Food for Labradoodle

[Frannie]

Hi
Marley , our new labradoode (9 weeks old) arrived today. She has has been eating Kirkland dry and wet food at her breeders.
I"d like to hear what others are feeding their dogs. Can you recommend some brands that you have been using.

Thanks

[deepnite10]

hi Frannie and Marley..

Kirkland is made by Diamond..and though the price is right..and many dogs do fine with it..it does contain grains..which many of our doodle s eventually develop skin allergies..

for a little more..you could go with the Diamond Naturals, not to be confused by the Kirkland brand..

the topic of food has come up many times due to allergy issue..and the consensus seems to be that raw is the way to go..otherwise, there are many high grade kibbles..my favorite s are Evo or Origen..

both are high in protein and fat and other nutrients..so much so that you could feed half as much as you would many others and get the same nutrional values..

rather than just feeding a puppy kibble..there are also all stage foods
that you could feed from the puppy to adult stages of growth..

i however, fed Toby puppy food till he was 6 mos. then went with an adult kibble..

[Nikkiey]

Welcome Frannie and Marley!

My labradoodle, Juneau, used to be fed Kirkland and it just never agreed with his system. His poo was never consistent and he would go about 5 or 6 times a day. He also ended up being a free feeder because though we would put his food in his bowl, he would eat a little here and there and just seem generally uninterested.

SO, we made the switch to the Acana grainfree line. While we were slowly moving him over (mixing the old and new kibble) he would literally pick through his bowl and only eat the Acana and leave the Kirkland!! We also ended up having to invest in the "slow down bowl" (I don't know what it's actually called, but it's a dish with dividers) because he would eat his Acana so fast! We've had to do some tweaking with the flavours since, but he sure does love his food now!!

[becka]

I started Sadie on Royal Canin large breed puppy food, as recommended by my vet. It just never agreed with her--she would get diarrhea, I would take her off of it and put her on Science Diet I/D (also vet-recommended--it's a prescription food) and chicken and rice and pumpkin until the diarrhea went away, and then slowly transition her back to the RC. But after two rounds I decided that the RC was the problem. I did a lot of research (check out dogfoodadvisor.com) and chose Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy formula. Sadie loves it, her poops are normal (at the risk of being gross, I'd say they are awesome!) and I've even noticed a difference in her coat--it's softer!

There are a lot of good choices out there--it's really a matter of what your dog likes and agrees with her system. A lot of doodle owners that I meet at our dog park tell me that they've had to try a few brands because their dogs had sensitive stomachs.

[lindamarie]

Hello Frannie and WELCOME!!

In the lives of my dogs, for various reasons, we have had to change dog food.

We wound up, at first, with Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul for Bogart, because it is holistic and a great food that my former dog was on who had grown older and had some stomach problems.
Bogart was having some stomach issues due to an accident he had with BLEACH, of all things, so we went to the Chicken soup again.

About 2 months ago, I changed to Orijen.......just because I heard it to be a #1 food. My conclusion is that it is for Bogart!

[jodysh]

Hi!

Malcolm is on Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Rice and Oatmeal formula which is what he was on at the Breeder (I don't know why but for a while I thought she had used Nutro Max...not sure where I came up with that).

He's doing well on this. I also was going to switch to Orijen just because I've read a lot of good things about the quality...though the Nutro Natural Choice does score pretty high as well.

[Julie B.]

Stella is on Taste of the Wild High Prairie Formula- this is what the breeder fed her. So far, so good. It's also highly rated.

[LoveMyDebit]

I put Debit on Fromm two weeks ago, and he loves it. Definitely can see a big difference.

[Riverkatie]

I am researching raw food for Ruff. I'm still at the research stage though......

[Nikkiey]

Originally Posted by Riverkatie

I am researching raw food for Ruff. I'm still at the research stage though......

Let me know how that goes please!!

I started doing some research about RAW a few months ago but got a scared and stopped for a bit. I'm back on the researching bandwagon as of a few weeks ago.

[Riverkatie]

Well one problem I have is a huge sack of kibble sat in the scullery! I might start kibble am and raw pm....or the other way around! Or kibble weekdays and raw at the weekend. I know one is not supposed to mix, but I cannot bring myself to chuck away $100 of food.

I got some amazing help on the poodle forum, I shall see if I can copy Chocolatemillies post here, or link to it...

Here it is below. This is a response to my question of how to feed raw and if there is an idiots guide to raw feeding! Hope this helps.



You won't regret it! My vet has only had wonderful things to say about the health of my raw fed poodles. It has been almost ten months on raw. The only downside is that they love to eat it so much, Millie has gotten chunky and Henry has gained 8 lbs! I have recently cut back on how much I am feeding. They are both extremely muscular.

I feed frankenprey/prey model. My own version of it as I do occasionally feed some veggle slop, but that is just an extra and I balance the diet without it.

As far as an idiot's guide, well, I will say that his is exactly what I used when I introduced my dogs to raw. Quick Start | Prey Model Raw The only difference is that my dogs needed less bone than is suggested on this quick start plan after about 2 weeks, so I started adding boneless meals quickly to soften their stool (it was too hard). I also moved a bit quicker as far as adding variety and adding organs than this guide suggests. That being said, I really don't think you can go wrong by introducing raw using this guide.

