My dachshund had her puppies a week ago.I know that I have to wait until they are weaned before I can feed them real dog food, but I want to be ready. What is the best brand for puppies of that breed? Purina? Science Diet? Eukanuba?
Science Diet start with canned you can mix it with puppy milk to make it thinner then as they get older you can mix in dry puppy small bites. The Science Diet is the best, and Dachshunds usually have teeth issues later life and the dry food helps keep the plaque off their teeth.
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None of those are good foods for any breed. Look for a food without any corn, wheat, soy, or by products that lists a meat as the first ingredient.
High Quality Foods:
Orijen- http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/about/
Natura (Innova, EVO, California Natural)- http://www.naturapet.com/
Blue Buffalo- http://www.bluebuff.com/
Merrick- http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Canidae- http://www.canidae.com/
Solid Gold- http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
Wellness Core- http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_wellness_grain_index.html
Natural Balance- http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/
Taste of the Wild- http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul- http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Or go raw- http://www.dogguide.net/raw-diet-basics.php
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
References :
Science Diet start with canned you can mix it with puppy milk to make it thinner then as they get older you can mix in dry puppy small bites. The Science Diet is the best, and Dachshunds usually have teeth issues later life and the dry food helps keep the plaque off their teeth.
References :
Vet Technician
The best food for puppies of any breed doesn’t have a brand.
I have lost all confidence in the commercial dog food industry since the melamine contamination; I’ve switched my dog to her species’ natural diet: raw meat on the bones.
I feed raw/prey model; my 50-pound shar-pei mix gets about 12oz a day, but when I have a gorge meal for her, like a turkey carcass that will take her 4-5 hours to eat, she won’t be hungry or interested in food for 2-3 days. In general, a dog is fed 2-3% of the ideal body weight each day. A puppy gets 2-3% of the ideal anticipated adult weight each day, divided into 4 meals.
The ideal diet should consist of approximately 80% raw meat, 10% raw edible bone, 5% raw liver, 5% other raw organs, the occasional egg, shell and all, raw. Puppies start off with chicken breast, since it has the most accessible edible bone.
NO veggies, NO fruit. Dogs cannot digest vegetables or fruits; they lack the enzyme necessary to break down cellulose. Look at cows: they have the enzyme, and they still need four stomachs and they have to eat the cellulose twice. Dogs have one stomach and a straight-and-simple digestive tract. So fruit tastes good, but it’s nutritionally null for your dog.
They also don’t have flat-topped grinding molars: the dog’s back teeth are carnassials, designed to scissor through meat and bone, to break up prey animal carcasses into chunks small enough to swallow. This is something every dog has to learn; sometimes they have to hork some pieces back up, shear off a piece, and try again. Totally normal.
NO grains; again, dogs can’t digest cellulose, and the other ingredients are the primary cause of allergies and diabetes in dogs.
NO dairy; dogs are lactose intolerant: another digestive enzyme they don’t have.
NO supplements other than a spoonful of deepsea fish body oil for the Omega-3 that corn-finished meat does not contain.
Chewing up raw meat takes work, as does chomping through the incidental bones. The exercise involved in handling Big Complicated Food (several days’ worth), and in breaking up bones into swallowable chunks, keeps dogs teeth clean and satisfies a part of their brain that nothing else touches. These dogs are less hyper, friendlier and a bit more calm and satisfied.
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com
http://rawfeddogs.net
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
Your female can be switched to raw right now; she’ll love it and it will make her milk healthier for the pups. Raw meat is cheaper than high-end dog food. We start dogs on raw by handing them an appropriately-sized chicken part. For a standard dachshund, buy a whole chicken (usually 60-80 cents a pound, much cheaper than fancy dog food), and take it apart at the joints. Since she’s nursing she should be fed all she wants. Just offer her a drumstick, or a wing, and watch how happy she is.
When the pups are about a month old she may start regurgitating some meat for the pups. That’s perfectly normal; let her do her mommy thing. Best fun is dropping a whole chicken breast (skin removed and the meat slashed up a little so little jaws can get a grip) in the middle of the litter, and watch them all have a great time ripping and tearing and growling like they’re wild animals. It’s so funny, you’ll want a videocam.
Raw meat on the bone, with small portions of raw organs is all the dogs need. No supplements, no pills, no kibble or cans. Buy their food in the same place you buy your own. Puppies are adaptable; in a week, introduce another meat, perhaps turkey or beef. Every week, let them try something new.
They’ll be happy and healthy and their teeth will stay clean, their droppings will be smaller, drier and smell hardly at all. It’s all good.
Good luck!
References :
none of those
Wellness puppy food
natural with no corn or by products which is bad for dogs
and you can have the mom on wellness small breed
5 star rated brand
i have my dogs on it n love it n doing great on it
the canned food is good too
sold at petco and pet supermarket and some other non-chain stores
References :
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com
None! Cooked (like kibble or cans) food is much harder to digest for dogs and cats. It heats the food molecules and binds them tighter together, putting a strain on the stomach and may cause digestive upsets. Cooking also removes from 60-85% of nutrients (In a study, I cant remember the name of the website).
