[DanniB]

We just got a new puppy. He is a lab/shih tzu cross. He is 8 weeks old and weighs 10 lbs. Should I be feeding him a large breed food?

[anonymous]

I think you should discuss your concerns with a vet when you take him in for his first visit in the near future
Has he had initial vaccinations? Worming?

In the meantime I would feed him whatever food he was started on.

Are you sure about the lab/shin tzu cross? That’s unusual, I would be concerned about skeletal deformities.

See what a vet that examines him advises.

[DanniB]

Our vet can’t get him in until May 3rd. He was on junky food so we bought the tiniest bag so we could switch him to something better asap.

The dad was a lab, the mom a shih tzu cross. We saw them and she is definitely not straight shih tzu. She’s quite a bit bigger, I’d guess 35ish lbs.

[anonymous]

Well, May 3 isn’t that far away, I would guess she will be a medium size, under 40 pounds.

Don’t change her food, but I would presoak it in water and maybe add a bite of soft/canned food mixed in and add a splash of water.
Four or 5 small meals per day.

Good luck!

She has just been separated from her mom and sibs that’s enough stress, don’t make any sudden changes in her diet, let her settle into her new home!

[anonymous]

I like Fromm or Blue.
https://www.gofromm.com/fromm-family-puppy-gold-food-for-dogs

They have a large breed puppy formula as well.

Stay with grain inclusive.

[DanniB]

I don’t want to make a sudden diet change. I want to do a normal transition. We live in a small town, and we don’t have the store that sells the food they were feeding him. We bought a small bag when we picked him up, but I don’t think it will last until May 3rd, so we need to start transitioning him to something, or we are going to end up having to change him suddenly when his food runs out!

He eats really well, I’m curious what the benefit is to softening his food?

[DanniB]

I am planning on using Fromm or Wellness Complete, definitely grain-inclusive. Im just not sure if I should be feeding the large breed formula. We estimate he’ll be 40-50 lbs but of course it’s hard to know.

[anonymous]

It’s easier to digest and sometimes puppies don’t know to drink water so if you presoak/ add water you will know that she is getting adequate hydration.

Just start mixing a little canned food of your choice in with the kibble, increase the amount of soft food till the kibble you don’t like is gone.

Blue chicken and rice canned food is soft, I can find it at my market or check Chewy dot com.

PS. start housebreaking by taking her outside every 2 hours, but don’ t expect too much right now, she is an infant.
Oh, and you know she will cry at night. 🙁
You’ll figure it out.

[anonymous]

The vet should be able to estimate what her adult weight will be, in the meantime as long as she is thriving try not to worry. 🙂

Enjoy having a puppy!

Hope this helps. http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2010/01/nutrition-in-large-breed-puppies/

[anonymous]

If you get a small bag of large breed puppy food for now, I doubt it will do any harm and if the vet says it’s not necessary then you can get the regular puppy food next time.

Your dog could be between 40/50 pounds? Not sure if that would be considered a large breed….time will tell.

[DanniB]

He drinks tons of water 🙂 He’s on the same food now as he was before we got him, and doesn’t seem to be having any digestive issues thankfully. He’s adjusted super well. He only cried a few minutes the first night and he sleeps all night! He is doing great with house breaking, he has had a few accidents but only when we were distracted, oops. He whined to go out from day one which makes it so much easier. Our other dog got up at night for a week or two, and was stubborn with house breaking, so this has been a nice surprise 😉

[DanniB]

Thanks for your advice! I guess we could do a bag of either large breed or regular and see what the vet says, you’re right. One bag won’t make a huge difference. I just wasn’t sure what exactly constituted a large breed. Our other dog is a mini dach, so there’s no question that he’s a small breed lol.

[anonymous]

Hmm. Are you sure he or she is only 8 weeks old? LOL

Give us an update after you see the vet. I’ m curious now.

Are the dogs getting along? Be careful, some dogs get upset when a new dog enters the household.