Once your dog is adjusted to a variety of proteins and to organs, if you are following prey model, you will aim to feed 80% muscle meat, 10% edible bone and 10% organ. Over time.

You will feed approx. 2% of your dog's body weight for adult maintenance (\ less to lose weight, more to gain weight).

As far as making things easy during the week, it will come in time as you adjust to the diet. For me now it is very simple. I know that Millie needs about 10-12 oz. of organ meat a week and about 10-12 oz. of bone a week, in order to accomplish the 80/10/10 ratio. I buy organ in bulk and separate it into weekly portions. I put a baggie with a weekly portion of organ in the fridge. I feed with her bone-in meals (for stool control). I know that Millie needs to eat about 16 oz (1 lb.) daily based on 2% of an ideal weight of 50 lbs. (I need to adjust this - as I think 50 lbs is too much for her to weigh - she needs to lose a few pounds).

I also know that Millie needs a bone-in meal every other day to reach that 80/10/10 ratio. I know this because I am totally anal and I calculated it out (most people really don't LOL). I also know this is the right amount because any less and she has loose stool, any more and she has too firm of stool.

So, since I know that Millie needs 11 oz. organ meat, a bone-in meal every other day, and she eats twice daily, every other meal is boneless. This equals a good prey model ratio! With decent variety, this diet should be balanced.

So, yes, once you have a routine, it is very easy. I go down to the basement to the chest freezer on Sunday nights with a box and I fill it with the poodles' weekly food and I stick a few days worth in the fridge and leave a few days worth in the upstairs freezer and move to the fridge as needed. I like to label the bags (Monday Millie AM, Monday Millie PM) etc. so that I keep things organized.

Now that I have my routine, it takes no longer than feeding kibble. I plop it into a bowl and I have done all of my preparation ahead of time. Sunday nights take the longest - about 10 minutes to sort out their food. Also, about once a month I do buy meat in bulk and I have to bag it up. This is probably my least favorite day of the month LOL but it is all worth it.

If you want to know the "menu" that I have developed for my dogs, based on the prey model diet and THEIR own needs, here is an example:

Monday AM Bone-in (ie lamb ribs) + 3 oz. organ meat
Monday PM Boneless

Tuesday AM Boneless
Tuesday PM Boneless

Wednesday AM Bone-in + 3 oz. organ meat
Wednesday PM Boneless

Thursday AM Boneless
Thursday PM Boneless

Friday AM Bone-in + 3 oz. organ meat
Friday PM Boneless

Saturday AM Boneless
Saturday PM Boneless

Sunday AM Bone-in + 3 oz. organ meat
Sunday PM Boneless

Repeat.

Sometimes I follow this plan - it all depends on how large the bone-in meal is. If the bone-in item is too small, I might need to feed it more often to equal her weekly bone content.

Monday AM bone-in + organ
Monday PM bone-less

Tuesday AM bone-in + organ
Tuesday PM boneless

Repeat. You get the picture.

The most important things with raw feeding , IMO, are 1) know thy dog, 2) variety, 3) balance over time, 4) know thy dog You may need to adjust the diet based on your dog's needs. Your dog's needs will be evident by watching stool, listening to and watching their body. Don't take things to fast, but don't be afraid to keep moving, either.

Finally, what works for my dogs is not guaranteed to work for your dogs. As a raw feeder, you will quickly become an expert on your own dogs needs. You will develop your own routine and you will quickly learn how often your dog needs to eat bone, etc.
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[No1PilotsWife]

Tate was on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream from his breeder and we've continued on with the food and haven't noticed any problems.

[Mel]

Spike is on Taste of the Wild since that is what the breeders used and it does have good reviews too, however i am thinking of changing it .....he has had recurrent colitis and loose stools over the past month, negative to parasites twice and needed metronidazole antibiotics once.

not sure what food to go for.....i have been giving him boiled chicken and rice most of the time and trying to re-introduce the kibble but he seeems to be worse when i do.

[deepnite10]

Taste of The Wild is pretty rich food..and could cause loose poops..

rather than going back to it..try another kibble with less protein and fat..and no grains with a single protein source..buy small bags so if it does nt agree with them your not out a bunch..

it should take only a short time to see an improvement..if not, give a couple more days and no change occurs it could be the type of protein in the kibble..usually start with a fish then lamb, chicken or beef..

[Mel]

Originally Posted by deepnite10

Taste of The Wild is pretty rich food..and could cause loose poops..

rather than going back to it..try another kibble with less protein and fat..and no grains with a single protein source..buy small bags so if it does nt agree with them your not out a bunch..

it should take only a short time to see an improvement..if not, give a couple more days and no change occurs it could be the type of protein in the kibble..usually start with a fish then lamb, chicken or beef..

yeah, i think i will buy something else....my local pet store has sample bags of chicken soup for the puppys soul.....is that a good choice ?

you say start with fish though.....he seemed worse with fish and lamb, haven't tried beef yet.

which kibble is 'gentler' and less rich ?

thanks !

OP, sorry for high-jacking