Food & Treat Survey

[The Food Group]

Hello, I am new to the site and still working my way around.  Yesterday I saw a survey on the main discussion page regarding what type of dogs (GD, ALD, etc.) members have.

I thought it might be a wonderful idea to start a survey for food and treats (I have yet to see one) because as a new member, it is very overwhelming to work your way through all the fabulous messages within this food chat.

A survey would be a quick "go-to" guide to see what others are feeding their fur babies.  Perhaps if the survey has enough contributors, we can then break it down into sections for easy references (i.e.. puppies, toddlers, adults, etc.).

We are still on a breeders list for our mini golden doodle and our breeder uses and recommends TLC Food.  I realize there is a financial incentive for her to recommend this and therefore would like to do some research on other food brands in the likely event that we will transition our new pup off TLC.  In terms of treats, breeder has recommended uses kibble with some coconut oil rubbed in as anything from the hand is high reward and I'm assuming we'll go through a lot of treats in the early training stages.

At this stage in my early research, it seems Orijen and Acana are clear favourites.

So...what food & treats are you using?

[Laura and Angus]

We use the grain-free line of Earthborn Holistic and we change up the protein source between the fish, lamb, and bison to keep our pup interested. We have not transitioned to the Orijen or Acana since our pup does great with the Earthborn Holistic, he really enjoys it at this point, and it's more wallet-friendly for us. 

For treats: we love the Fruitables mini-training treats and Cloud Star training treats. We still use these regularly with our 17 month old doodle and he loves them! For a larger treat or "snack," we'll use the Trader Joes chicken jerky or the jerky sticks. Kibble definitely works in the beginning, but we liked the Fruitables mini training treats because we could break them in half and have more.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Welcome to the site! I think that is kind of the function of our recommended food and recommended treat discussions- have you found those yet? It is a comprehensive list of food and treat brands and formulas that are up to par. Everyone feeds different brands/formulas for a variety of reasons so I don't know that a running discussion of that would be easy to swim through and would not function very well because there are too many factors to consider (size, allergies, sensitivities, grain inclusion, budget, etc.). It just comes down to level of quality and how much you want to spend as far as what you pick. I will include links to the discussions below plus a couple that help break down the cost analysis:

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

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

http://www.fidosmarket.com/the-cost-of-food/

http://www.crittercabana.com/dog-food-costs-per-month-comparison/

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We did do a survey like that several years ago. I agree with Stephanie that many people are feeding whatever they are feeding because of factors such as size, age, certain health conditions, budget, etc. so I don't think that it would be much help for someone trying to choose a food for a new puppy, and it too would become overwhelming to wade through.

The first thing you need to know is that you must not change your puppy's diet for at least two weeks after he/she comes home, and that includes introducing new treats, too. And there are discussions here about the reasons for that too. You can do a search here in the Food Group discussions to find the many discussions about "what should I feed my new puppy?" You don't need to look through all the discussions here, just go to the Food Group discussion section, click "View All", and then you can use the search box to find the info you want. 

I would also mention that coconut oil given orally is of no benefit whatsoever for dogs. 

For what it's worth, if I had a new puppy, I'd feed Orijen or Acana. I don't feed either at this time because my 11 year old standard Labradoodle has multiple health issues, including inflammatory bowel disease, and requires a limited ingredient diet (he gets Wellness Simple Solutions) supplemented with home-cooked food. For treats, he gets only Pure Bites.

[Tracey & Spike]

Until Spikes neuter we were feeding Acana. Both the puppy. Then Grasslands. Then duck and pear. Since his neuter his weight just kept going up and up and up. It wasn't to the point where he was morbidly obese but it was a cause for concern. Although I took him off of absolutely every treat (he had a depressing life. Haha) his weight still went up and up.
I made the switch over to fromm weight control. We tried Acanas but it's so full of chicken he wouldn't eat it. No matter what I did. He's dropped the weight we were worried about. I'm thinking we will stay with Fromm. Although this really hurts my Canadian heart!
In terms of training treats as a puppy we used fruitables. We also used the soft training treats made by Northern. He loves the pumpkins ones. Right now in class he gets his breakfast. Or dinner. Depending on the time of class. It comes out of his treat bag so he doesn't realize it's his actual food. I do throw in small chunks of pear for the high value rewards. See Karen?! I'm learning! No more timbits for this dude!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, you're doing a great job, Tracey! 

You also bring up another good point related to food choices, which is weight. Some puppies and dogs are chowhounds and act as if they never get enough food. They clean the bowl every time and look for more. For dogs like that, a very calorie dense food like Orijen may not be the best choice, since you feed less of it. On the other hand, many doodles are picky eaters and never finish a bowl of food; for those dogs, a calorie dense food is usually a better choice, since they don;t have to eat as much to get the calories they need. So a dog's eating style would also affect what people are feeding their individual dogs.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Or in Ragley's case- she is about 50lbs and eats the serving size of about a 66 lb active dog according to the Champion guidelines on the bag plus a few treats and she is still too thin. She goes to the vet and is completely healthy, but I guess she just has a really high metabolism...she definitely doesn't get that from me! ;)

[Bonnie Barber]

Wow, Karen, I am so happy to hear this about eating habits. Our Shih Tzu gets 2 1/2 oz nuggets of Primal twice a day, to keep his weight at 16 lbs or less. He finishes it off by the time the plate hits the floor and then looks for more. He licks the two other dog plates, which are empty. He licks the floor looking for more food. I have been trying to figure out whether I should switch him to straight Orijen kibble so it will take him more time to eat. You suggested maybe finding a different kibble that is less calorie dense so he will have more to eat at each sitting. Makes sense! Is there anything else I can add to his plate that will take him longer to eat and therefore make him think he has more food? This floor licking is not to my liking.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can add a half cup of canned "no sodium added" green beans to each meal. Most of us think that fresh or frozen green beans taste better, but dogs really do seem to prefer the canned ones. A half cup of green beans contains only 20 calories, which will not contribute to weight gain, but it gives the dog more to eat and since it's a high fiber food, also makes the dog feel fuller. Try warming the beans slightly before adding them to his food. 

[Bonnie Barber]

Thank you! I forgot about that! Will do.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Welcome Doodlemom!
I agree just chose one of the recommended foods from the list. Karen and others on this site work hard to make sure those are good choices. We started with Origen because we think it was the best. Our second Doodle didn't seem to like it as she only ate part of her food and got so thin. (Yogi loved it, but he will eat anything). We ended up changing to Acana Pacifica, still a good choice, and both of them like it.
For treats we chose from the recommended list. We like the smaller low calorie pieces so it doesn't end up adding too many calories.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think you have a good plan. 

[BG and Gavin]

Petcurean GO! Fit and Free grain free kibble
I usually make my own treats of dehydrated sweet potatoes or peanut butter cranberry biscuits
For high value training treats I use low sodium chicken wieners cut into slivers and cooked in the microwave until rubbery. I use these infrequently and in small doses exclusively for recall work. I in no way recommend them as a healthy treat, just giving full disclosure ;)