# What to feed a Standard poodle?



## caradiamond (Oct 14, 2020)

Also, has anyone given their poodle beef or chicken broth with their meal? (Not as a replacement for water)


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

It is a good idea to switch not only "flavors" of food, but brands. The more variety your pup gets, the better! I switch off with every bag I buy. If you do it this way, the dog never gets accustomed to one formula, and you don't have to worry about switching over gradually. By switching brands, I mean get a list of good quality brands and switch between them. I do like Fromm Gold Star, because they have so many flavors. I go with them the most. By switching brands you are not relying on the nutrition choices of one company, and what one company may be doing wrong or not at all another company may be better at. I don't think there is any brand that is perfect, so switching it up helps to make up for human errors or choices made for reasons of economy.

Of course, if your pup has or develops allergies or other health concerns this may not be a good thing, but I believe this method actually helps prevent some food allergies and conditions. Also if your chosen brand is not available or suddenly changes their formula (with or without telling you) your dog will not have problems adjusting.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Back before dogs lived the good life sleeping on sofas, they got a varied diet based simply on what was available. 

That being said, there are two important considerations. One is the balance of helpful bacteria in the gut develops in relationship to the type of food the dog eats. If you abruptly shift the food to something the dog has not eaten much before, the gut bacteria will be thrown out of whack and the dog will probably have diarrhea while the gut ecosystem adjusts. That's why people often suggest mixing the old food with the new for a few days.

The other is that poodles are more prone to allergies and auto-immune disorders than a lot of breeds. Therefore, some vets recommend sticking to a restricted list of proteins: only chicken, or only beef, or only whatever. The idea is that, if the dog later develops an allergy to their primary protein, you can switch to something else the dog hasn't yet developed an allergy to. If the dog has already become sensitive to lamb, fish, chicken, duck, beef, venison, etc. then you are stuck with a hydrolyzed protein prescription diet.

I've always given my dogs a varied diet. All have been fine, with the exception of Pogo. He was sensitive as a young puppy, grew out of his problems, and then developed a very sensitive digestive system in the last few months of his life when his cancer got bad. I had to put him on a hydrolyzed protein diet for the last few weeks.


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## caradiamond (Oct 14, 2020)

reraven123 said:


> It is a good idea to switch not only "flavors" of food, but brands. The more variety your pup gets, the better! I switch off with every bag I buy. If you do it this way, the dog never gets accustomed to one formula, and you don't have to worry about switching over gradually. By switching brands, I mean get a list of good quality brands and switch between them. I do like Fromm Gold Star, because they have so many flavors. I go with them the most. By switching brands you are not relying on the nutrition choices of one company, and what one company may be doing wrong or not at all another company may be better at. I don't think there is any brand that is perfect, so switching it up helps to make up for human errors or choices made for reasons of economy.
> 
> Of course, if your pup has or develops allergies or other health concerns this may not be a good thing, but I believe this method actually helps prevent some food allergies and conditions. Also if your chosen brand is not available or suddenly changes their formula (with or without telling you) your dog will not have problems adjusting.


Just to clarify, When you switch between brands do you gradually add in the new brand with the old brand or just switch it at once? How often do you switch? Is it a day to day thing or week to week? I’m worried that if I feed a chicken recipe one day then a beef recipe the next day it’ll upset his tummy


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

All at once. When one bag is empty I open a new one. A bag lasts about 3 weeks. Switching daily would not be a problem, I just don't want to have a lot of bags open and then they go stale or rancid.


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## Michigan Gal (Jun 4, 2019)

All at once. When I get a foster dog I have no idea what he has been eating. I have no problem switching the dog to raw.

With kibble, the main problem is the change in grains. From corn to wheat (or corn and wheat) is upsetting. I would not feed any food with a corn base as corn is difficult to digest even for humans. Sticking with the same brand should keep you with the same grains. If you feed grain free or with the same grain, it will be much easier on the system.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

caradiamond said:


> Also, has anyone given their poodle beef or chicken broth with their meal? (Not as a replacement for water)


Yeah totally. Grandma's insistent on giving Basil _broth_ _because she likes it_ every visit every meal.

Keep in mind this extra liquid during meal time is going to mean you need to make a mental note to them out to use the potty sooner or an accidently will happen.

It has to be said -- ideally no to low sodium broth, like if you plan to cook/boil/instapot chicken at home.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Broth is only suitable for dogs if it's free of alliums (onion, garlic, etc).

_"Allium_ species toxicosis typically ensues after consumption of a single large quantity of the material or repeated small amounts."









