Changing food for 12 week old labrador pup

[Bethanemethane]

Hi. My 12 week old Labrador has been on Royal Canin Maxi Puppy since we had her at 8 weeks. This is what the breeder weaned her on so we continued. She doesn’t really seem to relish it and from the reviews I’ve read it seems like an average food at an expensive price. Some Labrador owning friends have recommended Millie’s Wolfheart and Skinners Field and trial. We definitely want to keep her on a dry food. I keep reading reviews and going around in circles! Am I over thinking things? There’s a part of me that thinks that as long as she’s on a decent complete food she’ll be fine but then I start analysing the ingredients again! Any advice?

Why not look at Fish4Dogs?

I’ve been looking on here: www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory
We haven’t got our puppy yet but I plan to choose food based on local shop’s stock and the info on the website above. It’s totally confusing though.

Our pup is going to be on Skinner’s field and trial so might stick with that but I also like there look of fourthglade.

You’re right, Royal Canin is average stuff at a very premium price. I’d swap him over if I were you. My lab is on Arcana (extruded dry), a Canadian brand that gives good value for really good ingredients. I found it via allaboutdogfood, the comparison site. I get it from viovet at the moment but shop around as prices change.

There has been recent stuff in the press about grain free food being linked to dilated cardiomyopathy. It’s a small study (600 dogs, I think) but the FDA in the US took it seriously and released info about it. If nothing else, it’s raised questions around whether ‘grain free’ is as healthy as we’ve presumed it is and whether it’s necessary in dogs who don’t have a grain allergy/intolerance. There needs to be more research into it before we panic and pull out of grain free feeding.

Acana Wild Prairie is the one my dog’s on. It’s suitable for the whole life stage, so you don’t need to wean off puppy stage and onto adult food.

Our Labrador always seemed to get fed up with any brand of dry food that we tried after about 3/4 of the bag. We then tried tails.com and she has never got fed up with that or been remotely fussy so we have been using them for about 4 years now.

Look on all aboutdogfood. You want quality of protein (ie, not meal). According to our pup's trainer (qualified behaviourist and nutritionist) too high protein can cause hyperactivity/behaviour issues, as well as kidney and joint issues. You don't really want to feed a non-working dog (even if it's working line) a high protein working food. I've seen this first hand, a lab at only 5 years old, overweight with early arthritis, struggling. Changed his food from a working one to a lower quantity, higher quality protein food. Even with the same calorie content as before, he slimmed down and his mobility improved massively.

Though do note, growing pups need higher protein (~27%) than adult dogs (18%). Working dogs normally have 30-50%.

Our lab pup (10 weeks) is on Pure Pet food (37% protein) and she loves it. She's in really good condition and is handling the protein because she is active and will be a working dog. If she was a show line lab and a family pet only, I would have her on lower protein food, but still highest quality of that protein. Plant based, and meat meal, are considered low quality protein.

all about dog food website is great to analyse the ingredients and look at costs. Personally I'd recommend feeding Eden if you want to feed them a dry food.

I also recommend the allaboutdogfood to check ingredients and ratings.

Different dogs respond better to different foods so I would go by the ratings then order small bags to try out for your dog. You will know best (initially anyway) by the output.

When we got our lab puppy we switched to Eden which has fantastic ratings but it gave him dreadful wind and runny poos (whereas a previous posters dog was good on it), we spoke to Eden a few times and they kept recommending preserving but two large bags later it was still no good.

We then tried Millies Wolfheart Riverside which was a bit better, formed poos but still very soft and still windy. Then we tried Millies Wolfheart Countryside which was perfect for him, with those longed for small firm poos, a pleasure to pickup and no more wind!!!

We think some fish disagrees with him which is why Eden and Millies Riverside didn't work well. He is now 7 and gets various flavours from Millies and they are all great as long as we avoid anything with white fish or trout. He is okay with Millies Salmon 25%-50% mixed in with another variety.

The other good thing with Millies is you can pick a variety suitable to their level of activity as they do various protein and energy levels. Now we know what he likes we order 3 bags at a time (2 normal and one Salmon to mix in), it is a big outlay but is cheaper and they last months between deliveries. They also do lots of natural chew treats, but I found most of them you can get much cheaper elsewhere.

Millie's Wolfheart is good quality and a great selection of different dried food.

Our labrador pup (8 month) loves Millies Wolfheart. It's really good quality and so many people remark on her glossy coat. She loves it so much we use her main kibble for training treats too.
We found our pup was senstive to wheat and the Millies doesn't have any and we've not had any problems since. We probably changed at about 10 weeks old.
Good customer service too.

Our mini poodle loves butternut box. I'm happy cos it's made his poos hard!

Thanks for all the great advice. I’ve been on the allaboutdogfood website and I think I’ll try Millies countryside.