Someone has recommended this to me for a large breed pup. Thoughts?

i have used this on lab pups in past and is one of my prefered foods. didnt like the smell of the poos from the chicken flavor though!

I can recommend Fish4dogs :) My Ridgie pup has done really well on this.

Proplan large breed robust and I fed my pug on the non large breed salmon. Chicken smells like plastic, they were good on it but are now all on fish4dogs. Got a new puppy on Friday and she was on a food I rate poorly. Bought a bag of jwb to see her til my next order of fish4 tomorrow and she's had some of the adults and likes it and seems good on it. So I.recommend it too

Found ProPlan really greasy-feeling (not sure that's relevant) and also high in cereals.  Would recommend Fish4Dogs as being 55% meat and so higher meat content than ProPlan for the same price.

Or look at Arden Grange (although that contains maize in most varieties), or Arcana.

It made all my dogs really loose.  Another vote here for Fish4Dogs.

Depends on what price tag you wish to pay for.. Love Arden Grange large breed and is a good price compared to many others of the same type. I'd also look at Acana or Orijen if you can afford that too.
I'm sure F4D is very good but mine have always turned their noses up at it when offered at shows which is very unlike them so personally have never purchased a bag due to this...

Mine will eat most things very greedy dogs, but tried a sample of fish4dogs and they turned their noses up at it, if you are going to try it  I suggest you get a sample or a small bag to try.

our puppy was weaned onto this along with tripe and other meats. once home he hated it had to changed him slowly onto RC which he now loves :)

Have heard the same thing Kirst10 from several people who have bought pups in recently. Weaned onto fish4dogs but when the new pup arrives home won't eat it.
My friends Beardie puppy was fed on a mix of raw and fish4dogs and a bag was given to her with her puppy pack but the pup would not touch it.
A lot of breeders are very keen on fish4dogs as it is a good price and they provide a bag for the new owners but if it goes in the bin when they get home, not a lot a point as far as I can see.
Mine were all weaned on to RC and are still on it 3 years later speaks for itself really.

Pup is currently on a version of proplan which is available in his country and not in mine....I can get proplan to feed him but would prefer to change gradually to Acana I think as I have great results with it in my adult dogs who LOVE it.

I'd get a small bag then and gradually mix in yoru prefered food to switch him over.

Quote dorcas0161: "A lot of breeders are very keen on fish4dogs as it is a good price and they provide a bag for the new owners"

I'm a breeder (on a small scale) and I'm keen on Fish4dogs because it is a good quality food, with a very high percentage of fish (55%) and has no cereals. My dogs all love it and thrive on it and are in great condition. I'm really surprised to read that people's puppies have gone off it once in their new homes.

Personally think the quality of the ingredients in Fish4Dogs is far superior than RC.  RC is mostly cereals and maize.

I don't feed either but the sardine food is tastier than the regular one, IIRC.

Well believe me I know of quite a few, my best friend for one who brought a puppy home who have been reared on fish4dogs but once they were away from their litter mates the pup would not touch it.
I am not a rep for any food company, but I think their is a question about palatibility with some puppies and fish4dogs.
May have a very high fish content but if the pup won't eat it is not a lot of use.
Not all new owners will let there breeder know that they have had a problem, they just change the pup to a food it likes as my fiend did, the puppy came from a an assured breeder and the only advice given was " it will eat it when it is hungry " but she has never followed up to see how the puppy is doing now.
We had a discussion at a local ringcraft about food and it was suprising how many had had the same problem, James Wellbeloved was another food that was mentioned as one that puppies seem to go off.
Going to a new home is quite a traumatic and stressfull time for a new puppy so I feel that it is important that they go with a food they are going to enjoy.

> I feel that it is important that they go with a food they are going to enjoy.
>

and if they have happily been eating it at the breeders then anyone would assume it would continue to do so.

of course pups will often have reduced appetite the first days after changing homes (as you say ti is a stressful unsettling time) so if they are offered something different to what they were eating , it may perk up their appetite, but it of course may tend to make them fussy later with owner changing food every time pup decides it can do without a meal.

I tend to mix several preferred brands of food, of differing availability and price range, and they take away all that the pups have been having, this then gives the new owners a choice of foods pups have been eating.

One of the foods my current litter are having is Fish4dogs, another Autarky, Arden Grange and Simpsons.  Two are primarily available on-line, another is sold in Most large pet stores, and another in Agricultural feed merchants, country stores .

Re Assured breeder contact, the breeder is required to be available for reasonable telephone contact from the buyer.