Toxicology Brief: Allium species poisoning in dogs and cats


Wild and domesticated Allium species have been used for culinary and ethnomedicinal purposes since the beginning of recorded history.



www.dvm360.com


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

You'll see information also regarding grain inclusive food vs grain free in relation to a possible connection between grain free and DCM in dogs. There's no conclusive proof of a connection but it is possible. 

As a precaution until more studies are done and unless your eventual poodle reacts badly to grain inclusive food, I'd avoid grain free. 

Whatever you choose to feed, you want to be sure that it's a completely balanced diet. See the WSAVA site for guidelines on selecting foods.



https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Selecting-the-Best-Food-for-your-Pet.pdf




https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Savvy-Dog-Owner-s-Guide-to-Nutrition-on-the-Internet.pdf



How to read a pet food label








Pet Food Labels


The pet food label contains a wealth of information, if one knows how to read it.




www.fda.gov












Why you shouldn’t judge a pet food by its ingredient list


Although ingredient lists are commonly used by pet owners and most pet food rating sites to determine the quality of pet foods, this approach has many pitfalls and usually is not a good way to select a food.




vetnutrition.tufts.edu





Rotating your dogs food has pros and a few potential cons. Look up "rotational feeding" online. I rotated two proteins and two brands with my mini boys as puppies and add a small amount of our dinner protein with dog safe veggies as an additional rotating topper. One was never a keen eater so while looking to make a change I landed on a food that he looovvved. I stuck with the single food but still rotate the dinner topper nightly. It's a small amount so there's little chance of digestive upsets.


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## FloofyPoodle (May 12, 2020)

One thing I would add is that diets like the one you posted are very much a fad right now, and even if it is a balanced diet, I would worry about production stopping because the company shut down (not to mention, quality control is likely less of a thing due to more limited staff). I also am cautious to believe that they are properly balancing their diet, since A) I see no mention of a nutritionist on staff anywhere on the site and B) they base their diets on some "herbsmith, inc." company diagram that I have doubts on its actual effectiveness. Seems like somebody wanting to make a quick buck to me, which is common in these kinds of startups. If they have been around since, say, the early 2000s, then maybe I might be willing to look further in to them, but they aren't likely to last longer than a few years after the freeze-dried craze dies down.

I like to swap my foods out after each bag finishes just in case something gets contaminated or one of the dogs starts to get bored (very likely with a Poodle!). Plus there's more of a likelihood that if one diet is lacking, the other will make up for it.


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## caradiamond (Oct 14, 2020)

FloofyPoodle said:


> One thing I would add is that diets like the one you posted are very much a fad right now, and even if it is a balanced diet, I would worry about production stopping because the company shut down (not to mention, quality control is likely less of a thing due to more limited staff). I also am cautious to believe that they are properly balancing their diet, since A) I see no mention of a nutritionist on staff anywhere on the site and B) they base their diets on some "herbsmith, inc." company diagram that I have doubts on its actual effectiveness. Seems like somebody wanting to make a quick buck to me, which is common in these kinds of startups. If they have been around since, say, the early 2000s, then maybe I might be willing to look further in to them, but they aren't likely to last longer than a few years after the freeze-dried craze dies down.
> 
> I like to swap my foods out after each bag finishes just in case something gets contaminated or one of the dogs starts to get bored (very likely with a Poodle!). Plus there's more of a likelihood that if one diet is lacking, the other will make up for it.


Those are some good points I didn’t think about that since this is my first time being on the market for pet food. What brands do you use?


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

FP, I hoped you'd drop in here 
FP has a nutrition thread started with a lot of research time in.
The links are there for you to look thru the materials.
Worth your time to look.








The quest for nutrition


There is so much controversy around canine and human nutrition, it makes my head spin. What is the best diet? Protein good? Bad? What's up with carbs? Should dogs have fats of any kind? Is kibble really acceptable? What is food, even? Is it just sustenance? Is it what fills this void we call...




www.poodleforum.com


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

caradiamond said:


> What brands do you use?


A request for brand recommendations will get you almost as many different responses as participants in the post . That's because there are many, many to choose from. To borrow a phrase, instead of giving you a fish for a day, I hope you learn to fish for a lifetime.

What our dogs tolerate physically and actually like to eat won't necessarily be what works for your eventual pup.

And to top this off, the brands change formulations periodically.
For example, the brand I've been feeding my boys since the beginning of this year has changed their packaging, which I knew was coming, but the form is also different now and the brand has changed the wording in the name. I haven't yet compared the ingredient list to see what other changes have been made.

The good news is that my picky eater still eats it and this is a brand which uses veterinary nutritionists to develop formulas, so there is a level of trust I have with them. I'm still going to verify by looking into why the changes were made.


