Innova Puppy Dry Food good?
 

The breeder used to feed my baby Kirkland Chicken & Rice. His stool was hard but his coat wasn't very nice and he scratches a lot and I wasn't sure if it was puppy food or adult food. However, I wanted the best for my baby so switched him (he is 12 weeks old, actually 13 weeks old this week) to Innova Puppy Dry Food. He doesn't itch as much anymore but still scratches now and then. One thing though is, his stool is not very stable. Sometimes it is hard, sometimes it is soft. When it is soft, he will scoot on my carpet right after pooing. I wonder is he cleaning his butt or he has blocked anal gland 9does it happen for puppies?).He has been dewormed and fecal tests has been negative. Did I feed him too much hence his poo is soft? I noticed when I feed him less, his stool is usually hard but if I feed him less, he is always hungry so I do not want to feed him less. What am I supposed to do? Change the brand of his food? Feed less? I feed him 3 times a day and 0.9 cups per day for 5 pound puppy as suggested by innova.

nutro for all 3 of my boys:animal-pa

Potter,
I wouldn't worry about the stools not being consistent, as long as it is not diarrhea. Scooting is not a sign of worms (old wive's tale), but it is a sign of anal glands needing to be expressed. Usually, these are expressed with hard bowel movements, maybe when the bowel movements are softer they are not being expressed, therefore the scooting occurs.

I would continue feeding the recommended amount.

Thanks Lacy's Mom. Will make an appointment with the groomer to have it done. ;)

Did you change his food gradually or all at once? If you changed over without mixing it gradually, then that is probably why his stool was soft.

Check this out:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/archive/index.php/t-21019.html

I feed both of mine Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul. It is super premium and very tiny kibbles. Both of my yorkies are tiny so the tiny kibbles are a hit. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I changed his food gradually over a week. He is on Innova Puppy Dry Food for about 2 weeks now and his stool is still soft. I wonder if I should change his food to another brand for the next bag or should I stick to what I am feeding. His coat looks much better and shinier than before, it was all dry. If I stick to Innova, would his stool improve? Or will it stay the same? Does it help if I add some water to the food?

Innova is an excellent dog food. You could mix it with another excellent dog food such as Canidae, I would try to get something without wheat or grains as some dogs are allergic and that would make his skin itchy. Maybe you could just add some missing link to his food and that would give him whatever may be missing from his dog food.

Just a suggestion. :D

I think that is a good idea. I have been reading and reading a lot about their food and came up with Innova which I am feeding now and I couldn't make up my mind between California Natural Lamb Meal & Rice Puppy, Canidea, Solid Gold. My baby's itching is so so much better than when I first got him so I know Innova is doing its job and his coat so much shinier and only after 2 weeks! He looks handsome!
May I ask, what do you mean by missing link? Aren't all of the food comprise mostly of protein, carbohydrate, and Vitamins? So Innova and Canidea is actually a good mix?

I feed Lucy Royal Canin, but I ran into a woman at the pet shop that told me she feeds her dog Paul Newman dog food and her Picky eater loves it. She said her yorkies coat was beautiful because of the food. I might give it a try.

I have my dogs on Canidae and I am thinking of changing. There is like 4 sources of protein in that and I think that is too much for a yorkie. Starsky seems real jittery since I got it. The vet has me giving him chicken and rice through the weekend and wants me to wheen him slowly back on to Canidae if I want or I might go with another brand. Not so much protein. He used to be on Nutro lamb and rice and never had a problem. I may put him back on that. I would like to know more about Solid Gold wee bites though. I may have to try that.

Mine are on Nutro lamb and rice. They love it and it seems to have eliminated my little boy's itchy skin.

LIL MIS' MAGIC: can you tell me the symptoms of colitis? My little guy gets the runs and tummy ache if I give him even a little bite of pork. The vet said give him Kaopectate and that clears it up. I wonder if he has colitis. I had to quit giving him any meat, but he is fine with dog treats.

