# What should I feed my standard puppy?



## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

What kibble food should I feed my standard puppy? How many meals per day and when does that decrease? How much do they need? Is there a suggested guide? My last poodles were small and I just left food out for them. Also, if I choose to change what the breeder is feeding, how should I do that? 3/4 old food; 1/4 new food for a few days, then 1/2 and 1/2 for a few days, etc.????????

Thanks so much. This forum has been a blessing!!!!

Kim


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Find a no grain kibble if possible. Read the directions on the bag for a puppy as they eat a good bit more during this time period. Many times if you are on a good quality kibble - they seem to eat less, I know all 4 of my dogs did. 

If you are changing from what your breeder fed it should be done slow just as you suggested. 

Enjoy your new spoo baby!!


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Olie, thanks!!

I have been reading on a dog food anaylsis site and it seems that Innova is a good adult dog food (6 star), but the Innova puppy food (4 star) is lacking and contains grains. I looked at some other grainless puppy foods, but the concern was that there could be too much protein in them for a puppy. What to do? What to do??? LOL

Kim


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

kimstm, I feed my standard puppy Innova Large Breed puppy, and she LOVES it and is thriving excellently on it. (She did have soft-ish stool for awhile, but all is firming up in that department).

Pay attention to the Calcium and Phosphorus levels of whatever food you choose- you do not want them to be too high because that can make them grow too fast. The high quality Large Breed Puppy formulas usually have that under control.

I have also heard good things about Acana and Orijen. 

As far as the high protein content on some puppy foods, I am absolutely NOT an expert, but I will tell you that my vet said she is more concerned with high levels of calcium and phosphorus than she is with high levels of protein. 

I would recommend going to a local store that sells high quality dog food and maybe talking with the owner? That is what I did!

Best of luck!! Standard poodle puppies are such sweethearts!


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

Kim,

I really like dog kibble made by champion foods. They make no grain adult and puppy food called Orijen. It comes in both regular puppy food and large breed puppy food. Here are the links:

Puppy
Puppy Large


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Thanks for your input. I have been reading, what seems like for hours now, and I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to puppy food, I will have to choose higher protein, no grain or lower protein with grain. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground unless I am missing something.

Kim


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

Feed the best quality food you can afford. 

If grains are at the top of the list of the ingredients, food is usually not the best one can find.

*Poodlelover *- who is carrying Orijen in the Bay Area ??? I could not find it even in some pet-specialty stores around me hwell:


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## Raena (Sep 20, 2009)

i really like the all stages diets vs. a puppy specific food, which you can find in almost any of the good non-grain based, high quality foods. the food analysis site is a great resource!
this was my answer to the protein conundrum


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## Karma'sACat (Jun 1, 2010)

I had to put Lola (now 60 lbs) on a grain free pretty young because of an intolerance/allergy so I did a lot of research. Orijen and Acana were my top picks but weren't sold in my area then, Fromm Surf and Turf was my second and she did well on it. I actually ended up switching her to raw at around 6 months and she is still on that today at 12.5 months.


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## 4theLOVEofPOODLES (May 13, 2010)

Check this link out to a friend of mine's site on feeding...some helpful tips on some of the grain free foods out there=)

Desert Reef Poodles - dogfood

Here's another that is helpful plus she has another section on the recommended diet:

Frequently Asked Questions About Feeding a Raw Diet -- TIARA Standard Poodles


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## newspoomom (Jun 16, 2010)

I am feeding Orijen now, and I am very happy with it.


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

wishpoo said:


> Feed the best quality food you can afford.
> 
> If grains are at the top of the list of the ingredients, food is usually not the best one can find.
> 
> *Poodlelover *- who is carrying Orijen in the Bay Area ??? I could not find it even in some pet-specialty stores around me hwell:


In San Francisco, there are a few places close to my house. Sunset Pet Supply, Citipets, Jeffrey's Natural Pet Food Company. Since I don't know where you live, here's the list of stores that carry Orijens in California:

California Store Listing


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your responses. I am still at a complete loss as to what to feed my puppy spoo. The orijen seems like a good food, but I am worried that I will be harming her due to the protein count. If I find a lower protein count then the food has grains in it. I am so stressed over this.


