Opinions greatly appreciated ....

[Taz1110]

I have a 3 month old Yorkie and have been feeding him food the breeder gave me. I am running out and need to buy him food but with all the different brands Im really confused. Which has alot less garbage in it and is very good for them and nutritious? Thanks !!

[pancakepat]

Hopefully you'll get some good advise from other YT'ers. Until then, I know it's important to change the food slowly. Start out with at least 3/4 of old food & 1/4 of new. Slowly increasing the new over at least a 3 week period. By doing it slowly, it'll help them from getting sick. I like Wellness. Also California Natural Lamb. Good Luck.

[trin7]

We have two really good foods in our home - "Go! Natural" and Orijen. Both have no fillers and are filled with lots of great ingredients. Our yorkies eat the Go! and our 3/4 pyrenees eats the Orijen. Go! is lower in protein which I personally think is better for yorkies but many people on YT have had great luck with feeding Orijen to their little ones. Whatever you do, change the food slowly - easier on your pup and easier on you!

[alaskayorkie]

My Yorkies do well on the Orijen. This site has lots of reviews. Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

[kpstoybox]

Is he eating this food good?

If your answer is yes...don't mess with it just yet. You have plenty of time to research the hundreds of foods and eventually switch him to what you prefer he eat.

A picky puppy that won't eat is NO FUN!! If he is eating...keep it that way...for now!

[FlDebra]

What food did the breeder send home with you? If it is a premium food, I would stick with it too. But if it is something like Pedigree, I would switch it out. There are LOTS of very good brands of puppy kibble. You can also use an All Life Stage Food like Solid Gold Just a Wee Bits. That is what I use because it is a premuium food with no wheat, corn, by products, so animal fats, no sugar added, no preservatives.....etc... I would prefer to use Merrick's Before Grain -- it is a super premium food but it is not sold locally to me yet.

I try to stay in the 28-32% category for protein. This gives them plenty for active bodies but not so much it starts slowly leading to pancreas problems. I will not buy a food with by-products. They can include some nasty things! My dogs have not had problems with food with corn in it but I have not fed them much of it so not sure. Since wheat & corn are sometimes allergy problems, many like to stay away from those too.

Just find a food that is easy to get, read the label, ensure it is quality and then see if your pup likes it. I found the foods that I was willing to go with, then bought 3 and let the pups show me with their eating habits, which they liked the best. Definately go with a premium food. Our yorkies are tiny and don't eat a lot -- so what they do eat needs to be top quality. We can afford it since they don't eat too much.

When you use this list http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ Just try to stick with 4 star and above foods.

[Shelby&Seymour]

We use Innova Small Breed. We got Seeger in Sept when he was about 4 months old and he started on it immediately.... no problems with the transition. We really like it.

[deonk1]

I use Now! which is made by the same people as Go! it's grain free. I also always supplement with another meat source, usually Trippet, it's a beef tripe product. if not i feed no salt added canned atlantic salmon from the grocery store. be careful of feeding straight fish. it has to be introduced slowly because it is rich... some dogs can't handle straight fish...

Also, good for you for asking.... I'm interested in what you're breeder was feeding too.

[BiewerMommy]

Originally Posted by FlDebra

When you use this list Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost Just try to stick with 4 star and above foods.

I love this link thank you so much. I just forward it to a friend who thinks that Iams is a super premium food. She actually tried to convince me to feed my dogs Iams.
Mara

[Lil Sis]

I feed the dick van patten natural balance -- all stages -- it seams to work.
I do add salmon oil.

I think there are several good food.. the links given with ingredients is a great help!

[Ringo1]

Originally Posted by kpstoybox

Is he eating this food good?

If your answer is yes...don't mess with it just yet. You have plenty of time to research the hundreds of foods and eventually switch him to what you prefer he eat.

A picky puppy that won't eat is NO FUN!! If he is eating...keep it that way...for now!

I'm going to have to agree with this one. Lucy ate the Puppy Chow that the breeder sent home like a CHAMP.

Then I started giving her Ringo's TOTW because it was 'higher quality'. Turns out it was also way more protein than she could handle; and we also discovered the mild MVD that she has.

She then became, at 3 1/2 months of age, the pickiest eater in the WORLD. I had to start mixing in everything under the sun to get her to eat.

Take it slow; your puppy will probably eventually tire of the same food; and you can use that opportunity to switch it out.

[dinkyweil]

I like the now because the kibble is so tiny. It was easy for Dinky to eat when he was younger. He will be a year old on Saturday.

[chestermama]

merrick and solid gold are good as well as natural balcance as well as the others that have been mentioned

[Saeka]

I feed Wellness, the small breed formula. I've switched Rhia between Solid Gold, Nutro Ultra, and Nutro Natural Choice and Wellness has been the best by far. I like Wellness as it has turkey as the main protein, but also has whitefish and chicken in it. It's also a very small kibble which works well for the tiny ones.

If you do switch to a premium food, do it slowly. Over the course of a week do 75% of the old food, 25% of the new...get to 50%/50% of each... then 25% of the old, 75% of the new. That should keep your dog from getting an upset stomach. And I personally think it is a good idea to switch when they are young. While the higher protein can upset their stomach at first, I do think a better food will help your puppy grow and develop.

[Her Name Is Rio]

I feed a combo of Now! for small breeds and Canidae lamb & rice. Rio is a very picky eater and this is a combination she likes.