Diet advice needed please

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I’ve always fed my older lab (10) on Millie’s Wolfheart and thought it was a good quality kibble after doing lots of research on All About Dog Food and reading good comments about it on here. She also has a bit of Forthglade wet food on top at tea time.

We now have a new pup who is 6 months old and after contacting Millie’s, we have been feeding him the same food (Countryside Mix). However, pup is pooing loads - like 5/6 times a day and often once overnight so I’m thinking I need to change. Older dog also has quite a few lipomas so I’m thinking a change of diet might help with that.

I don’t know much about raw feeding but wondering if I need to go down this route.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Puppies need very different food to adults - higher protein and calcium for a start to ensure effective bone and joint development, which is incredibly important in larger breeds.

So if you’re feeding the puppy the same food (rather than a puppy version) as the adult, that’ll be the issue that’s making extra poos. But even if it wasn’t, you should change puppy to puppy food.

Personally, given the high calcium needs for a puppy I wouldn’t feel them raw.

@LandSharksAnonymous - thanks. I did check with Millie’s Wolfheart who said the food was suitable for puppies but maybe I’ll try him on puppy food to see if that helps.

My cocker has been on Millie’s since he was about 3/4 months old. They advise specific types depending on age and weight and I remember when he hit a certain point there were more options he could have. He used to do lots of poos but I assumed it was an age thing more than his diet. He now does much less at 15 months old. I have no idea if this is actually a thing or not so happy to be corrected 😄

@YorkshireFelix - thanks, that’s good to hear Yes the nutrition team at Millie’s were very helpful in advising which mix to put my pup on. Perhaps it is just his age - hopefully the pooing will calm down as he gets older!

Millies is suitable for puppies due to meat content. I would speak to them. Often too many poos is due to overfeeding. So they may suggest changing the quantities or changing to a slightly lower meat content. How much is our puppy getting a day?

If you want to raw feed it is pretty simple. Use the raw completes like nutriment Pro dog Paleo ridge etc.

Introduce one protein at a time.

Feed about 5% of puppies. Percentage will decrease as they get older. Stick to around 3-4% of dogs weight.

If poo is white or too hard the bone content it too high.

You will need a lot of freezer space but most supplies deliver to the door.

Millies recommend cutting down the amount if they're pooing too much or the poo is soft - it's a very nutrient-dense kibble so you don't need as much. If you are thinking of changing, though, I tried giving mine a free sample of Different Dog and I nearly had to count my fingers afterwards 😄- I'll probably start using it as a topper.

I have a new pup and this is the advice Millies gave me - no mention of the countryside mix. I’ve plumped for a puppy specific (Fish4dogs) instead as I wasn’t happy not to have a nutritionally specific puppy food

”Thank you for contacting Millies Wolfheart.

Although we do not produce any puppy specific kibbles we do have a few recipes that are suitable for puppies having the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio, protein and fat content despite being an adult dog food, none of our recipes are specifically catered towards puppies however we do have a handful of recipes that are suitable essentially from weaning however not all of them are.

The recipes which I would recommend for the moment are from the 60/40 range, these are the Riverside (duck and trout) which is nice and high in omega 3 & 6 and the Ranger (turkey, lamb and beef tripe). These recipes contain the correct nutrients for growth and development and are also some of our most gentle recipes on digestion.

Once they reach 15kg, or 6 months, we advise changing to some of our 50/50 recipes which contain a higher level of nutrients to support their larger frame size along with their growth and development. The most suitable are the Utility (whitefish and salmon oil), the Gundog (trout, lamb and whitefish) and the Duck & Veg (which is great for sensitive/ upset stomachs). From 9 months of age you can also feed the Agility (pork, beef and beef tripe) to add further flavour choices into the diet although it is a slightly richer recipe. At 18 months of age we like to review diets to ensure that your dog is on the best diet for them as they grow and make any changes as needed.”

@lionbrain - thanks. I’m feeding pup the recommended amount according to the guidelines on the packet.

@Bupster - thanks.

I had the same problem with Millies Wolfheart.

I wasn't happy with the info Millies gave me when my pup was young, She's a giant breed so I put her onto a large breed puppy food. After she turned one year old I started her on MW Countryside mix with MW lamb & veg together 50/50 to get the right protein level.
Initially on Millies she went from two poos a day to 4 and they were enormous and very smelly. As @Bupster suggests, I decreased the quantity and my girl is back to two poos. She is now fine on MW and seems to enjoy it.

She is having MW for breakfast and supper but her two main meals are Essentials Estate and Lifestage lamb.

I would also recommend Essential foods kibble as a good alternative to Millies Wolfheart.

Thanks for copying that quote.

Makes it very clear that while MW say their food is puppy appropriate, it’s not really. It might be appropriate for puppies but it’s not the best/it properly tailored to the specific intakes a puppy needs.

Honestly, the fact they say it’s ‘appropriate’ just makes my blood boil - if it’s appropriate for an adult, it’s not for a puppy. Either they’re giving the adults the wrong nutrients of they’re giving the puppies the wrong nutrients - they cannot be adequately catering to both.

And from 9 months almost all dogs - but particularly larger ones - should still be on puppy food. Suggesting changing it for ‘more options’ that may not have the same nutrients is shocking

Exactly @LandSharksAnonymous
This is why I stayed away from MW until B was 1 year old and even now I am feeding it alongside a large breed junior kibble. Their recommendations for B when she was 3 months old honestly gave me the impression they didn't know what they were talking about. It's a shame, because it is good food, but they really should get their act together and create some puppy options.

Millies is "appropriate" for puppies. Just compare the ingredients of puppy food to Milllies to check.

Millies are not rippping anyone off in promoting to puppies.

It has higher levels than most generic puppy food.

Seems a very messy and confusing way of doing it though….and didn’t inspire me with enough confidence tbh

As @LandSharksAnonymous said, if the calcium v phosphorus ratio is puppy appropriate, how can it be the right food for an adult too?

That said, my adults have all thrived on it

The ratio will change in different types of food with Millies

So Hunter Mix has a ratio of 1:5:1 ideal for large breed puppies

Whereas ratio is 1:25:1 for Forerunner.

Choose the appropriate Millies food for your dogs age energy level etc . That is why it is worth speaking to Milllies to get their advice.

Whereas for comparison wainwright puppy food has the ratio 1:2:1 which is not a high enough level for a large breed puppy despite it being sold as a puppy food for all puppies.

Just for interest there is a lot of debate about the ratio's needed for puppies as the ratios have been worked out on puppies under the age of 6 months and large breeds only. So the ratio is being questioned by the medics

Which is precisely why I didn't trust what MW told me when my pup was 3 months old. They gave me exactly the same three food suggestions as two other people on puppy group, despite our pups being of totally different sizes and energy levels. One of them was a tiny high energy cocker, the other a larger gundog mix and mine being a calm giant pastoral breed.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet they offered 3 puppies the same 3 foods that were appropriate for puppies not sure why that would make you distrust them

It is not a good idea to mix kibbles eg millies and another junior food as that is a quaranteed to bugger up the ratios.