[DanniB]

He was born February 23rd. Unless they got the date super wrong, but she had it actually written down. He does look like an 8 week old and acts like it, except for the nighttime.

Yes they’re getting along quite well. Our older dog is definitely the boss, but they’re only a lb apart. We still don’t have them together unsupervised though. We have seen a bit of jealousy and food guarding the first day. We started feeding our older dog first and making the puppy wait until our older one starts eating, then we give him his food. That took care of the food guarding our older one was doing. He loves having a buddy to play with though. It should be interesting when his little buddy gets a lot bigger then him!

[crazy4cats]

Hi DanniB –
It certainly wouldn’t hurt to feed large breed puppy food just to be safe. It is formulated correctly to keep growing joints of large breed pups healthy.

Lots of large breed pups are raised on Purina Pro Plan large breed puppy food with excellent results.

I wouldn’t feed Fromm. It is considered a boutique food company. They do not have a vetrinary nutritionist on staff and have not done any testing, research or feed trials since the 90’s. I don’t know much about the Wellness brand. I’d stick to Purina, Royal Canin, Hill’s, Iams or Eukanuba. They have all been around for a long time and do much testing on their food. Good luck and have fun with your new puppy!

[anonymous]

“I wouldn’t feed Fromm. It is considered a boutique food company. They do not have a vetrinary nutritionist on staff and have not done any testing, research or feed trials since the 90’s”.

That is an opinion not a fact.
You are not a veterinary health care professional, neither an I.

However, my vet approves of Fromm. I believe your information is incorrect. That’s my opinion (just as valid as yours) 🙂

PS: You can contact them yourself with any questions https://frommfamily.com/

[crazy4cats]

It is not opinion, it is fact. Go ahead and give them a call and ask. Is this the same vet that you said approved of Zignature and said that “legumes rock?”

Never ever have I implied I am a veterinarian. I was feeding Fromm myself when I saw the results of Dr. Stern of UC Davis peer-reviewed DCM study results. I quickly switched to Purina.

[anonymous]

You are reading Facebook blogs. I am going by what veterinarians that have examined my dogs and know their history advise.

BUMP

skeptvet says:
April 21, 2019 at 1:23 pm
There is no perfect food, and a food that works well for one dog may not work for another, so the best you can do is choose a maintenance diet from an established company (one with veterinary nutritionists on staff to oversee formulation and quality control) and then monitor important signs, such as weight, stool quality, coat quality, etc. There are many good choices and only a few I would recommend against (raw diets, and BEG diets).
Above is an excerpt from :

FDA Webinar Discussing Dietary Risk Factors for Dilated Cardiomyopathy

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/
Hope this helps!

[crazy4cats]

Actually, no, I have called Fromm myself! And am following the advice of our vet and a board-certified veterinarian cardiologist who is researching this issue.

I’ve read most everything the SkepVet has written. Funny, I actually follow him on his FB page! I guess not all FB sites are bogus. I value his information and opinions.

[anonymous]

PS: I called Fromm, they informed me that they have a veterinarian on staff as well as a nutritional specialist.
https://frommfamily.com/

That works for me! I guess we can just agree to disagree.

[anonymous]

BTW: No recalls on Zignature. I still consider it a good food, however it falls into the boutique/grain free category.
So it may be wise to go with a grain inclusive food for now.

[crazy4cats]

Hmmmm??? Other than the fact that Zignature is a grain free boutique brand that has the highest number of dogs diagnosed with DCM after eating it, is a good food. Just Hmmmm????

[anonymous]

Yup, and most of them are Golden Retrievers. Hmm…

[crazy4cats]

In the beginning, yes, not so much anymore that people are becoming aware of the issue. There have been several different breeds diagnosed and have been improving with food changes. Golden Retrievers do not have a genetic link to DCM.

[anonymous]

Well it’s the new thing. No one had their dogs tested for DCM until the last year or two. It’s the latest thing for a dog to get diagnosed with.

