Changing foods and a New Puppy on the way, confused

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

My Puppy is arriving at the end of June and the breeder feeds Hills Science.  I am wondering at what stage I should move the puppy onto either Orijen or Acana both of which I can get here as I'm not sure that the Hills Science diet is good enough.   All your other recommended brands are not available in Ireland.  I have also noticed mention of Yoghurt and am wondering when and why you feed it.  Do you use the Probiotic Yoghurts and how much?  Also how can I know whether my dog will take to a new food and whether I can ask for samples as I have in the past bought huge bags of Dog food only to have the dog turn his nose up at it and I ended up donating it to the Rescue centre!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Science Diet is definitely not a good food, but your puppy will be going through enough changes when he first arrives. Do not change his food for two weeks after you get him. Let one thing be consistent and familiar to him as he endures this huge life change.

Any yogurt that contains living cultures, which is most of them, contains probiotics. It is a waste of money to buy anything other than plain old unflavored yogurt. Yogurt is given to help with digestive issues, and/or when a dog is taking antibiotics, to replace some of the good flora in the gut that is destroyed by the antibiotics. Some people add it to their dog's food to help make it more appealing.

Acana and Orijen are excellent foods and your puppy will probably love them. I don't know if the company will send samples on request, but there's no harm in asking. If not, they do sell 2.5 kg bags of all of their formulas, so you won't have to worry about getting stuck with a huge bag.

I would not make any changes at all to your pup's diet for two weeks. In addition to the familiarity factor, stress can throw a dog's digestion off, and many doodle puppies come home with intestinal parasites. If you change anything in his diet and he has any digestive issues, you won't know what is causing them.

After two weeks, you can begin to switch him over to whichever new food you choose.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Thank you so much for your reply.  It makes everything much clearer and I now know exactly what I am going to do.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'd just add that if you can get the plain LOW FAT yogurt I think that's even better.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Right. Thanks, Jane!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Can I ask another question.  Should I be feeding Orijen Puppy or the Large Breed variety.  I'm expecting a medium ALD.  Is the food different or is it just the size of the kibble?

Also when I switch the puppy over  ( I've decided on Orijen) should I go cold turkey or introduce it slowly?

 

Many thanks for all your help BTW

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

You definitely don't need to feed large breed for ALD's or most doodles for that matter.  You should stop feeding puppy when the skeletal grown is complete which is usually around 8 months of age.  Introducing it over a 2 week period of time can make it easier for the pup to adjust. 

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I didn't realize you were switching from SD... When mine switched to Orijen from Wellness we did it cold turkey with no issues...

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I have to say, when you switch your puppy from Hills to Orijen, he/she will likely eat up the Orijen first.  I have always had a terrible time switching foods.  For instance, back 5 years ago, I switched my chihuahua from Nutro to Solid Gold and he took the Nutro out of the bowl and spit it out on the floor and would not touch it anymore.  So do your best to mix in the Orijen, but you will just have to see how it goes!!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Definitely do not feed the large breed formula. The macronutrients in the formulas are different, and nutritionally, the large breed formulas are really meant for dogs who are expected to be over 75 lbs at maturity. It has nothing to do with the size of the kibble. :)

I personally would go cold turkey with the switch. It's going to be very hard to do it gradually for several reasons, one being that Orijen is so much more nutrient dense than any Science Diet formula, it is going to take a mathematician to calculate what amount of the SD to replace with Orijen and stay within the appropriate calorie content, which is important for growing dogs. If two foods were fairly equal in k/cal per cup, and the feeding guidelines called for the same amount per day for both foods, we could say "replace one-quarter of his Food A with Food B, and then gradually increase Food B as you decrease Food A over a week or so. But Orijen puppy formula contains over 100 k/cal per cup more calories than SD puppy food, so it's hard to mix the two together and know if you're feeding too much, not enough, or whatever. Plus as Allyson said, your pup may try to eat only one or the other, further muddying the waters in regard to how much food he is getting at the crucial growth stage.

Switching from a food filled with grains and fillers to one that is grain-free and high-protein is going to cause a digestive adjustment period anyway, so I'd just go cold turkey. Hope this makes sense.

Make you you find out the exact formula of SD your breeder is feeding so you can stay with the same formula as well as the brand.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Many thanks, that makes perfect sense.  I will have the exact SD formula as the breeder has already told me so I will get enough for two weeks and then make the switch.  I'm also considering what would be the best high value training treats to make. I was thinking of slow baking finely sliced liver cut into tiny pieces but I'm wondering if I should make a mix with liver finely chopped, eggs and perhaps oatmeal and beef broth and slow bake that instead on the basis that pure liver (however small the pieces) might be too much for a puppy.

 

Ps I'm sorry to be so crazys about all this but I really am trying to pre empt as much as I can before puppy arrives.  BTW  I've always had dogs in my life but my last puppy was 15 years ago (my present dog is a rescue that I got at five months)   I did research then but there have been so many changes and updated information now that I am re educating myself.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

There is a discussion right now with the same question about treats...

 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/quality...

 

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Too much liver can be toxic, especially for a dog whose immune system is immature. There are a lot of good quality training treats out there.