Food for a Goldendoodle

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

We are getting a Goldendoodle boy in 4 weeks and I'm just starting to think about buying what he's going to need and I was after recommendations for food please? I have just been reading about Wagg dry food and it had terrible reviews. Anyone have a recommendation please? He's going to be 9 weeks old when we bring him home and will grow very large (if he's anything like his dad anyway!) thanks

[BiteyShark]

You can use allaboutdogfood.co.uk to compare brands and different types of food.

[Panicmode1]

We feed our golden retriever Canagan. If your doodle is more retriever orientated than doodle, to be honest it won't matter what you feed it. Ours would eat anything and everything

[thegirlsallgrowedupnow]

The move from your breeder to your home will be quite daunting for a little pup and a good reason to stick temporarily with the food the breeder has weaned him on and that he is used to. If that is Wagg then I can understand you wanting to move on to something else pronto. Be patient, I would leave it until pup is more settled then look at the allaboutdogfood site as Bitey suggests.
My medium sized poodle cross does very well on Gentle cold pressed food, even likes it for run of the mill training treats. I put a little Natures menu wet food on top in the morning, plain in the evening ( although your pup will be on more small meals a day at first). Better quality food is more expensive but generally you feed less of it. I use plain boiled turkey or chicken for training treats and tiny pieces of cheese when learning something new or difficult.

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

Thank you for the replies.

That's great advice thanks @thegirlsallgrowedupnow I'll have a look at that food now, I'd prefer to pay more for quality food for him, get off to a good start

[SwimmingInTheBlueLagoon]

You need to keep him on whatever food the breeder has got him for the first couple of weeks. So you will need a small bag of whatever that food is (even if it's crap quality).

After that you need to do a slow transition to the new food. So you will start with 1/8 new food, 7/8 original food for a couple of days. Then 2/8 new food to 6/8 original food and continue that way until you are fully on the new food.

You can start with 1/4 new food to 3/4 old but for a puppy I'd always advise doing it 1/8 at a time.

Regardless of whether you do it by the 1/8 or 1/4 way you should introduce the new food over a minimum of 7-8days preferably 2weeks.

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

@SwimmingInTheBlueLagoon thank you, I've taken a screenshot of your post so I can follow that when it's time to transition

[Whitney168]

If I found a breeder who was feeding the rubbish that is Wagg, I'd be finding a different breeder pronto!

[BossWitch]

I wouldn't use any wet food, dry is so much better for teeth. We have a golden retriever, almost 5. We've never brushed her teeth and anything like dentastix disappear in two bites but the vet mentioned that her teeth were in excellent condition last visit a couple of months ago. She put it down to her only ever being given dry food.

Definitely carry on with the breeders food for a bit, then do the slow swap over as swimming describes.

We use pets at home step up to naturals- it's probably not the best but ddog has an easily upset stomach (bizarre for a retriever!) and the sensitive version seems to really work for her.

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

The breeder isn't feeding him Wagg @Whitney168, I never said that. I mentioned that I'd seen bad reviews about it when looking at what dog food to give him

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

@BossWitch thank you, I was thinking of just giving dry food and wasn't sure if that was ok to do, sounds good to me if it looks after their teeth!

[mylaptopismylapdog]

Dry food is great my 11year old labradoodle still has great teeth.

[BiteyShark]

I had hoped to just feed dry food for convenience as well as it being reasonable for the teeth (compared to wet) but like all good plans it didn't work out like that as my dog really didn't like kibble unless you smothered it in wet. Fortunately there are some good quality wet foods and I brush his teeth instead