Dried Lamb Meat (min. 27%), Ground Rice (min. 26%), Rice Bran, Rice Gluten, Rice Flour, Beet Pulp, Poultry Fat (min. 8%), Sunflower Oil (min. 2.5%), Potassium Chloride, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product

These are the ingredients in the food we are thinking about putting our puppy on could someone tell me if this sounds sufficient please.
Thanks.

If this is a new puppy, the breeder should tell you what food to use, and you should stick to that for a while. Whether or not the above is suitable can depend on various things, breed, for one.

Yes it is for a new puppy, it's what we have been told the mother is fed on, The puppies are being weaned on mince and rice. I just want to make sure we get the right food and dont have to change in a few weeks.
Thanks

It's always possible for a food not to suit an individual but most foods suit most dogs very well and if this breeders adults look good enough to make you want to buy a puppy from her it seems logical that you would want to accept her recommendation.  Why go straight to something else recommended by people on a web site, whose dogs you have never seen, when that could just as well be the food that does not suit yours :)

I am at the moment looking at all the different foods to see which we would like to feed our pup, I am certainly no expert, but I would like to see more meat content than that, but as I said I am no expert and I am sure someone who knows a lot more than me, will be along soon :D

As Fillis says a lot will depend on the breed and even the individual, from my own experience some dogs do not do so well on high meat content so although it sounds desirable its really not that simple.  The food recommended by an experienced breeder is generally the best first option in my opinion.

Thanks for the replys :) i just wanted some confirmation that this was adequate meat content to feed a puppy, as i have read a few posts saying that some foods didn't have enough, and some foods just wasn't good enough. I think sometimes i read to much into some posts and worry unnecessaraly (sp) :)

You're better checking the protein and energy levels as depending on breed, you may need a specially formulated food for puppies with higher protein and energy levels than an adult formula.

You really need to continue feeding the pup on whatever the breeder has her on, any sudden change of diet could cause major tummy upset.

As i said up there^^^ somewhere lol :) The pups are being weaned on mince meat and rice. I want to put the puppy onto a complete food i dont know if im allowed to name it ?(sorry if i'm not) i have been looking to feed Nutro puppy.  I've heard some good things about it and the ingredients up there^^^ aswell are from their website.

I'm feeding my litter on Nutro puppy and they are thriving on it. I wouldn't advise changing diet immediately, as others have said this could cause a major tummy upset. I would feed what the breeder is feeding the puppies and then gradually change it over after the initial settling in period.

In my opinion you couldn't feed a puppy anything better than Nutro puppy, as soon as I saw the list of ingredients I knew it was Nutro.

I reared a litter on Nutro, from conception to when they went to their owners & was really pleased with the substance on the pups and they were born with the most fantastically shiny coats.

Thanks
I feel much better now, we  have spent ages looking at all types of complete food (there are so many) never really gone much on the 'more popular' names of tinned food so we were convinced complete was the way to go. After gradually changing him over to complete should i add anything to it once in a while eg... Piltchards ? Ive seen alot of people say the give their dog the occasional tin of fish. Nutro it will be then :)
Thanks for the advice.

My puppies are getting Nutro and nothing else. They all have firm poo's and because Mum is a fussy eater I am against adding anything to the food as long as they are eating it. I am quite pleased that all my new owners have already ordered their Nutro (although I give them a bag to start them off) as it's not as convenient to get hold of as some of the more commercial foods.

Both Arden Grange Classic puppy (meat content 30% + Egg = Total chicken 45%) and the Arden Grange (which has Fresh chicken 30% + chicken Meal 17% + Egg = Total chicken 58%) have a higher meat content than the food you have quoted, as does Autarky puppy (45% chicken), they are boith a very competitive price (especially if you join the proffesional users club with Arden Grange, as the food is then for working dogs and VAT free.

I must admit It was a toss up between Arden Grange and Nutro ;-)

Mine don't like Lamb formulations, but if you partiucularly want a Lamb one then Arden Grange don't do it in the puppy fod, though their classic lamb and Rice is very popuylasr among my freinds with dogs with sensitive digestion.  The Salmon one isa very good, and has really turned around a fellow exhibitors dog whose coat had lost condition with puppy moult on what she fed before.