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## FloofyPoodle (May 12, 2020)

I use Nulo right now, and will be switching to Farmina for my next bag (expensive, but at least since I'm switching bags regularly it balances it out), but as Rose said, if you ask twelve different people what they feed, you'll probably get twelve different answers.  My dogs are also small breed, so what works for mine might not necessarily work for your spoo.


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## CSC (Dec 17, 2019)

caradiamond said:


> I’ve done some research and I think I want to continue feeding my puppy dry food for a while (same as the breeders) then gradually switch to my own choice of a dry and wet food mix.
> I don’t like the idea of feeding my pup the exact same food every day, is it a good idea to switch up my pups food as long as I stay within the same brand? For example, if I feed him a chicken base dry food on some days, then a beef or fish base dry food on the other days. Or will that upset my puppy’s stomach?
> 
> also, I just came across this food brand Beef & Salmon Recipe | The Simple Food Project
> ...


Gentle Giants Beef kibble plus mix in Gentle Giant Beef canned. and just a bit of lean, cooked ground beef. Gentle Giants has different flavors, but our Sammy prefers the beef (turkey gives him the runs)


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## CSC (Dec 17, 2019)

Michigan Gal said:


> All at once. When I get a foster dog I have no idea what he has been eating. I have no problem switching the dog to raw.
> 
> With kibble, the main problem is the change in grains. From corn to wheat (or corn and wheat) is upsetting. I would not feed any food with a corn base as corn is difficult to digest even for humans. Sticking with the same brand should keep you with the same grains. If you feed grain free or with the same grain, it will be much easier on the system.


Corn is used in so many foods (animal and human) primarily as a filler. In animal food, it is usually the corn leftover from other products. Corn is hard on digestion and the heart. (as in corn syrup. try to find human foods without corn syrup!)


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## buzzieb41 (Sep 21, 2013)

reraven123 said:


> It is a good idea to switch not only "flavors" of food, but brands. The more variety your pup gets, the better! I switch off with every bag I buy. If you do it this way, the dog never gets accustomed to one formula, and you don't have to worry about switching over gradually. By switching brands, I mean get a list of good quality brands and switch between them. I do like Fromm Gold Star, because they have so many flavors. I go with them the most. By switching brands you are not relying on the nutrition choices of one company, and what one company may be doing wrong or not at all another company may be better at. I don't think there is any brand that is perfect, so switching it up helps to make up for human errors or choices made for reasons of economy.
> 
> Of course, if your pup has or develops allergies or other health concerns this may not be a good thing, but I believe this method actually helps prevent some food allergies and conditions. Also if your chosen brand is not available or suddenly changes their formula (with or without telling you) your dog will not have problems adjusting.


I totally agree with you. I rotate my two standards' food every 20 or 25 # bag. Each bag lasts about a month. I stick with about 4 or 5 brands that I think are good and start over after I have finished all the rotations. I also add toppers for variety. I mix with canned salmon packed in water, canned sardines packed in water, bone broth that I make and freeze, Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog food (you have to hydrate first before feeding) low fat cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, steamed carrots, string beans, broccoli. left over chicken and lean beef and stew...the list goes on. The toppers are not to entice them to eat because they are good eaters. I give them toppers because I believe the toppers add some more good nutrition to their meals. I have been doing this since they were pups, Never had a problem switching foods, no upset stomachs or throwing up, no loose stools.. The only caveat is not to get carried away and feed them too much that they they get fat. My 11 year old boy weighs 65 lbs. and has maintained this weight throughout his adult life. My 8 year old girl has also maintained her weight. As far as I know neither dog has any allergies to any food. Whether I am doing the right thing---I am not sure, but I can say that they have been thriving. I feed them twice a day...morning and evening. 

An interesting observation I made a ling time ago was that if you stick with one brand, the meat will change, but the other ingredients remain basically the same throughout the entire line of food. So the most variety they will get is the meat.


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## rock55 (Aug 31, 2019)

caradiamond said:


> I’ve done some research and I think I want to continue feeding my puppy dry food for a while (same as the breeders) then gradually switch to my own choice of a dry and wet food mix.
> I don’t like the idea of feeding my pup the exact same food every day, is it a good idea to switch up my pups food as long as I stay within the same brand? For example, if I feed him a chicken base dry food on some days, then a beef or fish base dry food on the other days. Or will that upset my puppy’s stomach?
> 
> also, I just came across this food brand Beef & Salmon Recipe | The Simple Food Project
> ...


Feed a fresh food diet. Nutrition is the foundation of health. Rotate proteins within the fresh food diet.


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