I have heard many cases of dogs and cats dying from cardiomyopathy (swelling of the heart or the cavities of the heart) due to lack of nutrients and the amino acid taurine. It also destroys enzymes (which the body needs to function right) and turns oils into trans fatty acids which may prematurely age pets and people.
I feed my pets a raw diet,this is the best your pet can get, natural, healthy, flavorful and very good for dogs with dental problems. Ever since Zodi (my dog)was started on the diet, he has been free of any health problems (fleas, hotspots, worms, infections ect). If you worry about parasites/bacteria, dogs and cats can handle these, they have been fine for thousands of years on this diet.
Commercial (canned/dry kibbles) pet food has only been around for 60 years, and how did the pets survive before these? Raw meat and scraps. So if they were fine then, they will be fine now (for over 5,000 years cats have been domesticated, and 15,000 for dogs). Commercial pet food causes VERY bad reactions in pets because most of them have preservatives that have been banned in people food because they caused tumors, birth defects, allergies, liver/heart failures and other bad things.. Some of them even have euthanized animals (even pets!) in them ("meat by-products", "meat and bone meal", "meat meal"). Corn, which is a main ingredient in most pet foods, is an allergy trigger in many cats and dogs and is not needed. It is used as a cheap filler.
Many vets are inexperienced with animal nutrition, and will recommend the wrong food. Sometimes universities only require students to have a 1hour course on nutrition.Some are even bribed to recommend pet foods. But on with feeding raw.
This diet is about 75% meat and bones and the rest is organs, vegetables, fruits, oils and vitamins. Do not bother adding grain or dairy, for pets do not need these and cannot use them. For energy pets use fats from animals. If you worry about exact nutrition, please don’t, when you make dinner for you or your family you don’t say "I need Xcups salad, Xcups beef, Xcups beans and three multi-vitamin supplements." so why stress about your dog or cat? As said earlier, before commercial pet food, no one fed a strict diet, and there pets were fine. So don’t worry. I listed some recipes below.
Chicken Dinner (for a 30-40 lb dog)
1 pound chicken (with bone, the only chicken bones that splinter are cooked ones. Chicken/Turkey necks and wings are considered "soft" and do not splinter)
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetables
vitamin supplement
Beef and Sardine
1/2 pound beef (with bone)
2 fresh wild sardines
1 carrot
1 banana or apple
heart or green tripe
Lamb Breakfast
Lamb necks
1 tomato
1 egg
Cat dinners
6oz chicken (necks are good)
1tsp squash
8oz raw sardine (here, wild frozen sardines are 90c a lb)
1jar vegetable baby food (without onion, my cats go nuts for peas or butternut squash)
9oz rabbit
alfalfa and kelp
Keep in mind (for dogs only) the "1-3% rule" this means you feed your dog 1-3 percent of his body weight daily. Although some dogs need more calories/fat. My dog needs 2lbs of meat, bone and organ daily and 1/4 cup veggies (we go on a 4hr hike a week, and every day we go on a 3hr family beach walk and hike). he is also in agility. (don’t worry, many dog trainers I know exercise their dogs 5hr a day!)
Here is also a list of bad pet food brands:
Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro max, Goodlife recipe, Science Diet, Prescription Diet, Gravy train, alpo, amore, Pedigree, Natures Recipe, Bil jac, royal canin.
Many people might still be worried about nutrition, so if you like to add a multivitamin to the diet, here are some good ones: Dr. Harveys, Pet Guard, Missing Link, Show Stopper. Here are also some kibbles to add to the diet (optional) Orijen, tripett, Timberwolf, wellness, Instinct, merricks, Natures variety (vet approved, frozen raw diet) innova, pinnacle, halo, http://www.rawdietusa.com, aunt jeni’s etc.
Remember. Always include organ meat on a weekly basis. If you miss a week on veggies, fine. Not all wolves find tripe every day. And again, don’t let "exact nutrition" or "my vet said its bad" fool you. It is very unnatural for dogs and wolves to have a balanced diet every day. It becomes balanced over time (fish part of the week, some veggies here or there etc). As said earlier, some vets are not always educated. Wikipedia even says "vets can profit up to 40% from sales of Science Diet and other foods sold from their offices." they are also bribed and poorly educated. Try find a vet that knows about good nutrition.
Many well-educated vets ive talked to also recommend this diet, both conventional and holistic. They say that "Their pets are pictures of good health!"
Hope it helped and good luck with the pups!
PS: most raw salmon is highly toxic (aka "Salmon Poisoning").NEVER EVER feed RAW salmon. Other raw fish is fine, but raw salmon carries a (harmless) fluke. The fluke then becomes a host for a rickettsia bacteria and the bacteria can kill dogs. Only 10% of dogs affected by salmon poisoning survive it . its better safe than sorry. Salmon oil is fine.
