# Why puppy kibble?



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

I think puppy kibble has to do with the size of the kibble and something about the calcium balance...

Some of the more experienced let owners will probably chime in.

That is a good question.

And your fluff ball, is literally round like a ball. Like/10


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Right now it is more important that your puppy eats regularly because of his size.
I was sent home with both kibble and raw food when I brought home Leonard, Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and a frozen tube of beef, organs mixed etc, I could reliably get him to eat the kibble not the raw food.
My coworker is now home cooking for her 15 week old Lab puppy.
Key is that your dog is eating a balanced diet.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Kibble is not bad. Raw is not bad. There _are _pros and cons to each of them, though. IMO, the "best food" is one you dog likes to eat, does well on, and that you can afford to feed. 

There are four legal formula definitions for commercial dog food: "Pregnancy/Lactation", "Growth", "Maintenance" , and "All Life Stages". Any foods that don't meet the regulations for one of these categories must be labeled as a treat or “for intermittent or supplemental feeding only”. 

Puppy kibble is formulated for optimal growth, with appropriate levels of protein, fat, calcium to phosphorus ratio, et cetera, and is generally recommended for both puppies and pregnant/lactating bitches. If you want to feed raw to very young puppies, you need to know what you are doing, and if you are new to raw, then working with a nutritionist to come up with your formulations. 

I think you got a Toy puppy? As mentioned, it's very important that they eat on a regular basis to avoid hypoglycemia. If he'd rather have kibble than other food, I'd feed him kibble.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

One of my friends in college had an eating disorder I have subsequently heard described as "orthorexia." Basically, she became so concerned about the purity of her food that she became unable to eat much of anything. Anything she touched might have been exposed to a pesticide, or include gluten, or been farmed unsustainably, or failed some other bizarre criterion.

I think the same issues with orthorexia are now being inflicted on our pets, either by truly well meaning people or else by food processors seeing a way to pry open our wallets. Dogs are evolved as scavengers. They are capable of eating and thriving on a wide range of foods, even more than their wolf cousins. Someone will say their dog thrives on raw. Someone else will say their dog thrives on omelets with rice, cod liver oil, and broccoli. Yet another person might have a dog happily eating Eukanuba kibble. All three dogs might be thriving, because dogs are adaptable.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Puppy food is controversial. Why would puppies need different food than adults, once they are weaned ? No animal in the world does.

I think puppy food just has more calories, so your puppy doesn’t have to eat so much. Any good quality kibble would certainly be fine, as long as you understand you need to give a puppy more than an adult and you feed accordingly.

Lots of people feed raw to their puppies. Most vets are against raw because their College is against it and they go with the flow. They’re not partial either, as they sell dog food.

So basically, do your homework and make the best decision for you particular situation.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

FWIW, my bull terrier ate the same kibble as my other dogs and lived to 10 before he died of bloat. He had no growth or other issues, and it was vet recommended. My current vet would rather phoebe be on a different kibble than I have her on. All you can do is what you think is best for your household.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Dechi said:


> Puppy food is controversial. Why would puppies need different food than adults, once they are weaned ? No animal in the world does.
> 
> I think puppy food just has more calories, so your puppy doesn’t have to eat so much. Any good quality kibble would certainly be fine, as long as you understand you need to give a puppy more than an adult and you feed accordingly.


As I understand it, puppy food really is important for moderating the growth of large and giant breeds, due to their propensity for orthopedic issues. This article explains it well:

_“Calcium is needed for strong bones, but is harmful in excess. Pups, unlike adult dogs, cannot adequately regulate how much dietary calcium they absorb from the intestinal tract. Sometimes they absorb and retain too much calcium which can cause skeletal malformations.”_









Nutritional Requirements of Large and Giant Breed Puppies | VCA Animal Hospital


Not all puppy foods are alike. Not all pups are alike. Feeding the right diet to the right puppy is very important, especially when it comes to large or giant breed pups.




vcahospitals.com





Kibble is more like a multivitamin than a whole food. It would be easy to overfeed calcium if trying to deliver enough calories via an adult kibble.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

PeggyTheParti said:


> As I understand it, puppy food really is important for moderating the growth of large and giant breeds, due to their propensity for orthopedic issues. This article explains it well:


This may be true, but skeptical me would have to research it a lot. If I had a giant breed, I’m sure I would give puppy food, just to be safe.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Excerpt from:
What’s the Difference Between Adult Dog Food and Puppy Food?

