I have a 12 week old puppy. I picked him up from the breeder at 8 weeks. She was feeding him rice pudding for breakfast, bakers complete for lunch and tea and rice pudding again for supper. I changed from that as soon as was possible and put him on naturediet which he seems to love, so far! Ive read so many conflicting things. I read that puppies should have two milk based and two meat meals a day whilst they are still having four meals a day. I have now dropped him down from 4 meals to three, that includes one milk based and two meat based. Should i still be feeding him a milk based meal and if so, what would you reccommend and when can i not fed him milk based meal anymore? If i shouldn't be feeding him this milk based meal anymore, is there an alternative to feeding him the same meat based meal for breakfast as can't be very interesting for them.

at 12 weeks my pups are on 3-4 meat meals a day i don't offer milk anymore ...best thing to do it get your pup on a good food that suits him and feed it for all the meals ...good luck

I would not feed any dog Bakers Complete, contains salt, sugar and colourings not to say a lot more which at best is completely unecessary for any dog and at worst is not good for a dog's health.

Rice pudding is not a fit meal for any dog at any time of life.

Choose a good quality tasty food with the least amount of additives and maximise your dog's health.

Naturediet is an excellent wet food, Burns an excellent dry one.

It may cost a bit more than Bakers but you cannot make a first class product out of third class materials;a good diet is the cornerstone to good health; it is not only humans that are what they eat!

Then again Tohme, I have always fed completely differently to you and have always fed a milky meal to my young puppies and have never feed complete to them when they are very young.

There are so many ideas on the correct way to feed a puppy and providing it works for that puppy then it's fine. So saying, artificial colourings are something I hate both in my food and my dogs.

Regards, John

Im no expert on feeding puppies so im not going to say anything but i just wanted to point out that this visitor has already stopped feeding bakers and is feeding their puppy NatureDiet. They were just asking about the milk based meals

Thank you rockpig. I must admit I rarely bother to read a question before I answer it.

I hope you dont think i was being funny, i was just saying :8) xx

Its a valid point, however, because the typeface is so close together it is easy to miss things even if you read a post several times.  I stand corrected :)

whatever our views on feeding why do people always change the diet given by breeder ? if it works for them why change it straight away ?
IF and I say IF you think your breeder is respctable/responsible else why else would you buy a pup from them do you straight away change  the flippin diet,it gets me so annoyed as on the rare occasion I breed my diet sheet is tried and true
also even though the milky meal doesnt give any great value to the iet it gives the pup a change in diet to get the system used to different tastes so no tummy upstes in later life

I sometimes wonder if people realise though that the breeder feeds them *x brand* for a reason.

Someone I worked with got a boxer pup a week or so ago - he asked my advice on what food a few weeks before he picked her up. I suggested he rang the breeder and said he wanted to get a bag in ready and asked what she fed. I also pointed out she was likely to give him a few days supply at least - he was really suprised !!

To be fair there is a difference IMHO between the term "breeder" and someone who just mates a couple of dogs and has a litter!

The former may be very experienced and knowledgeable, the latter may not and therefore not give good dietary or for that matter any other advice.

As we have seen so often on here not everyone purchases their pup from reputable, ethical breed specialists etc.

very true............

HI

I got Luna when she was 8½ weeks old. She has never gotten any milk since I brought her home. Only complete dry food. If her tummy was a bit runny, she got some yoghurt.

I thought about feeding raw, but amm too chicken to try, so I keep feeding dry. Have found an excellent brand. But as its danish I dont think you guys can get it. Its based on fish, and has all the omega 3 and 6 fat acids, that the dog needs.

Luna thrives (sp?) on it. She has the most shiny and soft coat! So I wouldnt change!