Soon To Be Newfie Owner

[Sillygoose]

Oh I forgot to add one photo. This was one of him when he was a lot smaller...make s me want to jump right in that hole with him LOL.

Oh he is just too cute. What a little fluff ball. I agree about jumping in with him!

[Nicole]

Did you get to check out the food forum yet?  I am paranoid about hip/elbow dysplasia, and I had a small panic attack about food yesterday and was given a lot of information.  And a lot of reassurance    I have pored over all of the info and have decided to go with a different brand.  In my opinion, the higher cost of the food, will be well spent if it means Sierra will stay healthier and live longer.  She is also itching all the time.  It's not fleas and I'm starting to suspect her food.


~ Stephanie

You have her on Eukanuba, right? I would also suspect food if you can rule everything else out, Stephanie. Cabeza had a horrible time with the lesser quality foods. He's allergy free, now and I'm so happy.

Also, yes, the food costs more and will (hopefully) ensure a longer life, but they also eat less! So, it does almost even out in the end.

[Newly Newfed]

We have ruled out fleas, but not her shampoo yet.  I make sure to rinse her well, but I may try a different brand and see if that helps.  Other than food or shampoo, I can't think of anything else that could be causing an allergy.  She doesn't get table scraps or people food...at least not that we give her.  She has helped herself a few times.  It's amazing how fast such a big dog can move when there is cake on the counter!!  We keep treats to a minimum since she gets them during training sessions.  Poor thing has little scabs all over her from itching.


~ Stephanie

[MadGenius]

Ok so no Purina One... About this Innova Adult, where can I get it? Would someplace like PetSmart or another pet only type store carry this, is it something I have to order online, or what?

The cost is not an issue. I dont know much about the food they should or should not eat. I have another dog as well...A Lab and we feed him Dog Chow..However whatever food we put Chewbacca on we are also going to put the lab on so they both dont start snatching from the others food bowl and eating 2 different kinds of food.

He gets 4 cups a day and our Vet even complimented us saying that he typically sees a lot of labs overweight but that ours was looking very fit. So of course we assumed the food must be good for him...LOL little did I know.

Other than the food, any type of supplements you recommend putting in there food? Again thank you for all this help and advice.

[Newly Newfed]

Check out this link...

http://www.bigpawsonly.com/index.php/topic,7435.0.html

Go down a few posts and there is a list with links to websites.  This was extremely helpful to me during my panic attack yesterday 


~ Stephanie

[Nicole]

Hey, Madgenius,

Well, I had to have my feed store special order me Evo. I bugged them and bugged them and bugged them and now they carry it regularly! :)

You can also order it online. But, if you go to their site, there is a store locator. You can type in your zip and they'll tell you who carries it.

http://www.naturapet.com/

There are also a lot of other good options. Canidae, Orijen, etc.

*modified to add site*

[MadGenius]

Hey, Madgenius,

Well, I had to have my feed store special order me Evo. I bugged them and bugged them and bugged them and now they carry it regularly!

You can also order it online. But, if you go to their site, there is a store locator. You can type in your zip and they'll tell you who carries it.

http://www.naturapet.com/

There are also a lot of other good options. Canidae, Orijen, etc.

*modified to add site*

Yes thank you I went to their site and found that we have a small pet store about 20 miles away that carries this brand along with a few others on that forum list.

Is Innova Adult one that you would recommend over any of the others on that list? Cost is not an issue I just want to make sure we are feeding him the best food we can and our other dog as well.

[Nicole]

Well, like I said. I feed Innova Evo. After the pet-food recalls, I wanted to go to a grain-free so that I "knew" I was avoiding any contaminated grain. I'm more than satisified with the product.

Being that your lil guy is going to be growing for more than 2 years, you might want to put him on the Innova Adult, which I've never used but I've heard glowing reviews on.

I think that you are probably going to be OK with a number of different foods. I've also heard that many people like the Canidae. One member here, Julie, I think has switched her Danes to Orijen, so she might be able to comment on that. Orijen large-breed puppy formula is 42% protien. That's higher than what I think large and giant breed puppies are supposed to have. However, they say that their research proves otherwise, and they actually have a Landseer Newf on their Large-breed puppy section of the site. They've got a pretty good white paper about nutrition, with lots of info in it, too.

