# 5 star dry puppy kibble?



## Cin3dee (Jan 5, 2013)

Im looking for a 5 star dry kibble for my 8 week old mini. I want to find a great food but not break the bank. Anyone have some good names for me along with better priced? I am going to have to use Petco for my food. Thanks .. I already looked at the Dog Food Advisor but holy cow sooo many to choose from and I have no idea on pricing and whats what. Hoping someone here can help me figure this out.


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## Oklahoma (Dec 10, 2012)

We feed Inova dry kibble and always have. It's an A+ food and our dogs love it. It also solved allergy problems that our older rescue dog had. His skin allergies pretty much disappeared after a couple months on Inova.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Petco is where I have to get most of our pet foods also unless I want to run down to Ft Collins which is an hour away in good weather. My older dogs are on Merricks Grain Free and are doing well on it. While it does say it is good for all lifestages of all breeds of dogs we are going to start our new puppy on Merricks Classic Puppy. Apollo is a very big husky puppy and we want to make sure he has the right nutrition he needs to grow in a "safe" and healthy manner. 
Dogfood Advisor lists both Merricks as 5 star products and I really like how my old lady is doing on the grain free. The price is about middle of the road if you look on the Petco web site. Hope that helps.


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## Cin3dee (Jan 5, 2013)

I printed list off of five star and took it to petco. Im going to give the merrik duck and sweet potato a try. Seems pretty costly but i guess you feed less since its grain free so that would make it more cost effective.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Our dogs love that one. We did have some loose stools for a few days when we swapped but now they are good. Price wise it is slightly more then the cheap food we were feeding, however they are healthier on it. No more skin itchiness for Kizz and her hips to seem to hurt less which for us was a very big plus. Wry grin Kizz is 10 years old and has a damaged pelvis from being hit by a large pickup as a young dog.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

All 5 star food are expensive. If sa 5 star is too pricey for you (and that is understandable) I do believe the 4 stars are also very, very good. 4 star is far better than most people feed their dogs. If you have a cost co around you they carry a 5 star and a 4 star food for a huge discount. I don't like their puppy food, so don't bother with that, but when you switch to adult food it is worth the membership cost per year to buy your dog food there- that's how much of a discount they are (like half the cost of anywhere else).

Since you have a mini it should not be too expensive to feed him. I have two standard poodles and a whippet. I won't tell you what my dog food bill is per month. LOL. I don't think about it.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

spindledreams said:


> Petco is where I have to get most of our pet foods also unless I want to run down to Ft Collins which is an hour away in good weather. My older dogs are on Merricks Grain Free and are doing well on it. While it does say it is good for all lifestages of all breeds of dogs we are going to start our new puppy on Merricks Classic Puppy. Apollo is a very big husky puppy and we want to make sure he has the right nutrition he needs to grow in a "safe" and healthy manner.
> Dogfood Advisor lists both Merricks as 5 star products and I really like how my old lady is doing on the grain free. The price is about middle of the road if you look on the Petco web site. Hope that helps.


Be careful about feeding "puppy" food to a standard poodle puppy..."Puppy" food encourages speedy growth which can be harmful. A large breed puppy food (check calcium/phosphorus ratio to make sure it's not going to encourage growth) or an adult formula is best. Particularly since you say he is a big "husky" puppy, he needs a formula that will not encourage fast growth. In other words, it's probably best that you feed him an adult food or a large breed puppy food with controlled calcium levels.


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## crestiespoo (Dec 19, 2012)

My dogs are all on TLC dog food - you have to order it online and it ships to your house for free... Our Spoo breeder highly recommended it so I switched all my dogs to it and they love it! It's adult formula and the kibble size is bigger so my Chinese crested's don't eat as much... Portia has never eaten anything else and she's thriving on it... It's about $65 for two large bags... (About a month's worth)... I believe it would be considered a five star food (but isn't on your list-maybe bc it's Canadian?)


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## gharrissc (Jun 12, 2012)

I feed my crew Orijen.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

I was concerned about that but was not sure if the Merrick's Grain Free would work for Apollo or not. If we can just feed him the same food as the girls it would make life much easier. And he does seem to like the Grain Free better then his puppy food... 
Yes Apollo is a bigger boy, his breeder expects him to be 65 pounds or larger as an adult. He will probably not be a giant but will be on the larger end of the size range.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

spindledreams said:


> I was concerned about that but was not sure if the Merrick's Grain Free would work for Apollo or not. If we can just feed him the same food as the girls it would make life much easier. And he does seem to like the Grain Free better then his puppy food...
> Yes Apollo is a bigger boy, his breeder expects him to be 65 pounds or larger as an adult. He will probably not be a giant but will be on the larger end of the size range.


