Hi guys

I've currently got a 11 week old newfoundland puppy, I was adviced by the breeder to use b and m bargins dog food at £9. Bag. I've always in the past fed royal canin.  I know I have spoke to a few other pet owners of newfs and they have said royal canin or beta.  I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions? I've just been on a pet food comparison site and royal canin puppy only had 2 stars out of 5?

Last Newf puppy I had (some years ago now) was on Beta because that was what the breeder had her on. Now I usually have older Newfs and have one on Royal Canin and the other on Simpsons Salmon and Potato because that seems to suit her sensitive digestion better than any other. A friend who has Newfs always feeds Beta. I'm sure others will more knowledge than I have will be along to help you soon.

Do you mistrust your breeders advice about food?  What do they feed their adult dogs, why did they choose this food in particular, what others have they tried? 

I'd always want food to be one of the topics discussed when choosing a breeder as this can tell you a lot about them and their dogs.

Truthfully there are as many different foods, and reasons to feed them, as there are dogs!  I'd imagine that everyone you ask will have slightly a different rationale for choosing one food over another but the important thing is to feed what suits your dog, its current life stage, the breed and your pocket - probably in that order.  If you decide to make a change then do it relatively slowly to avoid an upset tummy.  I'd suggest replacing 25% at first, then every 3 days increase the proportion of new food to 50% then 75% then 100%.  Three clear days in between each increase should be enough time to assess whether your dog is managing the change.  Slow it down if needs be but don't rush it if you don't have to.  Remember too that you might need to tweak the amounts you feed - some of the better quality foods are quite nutrient dense and you won't need the same volume as a cheaper food :)

As an aside (I have different breed) I feed predominantly raw now but when I feed kibble I buy Fish4Dogs and Arden Grange.  I've used both from puppy through to adult.

> I was adviced by the breeder to use b and m bargins dog food at £9. Bag

I am not familiar with that brand but if it is the one that is £9 for a 15kg bag I would be reluctant to feed it. Purely because at that price I dont see how there can be any high quality nutrients in it.  I pay more than that for the sawdust for my rabbits cage. Perhaps you could post a list of the ingredients so we can advise further.

Yes smithy that's what I thought, the one in my local b and m was called wagg for that price, I wouldn't dream of feeding it and like you say even if this is what my breeder feeds then I would def go against it, hence asking for some advice here :-)

"I wouldn't dream of feeding it"

Ok, so forgive me for asking Newfiegirl but why would you buy a puppy from someone whom you do not trust to have fed them (or the dam) properly?  Food is such a basic requirement that I wonder if it makes you question what else they might have been getting wrong...

Ask the breeder WHY they recommend the food. I don't know a lot about giant breeds (hopefully some of our experienced owners will come along) but I was under the impression one vital thing is to ensure puppies do not grow too quickly -could it be they want a food that isn't very rich/high in protein for this reason?

Wow newfiegirl you post surprised me...... I always look on champdogs and have learnt a lot . I don't post very often but as Goldmali said ask your breeder why? B M bargains food for a giant breed puppy ?? , you probably paid a fair amount of money for your puppy , so continue to give it the best start in life , R C may not be the chosen food for some breeders but far better than b & m in my opinion. pm for any more help and advice , I don't know lots --------but I do know lots who do xx

As an owner of the same breed it's not something I would be feeding my NewfS during the first year to 18months.
The most important thing with this giant breed is LOW protein- what is the protein content in this food.
.?

There is so much confusion on what is good and what is bad for large breed pups. Many people say Protein does not matter and more emphasis should be on low calcium, others will say a high Protein level is a definite NO. A long term study on protein levels suggested that a high level had absolutely no effect on bone structure, which sounds a little odd to me, where as a calcium level above 1% was more damaging. My Newf came to me with a pack of some German type food and his stools were some-what smelly. As a "Near as possible to all relevant nutrients" I went with Arden Grange, however, when I mentioned this to the breeder she said that with her experience Arden Grange was no good. If you search sites such as "Which Dog Food" they will all list the High Protein Foods as being the best, but I also have been raised with the belief that a high protein level is not good for giant breeds. I do agree with a further point on the study that I read which is that a lot of the information supplied by Pet Food Company's should be taken with a pinch of salt. One only has to look at the claims of the "Lower end of the market" Foods to see that some of these are just total rubbish. I believe as a general rule that you just need to stay clear of "Animal Derivatives" and "By Products". I have looked at this in great detail and some of the stuff that is included in such feeds is nothing less than horrific. I could write a three page essay on this subject but will just mention that even on "DEFRA's own site they state "RODENTS" as a category 3 ingredient to pet food. (Allowable) I can only conclude that this includes "Rats" that the council has collected ??

Very informative skv that's so much