_Reputable manufacturers produce foods that follow the guidelines put forth by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The following table compares the AAFCO minimum requirements for a variety of vital nutrients:_



_Puppies need to eat more in the way of protein (including higher concentrations of specific amino acids), fat, and certain minerals than do adult dogs. Additionally, many manufacturers provide higher amounts of nutrients that are not regulated by AAFCO in their puppy foods. Good examples are the omega-3 fatty acids that have been shown to promote healthy brain and eye development in young animals.

The caloric density of foods designed for adults and puppies can also be very different. Growth and development take a lot of energy, so puppies need to take in more calories than do adult dogs of a similar size._

source: PetMD

additional info:

Excerpt:
_The biggest primary difference between puppy food (growth and reproduction recipes) and adult (maintenance) food relates to protein. Puppy food should derive 22.5% of their calories from protein sources, while adult foods need only 18% of their calories from protein.

Adults can certainly tolerate the higher protein levels of puppy food, but it may lead to weight gain, due to the higher amount of protein calories.

However, puppies will often suffer from developmental problems if fed an adult food and deprived of the proteins they require.

Remember: “protein” really refers to a soup of different amino acids. Because not all amino acids are created equally, the AAFCO recommends differing amino acid compositions for adult and puppy dog foods.

Some of the starkest contrasts of amino acid compositions include:_


_Argine_
_Histidine_
_Isoleucine_
_Leucine_
_Phenylalanine_
_Ohenylalaline-tyrosine_
_Thereorine_
_The AAFCO requires nearly 2x the amount of each of these amino acids in puppy foods than it does in adult dog foods. That is because these amino acids are intrinsic to the growth process.

The AAFCO also requires puppy foods to contain a bit more fat than adult foods do. Per the guidelines, adult food need only derive 5.5% of their calories from fat, while puppy food must derive 8.5% of their calories from fat. This is primarily to ensure that puppy foods are “energy dense.”

Fats contain more calories per pound than either proteins or carbohydrates do, which ensures that puppy food is packed with energy for stoking their internal fires. Adult maintenance formulations, by contrast, are designed to be leaner, so they contain less fat, and therefore fewer calories in every bite.

The mineral content of puppy foods also differs from those of adult dog foods. For example, per AAFCO guidelines, puppy foods must be 1% calcium, while adult foods need only be 0.6% calcium. Similarly, puppy foods must be 0.8% phosphorus, while most adult dog foods are only 0.5% phosphorus.

What about Foods for “All Life Stages?” Are They Safe for Puppies?
In addition to foods that are labelled as being appropriate for “growth and reproduction” or “adult maintenance,” you may also see foods bearing a label that indicates they are appropriate for “all life stages.”

These foods are appropriate for most healthy dogs (they may not be good for some senior canines), so you can go ahead and feed them to your puppy.

These foods are designed to meet the requirements for “growth and reproduction” and “adult maintenance.” But because the nutritional requirements for puppy foods exceed those of typical adult foods, it means these are essentially puppy food._

source:
Can Puppies Eat Adult Dog Food? Puppy vs Dog Nutrition & What You Need to Know! (k9ofmine.com)


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

dcarolina said:


> I have read extensively on raw feeding and on the negatives of kibble. Yet the breeder, whom we trust, and the vet recommend Royal Canine puppy. Even
> View attachment 477803
> the trainer I consulted insisted we stick with puppy food. But the only raw associated food I found was Stella and Chewey raw coated puppy kibble. Which he had no interest in. So far he is not a good eater- seems to want human food which we do not give - but is finally doing better (after trying another failed puppy kibble) on Royal Canine with some wet food in the morning and for the rest of his meals I just hide the food in a towel and he does a lot better.
> We travel a lot so freeze dried raw would be the only viable non-kibble food for him but I read reviews on Stella and Chewey beef freeze dried where people’s small dogs were getting pancreatitis from it. I mean a good number of reviews with dogs coughing up blood. So I was concerned and dropped it.
> ...