WDJ 2006 Top Dry Dog Foods
 

Here is the 2006 Whole Dog Journal-Top Dry Dog Food list I found on another forum:

Artemis: www.artemispetfood.com
Azmira: www.azmira.com
Back to Basics: www.beowulfs.com
Bench & Field Holistic Natural Canine: www.benchandfield.com
Blue Buffalo: www.bluebuff.com
Burns: www.bpn4u.com
by Nature BrightLife: www.bynaturepetfoods.com
California Natural: www.naturapet.com
Canidae: www.canidae.com
Canine Caviar: www.caninecaviar.com
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Cloud Star Kibble: www.cloudstar.com
Drs. Foster & Smith: www.drsfostersmith.com
Eagle Pack Holistic Select: www.eaglepack.com
Evolve: www.evolvepet.com
Firstmate Dog Food: www.firstmate.com
Flint River Ranch: www.flintriver-pet-food.com
Foundations: www.petcurean.com
Fromm Four Star Nutritionals: www.frommfamilyfoods.com
Go! Natural: www.petcurean.com
Hund-N-Flocken: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Innova: www.naturapet.com
Innova Evo: www.naturapet.com
Karma Organic: www.karmaorganic.com
Lick Your Chops: www.healthypetfoodsinc.com
Lifespan: www.petguard.com
Limited Diets: www.royalcanin.us
Merrick Pet Foods: www.merrickpetcare.com
Mmillennia: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Natural Balance Ultra Premium: www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Choice Ultra: www.nutroproducts.com
Newman's Own Organics: www.newmansownorganics.com
NutriSource: www.nutrisourcedogfood.com
Organix: www.castorpolluxpet.com
Performatrin Ultra: www.performatrinultra.com
PHD Viand: www.phdproducts.com
Pinnacle: www.breeders-choice.com
Prairie: www.naturesvariety.com
Premium Edge: www.premiumedgepetfood.com
Prime Life: www.ompetproducts.com
Royal Canin Natural Blend: www.royalcanin.us
Timberwolf Organics: timberwolforganics.com
VeRUS: www.veruspetfoods.com
Wellness: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wellness Simple Food Solutions: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wenawe: www.wenawe.com.uy
Wysong: www.wysong.net
Zinpro: www.lincolnbiotech.com

I rotate between Burns and Chicken Soup. I'm going to rotate out Chicken Soup and rotate in Wellness (Sweet Potato/Fish). Gigi doesn't seem to like the Chicken Soup.

Sugarpig

Royal Canin
 

I feed both my yorkies Royal Canin - they love it :luvu: But I would recommed talking to your vet, see what they recommend.

I have always given mine Pedigree. They have dry food for small breed. I give her can Pedigree ground twice a day along with leaving dry out for her. She will not eat the chunk can food. If I get it by mistake I have to mash it.

I have never seen the small bites before. I get just I guess the reg adult food. The kibble is triangle shaped. I usually end up beating it with a mallot so that it is smaller. GO figure. I also fed him Evolve canned dog food and later on in the day he ended up throwing up.

He use to eat Ultra Nurto but his eyes would water really bad. I took him off of it and started feeding him Innova. He loves it and it works really well with his stomach and his eyes no longer water like they did.. I also broke down and bought him Ultra Nutro Natural Chicken, Rice, and oatmeal canned food. That is working like a charm for him. He use to eat the hard version of it. So far the canned food hasn't really caused his eyes to start watering again. So we feed Innova hard food and Ultra Nutro natural soft food. I swear it doesn't take much to soil them.

food for thought
 

Hi I'm biscuit's mom and I searched thoroughly at all:animal-pa the available foods out there. What I found was to make sure there aren't any by products(chicken, lamb, beef etc.) This is important for the overall health of your little one, now and as a adult. Make sure only chicken, beef, lamb meal is used and rice instead of corn.
Lamb is execllent for a lusture to the baby's coat, while chicken will tend to bear a thinner coat.
Biscuit gets Nutro small bite dry lamb and rice formula and a fresh boiled skinless, bonelless, chicken tender cut very small everyday.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Yorkie!

