# Puppy Food v. All Life Stage Food



## brittanyg (Mar 15, 2013)

Since switching to high quality foods like Instinct, Party Animal, and Merrick, and also raw dehydrated foods, I have been told that it is not necessary to feed your puppies "puppy" food, since these foods contain adequate nutrition.

However, durig a recent trip to the vet [due to diarrhea  ], the vet told me my little one needs to be eating PUPPY food specifically. The problem is that none of my preferred foods come in a puppy. In comparing regular foods to puppy the biggest difference is that fat content...and my little girl (690 grams at 13 weeks) could DEFINITELY use some extra fat on her bones! Although, Instinct has a high fat content of about 7%, compared to puppy foods at around 8%, but the others were all around 3% fat. Also, I think my dry puppy food from Fromm had 18% fat!

Also, do people have specific thoughts on all wet food v. all dry food v. wet/dry mix? This will probably be a different forum topic though!


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## FantasiaFarm (Feb 12, 2013)

yes puppy food specifically needs to be up to 12 months old. 
I use just dry food.


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

duplicate post. sorry.


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

triplicate post. so sorry.


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## MMS (Aug 2, 2012)

I never fed puppy specific food. Granted, mostly she was fed raw, which doesn't come in a "puppy" variety... hehe. Puppy variety is not available in high quality because it's not necessary in high quality. All the nutrients are already there. 

Remember, your vet had about 1/2 a day of nutrition class -- from the dog food companies. They know next to nothing when it comes to nutrition (exceptions being the few who have actually taken the time and done their own research on the topic, but they are few and far between). 

Free feed her for now, let her eat as much as she wants, to make sure she's getting enough calories. Puppies expend calories like crazy with all their growing and running around like angry monkeys!

When it comes to commercial foods, I have always gone dry. I do use some Wellness 95% meat (canned) every once in a while when they've been super good -- or at the end of a bag when they're tired of the flavor. Just make sure your little one is getting enough water.


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## brittanyg (Mar 15, 2013)

My old vet is the one who first turned me on to the "truth" about what's in commercial (meaning Pedigree, Alpo, Purina, etc.) brand dog food. I was appalled that these companies could basically package poison in a can and sell it as dog food! The vet is a bit of a weirdo, as he liked to perform autopsies on animals, but he said he had found the rate of cancer in his practice had skyrocketed in the past 10 years (this was about 4 years ago). He treated the the dogs that belonged to a local owner of a steak house, and all they ate were the butchered "left-overs", basically a raw food diet. And he said those dogs lived until they were 20 (they were greyhounds) and never got cancer, lived long healthy lives. 

Since then I started to wise up about dog food, but it is still confusing. Unfortunately, we can't cook for our little ones (not sure if i trust myself to anyway) and we can't do the real raw food, so the freeze dried and dehydrated are our next best bet. Although, I like to feed wet to keep adequate hydration (some dogs don't like to drink water). But I have recently introduced dry because she was having loose stools and I read that dry food helps with that. And she loves to "crunch"! Its like play for her, so I guess she's basically getting a little of everything right now.


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## MChis (Oct 13, 2009)

Erm, no your puppy does not "need" a food specifically for puppies. Premium kibbles & raw often are "all life stages" meaning they ARE suitable for....ALL LIFE STAGES. They meet the nutritional requirements for puppies, adults, etc. Usually with puppies the recommended feeding is more in quantity than as an adult. Most vets aren't educated on these premium foods so it would make sense where they'd assume your dog "MUST" have to be on a puppy specific food. Reading the labels of the food you have will clarify the amount a puppy needs to be fed....


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## Barracuda51 (Oct 7, 2012)

I totaly agree you do not need puppy specific food, i have always gone with top quality adult dry food or aka "all life stages" sometimes i add alittle wet to the mix but i rotate my dogs food alot, along with there dry they get freeze dried raw.


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(Quote) MMS Remember, your vet had about 1/2 a day of nutrition class -- from the dog food companies. They know next to nothing when it comes to nutrition (exceptions being the few who have actually taken the time and done their own research on the topic, but they are few and far between). 

Free feed her for now, let her eat as much as she wants, to make sure she's getting enough calories. Puppies expend calories like crazy with all their growing and running around like angry monkeys!
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Right on!!:coolwink:


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## brittanyg (Mar 15, 2013)

I also rotate my dog food alot, they get sick of something if I feed it too often. That is another thing that i've been told "not to do" as well - that dogs need to eat the same thing or it can upset their stomaches.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

brittanyg said:


> I also rotate my dog food alot, they get sick of something if I feed it too often. That is another thing that i've been told "not to do" as well - that dogs need to eat the same thing or it can upset their stomaches.


This really depends on the dog. Some dogs do just fine when you rotate their food, while some need very gradual changes. I can switch Odie's food no prob and I rotate between 3 things. My last dog would get very sick if I switched it up too quickly. 

As for the puppy stage food thing, you can certainly switch to a higher fat content food if you're concerned about her not putting on enough weight or not eating enough. I know that there are a couple of high quality kibbles that have a puppy formula, but not all are grain free. I personally did use a puppy formula, but it was only because it was the food that Odie ate at the breeders and she was thriving and such a good little eater so I was hesitant to switch. 


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