All my small breeds were diagnosed with heart murmurs, I declined all further testing and they all lived till old age.
Symptom free!

You are just feeding into the hysteria (imo)

Have a nice day, I have to go do a load of laundry, or two, now.

[anonymous]

Here you go. Check the last 4 (or more) comments regarding the “best foods”.

Evidence Update: Grain-free and other “BEG” Diets Associated with Heart Disease in Dogs

[InkedMarie]

It’s not a blog, it’s a fb group run by vets including Dr Joshua Stern and Dr Lisa Freeman.

Hysteria? Wow. There is a long list of dogs diagnosed with DCM in just one FB group. Who knows how many dogs have died of DCM and no one even knows?

If you haven’t had echos done on your dogs, neither you nor your vet know if your dogs have DCM. If your vet thinks that Fromm is ok, well, then both of you are not informed. about DCM.

[anonymous]

Why would anyone have an echo done on an asymptomatic dog?

RE:: “It’s not a blog, it’s a fb group run by vets including Dr Joshua Stern and Dr Lisa Freeman.”

Unless these vets have personally examined your dogs and know their history they can not make specific recommendations as to what brand of food to feed.

Yes we all agree to go with grain inclusive food for now. The rest of it is a crap shoot.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by anonymous.

[haleycookie]

Who wants to take a wild guess at the massive amount of dogs who died or became chronically ill from being fed a carb loaded improper diet and subsequently developed diabetes, abscessed teeth, and the large variety of health issues cheap low quality kibbles cause and they’re owners never realized it??? I’ll tell you how many, more than any dog that has been (or will be for that matter) affected by dcm. But you know their vet said to feed it so it must be the best right? Lmfao

[InkedMarie]

Those vets don’t recommend a food. I said they are some of the many vets,who run the group. The group recommends feeding foods that follow WSAVA guidelines.

Many have had echos done on asymptotic dogs for peace of mind, as they had fed grainfree. Some have been diagnosed with DCM.

[Bobby dog]

“Here you go. Check the last 4 (or more) comments regarding the “best foods”.”

I agree with the Skeptvet, I have never read anyone involved in the current dietary DCM research suggest RC (or any other food) is best for DCM. I would like to read those claims, who made them, their credentials, and proof as well. I have only read there have been no reported cases of dietary DCM in dogs eating foods that meet WSAVA recommendations for selecting pet foods…

[anonymous]

“I have only read there have been no reported cases of dietary DCM in dogs eating foods that meet WSAVA recommendations for selecting pet foods…”

Here is a thought, maybe the people that are feeding expensive boutique and grain free foods are more likely to have echos and other unnecessary diagnostic testing done on asymptomatic dogs resulting in an increase of DCM diagnoses.

WSAVA only approves of 3 or 4 foods. There are many good dog foods out there that meet AAFCO guidelines.

Just keep up with the FDA alerts and recommendations and discuss with your vet.

[InkedMarie]

Maybe I’m not understanding you correctly Anon in your second paragraph but who cares WHY they had diagnostic testing and echos that resulted in a n increase in DCM diagnoses? At least they were diagnosed. That’s what’s important.

[Bobby dog]

Absolutely Marie!!! Nothing unnecessary IMO especially when you have been feeding a suspected diet. Saving a dog’s life is what’s important and gathering more info on this alert so this can be resolved faster.

Here’s another thought anon, have you seen the price of RC?

WSAVA doesn’t approve foods they have RECOMMENDATIONS for selecting pet foods.

I agree. keeping up with FDA alerts is a good idea. You can find references in their info from Dr. Stern and Dr. Freeman if you don’t care for Facebook, or even in the link you provided above to the Skeptvet…

[crazy4cats]

Exactly Marie and BDog! Thank goodness owners are being proactive and having their dogs tested. DCM is typically asymptomatic until they are in heart failure and it’s too late to fix. Once diagnosed, they can change their diet, take their meds and be on the road to recovery if it is diet mediated.

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