Potassium Chloride is salt and because it is listed as an ingrdeant means this product contains more than 1%,It's added for palatability only as the lamb meat also contains salt .Just like childrens  food by adding large amounts of salt to enhance palatability but ignore long term health is done from a sales point also why hide behinde its Scientific name ?. There are plenty manufactures who do not add salt Arden Grange, Burns and Trophy to name some .JO

>Potassium Chloride is salt

I thought salt was sodium chloride? Potassium is a mineral that is found naturally in foods and is necessary for many normal functions of the body, especially beating of the heart.

>>potassuim chloride is salt

it is an electrolytic salt essential for the electrical conduction that makes muscles and nerves work.good rof dehydration too
yes JG sodium is salt (as in that that is put on your fish n chips)
maybe jo english got confused :)

I would be careful about the amount of potassium chloride thou... see this

Thanks to everybody that answered :)

I've spoke to my breeder again the mother is definatly on Nutro, so we have decided once we gradually change the pups food over from mince meat and rice we will be feeding Nutro puppy lamb and rice. Not too sure if it was fate or not but i rung my local pet shop this morning to see if they stocked it, the woman answered quite shocked and said they had a sales rep round last night that left some samples and convinced them to start selling it. By the tone of her voice she sounded like she thought i had been put up to it by the rep :D Anyway they are ordering us a 15 kilo bag and also delivery is free :)

not confused just missed the (A salt)
Sodium Chloride

Sodium toxicosis is possible after large ingestions of ice melts, salt, or rock salt.

A dose of 4grams per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sodium chloride can be lethal in dogs.  Ingesting large amounts of sodium levels can be lethal in dogs.  Ingesting large amounts of sodium can lead to increased urination.  Large amounts of ingested sodium can also lead to swelling of the brain.

Also, the digestive upset along with the increased urination may lead to dehydration, further worsening the patient's condition.   The clinical signs of sodium toxicity are primarily neuroligic.  The severity of the signs is related more to the suddenness of onset rather than the magnitude of signs.   

Diagnosis of sodium toxicosis is based on serum concentrations and a history of sodium ingestion.   Treatment goals are to replace water and electrolytes. Diuretics may also be of some use.  The fluid of choice is 5% dextrose IV. The diuretic recommended is furosamide.

Potassium Chloride

Signs associated with elevated potassium levels include muscle weakness, GI disturbances, and cardiac conduction disturbances.  Ingestion of potassium chloride tablets has caused bowel strictures and ulcerations.  Treatment includes administration of lactated ringers and furosamide.   Due to the irritating nature of potassium chloride-induction of vomiting is controversial.  Activated charcoal does not bind potassium.

 

>>not confused just missed the (A salt)

Sodium Chloride

well you lost me now LOL as the OP posted potassium in the list of ingredients not sodium

sorry, both need to be watched hence the list i posted -jo

Ok now im confused and WORRIED !!! Am i doing the right thing buying this food i dont want to be causing my puppy to have problems. I've read and heard alot abot this food all of which appeared to be good. What do i do ??
Thanks.

NUTRO

Does the conditon of your breeders dogs give you any course for concern? If not then their food more than likely agrees with them and they do well on it. So by using the food that these puppies have been feed from while in the uterus you will be contiuing from where your breeder left off in raising a healthy happy puppy. Ask about any food and you will get someone who likes it and someone who doesn't even the ones recommended by people who belive they are doing their best and investigating ever minute ingredient will feed a food that someone  else has a different point of view about.

It won't cause your dog to have problems unless there is a particular ingredient that is has an allergy to which is rare and can happen with any food or diet.  Dog food in the UK is all regulated, only permitted ingredients are allowed and must be within the limits set by the regulations which are in themselves set well below the safe limits determined by the decades of research conducted for human foods. Feeding your dog is really not as fraught with danger as many of these posts might imply :) the vast majority of dogs are fed from foods frequently poo pooed on here and yet the dog population as a whole has as long a life expectancy as at any other time recorded.

Wrong again Isabel it's the research in to dog food that has proved beneficial to human food, hence today warning on salt and the benefits of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acid that are now being given greater awareness in human food. The fact is that some manufactures continue to add fillers and the like is down to profit margins JO.

