What's good for my 5 month old puppy?

Wondering if there's anything that's good to give my puppy to keep him healthy such as garlic capsules etc. And how often?

I personally wouldn't feed garlic on a regular basis as there is some evidence that it can disrupt gut flora. As long as he has a healthy diet, is a good weight and gets plenty of exercise, you should be fine unless there is a particular issue that you/your vet feel needs something more.

Unless theres a problem just good quality food & exercise!

No he's perfectly healthy just wondering if there was anything which would be beneficial to him. He has a glossy coat but been having a bit of dandruff but I bathed him recently so wondered if that was what caused it. Thanks

What food is he on?

Skinners puppy lamb and rice

That might be the cause of your flaky skin problem. Skinner's is fairly poor quality food. Others will be able to give you recommendations for dry food (I feed raw so I'm not great on prepared foods), but the rule of thumb is to get the best quality you can afford. The cheaper brands are padded out with potato, rice and all sorts of rubbish that you wouldn't feed your dog if it wasn't hidden in kibble.

This site has a lot of great information on feed and also has analyses and reviews of different brands

http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

Ahhh right I was advised skinners was a good food as its hypoallergenic and when I searched the Internet for things that should be avoided in their food there were none of the ingredients listed, so now I feel bad if I've been feeding my pooch crap. He used to be on Royal canin but he's been on skinners since about 8 weeks and had perfect skin up untill I bathed him last week. So I think it's the shampoo

It may not be the food, however, that's usually the cause. Washing can strip out essential fur oils so perhaps let things settle for a few weeks and see if it clears up.

My Flo has hypoallergenic food, we use Jameswellbeloved

He's 5 months nearly 6 and been on it since 2 months and never had a problem with his skin that's why I didn't think it was the food and it's only since he got really muddy and I had to bath him lol. I was told skinners was similar to James well beloved but I might have to look at that. Thanks very much

Hey, don't feel bad! You've only done what you believed was the right thing. There are many dogs who seem to do ok on Skinners but in your place I'd be changing. It could well be the shampoo (dogs should be bathed as little as possible because it does mess with their natural oils), but it could also be the food leading to his skin not being able to bounce back afterwards. Or it could have affected his skin but in a way that you didn't notice before, sometimes things don't show straight away.

Luna is also 5 months old and dandruff appeared after her first bath. It went away after a week or so.

At this age it is recommended to give her vitamins and calcium. I give her one tablet of K9 per day which contains calcium, vitamin E and others.

I'm afraid I disagree, Quietmind. A good quality dog food should have everything your dog needs without supplements. They are formulated specifically for that. Adding supplements to a good quality complete food is a waste of money and will not benefit your dog. A body needs a certain amount of everything, and no more.

The main people who recommend supplements are supplement manufacturers. Guess why.

I agree Liz. but i'm not talking about spending a lot of money on all kinds of supplements. This is just something extra which can be used as rewards. In my opinion is just like giving kids vitamins or even just like we would take some vitamins no matter how good our food is.

Ah... but then I don't agree with us taking vitamin supplements either, unless you have a deficiency. I think they are over used and to a large extent a bit of a con. They can even lead to medical problems if you take too much of certain things. Even if they are not expensive, I wouldn't buy them. I'd much rather reward my dogs with something that is generally good for them as well as tasty (mine love dried fish for example), rather than a manufactured supplement.

Most human processed food has some suppliments added in anyway, so it's not really worth it unless you're deficient.

I'v got some frozen whitebait, liver bits and chicken hearts that Gizmo absolutely loves. Sardines and Mackeral are also serious favourites.

Ruby absolutely loves sardines in sunflower oil. She has that every Saturday as a treat.

Goblin wrote:Most human processed food has some suppliments added in anyway, so it's not really worth it unless you're deficient.

Yuck. I'll stick to real food for all of us.

While we are on the food subject any opinions about Hill's? Haven't seen it mentioned on the forum.

personally i don't like Hills. it's not particularly good quality & is vastly overpriced

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/hills-science-diet-dog-food-adult-dry/.