PS: dogs are carnivores, but do need some veggies. My dogs instinctively eat fallen fruits from my yard and sometimes grass. In the wild, wolves eat the green tripe (stomach) of their prey. For the people who say this is not true, there are videos and other things that prove it. From a few teaspoons a week, to a few tablespoons a day, most dogs need veggies. My dog (who is in agility, has a 4hour hike a week, and an hour walk a day) needs some veggies in his diet every week, if I don’t give it to him, he gets achy joints or stomach problems. Tripe or grounded veggies are the best form. Tripe has many nutrients and enzymes to help break down plant matter. Pureed or finely ground veggies are good to, as they are broken down and the dogs stomach does not need to do as much work. Remember, all dogs are different, some don’t need veggies, others need them to stay healthy and fit, but as important as they are, never give to much, a teaspoon to a few tablespoons are good enough. Good luck!
Oh, and for the person who claimed that cows need 4 stomachs to digest vegetables, this is wrong. Cows eat grass, which is much harder to digest than vegetables, and is much higher in indigestible fiber. I have seen coyote/wolf scat with berries, grass or seeds in it. And when my dog hunts, he eats the stomach content (with the veggies) of his prey first.
References :
http://www.rawfed.com
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://rawfeddogs.net
http://www.rawlearning.com
Kymythy Schultze book "Natural nutrition for dogs and cats"
Vets etc
Dog owner and trainer all my life
Raw feeder for years
nutritionist
Get a holistic brand. I use wellness.
References :
the foods you mentioned are not very good (full of grains and fillers)
I have researched this in depth since my poor dog died of kidney failure due to poor quality dog food!!
Taste of the wild is a great puppy and dog food and has great cat foods as well ..wet and dry!!! you can get it online and if you go to the website you can find stores near you .. they wont be at walmarts and the like… they are in feed stores .. Agway..tractor supply stores etc
NO fillers..corn…gluten..grains…by products!! human grade meats fruits and veggies
check it out you wont regret it !
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
6 out of 6 star rating
around $42 for a 30 lb bag …. its the cheapest 6 star food .. and I love it for my puppy!
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_…
References :
Orijen puppy
bl
References :
I agree with Jenny.
The only thing is I would wait until your Dam has recovered a bit from the whelping and the pups are away before switching her to raw. She has enough stress just now without a diet change.
As for the pups, this is how to wean them.
at about 3 weeks, you can add raw ground/minced meat into the puppy formula milk, offer this regularly through the day. Dont try to rush them onto solids at all, let it be a natural progression.
After another couple of weeks you can introduce them to solids but still put the formula with meat mixture out for them. You can start leaving raw chicken wings (never cooked) out for them (when supervised – leading to whole chickens at about 6 weeks) and you will see that they will start learning for themselves how to start tearing the skin and chewing the meat. They will also start to try and knaw the bone.
There is all the minerals they need in natural bone and vitamins in offal and meat, so once they reach say 5 weeks they should be weaned off the ‘meat porridge’ and just be eating ground meat (with a tiny bit liver mixed in twice a week) and ground bone included in the meat, you can buy this preprepared (sorry I dont know where you live to tell you where to get it..but Im sure Jenny will have good links for you) Variety over time is key so once they are not having any milk – real or formula and are just eating the meat – change/add a different meat after a week
There are loads of sites on this. Its probably the best start in life you can give them.
If you really must feed kibble then its worth putting them onto Orijen and stay away from the likes of Pedigree, Eukanuba, Science diet, Purina…they are full or rubbish and the preservatives are horrible…. Remember its best if their food is soaked in this case and also until they are about 6 months otherwise its harsh on the kidneys so if you feed the kibble – remeber to let the new puppy owners know that……
References :
Forget anything you buy at the grocery store. Most have corn wheat or soy fillers in them. Even Science Diet is guilty. Dachsies tend to have rather sensitive digestive tracts and they are also prone to food and grass allergies (and when you think about it, corn and wheat are both members of the grass family!)
I would suggest Canidae first; it is all-natural, made from human-grade ingredients, and reasonably-priced. An added bonus is that if you feed the ALS (All Life Stages) you do not need to worry about *when* to switch from puppy to adult dog food; there is a feeding panel on the side of the bag which goes by both the age and weight of the dog. Canidae is readily available (read: easy to find) in most areas.
A second excellent, also easy to find, choice would be Wellness Super5; probably start with the chicken and rice formula.
While it may appear to cost more to feed a quality food, you actually feed less in order to give your pet(s) the needed nutrition, so cost actually averages out. Less food in = less poop out as well, so there’s a bonus!
I have 3 dachshunds who thrive on Canidae, their coats are shiny, their eyes are bright, and people ask what they eat! The two (11-yr olds) who weigh 14-15 # get 1/4 cup twice a day and the 19# (he is 4 yrs old and a small standard) gets 1/3 cup twice a day.
Either would be an excellent food to give your lactating female as well – she needs all the help she can get to feed her pups and regain her own strength..
Canidae dry kibble is small enough for them to handle, and better for their teeth. You can wet it with a little warm water when they first transfer to solid foods. The Wellness is slightly larger.
The links I have posted below tell about the foods and also you can access feeding charts, find a local retailer, and so on.
Take lots of photos; they grow too fast! Nothing like puppy breath, esp dachshund puppy breath!!
References :
Work at a doggie daycare.
Owned by 3 dachshunds
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_wellness_dry_super5mix_complete_health_chicken.html?page=dog_wellness_dry_super5mix_chicken