In the past six months I have been on a search to find the best possible dog and puppy kibble available after learning about fairly recent new information about what to look for in our dog food. My sister learned some very interesting things from a vet who is a part of the UC Davis Veterinary Research team looking at dog food and heart issues. She was told that the most important part of the ingredients list is the FIRST FIVE items. These have the greatest impact to your dog or puppy. Here are the top five things to concentrate on when looking for the best foods available. First should be meat and meat meal. Meat meal is actually the highest source for food value (absolutely no meat by products). Brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potato are all excellent along with chicken fat or even better fish oil, and barley is okay in the top five. Avoid at all cost potato’s and any legumes which are now the main ingredients behind meat in the majority of dog foods out there. Potatoes and legumes and their by products i.e. peas, pea meal, chick peas, any other bean. etc have been found to be links to canine heart disease and we are paying $50-60 a bag for foods harmful to our beloved pets. In my research I found only two foods that met this criteria. I’m hoping those reading this might find more and share. I have literally read the ingredients list on every brand of dog food available in western Montana as well as more brands and versions than I can count online. It was very disheartening that the industry raced to replace potatoes with another cheap filler like legumes. Feeding raw, be it 100% or a mix is a good way to ensure good health. Blue Buffalo Lamb and Brown Rice Puppy is as close to the standard for puppies that I have found. Chicken seems to trigger allergic reactions like extreme itching. For adults Costco’s Premium Lamb and Brown Rice meets the standard recommended. My vet has recommended feeding to puppies a mixture of puppy and adult to lessen the chance of too fast growth. Always remember to slowly change your food as sudden change is very difficult to the digestive system. We at Gold Creek Ranch Border Collies feed the kibble mentioned above but also raw bone in chicken, wild game, raw boneless beef other than meaty knuckle bones and large beef bones from upper leg. Eggs, cottage cheese, pumpkin, appropriate fruits and vegetables also supplement and keep their food tasty and interesting while enhancing the nutritional needs. We also give every dog and puppy NuVet Plus immune system boost and NuVet Joint to our adults to ensure healthy bone and joint. I have recently been hearing from clients that their puppies are itching a lot. If you have not changed feeding the Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice puppy I first recommended, I suggest you change to the Blue Buffalo Lamb and Brown Rice, once the switch from their chicken recipe is made the itching is immediately going away. A fairly fast switch does not seem to cause any negative gut reaction, I think the chicken version is causing an allergy to chicken. The Lamb version is also closer to the preferred top five ingredients. You can order the Blue Buffalo via Chewy for home delivery. Costco’s Premium Lamb and Brown Rice is an excellent adult food and I’ve suggested to clients that they feed ⅔ rd puppy ⅓ rd adult, this all lessens the chance of too much growth too fast. It can be ordered online at Costco.com This should solve your problem. This issue has just started showing up in the last two weeks as far as me getting asked about it. I’m notifying Blue Buffalo about this, good company. These are my recommendations and are not perfect. Always do your own research. One thing I’ve learned is that my vets are so overwhelmed by their client load, they simply do not have the time and opportunity to keep abreast of all of the most current diet and even some of the new breeding protocol. I’m actually sharing my research results with my vets, they check out the material and discuss their feelings about what they read. I love having doctors in my life who are open to change when there is data and pier reviews to back it up. This is strictly my recommendations based upon the information available in my research. I am open to comments and recommendations. Have a Blessed Day!
Suzy
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