New Puppy

[Mary]

Hi everyone,

We currently have a 19-month old puppy who is on Zignature duck diet, she had some stomach issue and I found this food with the help of people here, especially Karen (Thanks a lot, you were more helpful than half a dozen vets), which has been super helpful for her. I think she has IBS (thankfully not IBD) and she has a very sensitive stomach. But she is doing well with the food so far.

Now we are bringing home a new puppy, in about a moth, another goldendoodle, a male mini this time. Would you recommend giving the puppy the same food? I am worried that if I give the puppy another brand, our current puppy will steal his food and makes herself sick or something. At the same time I am not sure if it is crucial to feed a small puppy a designated puppy food or an all life stage food like zignature would work as well.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's perfectly fine to feed a puppy an ALS food rather than a "puppy" formula. 

However, it's critical that you not change anything about a puppy's diet for at least two weeks after he comes home. That means you keep him on the food and treats the breeder is feeding, even if they aren't so great.

Do not introduce any new treats or chews either. Keep his diet exactly the same as it was at the breeder's. 

Many, many doodle puppies come home with giardia and other parasites. Giardia has a 10-14 day incubation period, so it won;t show up in a fecal test right away. The excitement and stress of leaving the mother, the litter, and the only home the puppy has ever known can contribute to tummy troubles, too. And an 8 week old puppy has only been eating solid food of any kind for about 4 weeks, so the digestive system is very immature.

We have even had members whose brand new puppies had serious health issues resulting in digestive symptoms.

If you change the food before the dog has had a chance to settle in, and before any parasite issues have time to show up in a fecal test, and the dog has diarrhea, you will not know if it's caused by the food change, stress, parasites, or a digestive illness, and the breeder will blame it on the food change. Thus begins a journey of frustration trying to figure it out and an endless round of food changes. You also don't want to do anything to upset that delicate digestive system, as diarrhea can cause a young puppy to dehydrate very quickly, and is going to make housebreaking a whole lot tougher.

So you wait. If you leave the dog's diet exactly as is, and diarrhea develops, you have just eliminated any connection to food as the cause, and saved yourself a lot of aggravation. And of course, if the puppy comes home with diarrhea that doesn't resolve in a day, you know your breeder sent you a puppy with an intestinal parasite and you can probably recoup the cost of the fecal testing and the treatment, lol. (I personally would have fecal done on any new puppy I got, along with a general once-over at the vet's office, but parasites may not show up right away.)

So wait at least two weeks. If, after two weeks, the stool is firm and regular and everything seems fine with the pup's digestion, you can start changing him over. Make only one change at a time. 

To prevent your older dog from eating the puppy's food, you can do several things:

Feed the puppy in his crate. Or, sit on the floor next to the pup while he eats his meals to prevent your older dog from getting the puppy's food. 

And of course it goes without saying, free feeding is out. 

[Mary]

Thanks a lot, it was super informative. The breeder is feeding them life abundance, which is not on the recommended list. How do you think I can calculate the amount needed to order, they are not available in stores.

Yeah, we have stopped free feeding since the new puppy is born! :D

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think (and hope) the feeding amounts are on the bag of food. Check with your breeder. 
We do not recommend Life's Abundance, for several reasons, and you can do a search here for past discussions on that topic. Whatever you do, make sure your health warranty is not dependent on your feeding that food; L.A. is sold through a MLM, otherwise known as a pyramid scheme, and the breeder makes commissions from getting you to sign up for it. Ask to buy just one bag.  

[Mary]

She extends the health warranty to 3 years from 2, if we buy L.A. but I am going to stick to the 2 year warranty. Thanks a lot Karen, you are always super helpful. I hope Jackdoodle is doing fine these days.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I lost Jackdoodle last November. :( 

[Mary]

Oh, I am so sorry! :(