# Best food for my Vizsla pup....



## suzQ19c

My new Vizsla is about 14 weeks old. I have started him on Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice. He absolutly LOVES it but I was wondering if fellow Vizsla parents could tell me if they like/dislike that food. I raised Labs before, Mason is my first Vizsla. I just want to make sure that I am giving good food to my growing Vizsla.


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## KB87

We personally have our 8 month old male on Nutro Natural Choice large breed puppy chicken and brown rice formula because he isn't a fan of lamb. Not only does he love it but I like the ingredients in his food and can identify what the first few listed are. I also love that they have a large breed formula, not only for puppy but also for young adult (1-2 years old) and adult that will grow with him. Both our trainer and our vet approve so I know we aren't feeding him something awful.

There's a variety of brands used by different people on the forum but I believe that if your dog is eating it and you can identify what the first few ingredients are (my rule of thumb is that I would eat them myself) then I think that is a good food for your pup.


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## flynnandlunasmom

We feed Orijen


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## suzQ19c

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!


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## threefsh

We feed Taste of the Wild but I'm switching Riley over to Canidae Pure Sea because it has a higher protein and fat content (40% and 20% respectively). 

This is a GREAT site for researching dog food: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/


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## KB87

Thanks for the link to that site, threefsh. I'll definitely be checking it out to see what other food options we may have out there. Despite our boy loving his food he seems to be going through his phase of not being interested in food.


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## suzQ19c

Yes thank you for the link! I'll be doing a little more research myself!


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## maplevizsla

Higher protein is not good for growing 'larger' puppies - it can make their bones grow too fast and cause loose stools. And since when are Vizslas a large breed? Last I checked they were a medium sized dog!


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## BaxtersMum

Hi

Baxter is now 14 weeks and he has a mix of James Well Beloved kibble and nature diet wet food. I also had him on raw food natures menu but have to limit the amount I mix that with nature diet on the same day because he was going hyper and the vet said it was because of the high protein. You should only give 24% protein. 

He is much better on mixing kibble and wet over 3 to 4 meals a day. I don't actually mix in the bowl though, I mean one meal kibble and one meal wet etc. 

If I give Baxter the same food for all meals he won't eat. He is a fussy eater and likes variety. But then I think is get bored of eating the same thing all the time


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## born36

Best food is Raw diet.


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## SteelCityDozer

born36 said:


> Best food is Raw diet.


Born- have your pups allergies improved on raw?


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## born36

SteelCityDozer said:


> born36 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Best food is Raw diet.
> 
> 
> 
> Born- have your pups allergies improved on raw?
Click to expand...

Yes it has been like night and day. Hardly ever gets any bumps and when he does I am unsure if the are due to allergy or perhaps just little spots from catching sticks/thorns when running through the woods.

He has put on weight and actually grew an inch in the last month. This confirms to me that he wasn't getting the right nutrients from his previous food.


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## texasred

Preliminary assessment of the risk of Salmonella infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets.
Dogs fed raw chicken may therefore be a source of environmental contamination.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC339295/


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## veifera

> Higher protein is not good for growing 'larger' puppies - it can make their bones grow too fast and cause loose stools.


I think this is misleading. 

Higher protein, higher fat and low carbs mean that the most of the food will be utilized for growth and development, not passed through as filler and bulk (and junk) added to the food to make the dog feel full.

Think about it - if you feed only ground beef and eggs instead of kibble, you will feed even higher protein yet the stools will be firmer and more solid. That's what raw people never stop talking about. 

The reason for soft stools and growth like on steroids is overfeeding the puppy to the brim with food that's already highly concentrated.

I think the waistline should be the gauge as to how well the puppy is developing. It's better to have a lean and skinny puppy that grows slower and ages slower - but to feed high quality food that is going to be fully used for development.

When it comes to kibble, high protein and high fat diet should win hands down over any carbs or "balance" or other marketing weasel words, provided the food quality is good.


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## born36

TexasRed said:


> Preliminary assessment of the risk of Salmonella infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets.
> Dogs fed raw chicken may therefore be a source of environmental contamination.
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC339295/


You calling my boy an environmental contaminate!!!! Well I agree!! He is a litter bugger!!!

I am not going down the debate road on this one again.


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## threefsh

veifera said:


> Higher protein is not good for growing 'larger' puppies - it can make their bones grow too fast and cause loose stools.
> 
> 
> 
> I think this is misleading.
> 
> Higher protein, higher fat and low carbs mean that the most of the food will be utilized for growth and development, not passed through as filler and bulk (and junk) added to the food to make the dog feel full.
> 
> Think about it - if you feed only ground beef and eggs instead of kibble, you will feed even higher protein yet the stools will be firmer and more solid. That's what raw people never stop talking about.
> 
> The reason for soft stools and growth like on steroids is overfeeding the puppy to the brim with food that's already highly concentrated.
> 
> I think the waistline should be the gauge as to how well the puppy is developing. It's better to have a lean and skinny puppy that grows slower and ages slower - but to feed high quality food that is going to be fully used for development.
> 
> When it comes to kibble, high protein and high fat diet should win hands down over any carbs or "balance" or other marketing weasel words, provided the food quality is good.
Click to expand...

Very true. Quality is more important than quantity. The new food we just purchased for Riley (Canidae Pure Sea) recommends feeding much less per serving than we were feeding for TOTW because it is so high in calories.


