Puppy survival thread! All welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

Running on from our last one…

I won’t tag people because I will forget someone and then feel awful 😂

@SpanielsGalore 😂

I have another question about puppy food. I mentioned earlier that I switched from Burns chicken and rice puppy kibble to Burns lamb and rice puppy kibble - the thinking being that if I only change one thing (I.e. swapping chicken for lamb) that I can see if it suits him.

He’s doing much better on lamb than chicken (thanks again @Aubrielle) stools are firmer, much less wind, no skin flaking and he’s even stopped eating other poo (which may not at all be related) he does burp after it, usually in my face as he always seems to want to come and give me some love after a meal 😂

Now, I wanted to switch from Burns to a higher quality, slightly higher protein kibble - perhaps grain free but seeing as he seems to be fine on kibble with grain in it, I’m not over wedded to this.

Have been searching on AADF this morning and nearly all of the higher rated foods say they are suitable from 3 months to old age. Is this an issue? Is it better to keep him on specific puppy food for the nutrients? I have to go further down the rating list to find one that’s specific for pups.

And how long shall I keep him on Burns before switching again? He’s only been on it for a couple of weeks and I still have about 3kgs ish left (about half of the bag)

And what about adding in fish?! Is the oil good for their coat? Can I supplement with something else to give him that benefit? He’s a lovely shiny coat but I would imagine that’s because of how young he is rather than the food he is eating and I’d have thought fish oil is good for their joints too maybe?!

Agh, sorry for all the questions - falling down the dog food rabbit hole again 😂

I’ve given V salmon oil with his dinner every day for months and we always get comments on how good condition his coat is in. He had some patches of dry skin and starting the salmon oil cleared it right up. I think some people give flaxseed oil too - I’m not very knowledgeable about it but think it gives similar benefits to salmon oil so might be worth doing some research into what’s best. I do rate the salmon oil though, it’s made a noticeable difference for us.

Thanks @YorkshireFelix - where do you get that from if you don’t mind me asking?

So many choices regarding kibble isn’t there. Mine came from the breeder this time with Simpson’s puppy sensitive salmon & potato kibble. I’d never heard of it before as I had always used Arden Grange previously as that’s what my last boy came with 15 years ago. She seems to like it and is doing healthy regular poops so I’ll stick with that for now. This is what my life has become, judging the health of my dog’s poops! 😆

I've been down that rabbit hole. 🙈 Honestly spent more hours researching and stressing over it than I care to admit.
I'm on a dog nutritionist's FB page, so I searched on there for recommended, budget friendly kibbles and also asked for advice.
I chose Country Kibble. I picked Turkey, Cranberry and Sweet Potato because I liked the sound of it, but they do other varieties.
I switched K over sometime between 6 and 7 months of age, as I had puppy food left, but the nutritionist said she'd be fine at 6 months.
I feed grain free foods as grain is a pointless filler, with no nutritional value for the dogs.

@VanGoSunflowers one thing you need to be aware of with Pablo is that dogs are totally racist against black dogs! Apparently it’s to do with them struggling to make out their features. Dogs that hated Billy are totally fine with Rory and Billy was very friendly, polite and soft as anything.

I follow the on lead= avoid if possible (not always possible on our narrow pavements), off lead= stay with me until I give you permission to go and play (once I’ve checked with the owner or if it’s a dog we know) and then go wild if the other dog wants to. We live in a small village though so know most dogs on our usual walks.

With regards to fish, yes it’s perfect to feed them and something they’d eat in the wild. I feed tinned tuna, salmon paste in a kong, sardines (outside!) or any fish we’re eating.

I actually bought the last lot from B&M as they had 2 for £10 which is a bargain! It’s a brand called ‘fisherman’s dog’ - they also do some good natural treats in the same range like fish skin knots etc. I was surprised by the range at B&M actually as they have some brilliant stuff for really cheap. I buy Yak chews, antlers and other bits from there as it’s so much better priced than Pets at Home. You just have to sift through all the crap like the Scooby Doo branded dog chocolate 😖

I know some people prefer to buy oils without the dispenser type bottle as it can go off quickly but we get through it quite fast so not as issue for us.

I had heard this too about black dogs. And I do think it’s true as many dogs seem to take offence to Vinny even though he’s very unproblematic 😄 Or maybe it’s because he’s an entire male? I have no idea.

We fed previous pup on Simpson's @Houndymumma but this one doesn't get along with fish. Previous dog also had Simpsons adult lamb before we switched him to country kibble.

@VanGoSunflowers
You'll get differing opinions about when to start adult food and to some extent it can depend on the dog.
As I've said before, I could not source a grain free puppy lamb with a high amount of meat or of the quality that I wanted. So I'm still feeding a lamb & rice junior alongside grain free lamb adult. Brie is 17 months.
I'm sure I've said this before also, but we switched our other girls over to adult food at 6 months and they were tiny. There may be a genetic element to that but we also feel that keeping her on puppy food was a contributing factor because she wasn't hugely bigger than them at 6 months, she had a crazy growth spurt at 8 or 9 months and she's grown even more since. Next pup is definitely staying on puppy kibble for the full 18 months to maximise that growth potential.

There is another thread currently where people are debating Millies Wolfheart; some happily give it to puppies whereas others don't. It is very much a personal decision.

Brie is currently on 5 different lamb kibbles because they all have different merits and different protein levels, so I mix two together. After the current bag of junior is finished, she will be on the 4 adult foods, which are all grain free. No wind, small firm poo, fantastic coat so we're pretty happy.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding That's basically what I did with K when she was little. I always held her back until I had asked permission for her to meet. And if it was an unknown dog, I'd let P go ahead and meet first, as she's way better at sussing out other dogs than I am.
I think it helps too that I have walked in these places for 5 years and usually bump into the same walkers and dogs.
Now K is 11 months old and has learnt some manners, I usually leave her to it. I don't let her approach on lead dogs, but off lead dogs in the woods are usually all allowed to greet each other.