In short Royal Canin and Purina run a looot of studies on their food and have the resources and facilities to be on the cutting edge of pet nutrition. They get a bad wrap sometimes but I really appreciate that they back their food up with peer reviewed data and that’s why so many breeders trust them.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Dog food doesn't have to become a war zone. As others have said, it's of primary importance that toy sized puppies eat consistently, which is doubly hard with a tpoo who is likely to be picky. I agree with those above who recommended finding a food that he'll eat and sticking with it. You can always transition him later.

(I have a standard poodle who I transitioned to PMR at 4 months old. Now that she's an old lady, she's on commercial raw, but she's always extra excited to get a meal of real meat.)


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

cowpony said:


> One of my friends in college had an eating disorder I have subsequently heard described as "orthorexia." Basically, she became so concerned about the purity of her food that she became unable to eat much of anything. Anything she touched might have been exposed to a pesticide, or include gluten, or been farmed unsustainably, or failed some other bizarre criterion.
> 
> I think the same issues with orthorexia are now being inflicted on our pets, either by truly well meaning people or else by food processors seeing a way to pry open our wallets. Dogs are evolved as scavengers. They are capable of eating and thriving on a wide range of foods, even more than their wolf cousins. Someone will say their dog thrives on raw. Someone else will say their dog thrives on omelets with rice, cod liver oil, and broccoli. Yet another person might have a dog happily eating Eukanuba kibble. All three dogs might be thriving, because dogs are adaptable.



Yes, when you consider that pet dogs will happily scarf down roadkill and cruise the litter boxes looking for "kitty treats", and that pariah street dogs around the world live mainly on human garbage, I think it's safe to say that, barring an actual health issue, dogs can survive on pretty much anything. But yes, there is a LOT of marketing aimed at convincing people that one brand of commercial food is superior to another for "XYZ reasons". I've fed a lot of different foods to a lot of dogs over the years. With very rare exceptions, they've all done fine, no matter what they were fed. The exceptions were, ironically enough, all "super-premium, high-end" brands that cost a small fortune per bag.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

TeamHellhound said:


> Yes, when you consider that pet dogs will happily scarf down roadkill and cruise the litter boxes looking for "kitty treats", and that pariah street dogs around the world live mainly on human garbage, I think it's safe to say that, barring an actual health issue, dogs can survive on pretty much anything. But yes, there is a LOT of marketing aimed at convincing people that one brand of commercial food is superior to another for "XYZ reasons". I've fed a lot of different foods to a lot of dogs over the years. With very rare exceptions, they've all done fine, no matter what they were fed. The exceptions were, ironically enough, all "super-premium, high-end" brands that cost a small fortune per bag.


I think a big issue is that most pet dogs lead very restricted lives. They don't get enough exercise, and they have no ability to forage for themselves when their diets aren't optimal. Farm dogs are notorious for stealing eggs, eating hoof trimmings, and finding other ways to supplement their diets.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

cowpony said:


> I think a big issue is that most pet dogs lead very restricted lives. They don't get enough exercise, and they have no ability to forage for themselves when their diets aren't optimal. Farm dogs are notorious for stealing eggs, eating hoof trimmings, and finding other ways to supplement their diets.


Yes to this. And when a dog scavenges—yes, maybe they’re eating roadkill, and garbage, etc., but there’s _variety_ in that diet.

There are other considerations when you’re feeding your poodle the same serving, of the same thing, every single day.


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## Yellow (Sep 24, 2018)

My mini poo was weaned on raw and I like raw for dogs and cats. Kibble is processed. Some dogs do great and live a long time, others can get very sick off of bad kibble. And some are so low in nutrients and if someone does'nt know how to read the ingredients they are feeding crap, food in one end out the other with no nutrition. Check into Answers, Soft Batch, to name few raw pre made diets that are balanced. Goats milk is great. interesting articles to read if you go to Hero'sPets.com check out the blog on dog food. If you travel you can get dehydrated Stella and Chewys to take with and it is easy to prepare.


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