What to feed my new pup...Hills? Castor & Pollux? Fromm?

[107barney]

RC is what we feed along with our home cooked....Long beautiful coats, compact stools, clear sparkly eyes, and good bloodword and health. Really am happy with it, my only complaint is that Winny doesn't chew his kibble. The kibble is small and winny likes to swallow it. The food is what a board certified veterinary nutritionist recommended for my boys. I more than anyone hate dog food and loathe to feed it. I raised my dogs on organic home cooked food. But there are times that I want convenience. As I've used the food now for a couple of years now, I find that I use it more often. I trust that the food is safe. I have no problem with corn, in fact, I bought a can of organic corn this evening and the boys had turkey and corn for dinner.

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by MyDearSam

Since I've had Sam, I have tried:

Wellness Super5 Puppy - wouldn't eat it.
Simply Nourish Puppy - ate it for about a week, then lost interest. He'll eat it if he's at my mom's for a playdate with his sister.
Fromm Game Bird formula - he'll eat it out of the Twist n Treat, but won't touch it in his bowl.
Fromm Salmon Tunalini - no way no how. He even took his nose and pushed it out of my hand.
Hill's S/D Small Breed Puppy - This is what I've been giving him for the last 5-6 weeks or so. He'll eat a little bit if it's mixed with the Ideal Balance canned puppy stew or Simply Nourish Chicken & Rice puppy stew. Usually I wind up throwing out anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of what I give him. I'm lucky if he eats 1/3 cup a day.


I broke down and bought a bag of Royal Canin YT 29 tonight. When I got home, there was still some Hill's on his dish and Simply Nourish in his bowl. I tossed the SN and put just a handful of the Royal Canin in his bowl dry. The routine has always been that he would sniff a new food and walk away until he got hungry enough to eat it. He plowed his little nose into that bowl and didn't come up until every last kibble was gone. So I gave him another handful, so probably about 1/8 cup total. He wolfed that down too and whined for more!!! I don't know whether to give him more or make him wait. I don't think I'll be able to transition him slowly. I just hope he doesn't lose interest in it.

Wow! Congrats! I totally feel you with the throwing out half of their food. I did that for a year. Isn't it weird how they get bored with food? I suppose a lot of Yorkies just aren't food motivated. I have a Lab & he'll eat ANYTHING. My little Yorkies are picky picky picky!

[hollie91999]

My baby is on royal canin yorkie puppy. He was on avoderm from the breeder but he would only eat it when hungry. I then switched to wellness small breed puppy which he liked more than the avoderm but I had to literally hand feed him for him to eat. I tried orijen next but still ate only when I would hand feed him. I did a lot of research and a lot of yorkie owners feed royal canin, so I tried it and he loves it. Ate everything from the bowl and still wanted more. I tried to transition slowly but he picked out the RC only. He did fine without any stomach upsets. Hope he continues to love his food.

[MyDearSam]

It's 6:45 a.m. and he's already eaten as much of the RC as he would have all day of the SD. Crossing my fingers. I even caught Tink trying to snitch a kibble!

[Anny Mendoza]

When we first got Nena (morkie) we fed her Beneful. But it started to upset her stomach so we switched to Hills Science Plan mini and she got better and started eating more.
When we got Rufus (yorkie) we gave him SP puppy mini and it went well with him. They both eat SP mini now.

[Kilton]

Ellie loved RC for a few days, now she's turning her nose up at it!

[MyDearSam]

Oh, no! How old is Ellie?

I'm desperate for this to work with Sam. I'm so over trying to wheedle, cajole, and bribe him to eat!

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by MyDearSam

It's 6:45 a.m. and he's already eaten as much of the RC as he would have all day of the SD. Crossing my fingers. I even caught Tink trying to snitch a kibble!

Oh yay! Congrats!

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by Kilton

Ellie loved RC for a few days, now she's turning her nose up at it!

Oh your little Ellie is picky! Usually, even the finicky ones love RC.

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by Anny Mendoza

When we first got Nena (morkie) we fed her Beneful. But it started to upset her stomach so we switched to Hills Science Plan mini and she got better and started eating more.
When we got Rufus (yorkie) we gave him SP puppy mini and it went well with him. They both eat SP mini now.

I'm assuming that Hill's Science Plan is the European equivalent of Science Diet? I have heard many positive things about the Hill's company. I think there's a lot of junk in Beneful. I'm not surprised that Nena's tummy was upset. Good to hear that the SP is going well for you!

[Anny Mendoza]

I'm not sure if Hills Science Plan is the equivalent to Science Diet..
Beneful was actually recommended to me by the pet store employer...
Now that i know best, I can't believe I used to give that to my Nena

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by Anny Mendoza

I'm not sure if Hills Science Plan is the equivalent to Science Diet..
Beneful was actually recommended to me by the pet store employer...
Now that i know best, I can't believe I used to give that to my Nena

Live & learn...we've ALL been there

[Kilton]

Originally Posted by Teresiana

Oh your little Ellie is picky! Usually, even the finicky ones love RC.

She is! She want's people food!

[sganow]

We feed Horizon foods and Fromm foods. We rotate between the Horizon Legacy, Horizon's Amicus (small breed food), and Fromm Four Star foods. Horizon does make a Horizon Legacy Puppy Food. Their foods are grain free too. My dogs really love the Fromm Duck and Sweet Potato. They seem to go through a 15 lb bag of that almost as fast as an 8.8 lb bag of the Horizon Legacy or 11 lb bag of Amicus.

[Teresiana]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Castor is now owner by Merrick. Would never feed it.
SD and RC are what I would choose. Both highly respected companies.
Corn and wheat are fine unless the pup does not tolerate.
If you are set on going with a smaller company, between Castor and Fromm I'd pick Fromm. I'd have no reason to choose it ocer SD or RC though.

I'm not dead set on going with a smaller company. I do like what I've heard about the Fromm company though. They seem like a good, family company with good QC. I also like the fact that they have a wide variety of food for the option of rotation. And the main reason I'm considering Hill's & RC is because of their reputation & QC.

For those that feed RC, do your pups ever get tired of the same food? Would it be okay to rotate with a bag of Mini or XS Puppy? I'm just afraid that if my pup gets bored with RC, it might be difficult to find something else. I know that RC is one of the 'best tasting' kibbles out there. I'm afraid to spoil her with yummy kibble out of the box. If she gets tired of it, I'll be stuck.