What do the girls eat? You just want to make sure that particular kibble does not have excess calcium. Some grain free foods do. Some grain free adult foods that I like that *do* have appropriate calcium/phosphorus levels include Orijen 6Fish, Orijen Large Breed Puppy, Innova Large Breed Puppy. There are others out there, but these are the ones that I have fed to my two when they were pups - before I got hooked on raw. I also like Acana Large Breed Puppy. Actually, I looked a the Merrick food and the calcium doesn't look that bad.


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## momtymztu (Mar 27, 2012)

I found this previous thread when researching food for Dusty (7 months)...What I'm wondering is what IS the approriate calcium/phosphorous ration for a spoo puppy? I have been looking online but haven't found my answer yet. 

Also what protein/fat levels are best? Dusty is loving TOTW Wetlands, but it is not AAFCO for all life stages. I'm wondering is I should try their puppy formula or keep looking for another brand.


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## Ruso (Nov 16, 2012)

I am feeding Ruso Orijen puppy and he's doing great. Never an issue. He's a bit picky and on the thin side, but I think is one of the best options out there (in kibble, of course)


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## Sweetteddy (Jun 6, 2013)

We feed teddy Orijen large puppy food and we mix it with 1 to 2 table spoons of 5 star canned food, he really enjoy his food


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

You want as close to 1:1 as possible for cal: phos. I actually now think Orijen LBP is a bit high in calcium.

Some I like include Fromm Large Breed Puppy, Wellness Large Breed Puppy, all of the Fromm 4-Star ALS foods, Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear, Acana Chicken and Burbank Potato, Acana Pacifica, NOW Fresh Large Breed Puppy, Horizon Large Breed Puppy, Horizon Pulsar, Innova Large Breed Puppy (aside from the recalls) and many more....


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

momtymztu said:


> Also what protein/fat levels are best? Dusty is loving TOTW Wetlands, but it is not AAFCO for all life stages. I'm wondering is I should try their puppy formula or keep looking for another brand.


I think you should switch to one of their formulas that is for All Life Stages.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

PetFlow sends me a bag of Wellness Core every 4 weeks, I also feed a lot of raw meals. I top the kibble with wet Honest Kitchen , they are doing great on this combination.


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## Jcjshelton (Jun 16, 2013)

So it is good to feed spoo pups adult food instead of puppy food? How much would you feed a 16 week spoo? My vet says 3oz. Three times a day, but the back of the packaging says 2-2 1/4 cups a day. I think when I was feeding according to the packaging, Lexie started gaining weight very quickly, so I cut it down to 1.5 cups which is still more than the vet recommended. Who is correct?

I am thinking about changing her food anyways because I think she has some kind of skin allergies. She is scratching a lot, but I can't find any fleas...so I think it could be the food...


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## Petitpie'sDH (Mar 22, 2013)

I am feeding Orijen 6 Fish to the spoos and the toy. This is after trying lots of other 5 star dry foods. They like it and are doing well on it.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

All the 5 stars are expensive and they are usually a lot more $$ than a 4 star. The nice thing is you are feeding a mini. When you think of how much that 5 star cost, think of me with three large dogs. LOL


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Jcjshelton said:


> So it is good to feed spoo pups adult food instead of puppy food? How much would you feed a 16 week spoo? My vet says 3oz. Three times a day, but the back of the packaging says 2-2 1/4 cups a day. I think when I was feeding according to the packaging, Lexie started gaining weight very quickly, so I cut it down to 1.5 cups which is still more than the vet recommended. Who is correct?
> 
> I am thinking about changing her food anyways because I think she has some kind of skin allergies. She is scratching a lot, but I can't find any fleas...so I think it could be the food...


I wouldn't feed regular puppy food to a standard poodle puppy. Either a large breed puppy formula or an All Life Stages formula. You don't want excessive calcium in the diet or it can lead to growth issues. 

For large breed puppies, I have read that .7 -1.2 is recommended % calcium and .6-1.1 is the recommended % of phosphorus. The ideal ratio of calcium to phosphorus is: 1:1-1.5:1. 

Look closely at the guaranteed analysis of the food to see if it is in excess of this or not.


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