I feed Piccolo Canidae and sprinkle Missing Link.

I think a lot of that is genetic. Diesel has always been fed foods that have mainly chicken in them(Innova) and he has a very thick coat. The groomer will actually thin his out for me. Plus I have always stayed away from lamb because i was always told that it was harder for them to digest. I had no idea if it was true but Diesel has a sensitive stomach and I decided not to try it .

I feed my Maggie w/ Premier Yorkshire Puppy Indoors...

Best Food for Yorkie Puppy (ANYONE IN THE UK)
 

I have read these posts with GREAT INTEREST but some of the foods we don't get in the UK

Was advised to use Science diet but I don't really want to.

I want small kibbles (Dried food only)

I would like to change my older 9.5 year old too, as his current food is a little large for him now he is older.

We can get Royal Canin here, are the kibbles SMALL ?


Any advice welcome.

I currently have been feeding Wysong Anergen for almost 2 years.. nice very small kibble.. but Wysong is hard to find, as not too many places carry it..That , Plus Missing Link now..

I had the boyz on Innova but thought Jo had allergies so we switched to California Natural Lamb and Rice. He still licks his feet when he lays down to sleep so we're thinking it's more of a comfort thing for him and not allergies since he has no other issues. I thought I'd give them a little variety so I just bought a bag of Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie dry food a couple days ago and I've been mixing it in with the C.N. Well, they love it but...I have already noticed their stools are fairly soft and they both have 'tootie butt' and it ain't nice! Pew! So, the next bag of food will be Innova again. I should have lived by my own rule...if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Best food brand
 

I have tried Freyja on Royal Canin 33 (that's what the breeder had her on) and she also will steal Eukanuba small breed from her doggie cousins bowl. I started mixing Eukanuba and RC because she seemed to like the Eukanuba. Right now because of her tummy trouble she is on ground hamburger and rice until she settles down. We may need to put her on a prescription diet. I'm almost afraid to change her back to kibble because she hasn't had diarrhea in 2 days.
Anyways, to answer the question I like Royal Canin.

This was posted on another site -- I think it is great info for anyalysing food:

How to grade your dog's food: (Some brands are done at the very bottom]
Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat,
meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source,subtract 5
points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first
five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer�?Ts rice", "rice
flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2
meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract
2 points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is
allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic
to wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic
to beef), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist,
add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3
points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2
points

8) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the
first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Dog Food scores:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

My Lucy loves her Wellness!

okay we are at the point of rotating and I need some advice I cannot decide between Canidea and Wellness? Any suggestions?

I give Molly Puppy Pro Plan for small breeds. She got to where she wouldn't eat a while back. So I put her food on my plate and pretended to eat it. Well, that was all it took. I guess it is good enough for mommy it is good enough for me. She is so silly.:)

I feed my Yorkie and Maltese only Nutro for Sensitive Stomachs...I never have a problem with them eating it...their bowel movements are perfect and they seem healthy and happy. I sometimes give them the Nutro snacks which they love also.

I'm a new Yorkie Mom so I don't know anything much about these little guys and gals or dogs period for that matter. Teddy came to me from the breeder on Eukanuba but I carefully switched him to half Eukanuba and half Natural Life because he didn't seem to eat all that well and also it is hard to get good dog foods in this tiny spot on the map. I also give him a little bit of canned Natural Life and he loves his food now and seems to be thriving. I have heard just recently that Eukanuba makes them fat but he doesn't seem to be getting fat but then I am mixing it with other food. Has anyone else given their dog the Natural Life foods found in the Walmart store? The ingredients sound good but then I don't know that much about dog food only what I have read recently.

Martha....Teddy's Mom:aimeeyork