i can't decide on food!! help!
 

okay, i'm having an absolutely mind-boggling time deciding on the right food for my pup. he's coming up on 11 weeks (this saturday), and i'm currently feeding him royal canin indoor puppy. i've read on YT and Dog Food Analysis that RC is not the best food to be feeding... so i've narrowed it down to two 5-star foods: Merrick Puppy Plate and Canidae All Life Stages...

can anyone help me pick one??

one pro for canidae is that i can find it locally... merrick's i will have to order off the Internet (more costly)...

what do you all think?

Why not just feed both?:)

Or kibble in one brand and canned in the other?

that's an idea...
 

but i thought feeding two different types of food messed with their sensitive tummies???? i could be completely mistaken. but luckily, if i did feed both, i can find canidae dry food and merrick canned food locally. i wouldn't have to pay shipping! :)

I had mine on the royal cannin and his skin would not stop flacking. I talked to the girl that owns the pet store here. She told me about (Advaned Pet Diet select choice). I put him on the lamb and rice, they have several to chose from, His hair is shiny now and no more flack's. There is no corn or anything they are not supposed to have. She said she checked this company out and even toured their company. Said that they use all natural human quality food's. Here is my experience. When I got him he had very dry, brittle hair and his skin was very flaky, to the point where it was everywhere. I tried every kind of food that I heard was a good quality food, still no change. I finally talked to this lady and she said it was the only thing that she would use. She also told me about the corn and stuff being bad for them, everyone else said that was a bunch of bull.Anyway I put him on it and within a month I could tell a difference. I let him go back to my sister-in-law for a few months and she put him on something you can get from wal-mart, guess what, dry brittle flakey skin. I went straight to the pet store. I have had him back on it now going on two months and there is a big difference in his coat. I have always been told he had a cotton coat. I found a lady here in town that breed's and show's yorkies. I took him to her the other day to have him groomed and she said he did not have a cotton coat but that it was definitely silky. It is the food no doubt. Sorry for the long story, I am just soo excited about this food. By the way it it is not expensive and he loves it.

When I got my puppy around christmas time he came from the breeder with royal canin dry food, I then switched him to Canidae Lamb all life stages dry formula but he is definetely not crazy about it. I have now ordered a case of the Evangers Canned food (lamb and rice) from an online retailer and I am probably going to stick with the canned food for a while...that is if he likes it;)

Smokey ate Eukanuba petite Race for Small Breeds till he was almost 6 months....then he got to where he wasn't eating so we switched to Natural Choice Lamb and Rice for sensitive stomachs......he still eats it"hubby calls it his scooby snacks (without the s)"......that is out for him all of the time.....we also feed him O roy soft and Moist and O roy dinner rounds(which i have to cut in half) .....and he also eats bites of what ever we are eating.....hope this help......main thing after 5 months for some reason they get a little picky and you have to mix it up so to speak.....good luck......and definitely NO Royal Canine.....they say it can cause diarehha and vomiting......:animal36 :animal-pa

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I feed Diddy Canidae kibble in the morning and Merrick's canned in the evening. He loves the canned food!

It depends whose tummy it is. Most dogs would do just fine. I do not recommend feeding every protein source available if you are mixing foods because someday you may need to use a protein your dog has never had before. Merrick and Canidae are pretty simply though. I see no problem feeding kibble in one brand and canned in another or two kibbles mixed.

Royal Canin is the only food my babies will eat and so far they are doinf great on it.

We use Natures Variety and Diamond brands. I have had no problems with either, both offer dry and canned, but Natures Variety also offers Raw Medalions. Something to think about:D

martini eats royal canine and loves it weve tried it all and finally found something she enjoys

I mix Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul with the Canidae, about half and half and my dogs do great on that. For puppies just the Chicken Soup is great because it is a little smaller kibble than the Canidae.

Same here, I tried so many different foods, and Joey just would not eat them. I drove 30 miles away to get Chicken Soup for Puppy Lovers Soul and Joey turned up his nose at it. Some dogs are alergic to certain foods so they do need to be put on certain brands, but if your dog is not alergic, any good food that he'll eat is ok. I'm feeding Royal Canine for Yorkies now, and he's doing great. Because we do a lot of trick training, I can use the Royal Canine for treats instead of really unhealthy treats.