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## bluespoomommy (Feb 25, 2010)

i fed my puppy wellness super 5 mix for puppy until she was 9 months old and she did really well on it. it has grains, but she tolerated the grains very well (there is no wheat and no corn or soy in wellness). 

i switched to grainless wellness core kibble after that. she also gets a generous tablespoon of yogurt every day, and some type of fresh fruit for added fiber (she loves fruit!).

i make her home cooked meals several times a week too. this isn't necessary, but she just loves it


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Don't be stressed!!  I would not worry too much about the protein. Any of the foods suggested on this thread are very high quality foods that your puppy will thrive on  You can always give a food a try, and if your puppy has trouble on it, then find a better match. 

Honestly, IMO, if you feed a lower protein, high quality food with some grains, it is still better than feeding a poor quality food you might find at the grocery store! Same thing with higher protein, no grains. I really think that your puppy will do well on either. 

Good luck!!


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## neVar (Dec 25, 2009)

don't make it harder then it is. 

Don't get strung up on %'s of things. Get ahigh quality food and just try it- if she hs issues then try something different. Switch over slow. 

Lots of Great brands out there (innov, orijen, acana) lots of good brands out there (nutro, etc- the ones you find at the big box pet stores... ) 

and there's the dear god why brnds ou can get at wal mart or the grocery store. 

on the whole if vet carries it- it's on the 'dear god why" list. Avoid at ll costs IMO you pay an arm and a leg nd don't get much better quality then Old Roy from Wal Mart


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Another vote for Orijen & Arcana (same company, I think).

I was very happy when my local place started stocking these. Mine thrives on it, and I like knowing exactly what I'm feeding.


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## jak (Aug 15, 2009)

Another vote for Orijen 
Love the stuff!!!

... wish my mum would buy it... grrrrrrr...


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## Desiree (Feb 14, 2010)

I feed raw and Acana fish a few times a week. Acana has a little less protein than Orijen and the calcium /phosphorus ratio on the bag. They love it!


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

kimstm said:


> Thanks everyone for your responses. I am still at a complete loss as to what to feed my puppy spoo. The orijen seems like a good food, but I am worried that I will be harming her due to the protein count. If I find a lower protein count then the food has grains in it. I am so stressed over this.


Don't stress out over feeding your puppy, it isn't a rocket science.  The only time high protein can be bad for your dog is when it's a bad source of protein or if it's a plant base protein source. As long as it's high quality protien, you have nothing to worry about. You can also feed a high quality dog kibble that has grains and you can also feed just an adult formula, all life stages dog food. Champion dog food, the company that makes Orijens dog food, also make another no grain food called Acana. It doesn't come in puppy formula, but its' protein content is lower. They also make Acana that has grain and comes in puppy formula and junior, large breed puppy and small breed puppy. It's very high quality as well and an excellent option. Here's the link to both Acana Grain Free and Acana with grain.

Champion Petfoods | ACANA | Our Products


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Thanks poodle lover. I am interested in trying Orijens, but think I will wait to she is older. Acana is in the running, but I read the meat content was a little on the low side.

I just posted about Fromm's 4 star. It seems to be really good also. Any thoughts on it?

Thanks!

Kim


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## FozziesMom (Jun 23, 2010)

I have a mini and was planning to feed Raw/BARF because I'd had such good luck with my cat on it (severe allergies--gone!).

Breeder said she'd been feeding Hund N flocken solid gold to her champion miniatures for over 20 years. it's made in germany and has no corn, wheat, chicken or soy. (It's lamb and brown rice). 

While fozzie was a pup we mixed a forkfull of cottage cheese into the dry but now that he's older we mix a forkfull of the canned solid gold to improve palatbility. we've never had a problem on this food

Hope that helps. the Hund N flocken is made in germany and was one of the first natural dog foods in the US. 

good luck!


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## Margotsmom (Jun 6, 2010)

I am feeding Pinnacle which is not grainfree and is made by Breeders Choice. It is a holistic puppy and adult food. It has real chicken meat (there are 3 flavors, I use Chicken and Oats), Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, dehydrated mix veggies, and probiotics. Protein 25%, Fat 15%, Fiber 5%.


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

We had Enzo on Evo but switched him to blue buffalo wilderness chicken. We did this switch because 

A) only a 2 shops carried it in my area one being where my sister used to work ( she does not want to see these people again lol) second shop closes so early we can't get there after work on time.

B) he was eating it but not that good.

C) price was very high ! 

Enzo loves this blue buffalo he eats fast when we give it to him with the evo he would it pick at nit lol It has no grain and it has 42% protein which we need so his hair will grow at a good rate.


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## LouSpoo (Jun 23, 2010)

I live in a..well..pet food challenged town. We do have a Petsmart but it does not carry the brands of food you all are discussing here. They do have Blue which is what I have been feeding my dogs. They like it ok but Louie will litteraly spit the LIFE SOURCE bits (supposedly the most nutrious part of the food) on to the floor. Is there a good place to buy food online that the shipping won't be outrageous? Thanks.


