hey guys
ive done some searching within this forum and still have not come up with an answer.

Im a little confused with the recommendation on the type of puppy food to feed my boy

i am under the impression that my male amstaff currently 8kgs/17.5lbs @ 6.5 weeks is going to be bigger than 25kgs/55lbs
prob closer to the 30kg/66lbs mark but he is still considered a medium sized dog

do ppl go with the normal puppy food or do they go with the large breed (bigger than 25kg/ 55lbs when adults) puppy food version

ive given two links as examples of different types of puppy food from the same brand...
https://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/ ... y-original
https://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/ ... arge-breed

also a brand recommendation would be good as i know vets push the brand they get the best deals on usually

thanks for helping in advance

I fed my pup Orijen/Acana regular puppy food, some brands really like to over-think it with separating it by breed or size of dog though. If you are feeding kibble I would just suggest to feed a nice grain-free recipe and see if they do well on it, if not, try another brand

thanks for the reply "Taz"/"Anne"?

I have been doing what i think a considerable amount of reading various material on grain free kibble food

and i found this interesting article if you can be bothered reading it:
http://www.healthypetsnaturally.com.au/ ... ee_Craze_/

what i got out of it is that grain free kibble (or any kibble) has a major problem of not enough hydration coming with such a type of food source.

is serving the kibble with an amount of water to soak it up appropriate? (not too much that it does not retain ANY crunch and becomes soggy)

is the more expensive raw food the only way to go to ensure the long term health of my pup. im sure and have seen plenty of medium-to-large breed dogs do what i beleive is well on an entirely kibble diet.
i have been told that canned wet food is one of the worst things digestively for your dogs stools etc

but "raw wet" food (obviously different to canned wet crap) is the best?

so its all very confusing and misleading

what are peoples thoughts?

thanks in advance

Feed any name brand puppy food.. I mix all my puppy food with water. Raw is the best but alot can't do raw. The only puppy food we stay away from is Pro plan.. We have had issues with it a couple of times. Now I know some people love it.

I read the article and just the title was enough to know what content would follow. ALL kibble is processed so yes the dogs need other sources for hydration... namely WATER. Just keep a fresh bowl out and you'll be fine. Any article that has a negative stance on grain-free recipes vs other kibble is laughable. It all comes down to this: Feed your dog a decent quality food that they do well on and keep fresh water out, otherwise you can feed a BARF diet or raw food which both have more moisture than kibble.

vicblueamstaff wrote:thanks for the reply "Taz"/"Anne"?

I have been doing what i think a considerable amount of reading various material on grain free kibble food

and i found this interesting article if you can be bothered reading it:
http://www.healthypetsnaturally.com.au/ ... ee_Craze_/

what i got out of it is that grain free kibble (or any kibble) has a major problem of not enough hydration coming with such a type of food source.

is serving the kibble with an amount of water to soak it up appropriate? (not too much that it does not retain ANY crunch and becomes soggy)

is the more expensive raw food the only way to go to ensure the long term health of my pup. im sure and have seen plenty of medium-to-large breed dogs do what i beleive is well on an entirely kibble diet.
i have been told that canned wet food is one of the worst things digestively for your dogs stools etc

but "raw wet" food (obviously different to canned wet crap) is the best?

so its all very confusing and misleading

what are peoples thoughts?

thanks in advance

I did read the article. One problem that I have, is that the article makes some claims without reference to any scientific research paper that would support the claim.

It was written by this woman - Dr. Karen Shaw Becker, DVM, NMD:
http://www.drkarenbecker.com/nav_sets_04/set01.htm

Dr. Becker, according to the Bio information on the link above is noted to "Dr. Becker completed the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy’s certification course in Virginia, 1998"

Here's some information on that certification - http://www.theavh.org/

The academy is comprised of veterinarians who share the common desire to restore true health to their patients through the use of homeopathic treatment. Members of the Academy are dedicated to understanding and preserving the principles of Classical Homeopathy.

Here's what they claim on the front webpage: What Can Be Treated By Homeopathy? "Almost any problem that can be treated by traditional western medicine (allopathy) can be treated by homeopathy. Examples of chronic diseases that respond to homeopathy include skin allergies, ear infections, asthma, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, thyroid disease and a host of other conditions."

To crib a line from Cuba Gooding Jr., in Jerry Maguire "Show me the money" Show me legitimate scientific research that supports the claim that animal diabeties (or any condition noted above) responds to homeopathy!

Homeopathy is junk - http://www.homeowatch.org/articles/wagner.html

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/inde ... omeopathy/

Personally, and this is just me, but I wouldn't want to put too much stock into what someone says who actually believes that homeopathy is legitimate.

I've prattled on long enough..........................

Good articles Erich - great research! Now excuse me while I finish removing the pins from my forehead. They're not doing too much for my headache. Bob

Well said Erich!

30 Seconds to Bob wrote:Good articles Erich - great research! Now excuse me while I finish removing the pins from my forehead. They're not doing too much for my headache. Bob

I lieu of acupuncture, perhaps you should go and get rolfed......

thanks for the great replies guys

cant make my mind up between these two

http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/a ... reed-puppy - not sure because this ISNT grain free.
or
http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/c ... ife-stages - grain free option that uses potatoes in the mix but "all life stages"
OR
http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/a ... grain-free - this one doesnt say specifically "puppy" so im not sure about this grain free option right now.

what do you think for my 8 week old pup especially in relation to the "all life stages" claim?

Was thinking the same thing when I got my pup bout 3months ago.
I ended up going with the brand Advance its in a big blue bag.
They sell it on the site that you have as a link.

vicblueamstaff wrote:thanks for the great replies guys

cant make my mind up between these two

http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/a ... reed-puppy - not sure because this ISNT grain free.
or
http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/c ... ife-stages - grain free option that uses potatoes in the mix but "all life stages"
OR
http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/product/a ... grain-free - this one doesnt say specifically "puppy" so im not sure about this grain free option right now.

what do you think for my 8 week old pup especially in relation to the "all life stages" claim?

Those all look goood. For what it's worth - I've fed my boy Canidae and he's done well on that.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those. They are all better quality than the staple that I feed. Bob

Yes Canidae is good, I personally don't know much about Artemis

so ive decided to continue with the puppy mince + kibble diet for now

I went with the artemis fresh mix medium/large breed puppy food 13.6kg bag should last a bit

should put some nice lean gains on!

he loved it straight away compared to the kibble the breeder had given me to continue with

not sure if this is just the "new" smell from a new food source so we will see.

seems like a fairly decent brand and not cheap either

delivered to my door next day! AWESOME