The black faced dog thing is absolutely true. All our PMD have been more wary of dogs with a black face than they have with paler dogs like themselves.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding I had never heard that about black dogs! That’s a useful fact to know! I’d heard they are sometimes not as popular with owners - so my friend said when she picked up her rescue greyhound, the greyhound trust said that they nearly always have black dogs there as other colours get snapped up (my friend’s greyhound is black)
Im envious that Rory will wait until being given permission. With Pablo, if I catch him before the excitement of seeing another dog builds up - so if they’re quite far away from us, he will stay with me if I ask him to but if they’re too close I’ve got no chance. His excitement levels just shoot up. He will come back to the whistle and some cheese though - hes brilliant at responding to that to be fair to him. How did you train him to do that?

@YorkshireFelix thats a great tip to look in B&M - I never thought of that! Have been spending a fortune in pets at home and I don’t even like going there 😂 thanks for the recommendation.

@Aubrielle that’s really interesting about keeping them on puppy/junior to maximise growth potential - I guess that’s more a breed specific thing too. I look at Pabs’ build and he looks like a typical working lab to me - I.e. is quite muscular and already fairly big for his age. I might look in to puppy and junior specific kibble in that case and supplement with fish oil/fish and other high protein treats. He has chews fairly regularly out of his chomp and chew box (thanks for that recommendation @YorkshireFelix) I’ve noticed his stools are even better when he has furry rabbits ears too - @Houndymumma as you can see I too spend a lot of time inspecting my dogs poo 😂 I swear I don’t even care this much about my own diet!
There’s researching the kibble and then there is falling down an even further rabbit hole and what else to give in addition!

Actually, on the topic of chews - how often do you guys let your dogs have them and what sort do you give?

@VanGoSunflowers so true! I sit there for hours researching the best and healthiest type of kibble & puppy treats as I stuff a huge slice of cake in my own mouth! 😂

I don't know if it's breed specific @VanGoSunflowers or even if I'm talking complete shite and it's entirely genetic, but she is 4" taller than our other bitches were, which is a pretty huge difference. So I remain convinced that the puppy/junior food is a factor.

Brie gets a chew once or twice a week just to keep her teeth clean.

Not sure if I should say what because I am highly likely to get a kicking for it again, but I give her safe rawhide rolls. They are HACCP and GHP certified, not made in China and contain no glue. We have found that is the only option for dogs with this bite force, everything else seems to splinter or it's gone in 3 seconds with no actually chewing benefit.
The vet in our family warned us against Antler and Yak chews because she has seen damaged teeth from them.

@VanGoSunflowers it’s definitely a thing unfortunately. The difference in some dogs reaction to Billy compared to Rory is stark 🙁 and there was nothing else notable about Billy to have cause it.

I don’t think I train Rory, he trains himself 😂😂. I just tell him to stay with me and then to go on when he’s allowed. We’ll see if he’s the same once he meets adolescence!

Rory gets chews about once a week and they last him a few days while he’s still got his baby teeth. We have an amazing country pet shop just round the corner and there’s a sort of pick and mix of animal parts. He likes pizzles, various animal ears, pork rolls and he’s found a bone of Billy’s somewhere that he enjoyed a chew on.

Look at this yoghurt face though 🥰🥰🥰.

This made me laugh so much. Mainly because I was shovelling Red Velvet cake in my mouth at the time. 😂 And as I live alone, I'm not even slicing it!

As regards dog treats - mine get them daily.

When we come back from a walk, they'll get a quick snack - Denta stick, meaty strip, meaty roll type treat that you get in Tesco and lasts ten seconds.

In the evening they'll get a longer lasting chew. Currently in stock we have:
Lamb braids
Tripe sticks
Hairy rabbit ears
Pigs ears
Chicken feet
Beef head skin
Lamb trachea
Pizzles
Licky mats covered in yoghurt and tuna mix and frozen.

Then I also have a tin of gravy bones and a bag of sprats in the freezer that I'll give as and when I feel like it. Could be four a day. Could be none.

With regard to treats I also want to point out that the reason we don't give a lot of treats and snacks is that we feed 4 times a day, even when the dogs are adult. Because we have a deep chested breed that is prone to GDV, we continue feeding 4 small meals, so they don't really need much else. Although pup does get cheese, carrot and yoghurt.

Look 🥹

@VanGoSunflowers You found one! So jealous. 😂

@Aubrielle I would imagine (at a complete guess) that it’s a mixture of both maybe? Some breeds are going to be genetically predisposed to packing on more muscle than others and maybe they need a certain type of food to reach their genetic potential whereas other breeds might gain negative consequences if they were given the same food perhaps? Again, I could be talking rubbish 😀
Excuse my ignorance but why would you be given a kicking for raw hide? I’m sure you wouldn’t if it didn’t suit Brie ❤️

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding I feel like Rory is a grown up dog trapped in a puppy’s body 😆 that picture of him is adorable 🥰

So bit of a mix on the treat front, I was worried I was giving too many. He doesn’t get a chew every day but most days definitely.

Are you keeping it? @VanGoSunflowers I hope so. We've got teeth from all our dogs and cats, all in little labelled bags.

My son found it @SpanielsGalore - god knows how with the colour of the rug 😂

I didn’t think I would @Aubrielle but now I have found it, I don’t want to lose it so I probably will! My boy is growing up 🥰

I remember when my late boy lost his teeth. We had a dark red Persian rug and there were about three teeth there together. Not sure if he’d been chewing something for them all to pop out together. Personally I’m looking forward to the chewy shark teeth stage to pass!!