can i feed my puppies this?

[eilightened]

i bought whole hearted fresh recipes frozen food for dogs , it’s the chicken & vegetables recipe, but i accidentally got the all breed adult one. my oldest puppy just turned 1 last week but the rest are still under 1 year old. i’ve gotten the all breed puppy before but had a brainfart moment in the store & forgot to check because i was in a rush. i use it as a topping for the kibble. is it okay if i give them less than what i usually do or should i just not give them any? their website was no help because i got it by mistake & i haven’t transitioned them to adult food yet.

 

[ernestcop]

@eilightened If it’s used as a topping, it’s fine. All topping should make up less than 10% of daily calorie intake to avoid imbalances in the diet.

 

[theonemelly]

@eilightened If you’re feeding them WSAVA compliant diet for their kibble and only using this as a topper it should be fine. Keep in mind that only 10% of their calories should come from toppers and/or treats. As long as 90% of their caloric intake is coming from a balanced WSAVA compliant puppy diet then this small amount won’t unbalance their diet enough to harm them.

Puppy foods are simply a different balance of nutrition to support growth. Giving an occasional meal of adult food in a pinch or adding treats/toppers meant for adults won’t hurt them as long as you make sure you keep track of the 90%/10% ratio.

 

[eilightened]

@theonemelly we feed them the whole hearted chicken & rice puppy kibble , would that be WSAVA? it’s the only dogfood that doesn’t give them the squirts … we’ve tried purina proplan ,both in kibble & canned(they do like the canned) but they seem disinterested in it unless there’s stella & chewy meal toppers, which we give them for most meals .. the fresh recipes are just for special occasions or holidays. i always make sure that there is more kibble than topping because my partner does like to spoil them & add more topping than kibble sometimes, but i will make sure he stops from now on. thank you for the info.

 

[theonemelly]

@eilightened WSAVA compliant are purina, iams, hills, science diet, royal canin and eukanuba

Have you tried the sensitive skin and stomach pro plan?

My girls get 1-2 tablespoons of canned food mixed with hot water on their kibble for one of their daily meals as a treat it makes like a meaty gravy.

Unfortunately whole hearted isn’t WSAVA compliant so realistically they may not be getting a balanced diet since other than WSAVA brands most brands simply don’t have the science and research behind them.

 

[eilightened]

@theonemelly thats unfortunate. we will definitely make a switch. i do not remember the canned purina that we had , the kibble one was the regular puppy chicken & rice but the one in our cabinet is can hills science diet savory stew w chicken & veggies for puppy. we might give the sensitive skin & stomach one a try.

 

[theonemelly]

@eilightened Definitely try the pro plan sensitive skin and stomach. I have a bully mix. They’re absolutely terrible for stomach issues. When my girl was little I fed blue buffalo because I tried a million things and like you it was the only thing that didn’t give her the squirts lol.. that being said I looked at her the wrong way and it was back to upset tummy. I swapped to the puppy PPPSSS after i learned about WSAVA compliance. Her stomach was almost perfect on it, and my vet recommended a supplement to add to just help a little more. Her stomach is way less sensitive now that she’s an adult so that makes life a lot easier.

Also make sure you transition slowly. Dogs with sensitive stomach need an even slower transition. When I used to swap her foods around I’d literally start with like 5 of the new kibbles and add a half a teaspoon more every 2 days to help her adjust to the new food. It stretches out the transition so that their tummy has time to adjust.

 

[eilightened]

@theonemelly the only other problem we have is that they are really picky. so i hope they actually like it we get chicken & rice flavor for everything because they did not like the salmon flavored treats we’ve gotten them .. they do like beef flavor & will eat anything w the stella & chewy meal toppers on top. we give them the heart healthy , chicken flavor , beef flavor , super blends & magical beef/chicken/bacon dinner dust from stella & chewy. but we will consult our vet to see if they need any supplements for sensitive stomachs.

 

[theonemelly]

@eilightened This might be hard to hear but we are the ones who make our dogs picky. The reality is that dogs will not starve themselves but in our hearts we feel bad if they don’t eat so we change stuff to try and get them to eat. As long as they’re generally healthy it might be worth doing some training with them for meal times.

Set a schedule. Put down the food. After 30 minutes remove the food. Next meal do the same. After a few skipped meals they’ll eat what you offer. Start using their kibble as training treats as well so they aren’t filling up on treats. Also keep in mind that even if we think they’re not eating enough they often are. The bag suggestions are usually very generous and in my experience every dog I’ve had has stayed at a good weight eating about half the suggested amount. I use an online dog calorie calculator to judge it and convince myself they’re eating enough. To give an example my 2 year old dog according to the bag should get 6-8 cups a day. She gets about 3 and that works out to be the amount of calories the calculator recommends. Same goes for cans, as much as my girl loves canned food there’s no way she can physically eat 6-8 cans of food per day (canned food is roughly same calories per can as 1 cup of food, obviously varies by formula and brand).

