Food uh oh!
 

After reading posts about puppy food I realized I have not done so well with Phoebe's diet. The breeder sent me home with Iams (which I now know is linked to animal cruelty) and she didn't like it. I tried Pedigree but realized I bought the one for small breeds not puppy food. She was on that one for several weeks. May be my answer to her gaining 14 oz in 6 weeks! She is now on Science Diet that the vet gave me. We have been through all of these in 6 weeks and I didn't know to change her food so slowly. I feel really bad!! However she made the transitions fine. Anyone have an opinion on the Science Diet? I want her to have the best without making her overweight. She's 16 weeks.

Hello! I, too, came here looking for the best food for my yorkie. It is SO much more complicated than you would think!

Nick came from the breeder on Purina Pro Plan - from there I switched him (like an idiot) to Science Diet, Beneful, Nutro Ultra, Natural Balance, Innova and now he eats Evanger's Pheasant and Brown Rice.

I had NO clue about dog food and honestly, bought what ever bag I liked at the time. After joining YorkieTalk and getting SO much needed advise I learned what to avoid and what to look for in a good kibble.

What it boils down to basically is you will NOT find a quality, healthy food at a supermarket or grocery store. They all are low quality and contain fillers, by-products and other gross stuff.

You want to find a kibble that does not contain corn (in any form), by-products or fillers. A good site I used when I was searching was this one: Dog Food Analysis. You can see reviews on just about ALL dog foods.

I went with a 5 star food as all the 6 star are super high in protein - a little too high for tiny yorkies in my opinion.

Plus, they make kibble called All Life Stages. That means you can feed to a puppy or adult - they are formulated for every stage of life. This is what I chose because I have an adult and puppy that eat from the same bowl. This also prevents having to switch to an "adult" formula later on.

What I did was I contacted several high quality brands and asked for samples. There is a list with contact information at the top of the Health & Diet section. Some will send through mail, others direct you to a local retailer that stocks samples. I found one Nick and Daisy both liked and went with that. The first one, Innova, didn't work out for us - made Daisy's poop horrendous. So, now we are on Evanger's Pheasant and Brown Rice and both pups like it and are doing well.

Sorry for such a long response - but it really IS more complicated than you would think!! Anyway, good luck in your search! :)

Thank you so much for the detailed information. I will begin my search!:)

I use Natural Balance L.I.D. I like the fact that it is grain free!

Here's a little more reading for you! :)

Good luck!! :heart toKandi

I used to science diet and we never had an issue with it, it is a really good food we now use natural choice because my dog needs to lose some weight it is great he loves it and feeding him the reccomended dose it working