from home minced fish & chickens minced up to lumps of meat then carcasses, 3 years and 45 Kg later they have fantastic fur bones and teeth.

Hi Pat,

The breeder should send you home with a bag of food for your pup, enough to get you started, so the best thing to do is ask what they use, as it could well be one that's suitable in any case. If it isn't as good a quality food as you want to give them, then it will be a case of doing a bit of research, deciding on the right food in your estimations, and swapping over gradually.

Remember, when a pup goes to a new home, it's whole life changes, it's in a strange environment, chock full of wormers, flea treatment and vaccinations, and this alone can lead to an upset tum or runny bum; changing over food at that point can just exacerbate any problems, so lots of time to research before you make any firm decisions

I raw feed btw, and find it suits my dogs very well, and I don't find it's too much hassle either, but obviously not quite as easy as kibble.

Of those you've mentioned Orijen is best. Ingredients wise. But search for the dry food index and look at the green foods. You won't go wrong with any of them.

Oily fish for coat, raw meaty bones for the teeth.

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hi ya
2 weeks ago i changed my 16 week puppy over to acana, its by the same makers or orijen, hes a different dog now, more content and not as hyper as he was on the other food, and his coat is really great. its amazing the difference in him
and yes you do feed them less than a lot of the cheaper foods which can work out more expensive in the long run, which is what we found when we worked it out hope this helps a bit

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if you want to see a person for who they really are watch how they treat their animals !

All I would say is wait a few weeks until your pup is settled before changing foods - as others have said they often get upset tummies when they first come home and changing their food can make it worse!

Basil was on Wagg (hideous stuff) when we got him. I changed him on to Naturediet which he didn't like, we then moved to James Wellbeloved which gave him an upset tummy. He was losing weight and clearly wasn't happy, so we went back to Wagg until I knew he was settled and then had to wean him off it by stealth - literally a few bits of kibble at a time got changed!

I changed him on Wainwright's and he's been fine on that ever since, but I wish I hadn't chopped and changed so much when he was little as I think I made his issue with food much worse! Even now he's a bit of a fussy and sporadic eater.

Do as you're doing and research as much as you can but bear in mind that your pup will also have preferences! Lots of food companies will send out samples etc for you to try and this is the route I went down to try and find out what Basil preferred.

Hope this helps...

The Dry Dog Food Index

You don't specifically need a 'puppy' food. It's up to you and your budget what you want to feed. Green on the thread I linked is best.

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

Mine started life on Beta and we improved to WW once she had settled in.

Kibble always seemed to be a issue for us. Her tum was never great and eventually I moved over to wet.
Much better, she ate with gusto and squealed for her meals. To me, that's how it should be.

She now has the occasional kibble meal but mainly WW wet trays, (which are excellent btw-highly recommend them for pup) and a selection of cans from zooplus.

If I had my time over again, I would definately use wet.
Naturediet is another good wet puppy food.

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"Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

If your looking to feed a kibble then Orijen, Acana or Taste Of The Wild are grain free with a very good meat content. These can be purchased online from Zooplus, the bigger bags work out more economical.

If you still want a good kibble but are looking for something a bit cheaper than James Wellbeloved Cereal Free is pretty good. Nowhere near as good as Orijen etc but it is grain free so at least its a start! I don't think Wainwrights is too bad, or Wafcol or Fish4Dogs.

Check out the index of reviews here, i'd aim for at least a 5 star food if not 6 if going down the kibble route
Dry dog food alphabetical index - kibble starting by A

Or you could go down the wet food route. Naturediet or wainwrights meat trays are probably the best ones. I'd also recommend feeding a couple of raw meaty bones a couple of times a week for dental health.

Theres also raw which in my opinion is best, but its just down to your personal preference

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