Adult V.S Puppy food

[Kyoko]

Today at the pet shop, I was told that wellness core original dog food is good for both puppy and adult.

I was purchasing original fomula and puppy fomula when she spoke about this. She suggest that since puppies can eat original fomula too, may be I should just buy the original fomula instead of buying two separate dog food for two separate dogs. Is this even true? ( I bought both originaland puppy as I originally planned.) And I planned fo feed my younger one puppy food until he is a year old. Is that right?

[Joan Bollaert]

That's my guess.  Perhaps too many new things at once for the little guy to
handle emotionally/psychologically?  Where's the dog whisperer when we need him?
lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The things you mentioned are part of it. An immature digestive system (an 8 week old puppy has only been eating solid food for about 4 weeks), and the enormous stress of leaving his mother, his littermates, and the only home he has ever known, and going to a strange place where nothing and nobody is familiar; sometimes, even the vegetation and the climate is unfamiliar. All of this can cause digestive upsets. It's helpful and comforting for at least one thing- the food in his bowl- to be familiar.

BUT, there is another much more important reason. 

It is very, very common for doodle puppies to come home with intestinal parasites, specifically coccidia and giardia. We have dozens and dozens of members here whose doodles had diarrhea and severe digestive issues for months after being treated for giardia, it can be very difficult to get rid of, and the problems can linger. Just do a search for "giardia" in the Food group discussions and you will see what i mean. It has really caused a lot of frustration and misery for a lot of puppy owners. It can also be very difficult to diagnose. Giardia has a 10-14 day incubation period, so it will not show up in fecal tests until the infection is well underway, and even then, it doesn't always show up in fecal tests because the cysts are not present in every sample. But the diarrhea will show up before the pup will test positive. If you change the food, and the puppy gets diarrhea, you will not know if it's because the new food is causing a digestive upset or because of parasites, and the breeder will blame the food change. Waiting until you can see that his stool is normal and well-formed well past the point where giardia would have shown up will spare you both a lot of frustration and problems down the road. 

[Joan Bollaert]

It all makes sense.   :)

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

Karen, sorry for the delay in response. I am very familiar with giardia. Even though it is very difficult to find the cyst in the stool, giardia is typically diagnosed just by symptoms alone - diarrhea, belly ache, and classic smelling stool. Once you smell giardia stool - - you will remember it! I even had one mom bring a "dirty diaper" in a plastic bag but we could smell it when she came in. My nurse came in and told me --- "you have three patients in the waiting room and at least one of them has giardia." Lol

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Maybe you can get the breeder to give you a 2-week supply?  

Luna came home with a big baggie (about 2 weeks worth) of the stuff she was being fed by the breeder (not the greatest - Kirkland/Costco brand puppy kibble).  We used that up and transitioned her the last few days to new, better food.

[Kyoko]

Pinot also wolf down his food, and does not chew much. Puppy kibbles are tiny, so switching to original fomula, which are much bigger pieces may encourage him to hew more! LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Don't count on it. Most dogs don't really chew their food unless they have to. JD wolfs down all kibble of any size without chewing it, along with his boiled chicken breast, no matter what size pieces i give him. 

[Kyoko]

:-( I guess Charlie is prim and proper... She eats 2 kibbles or so at time chewing them well!! LOL