I am feeding Orijen dry and Canidae wet plus some homecooking (chicken, salmon etc). My yorkie is very very picky. With all the good and tasty food, he can still turn up his nose on the food sometimes and he is allergic to oat, corn. It makes him itch. You got to try and see what your yorkie like and don't like. There are the good food but they hate it and won't eat it and there are the good food that they like and will eat but will get bored with it after some time *shrug*

Penny eats Innova mixed with canned food. I am going to get Puppy Plate this week to mix with the Innova. I leave dry kibble for her when I am at work but she won't eat it dry. So basically she eats 3X day.:)

Try them both if you are unsure and see which one yields the best results for you.:)

Similar problem, Kramer was a xmas present from my husband and he brought him with royal canine, he always had dry hair, but then he started flaking and itching really bad, about two weeks ago i switched him to life's abundance, which is a natural product no corn anything, only off internet though and i mix that with natural choice chicken, rice and oatmeal, or lamb, he is doing, so far so good, still waiting to see a difference in his coat though.

:aimeeyork

Whatever you choose, make sure your pet is getting a well balanced diet that is not too high in protein, carbs or fats. There needs to be a balance. I found that my YTs gained too much weight with the Merrick, but my brother's Boxer does great on it. I started my 4 year old on Royal Canine when he was a puppy, but he really didn't like it, so we tried several higher quality foods. For the past 2+ years he has been eating Solid Gold "Wee Bits" and loves it. I was supplementing with a little of the Solid Gold canned food, but it is currently not available. I was told they are "reformulating" it and have been waiting for the new version for several months and therefore, was forced to find something else. They now eat Innova canned food with the SG "Wee Bits" and are doing great. It is another very high quality, all natural food and a little pricey, but I believe (in this case), you get what you pay for. My 18 month old female is pregnant and expecting any day now, so she is currently eating the Innova and Wellness puppy food with the Wee Bits. I have learned that if they do well with one food, don't switch to another food if you don't have to. Yorkies have sensitive stomachs. My Yorkies are like my biological kids; I want to give them the best possible food without unnecessary additives and preservatives. We try to eat as much organic food as possible and stay away from processed foods that are high in bad fats. As with yourself and your own children, you are making an investment towards a happy and healthy life for your pet. Good luck!

To those of you who use canned food, aren't you worried about teeth/tartar problems? I know dogs like canned better, but I thought dry kibble was SO much better for their teeth. Yorkies are known to have more tartar problems then most dogs, so this especially concerns me. Tartar (not cavities) cause gum disease which leads to tooth loss and other problems.

Caniade!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: I tried both and Chloe had no interest in Merrick dry food at all..besides the Merrick flossies!! She goes crazy over the flossies!!

I recently put in a thread about canidaie, about possible tylenol in their food and the customer service was nasty, Im sticking to solid gold. They had some stuff about innova as well, check in to it.

Chester loves the wet food from addiction, good stuff as well for out furkids

dry food is not much better for their teeth. It would be like us eating cookies and expecting it to clean our teeth. Both cause plaque and tarter buildup...no matter what you feed, you should brush your dog's teeth regularly

Your right, if dry kibble was the same composition as a cookie, but it isn't. You know the old saying, "that's the way the cookie crumbles?" Well kibble is made not to crumble. It does not break apart easily like a cookie, there's an abrasive action that cleans the calculus off the teeth. Not only that, but since moist food is made of up to 80% water, dogs don't need to drink as much water throughout the day, which is good for helping rinse off plaque before it turns to tartar. I agree, " no matter what you feed, you should brush your dog's teeth regularly."

Most kibbles break when they hit the coronal tip of the tooth, so there is not much cleaning going on. Some food (like Science Diet T/D) have been shown to reduce tartar by about 39% but regular kibbles haven't been shown to do this. The studies on this subject aren't really reliable because they didn't meet certain standards (the studies weren't done the same way and there was some problem with their reliability). It would not be surprising to see dog food companies come out with regular food similar to the size and texture of dental diets in the near future, so it would have some effect on teeth. Kibble may clean teeth slightly, but not enough to feed it. I am paraphrasing from a veterinary nutrition textbook.

Canned may build tartar faster than kibble but it isn't anything teeth cleaning can't take care of.

That being said, Ellie ate mostly kibble for the longest time with no tooth care. She developed stage 3-4 periodontal disease and had to have 9 teeth pulled. A few months after this she went on homecooked food (similar consistency to canned). She gets her teeth brushed everyday and gets OraVet once a week. Her teeth have never been prettier.

Also, Ellie's vet is very into dentistry and sees no problem with me homecooking. Her nutritionist doesn't either.

I like the moisture content in canned or homecooked foods because they don't have to drink as much then. Dogs usually drink only when they have to and I like to know Ellie is getting plenty of moisture.

That is why I am okay with not feeding kibble.:)

Generally speaking, I am all for any method of feeding that will help keep their teeth clean and reduce the number of cleanings they have to have. I'm assuming that my vet is not the only one that cleans teeth under anesthesia--something I don't want done if I can avoid it! :( So I personally am not so easily willing to dismiss what role a food plays under the premise that 'I can have their teeth cleaned so it doesn't matter.'