 

[eilightened]

@theonemelly we try to give them other flavors like lamb , duck , & turkey but they seem to enjoy chicken & beef more. we actually do exactly that & they do end up eating more at dinner time. we have multiple pens to separate all of them while they eat so no one will fight or eat the others food. we do not give them the bag suggestions because we realize pretty early on that the amount is way too much. i believe the scooper we use is one cup & sometimes they don’t even finish it. they all eat out of slow feeders so i’ll give them an extra 10 minutes incase they decide to eat last minute , sometimes they do sometimes they don’t , but they always do end up eating more the next time. we’ll start giving them less treats & use kibble instead. we’ve been training them to shake paw .. so far they know sit , stay , stop , go in the pen, they all walk on leash without pulling … except for one & he doesn’t pull , he bites on the leash while walking , kinda like if he wants to walk himself but he still walks next to next to us.

 

[theonemelly]

@eilightened Yeah using kibble as treats does help especially because with puppies you’re using so many treats initially for training. Also if they have sensitive stomachs not using other items as treats means you’re less likely to irritate their tummies. I once heard a trainer say “take your dogs off welfare and make them work for their food”. Although it could have definitely been said more delicately the idea behind it is that dogs are less likely to be easily trained if they’re presented with free food 2+ times a day. Instead use their daily allotment of kibble for training and make them work for their food. This also avoids risking over feeding of unbalanced treats. Realistically if your dog eats 2 cups a day 10% is like 1.5 teaspoons of treats and toppers so it’s very easy to overdo them.

I’d never be able to simultaneously train 3 pups though lol I like a solid 2 years between to make sure one is trained before having another to stress about.

Someone else mentioned littermate syndrome. It’s definitely something to look into. Even though they’re not same litter and all different ages they’re all close enough in age that it can still happen. Even with me having adults with puppies I have to be aware of it to prevent the dogs bonding too much with eachother over their humans. When you have 3 so similar in age it’s much more likely to happen. You need to make sure that they spend the majority of their day separate pretty much so they all become their own dog and not just part of one whole basically. So you need to do most of the training, walking and routines with each one individually vs as a group. I read a post earlier today on 2 poodles who were actually littermates (but again just being all still developing is enough to set it off) and one of them literally panics and has seizures when separated from her brother. So definitely look up ways to avoid littermate syndrome and work towards that so your babies can all grow up to be well rounded and able to function if they need to be separated for any reason.

 

[eilightened]

@theonemelly we never really thought of treats giving them stomach issues but it does make sense to give them kibble instead. my partner & i are fortunate enough to be home w them all day so we don’t have trouble bonding w them one on one. we do keep them separated except when chilling at home , buckled in the back seat of the car, & while sleeping.. they sleep in bed w us , they jump off / on. we have two crates set up in the bedroom & they’ll sleep together or separately in them. we train them separately, they get walked on the leash separately , they eat in different pens , & sometimes ill just take one on a car ride while running errands , curbside pickup /takeout only obviously. only one of our MAS cries if he doesn’t see my partner or i (if we both step out the room for whatever reason) , but if he sees one of us he’s fine … we got him from a cousin who said he was the “craziest” of the litter, we believe it’s because they were kept in a crate as puppies. he’s the calmest one out of our pups. but we will definitely look more closely into keeping them separated & how to avoid it. we’ve been trying to find a good obedience trainer but the one we liked & had great reviews is a two hour drive from our little town so were looking for closer to home.

 

[tery]

@eilightened My boys didn’t do well on Purina Pro plan, but do well on Purina one digestive health. Younger one has a sensitive stomach and a chicken sensitivity.

 

[melvinamyron]

@eilightened puppies really need puppy formula because they are developing and adult food doesn't have enough calories or other vital nutrients and things that help the organs develop at proper dosages.

also as others have stated the number one important thing about any food is wsava compliance. the safe brands are purina, royal canin, hills. 95% of what is floating around out there is Not Tested and Not Safe. it can be fatal, so please take serious. i lost my own dog because I was ignorant to these dangers. i thought if its being sold at reputable stores its safe. not the case at all. rest in peace my girl who i lost at 9 years old, 2 years after she began eating primarily a brand that wasnt tested and was grain free. fresh pet, to point fingers. i would give anything to be able to go back and fix her diet before it was too late but i, along with tons of other pet owners, just not aware.

 

[eilightened]

@melvinamyron we will definitely do more research on the which food so we can make a switch. we’re just scared because last time we tried giving them hill the science diet they all got diarrhea until we switched them back to whole hearted … our vet had said it was okay for them when they asked for their spays.

i’m sorry for your loss. thank you for the advice.

 

[leonsg]

@eilightened It’s fine!!!