Help with puppy food choice

[Andi, Lilly and Levi]

I have had Lilly a whole week now and the family loves her ! :)  The  breeder gave me a bag of Purina Pro Plan Puppy food.  I know I need to  change her from this food but I do not know which food ???? I have read a lot on  this website.   I spoke to my vet and asked what food and asked  him about dog foods.  He recommeneded Science Diet, Royal Canin, etc.   He did stated to go with a dog food with higher protein, that it helps with less  volume - prettier coat.  I just do not know what food to use -- I am  thinking about Wellness Large Puppy Breed or maybe blue buffalo???   I  am in a more rural area and also considering what is available in my area.   I have read information on this website about food - but all this is  overwhelming.  I would appreciate any recommendations or insight.
Also, my vet told me to get a large breed dog food.  The breeder estimated my doodle should be between 45-65 lbs.    I posted this in the puppy madness group they suggested I post in food group.

[F, Calla & Luca]

You cannot go wrong with one of the foods recommended in the Food Group. your puppy is not a large breed and does not need large breed puppy food. Wellness and Blue buffalo are good foods.

[Joan Bollaert]

I'd stay away from Science Diet and Purina.   I know what you mean by needing something you can get locally/easily without specialty stores or ordering online.   Karen from this site will be a big help and guide you to the list of the best foods.   I use Natural Balance from the list simply becasue it's available at Petco and I think Blue Buffalo is as well.   You can pretty much figure anything available in a grocery store isn't really a good choce of food .  That's what I was told.

[Star and Goldie]

If you have a Petsmart near you they carry both Wellness and Blue Buffalo. Both are very reasonably priced and if you sign up on Blue Buffalo's website for switching foods they send you coupons.  You definitely want to stay away from Science Diet. That is not a recommended brand. You can check out the recommended brands here : http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

You can print it out or pull it up on your phone and take it in with you at any of the shops you can find near you and then see what they carry that's on the list. You won't find any of those in grocery stores but can find several of them in Petco's and Petsmarts without having to find a specialty store.

[Kyoko]

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

I aways thought that above website was helpful. " Dog food anaysis.com"

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not really. The foods are rated on the basis of protein content, with no consideration of where the ingredients come from or the companies themselves. Only very high protein grain-free foods are rated highly. 

[Kyoko]

Oh.... I never knew that... I always sort of depended on this. :-(  Like 5 star = good food!! I have to re-study... or just stick with Wllness, I guess.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can use our list as a guideline; if a food is on our list and the dog advisor gives it five stars, you know it must be good, lol. 

Seriously, though, the "star" rating really isn't very practical, because all dogs are different. JD did great on Orijen, for example, but many dogs here can't tolerate it. Some dogs do great on foods that contain grains, others don't. Are all the "five star" foods equally good? No. Will they all work for every dog? No. Is a food that only gets four stars "worse" for your dog than one that gets five stars? No. Your individual dog might do better on a particular four star food than a particular five star food. It might depend on the fat or fiber level. It might depend on the Omega 6:3 ratio or the types of Omega 3 fatty acids in the food. Lots of variables.  

[Kyoko]

It makes sense... I picked wellness out of all grain free because of the size of kibbles.

I use portion of their food for training, so tiny kibbles like Fromm wasn't working for me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The others have given you great advice. You do not need a "large breed" formula. Stay away from Purina, Science Diet, Iams, Royal Canin, Nutro, etc. There is no nutrition curriculum in vet school, and the vets are not really very well educated on foods, so the vet is the last person to ask about what to feed. 

Blue Buffalo, Wellness, or Natural Balance are all readily available in most areas and are all good choices. The Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy formula is a good high-protein grain-free food that you might try.

Wait until you have had your pup for at least two weeks before you change her food. 

[Lynne of Fountain Falls]

I live in a very rural area.  I have found the web site petflow.com to be a great resource.  As long as you buy over $50.00, about two  bags, the shipping is free and they bring it right to your door.  Customer service is wonderful and very personal.  I had a question one time and when they replied with an answer, they said they had looked at my website and what beautiful goldendoodles I have.  They carry just about any food you could want.  I use Taste of the Wild.  I found blue buffalo to be to rich for some of my dogs.  Wellness is also good. It is good to occasionally switch out their food.  Slowly of course.  That way you are not depending on just one formula.  I feed TOTW, then Wellness ect.  

Science Diet, Purina aggggg, dont get me started on Purina.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And Petflow is a DK Preferred Vendor. DK gets a commission the first time you order through the DK link, so it's a way to support DK and a good company.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/preferred-vendors