# 2021 - what's currently the best food for a young spoodle?



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Basil's breeder had her on Acana Puppy/Junior formula after weening her from breast milk. I fed her the same kibble from 8 weeks - 1 year. Then, on her 1 year bd I moved to Acana Beef... Same brand. 

Luckily kibble wasn't something we had any challenges with. That's what we did. Everyone's journey is a little different.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

You’re going to get as many opinions as there are people. 😊 I look for a food without corn, soy, or legumes. Legumes are the hardest to avoid, but I hope that changes soon. I don’t have any dogs on that age dog food currently, one is on senior and one is on puppy.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

The best food is one he does well on, likes to eat, and you can afford to feed. 

DVMs have more like four years of health training, called vet school. And yes, they take nutrition classes. And no, they aren't sponsored by pet food companies.

As far as what I'm feeding, Simon is currently on Pro Plan Sensitive Puppy Salmon and Rice formula and my GSD and APBT are on Holistic Select Salmon, Anchovy, etc. formula. I'm changing everyone over to Blackwood's Salmon formula when these bags are done, because it's an all life stages formula, and I'm lazy enough to appreciate not having to buy and store two different kinds of food.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peggy does great on Farmina N&D. Low-glycemic, no corn, no wheat, no soy, etc.









FARMINA N&D Ancestral Grain Chicken & Pomegranate Medium & Maxi Adult Dry Dog Food, 26.5-lb bag - Chewy.com


Buy Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain Chicken & Pomegranate Medium & Maxi Adult Dry Dog Food, 26.5-lb bag at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!




www.chewy.com


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

My spoo puppy is on Royal Canin Medium Puppy food. My spoo isn't going to be all that big based on his parents otherwise he would be on the large dog puppy food. He will eventually transition to the adult version. 
My 3 year old cockapoo eats
the small breed adult Royal Canin..
My late cockapoo had stomach issues with most dog food. When they discontinued the food he had been on for years, the Royal Canin was the only one I found that didn't cause issues. 
My vet does like it.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

TeamHellhound said:


> DVMs have more like four years of health training, called vet school. And yes, they take nutrition classes. And no, they aren't sponsored by pet food companies.


They have very limited training on food, and it seems only about the food they sell. I’ve seldom met a vet who recommended food they weren’t selling. They’re in direct conflict of interest. They want to sell you their food, so they’re not objective.

Give me a vet who doesn’t sell any food and I’ll consider taking their advice a lot more seriously.

Having said that, both my dogs eat vet food, by obligation.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Your vet may recommend Purina because they, along with a number of dog food manufacturers, have veterinary nutritionists on staff who specialize in nutrition and formulate the various foods for various ages, sizes, and special dietary needs based on studies and testing.

As a puppy, your larger breed spoo needed to have proper nutritional balance to maintain balanced growth, reducing the possibility of later orthopedic issues.

As an adult, your spoo will need a different nutritional balance.

As Starla said


Starla said:


> You’re going to get as many opinions as there are people. 😊


and as TeamHellhound said


TeamHellhound said:


> The best food is one he does well on, likes to eat, and you can afford to feed.


Your best bet is to find out what the best nutritional balance is for a spoo, look for the AAFCO label or guidelines that a food meets that nutritional balance, learn about reading labels (hint: more to it than you might first think. It isn't just the ingredients or even how they're listed on the label, it's how they work together), then find a food that your spoo likes.

Here's a starting point GNC_Guidelines_120421 (wsava.org)


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## Cosmo (Aug 2, 2020)

Thanks Everyone!


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## Cosmo (Aug 2, 2020)

Thank you for posting the link to WSAVA @Rose n Poos !


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

My preference for a spoo is for a large breed puppy formula - I'm not picky as to which so long as it says not the label that it is formulated to meet the needs of a growing large breed dog. Large breed formulas are formulated to slow growth and protect the joints while growing, and provide the correct calcium to phosphorous ratio. 

Other than that - it's whatever your budget can manage and your dog does well on. Almost all of the medium to large size dog food brands have nutritionists on staff, almost all of the foods available are formulated to meet AAFCO standards (or Fediaf in Europe)

Annie loved Farmina, but it was out of my budget. I fed Acana and Go! Large breed puppy formulas at first but it turned out Annie doesn't do well with poultry so we ended up with Taste of the Wild when she was a puppy (not my favourite brand, and not a large breed puppy formula). Other people love Purina and similar - I cannot have gluten in my home so those were out. My preference would be to stretch the budget in the first year to get a better quality large breed puppy food, even if you plan to feed something lower cost later.


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