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/documents/ORIJEN_White_paper.pdf

I've also heard that many people are satisified with Merrick,although I found it to be much too rich for Cabeza's tummy! But, here is their site:

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/

Also, I used to have Cabeza on Wysong. Its a pretty good food, but once again, I wanted grain-free. Here is their site:

www.wysong.net

This is a ton of info, I hope I haven't bogged you down!

[Nicole]

I am an Innova devoutee.  I had tried Jack on Wellness, also a very good food, but it didn't sit right with him.  Jack has a very sensitive stomach.  I can tell he has eaten something he should not by his loose stools. 

Jack's coat is lovely.  Shiney and healthy looking.  When he has not gotten 'unapproved' food his bowel movements are a nice consistency.  One of the things I noticed after we switched him to Innova was the size and number of bowel movements he had.  Before he was pooping like 6 times a day and they were huge.  Now he has 1 to 2 bowel movements per day and they are a more unoffensive size.

I know a number of members do supplement.  I, at one time, used to put fish oil in Jack's food for his coat but I don't need to know with Innova.

Tina, my neighbors said the same thing about Wellness. His dogs don't have a very sensitive tummy per se, but they just couldn't do the Wellness. After like, 2 months, their poos never firmed up.

Also, I used to put Dreamcoat on Cabeza's food, too. I found that with the Evo, I don't really have to do that. I will occasionally, just cuz. Also, I give him a Fish Oil tablet every now and then because he begs for them. (He LOVES them, and also just the plain ol' Vitamin E geltabs, weirdo)

[MadGenius]

Thank you all for the advice. I am thinking after reading your comments and comments from another forum, I am going to combine two approaches.

I think I will go with Innova and also include natural foods once a day. Things like Yogart, Vegies, Meats, Fishes and so on. However my question related to these items are...do you cook them or no? Cook the meats and other items or serve them raw?

[Nicole]

Thank you all for the advice. I am thinking after reading your comments and comments from another forum, I am going to combine two approaches.

I think I will go with Innova and also include natural foods once a day. Things like Yogart, Vegies, Meats, Fishes and so on. However my question related to these items are...do you cook them or no? Cook the meats and other items or serve them raw?

YAY! Good choice! Cabeza and Mabel also get other stuff with their kibble. Careful on the yogurt, some dogs can't digest it. If you give the yogurt, I would give nothing else or make any other changes until you can see how he does on it.

I give my dogs canned sardines, mackeral, salmon, etc. They also get eggs, (sometimes raw, sometimes cooked) veggies (usually steamed), cottage cheese, etc. We don't eat a lot of meat in the house, so I don't usually buy it for them, either. Sometimes, I'll buy them liver. They LOVE it fried in a little olive oil.

[Newly Newfed]

Try also freezing baby carrots.  Sierra goes crazy for them!  She absolutely loves ice and we can't go into the freezer without giving her an ice cube.  That way she doesn't eat up all of our ice cubes and she gets a good-for-her treat.


~ Stephanie

[MadGenius]

Try also freezing baby carrots.  Sierra goes crazy for them!  She absolutely loves ice and we can't go into the freezer without giving her an ice cube.  That way she doesn't eat up all of our ice cubes and she gets a good-for-her treat.


~ Stephanie

That is a GREAT idea. My lab loves ice cubes and that would be perfect.

I went to the pet supply store today and found another food that seems to be better than Innova. Its called Solid Gold, this seems to have everything a growing puppy and adult dog could want in it. Have any of you heard about it?

[Newly Newfed]

My sister has been feeding Solid Gold to her Yellow Lab since he was weaned.  I just tried to call her and see what she has to say about it, but there was no answer.  I guess she's pretty happy with it, Comet is now about 5 yrs old, and he's a happy healthy maniac.  Umm, I mean dog.  A happy, healthy dog.  LOL!


~ Stephanie

[MadGenius]

Well we just got the news that he went to the Vets office before his flight coming to us on Monday. He is in good health and weighed 24.6 lbs and he is 11weeks old.

Pertaining to his age is his weight where its suppose to be, is he small or larger for that age as it relates to weight?

Once we get him on Monday I will post more pics. We cant wait to see this little furball. My wife is already getting ready to spoil him with everything she has bought...LOL

I hope his flight doesnt stress him too much as well. Once he gets here we are going to bring him back and take him on to the beach to see how he reacts to the water, waves and sand