Best Food For Puppies

Hi everyone.

So my pup is still growing, love him more every day.
He is currently 12 weeks old.

The breeder was feeding him a puppy food called Optimizor Puppy Food.
Once I got him, I kept him on that food to be safe.
It is really cheap food, but I have heard many mixed reviews on it.

Some people say it is really good, and I should continue. Some say it is not good at all, and I should get him off it ASAP.

The price of his food is not a major concern for me, I just want him to be good and healthy.

Some people have recommended Hills puppy food, and a friend of mine recommended I look at ProPac puppy food. He said this food is good for his health, and high in protein, allowing him to bulk up nicely.
Here is a review I managed to find: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/pro-pac-dog-food/

So I'd like to know, what is everyone feeding their puppies?
And what would everyone recommend?

Thanks
Kimeran

There is another site you may want to have a look at https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/ it gives unbiased reviews . There is also a few new forum members with puppies that will be best to advise more than i can. Just the important thing is not the price but what the food contains and whether it benefits your puppy or not.

try and look for a puppy-specific food that's grain free (they don't need grains, they're used as cheap fillers), and has good quality meat which should be the first named ingredient.

i personally wouldn't touch anything by Pedigree or Purina.

I like Wainwright's, it's grain free. The link Crystal gave you is good. Always check the ingredients, first on the list should be meat, not some filler

Mine's eating proplan puppy and all of breeder's dogs are on proplan.
I was also advised to only feed chicken flavour until a year old by breeder, and never beef.

I did ask my vet about changing to grain free but she advised me to wait until she's a year old. She said that she's in good condition and growing well so no hurry to fix something that isn't necessarily broken. Vet's also seen grain free fed pups with very stunted growth.

It really appears to be a case of personal opinion and preference

Nifty staffy wrote:Mine's eating proplan puppy and all of breeder's dogs are on proplan.
I was also advised to only feed chicken flavour until a year old by breeder, and never beef.

I did ask my vet about changing to grain free but she advised me to wait until she's a year old. She said that she's in good condition and growing well so no hurry to fix something that isn't necessarily broken. Vet's also seen grain free fed pups with very stunted growth.

It really appears to be a case of personal opinion and preference

The trouble is, vets are not nutritionists. They are sponsored to promote certain foods, but really don't have in depth knowledge about it. For example, they recommend dry food to increase dental care, but recently it has been shown that the coating on dry food sticks to the teeth & can contribute to dental decay. I honestly don't know why your breeder says beef should never be given! From an intolerance point of view, more dogs are intolerant to chicken/poultry than any other protein source.

Dogs don't need grains. That's a simple fact, so no dog's growth would be stunted by lack of grains.

This is quite a good site to show what should or shouldn't be in dog food...

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

Pro Plan doesn't score very high - only 2 out of 5.

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I will check the ingredients on his food when I get home, pretty sure the meat isn't first on the list though.

I'm considering changing him to Acana Heritage Puppy & Junior.

Kimeran wrote:

I'm considering changing him to Acana Heritage Puppy & Junior.

looks a good one!

Whilst I can understand that dogs don't need grain, nor do horses but most feeds you will ever find for them contain lots of grain. For them, it may not be ideal but most do not suffer excessively because of it. I believe it's the same for all of our canines and felines in our homes. Most commercial kibble (or feeds in general) may not be as close to ideal composition as they could (or should ?) but most pets will not suffer adversely to it.

I also wanted to switch to the higher protein content kibble but what concerns me is the potential for kidney problems, especially if the pup is not drinking enough ...
Maybe the stunted growth could have been due to inappropriate switching of feed and/or pup intolerance to that particular feed, I don't know as I wasn't there.

What annoys me is to be frowned upon just because because one doesn't feed the top scored feed (and how can you prove that these reviews really are independant and perfectly unbiased anyway ?)

I'm not criticising your choice of food - that's your choice! All I'm saying is that there are better foods & I personally wouldn't buy Purina, Pedigree or Bakers.

I don't 'frown on' food that isn't top rated. I'm just saying that dog owners should choose the best food that is within their price range. Corn in food isn't as bad as wheat - wheat is one of the top allergens for dogs so why choose a food that has loads of wheat added? But neither are 'good' for dogs.

The comparison sites mentioned ARE independent in as much as they are not connected to any of the food manufacturers. They also say WHY certain foods are not good.