What to feed our Newfie???

[IZ]

I am new to Big Paws - love it!!! We just brought home our first Newfie - named IZ - he's 10 weeks old. We are stumped on what to feed. We are totally against the commercial/grocery store foods. We think the Raw diet too dangerous; the "organic foods" still have chemicals. We found a book by William Cusick with a specifc diet you cook at home for a Newfoundland. (He also writes books for other breeds - he has a website). Has anyone tried this diet? Any thoughts? Our last dog (Golden retriever) died of cancer - and we will do ANYTHING to keep our new boy healthy!

[Fumble]

what food did your breeder use???  or did they offer any suggestions??? i know not a lot of dogs like it, but fumble LOVES proplan... we had him on giant breed puppy until he was 4 mos. old and now hes on Pro plan performance.  Also, you should look into giving him some supplements with his meals, like glucoasmine/chondroitin, vitamin C, and maybe some flax seed oil for his fur!  my breeders have had great success with these supplements, as well as two others.. MegaCplus and Vitasorb... Hope that helped a little, and i'm sure that the other newfie and bigpaws owners are going to be glad to give you some advice as well!!  the more the better in my mind!

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Winslow is on Science Diet large breed puppy and we add some fish mostly canned sardines, salmon or Mackeral, occasional tuna. He is doing great on this gaining and growing as he should and is full of spunk!!

You can also look in over at www.newf.net  they are all about the newf and have dedicted forums to diet and health stuff. You might find more people familiar with the program you are looking at.

Rich

PS IZ is adorable and Great name!!

[shangrila]

Are you against all commercial brands or just the basic grocery store ones? There are many natural varieties. Solid gold, canidae, and wellness are a few that come to mind. There are also brands that make pre-made completely balanced BARF (bones and raw food) meals that you can buy refrigerated or frozen at many specialty pet stores.

 You should check out a website called the Whole Dog Journal. It is a natural-minded dog food journal that many people swear by.

[IZ]

the breeder was also feeding pro-plan. But after reading several articles - and some on this forum, that is not the best choice - still has lots of "icky" stuff in it. IZ likes it - but at 10 weeks - he is eating anything I put in front of him. I'm not opposed to all commercial brands (i.e. Solid Gold, Wellness etc) but the choices are vast and it's hard to tell which is best. Some say - never feed beef, some say never give Vitamin C, some say always give vitamin C..... UGH....

[IZ]

Hi,

Winslow is on Science Diet large breed puppy and we add some fish mostly canned sardines, salmon or Mackeral, occasional tuna. He is doing great on this gaining and growing as he should and is full of spunk!!

You can also look in over at www.newf.net  they are all about the newf and have dedicted forums to diet and health stuff. You might find more people familiar with the program you are looking at.

Rich

PS IZ is adorable and Great name!!

Thanks Rich - Winslow is also ADORABLE! I checked out Newf.Net as well - thanks for the suggestion

[Nicole]

Cabeza, while only a Newf mix, is on Wysong. Its a great food. Its all natural, only preserved with Vitamin E, and 100% human grade ingredients.

There's more info at  www.wysong.net

Cabeza is very healthy at age 6. He romps like a pup, he has a glossy coat and sparkling eyes. The only time he has ever required a vet visit (other than routine check-ups and shots) was when he got attacked by another dog and needed some attention for that.

When we first got him, he had itchy skin all the time and a really sensitive tummy. He still ocasionally has runny poos, but mostly only when its very hot out. Now, his skin isn't itchy anymore.

We also supplement with eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed veggies, organs, flax, fish, etc.

I think that you just need to start with something you know is good, and make small adjustments, just like an infant. Introduce one new thing at a time, until you're certain that the pup won't have any problems with it.

Another food that I sometimes buy just for variety is Merrick. I think that its really great, and Cabeza enjoys it quite a bit. And,how can you go wrong with flavors like "Terducken" and "Grammy's Pot Pie"?

Good luck, and we're always here to help! IZ is a cutie, by the way. We're going to have to see more pics!

[newflvr]

Chester was also supposed to be on Proplan but he couldn't stop scratching!  SOOO now we've tried a couple of different flavors of Eagle Pack, Wellness Chicken, Wolf King...and I've finally figured out that Chester HATES kibble.  He hasn't eaten in three days.  He loved, Loved,  LOVED the taste of the boiled chicken I was taking down to the hospital for Cowboy, but he'll sniff his kibble and walk away.  I don't know how Chester has gotten as big as he has (97 pounds) on air!!!

[Fumble]

does proplan cause the itching/scratching? fumble has been scratching a little bit and i thought it was just because he's shedding his puppy fur!

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Well here is the latest Picture I have of Winslow. He weighed in at 71.5 pounds on Tuesday.  This picture is from Thanksgiving.

Rich

[newflvr]

does proplan cause the itching/scratching?Huh fumble has been scratching a little bit and i thought it was just because he's shedding his puppy fur!

I think it does.  Chester was scratching all night long...suppose dly, Proplan has a lot of corn and it makes a lot of dogs itch.  Since he's been off Proplan, he hasn't had the problem.

[newflvr]

Oh, and Rich, Winslow is ADORABLE!!  Don't you just want to love their faces??