I'm not at all sure you have got it the right way round Jo but never mind because the fact remains the regulations benefit us both.  In some ways the dogs on complete foods are at an even greater advantage than us humans who foolishly overeat convenience foods not designed to be eaten exclusively like the dogs diet and likely to clock up levels above the recommended amounts nor do many owner add table salt to the dogs bowl :)
Salt, of course, in too low a quantity in the diet will lead to almost identical problems as you have listed for the enormous overdose.
It is pointless discussing the role of fibre in the dogs diet all over ago people can search through all the old posts if they are remotely still interested ;)

Arent Nutro,science plan et al made in America? Surely our laws do not apply over there. If it's an american food then it's made under american laws,which i can tell you are extremely lapsed :(

Don't know about these two in particular but most American companies seem to produce their foodstuffs here under licence, and under UK regulations of course.  It would hardly make financial sense not to :) and there are lots of regulations about imported food stuffs especially of animal origin too which would make it even less viable.

It would be interesting to find out :) I would have thought that US Nutro,science plan,eukanuba etc. would export their products all over the world.

I say stick to the stuff made right here! ;)

If it is imported and not produced on License then I would scertainly prefer to buy a comporable British made product, hence the Arden Grange, whuich fr such a quality prodcut is a very good price.  On the breeders scheme it is only £21.50 for the adult chicken in the Classic.

Well they might but I wouldn't if I was running the company ;) :D  Why would you ship in bags of another countries pet food when there is no shortage of ingredients to be had right here?  We eat prodigeous amounts of meat in this country but are rediculously picky about which bits we will accept leaving masses of nutritious bits left over for the pet industry, very cheap too because you can't just chuck it disposal incurs costs too.  Much greater profits to be made doing it here under licence it seems to me.

Iams, Euckanuba and Hills are imported to the UK.

Hills dry from The Netherlands, wet from America, Euckanuba from Holland - All have to comply with EU legislation.

Forgot to say... Nutro is imported from America :-)

Well they haven't got me running the company have they? :D
I suspected, in this day and age, they would all be covered by the same regulations as we have here and I am sure this has been confirmed in previous threads so I reckon the only objections I would have against any of these makes is being asked to pay a premium for, what I regard, as totally unnecessary transport costs not to mention the cost to the environment.

The more they spend on, shipping,packing,and advertising the less they pay on ingredents .Premium dog foods are those who pay for the best ingredients spend little on advertising and incur little in the way of shipping cost .Arden Grange, Trophy and the old JWB ARE/ Were British's companys who do this, you only have to look at the ingredients list to work this out_Jo

I agree about shipping cost :)  I don't agree with expensive, faddy ingredients though. Cheap, seasonal stuff is just as nutritious and has environmental benefits too, so I think it misleading to say spending lots on ingredients is a benefit it is not generally necessary.

Maybe that's why some of them are quite expensive?  Shipping costs? :-D  From what I am aware, EU legislation is very stringent ref imported foods.  I read somewhere, a while back, that animal-by-products for animal consumption must also be fit for human consumption. 

Interestingly enough, some UK pet food companies don't actually make the food themselves, they outsource to independent manufacturers and the ingredients may come from lots of places, not necessarily from the UK.

I pay £33.64 per 15kg of Nutro Puppy on the breeder scheme, BUT I have to order 30kg at one time to get it for that price and free delivery. I must admit when you look at all the posts on this thread the subject of dog food really is a minefield isn't it???!! I chose Nutro on the recommendation from a few breeders of my breed and I have also used it in the passed before on my bitch. ( also used Burns & JWB) I must admit my pups have thrived on this and it's all they've had since 22 days, not one runny poo amongst them and great weight gain, all pups around 5lbs 5-12oz @ 7 weeks old (yesterday) which I think is pretty good for Cocker Spaniels (ALL SOLD).

On another note I was in PAH a few weeks ago and I noticed they are now producing their own food. Now I don't normally buy much in there but it actually looked quite good and the ingredients were pretty similar to JWB, I wondered does anyone know who mkaes it for them? just out of interest because I'm nosey LOL!!

Our local pet shop does 15kilo bags for £36 and free delivery :) Having said that they do sell 3kilo bags for £6.99 so to buy 5 bags of that size means you save a pound and dont have a big bag open for weeks ;)  I have enquired about the breeders scheme, although i have to admit some of the replies here made me think twice about even bothering with Nutro. After carefull consideration and lots of talking to our breeder we have decided it is the right food for our puppy.
Thanks to everyone who replied