I would be a bit concerned about upset tummies giving lots of different brands of foods, and surely it is better that they go with a food that they are going to enjoy when they get to the new home.
Regarding the point about the assured breeder, I feel that a good breeder (assured or not) should be contacting the new owner on a regular basis to see how the puppy is settling in.
There is a big difference being contactable by phone to actively phoning the new owner to see how the puppy settled the first night and then at regular intervals thereafter.

Some new owners feel that they do not want to keep bothering the breeder, and no wonder when they are met with little in the way of support and advice. I used to run a puppy class and it always amazed me that when people hit problems with their puppies they would ask a friend or neighbour the vet, trainer etc. But when you asked them had they been back in contact with the breeder the answer was NO.
To me what happens after the puppy goes home is just as important as all the talking and vetting a breeder should do before the puppy is sold.

There you see I always make it clear people can ring me (and they do), and of course I keep in touch by email, and facebook/multiply etc.

I much prefer email contact, for specific questiosn, as often teh reply will point them to further help, liek links to articels etc, a telephone call can be used as follow up, but often what si said can be fortgotten by teh calls end, also you know for sure your not disturbing anyone.

It's what works for me and my owners, but then we ahve usually built up quite a realtionship in teh months before the puppy wnet to it's home.  I have rarely sold a pup to someone I had not had quite long regular contact with.

Never had a problem with them asking for advise on a regular basis, for thsoe who wanted it, but never made them feel I was breathing down their necks.

As to upset tummies, why would it upset them having more than one brand of puppy food mixed, they are all puppy foods, roughly same protein, fat etc. 

Upset tummies are more likely if pups have only ever ahd oen kidn fo food, rahte than a mixture which includes whole foods, like meat, eggs etc.  Mine thought ripe bananas were a great treat.

Brainless I know you are a good breeder as are lots on here so forgive me for preaching to the converted.
From personal experience at puppy class that was not always the case with all breeders, the puppies had been purchased from a wide range of sources, some from BYB, puppy supermarkets, rescue centres and assured breeders, but as we all know not all breeders have the same standard of care or want to have involvement with the new owners once money has changed hands.
Very often puppies would be brought to class who had upset tummies, and often the new owner had changed the food from what the breeder had given them, or they had not been given any.

Sometimes they had just gone in the local supermarket and bought a bag of puppy food, because the food the puppy was reared on was not available, too expensive, they wanted to change the food to something they perceived to be better, puppy did not eat it all sorts of reasons given. But that is why I would be cautious about mixing or changing foods.
I agree that the pups should have tried a wide range of foods such as eggs, fish, veg, meat etc. mixed in with there complete food with the breeder. But there can be different levels of ingredients in some foods and I would just be a bit worried about a sudden change with a very young pup.

> I would just be a bit worried about a sudden change with a very young pup.

Ah but there would be no change, as I mix the different brands of food from the start.  so I suppose I am making up my own formulation from the four foods fed.  But importantly it gives the new owners a choice of foods that they shodul be able to source and at various price brackets, but all quality feeds.  They also get enough food for around 3 weeks or so.

It's the same as I do with my adults, they are fed a mix of three foods, (as well as other feed stuffs)with the number I have 3 sacks of food only last 6 weeks.

I'd agree the vast majority of puppies do not come  from the best sources, and a real ongoing relationship between the breeder and owner is therefore less usual too, but it ought to be the norm, and what buyers should expect.

It's the pups which have only ever eaten their single brand of dog food who get upset tummies when they eat other brands or training treats at class.

It is best to slowly introduce new foods to a dog, so it can tolerate a wide range.  And ideal to start this with the first solid foods.

Well, I'll have to change as the food the pups are on is not available here or for delivery online... :( So proplan was recommended by the breeder to being similar to the profine or something food she uses but as I had no experience with it i wanted to know if i should change to that or acana, which i like.

If it's not the same as the one she is using I would put him onto yours.  sheme you diedn't brign some of his food back with you (being EEC country you could have) to mix in.

I didn't have space, though I will have a weeks worth when he comes home :(

A week's worth is plenty to mix it into something else.

Got to confess, our first puppy was fed by the breeder on Pedigree.  We wanted to take her off that ASAP, so switched her right onto Burns as soon as we got home.  She was fine.

Our second dog came with Skinners, I think.  (Not to mention worms and fleas.)  Anyway, put her straight on JWB when we got her home and she was fine too.

I think if the food the breeder had used had been a 'good' food, we'd have continued feeding it and gradually mixed it in as recommended.  But puppies are building their bodies and minds for the future at that age, and the thought of feeding her what we believed to be doggie junk food even for 1 meal longer was just not something we wanted to do.

I know we were Very Bad New Owners there, from the breeder's perspective, but there we go...