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

kimstm said:


> Acana is in the running, but I read the meat content was a little on the low side.
> 
> I just posted about Fromm's 4 star. It seems to be really good also. Any thoughts on it?
> 
> ...


I am a little confused, in your previous posts you said you are afraid to use too high of protein content, now you are worried that Acana has too low. I actually think that Acana might be exactly what you are looking for (providing your puppy will eat it), as it's right in the middle between your everage 22% to 25% protein and the really high 40% to 42% protein. 

Fromm Four star dog food is very good quality food and I know a lot of people on the Havanese Forum use it. I tried it, but was not all that impressed, because I prefer higher protein. Fromm actually has less than Acana. Fromm only makes one dog food that is grain free (Serf and Turf) that has 30% protein, 19% fat. Their other formulas have between 21% and 25% protein and 11% and 16% fat. 
Acana large breed puppy with grain has 33% protein, 15% fat. Acana grain free has 33% protein, 17% fat. 

Just a little more food for thought.


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

poodle lover--I had read on dogfoodanaylsis.com site that their concern was that the meat content was low and suggested supplementing with real meat. I hadn't noticed this on any of the other dog foods, even the ones that had lower protein. I still think it is a good choice. I found a local pet shop that sales several different kinds of the really good kibble and she said I could have some samples. I can't believe how much I have let this worry me. I want only the best for her and I feel so guilty for feeding my other toy poodles Iams. If they were still around I would be switching them over. Anyway, it seems like it will be trial and error. I could spend another day dwelling over this, decide on "the perfect food" and then my puppy could hate it. Gosh, it was a lot easier feeding the babies I gave birth to. My hardest decision was remembering what side to start feeding them on at each nursing. LOL

Thank you everyone for all of your responses!

Kim


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## wishpoo (Sep 12, 2009)

> In San Francisco, there are a few places close to my house. Sunset Pet Supply, Citipets, Jeffrey's Natural Pet Food Company. Since I don't know where you live, here's the list of stores that carry Orijens in California:


Thanks sooooo much Poodlelover :beauty::flowers::beauty:

I am in South Bay area : )), so your link is going to be of tremendous help  !!! Yeeeeaaaaayyyyy : )))) !!!!!!


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

kimstm said:


> poodle lover--I had read on dogfoodanaylsis.com site that their concern was that the meat content was low and suggested supplementing with real meat. I hadn't noticed this on any of the other dog foods, even the ones that had lower protein. I still think it is a good choice. I found a local pet shop that sales several different kinds of the really good kibble and she said I could have some samples. I can't believe how much I have let this worry me. I want only the best for her and I feel so guilty for feeding my other toy poodles Iams. If they were still around I would be switching them over. Anyway, it seems like it will be trial and error. I could spend another day dwelling over this, decide on "the perfect food" and then my puppy could hate it. Gosh, it was a lot easier feeding the babies I gave birth to. My hardest decision was remembering what side to start feeding them on at each nursing. LOL
> 
> Thank you everyone for all of your responses!
> 
> Kim


If you were qualified to raise and feed your human babies, you are more than qualified to feed your dog. I feed mine a lot of raw, I add home cooked to their kibble and I never worry about "perfect food". There is no such thing as no one dog food could be right for all dogs. If I didn't have three (two of whom are standards and one who doesn't like raw much) I would only feed raw and/or home cooked, but with three it's too time consuming to cook and to go all raw one would go on strike. So, I feed a little bit of everything and they are all fine.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Ok.... I just read in another post that your puppy's dam and sire are 26" and 32" respectively. I sent you a PM with my thoughts about that, but if you go ahead and get this puppy, I think you should only feed adult food.

Large dogs can actually grow too quickly. They can end up with painful conditions like Pano. I think you should feed adult food from the beginning to encourage slow to moderate growth.


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## kimstm (Jun 24, 2010)

Hi, I just pm'd you back. Just to let everyone else know I have emailed the breeder back to ask if she told me the size from top to bottom, rather than shoulders. I had told her that I wanted to find out their heights so that I could make sure the crate height was appropriate. Obviously, I am no standard poodle pro as I referred to them as mom and dad rather than dam and sire. Breeder prob. thought she would really throw me for a loop on seeing the word wither, lol. Plus, as I said, I wanted height to check on the crate. If this is the case, would that be more appropriate in size?

Kim


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