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## Oquirrh the V

I was feeding my boy EVO Chicken and Turkey and raw (kibble at night, raw in the morning). I could never get his stools firm. I know that EVO is an excellent quality and high protein, but he couldn't handle it. I've switched to Pure Vita Grain Free Bison and still feeding raw. He eats way more of the kibble than he ever did with the EVO and his stools are much firmer. I know that the Pure Vita has a high carb ratio, but I'm hoping the raw helps balance this out. At this point I'm just looking to put weight on my little guy...in a healthy way, because he is extremely skinny.


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## dmak

*Re: Re: Best food for my Vizsla pup....*



Oquirrh said:


> I was feeding my boy EVO Chicken and Turkey and raw (kibble at night, raw in the morning). I could never get his stools firm. I know that EVO is an excellent quality and high protein, but he couldn't handle it. I've switched to Pure Vita Grain Free Bison and still feeding raw. He eats way more of the kibble than he ever did with the EVO and his stools are much firmer. I know that the Pure Vita has a high carb ratio, but I'm hoping the raw helps balance this out. At this point I'm just looking to put weight on my little guy...in a healthy way, because he is extremely skinny.


You should look into Taste of the Wild, or Blue Wilderness. Higher crude fat and protein. When we rescued Kauzy he was very under weight. The TOTW beefed him up nicely. Both are grain free


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## texasred

born36 said:


> TexasRed said:
> 
> 
> 
> Preliminary assessment of the risk of Salmonella infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets.
> Dogs fed raw chicken may therefore be a source of environmental contamination.
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC339295/
> 
> 
> 
> You calling my boy an environmental contaminate!!!! Well I agree!! He is a litter bugger!!!
> 
> I am not going down the debate road on this one again.
Click to expand...

We as a forum are a great wealth of information.
I posted it so people can do their own research and decide for themselves.
I believe they need to know both sides of the coin when feeding raw.
My dogs go to a trainer on occasion and would not be allowed to stay if fed a raw diet.
He can't put a whole kennel of dogs in jeopardy. It could cause vet bills, down time on training and the dogs missing hunts test. Then he would have to deal with unhappy customers.


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## veifera

> I was feeding my boy EVO Chicken and Turkey and raw (kibble at night, raw in the morning).


Thinking out loud here - if you feed the raw portion at night, instead of morning, he'll have plenty of time to digest it and the morning poop would be firm and odorless. That's probably a good thing to test. The other possibility is to mix in things (kibble + raw) and feed the mixture both mornings and nights. Something to think about...

Like most people, I went through loose smelly poops and exercise-induced super-soft poops. 

Called my breeder and almost had a screaming argument with her about this. I felt like I wasn't a good dog owner, not caring enough and just downright cruel because my puppy looked so thin to me. The sense of guilt was what drove all of that as well as the cultural expectation that babies are _supposed_ to be chubby.

The breeder told me to cut the amount of kibble well below what's recommended on the package - by a cup!!! (the bag called for 3 cups a day if I remember right). 

Then, she told me to mix in raw ground beef splashed with boiling water. And later on, I started adding a little coconut oil to the food and occasionally a scrambled egg. 

The second thing the breeder told me to do was to feed based on the waistline. Basically, she wanted to see a puppy that looks like a miniature adult, just ever so slightly fatter - not anywhere near a chubby puppy. Her instructions were to watch the waistline from above and to adjust the amount of food until it was just right (there are many guides on the internet on the waistline). 

She raised many many generations of Vizslas and her own experience is that skinnier puppies live longer and healthier lives and the risk of hip dysplasia, allergies and cancers is greatly reduced. 

Before this change, I was constantly inventing tricks to entice my dog to eat. We tried everything, from hand-feeding to getting on all fours by the food bowl. If I thought dancing naked on the table would make her eat, I'd do it. 

But the breeder kept saying she wasn't eating because she wasn't hungry. So I forced myself to give her method a try. And it really worked for me. My dog became really interested in food, her stools firmed up and got smaller in volume, loose stools stopped and she started to look more graceful and after the addition of coconut oil her hair became shiny and glossy. We're constantly complemented on how good, healthy and happy she looks. 

Looking back, I think I was reacting to the eating issue very emotionally. It's the same mechanic when we're crate-training - the screaming turns your insides out and makes you feel like you're hurting the dog. But in the end, it's a human issue not the dog's. 

My 2 cents.


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## colinstab

I have researched this at length and have had similiar worries myself. There are arguments for every side of the coin for kibble and RAW. I personaly think that anything man made cant be as good as what nature provides can it?

Im gonna go for natural instinct hopefully the pup will take to it. If not ill have to reassess my options. 

Going off the Natural instinct website they advise portion size and amount be judged off the weight of the dog and pups recieving 4 - 6% of their body weight, spread of 3 - 4 meals a day until about 6 months old. Judged for success by having a natural waist.


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## hotmischief

*Colinstab * great choice. My 10 month old hasn't looked back since starting on Natural Instinct. I had so much trouble with loose stools on kibble(several brands) and he was very thin. He loves natural instinct and it is so easy to store and use. The staff are really helpful and have helped in sort out an allergy problems. Hope your pup enjoys it. There feeding recommendations worked well for my boy. As the quantities are quite large we continued with three meals until 7-8 months but that was also no problem for us.

Verifera - I was told you should never feed kibble and raw in the same meal as the high moisture content in raw is asorbed into the kibble once in the stomach and can be dangerous. It was suggested that if you want to feed kibble and raw do one in the morning and the other in the evening.


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## colinstab

Thanks Hotmischief. I was thinking about going for 3 meals daily and make up the extra with their treats to train him with? Reducing if he started showing signs of becoming overweight.


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## born36

colinstab said:


> Thanks Hotmischief. I was thinking about going for 3 meals daily and make up the extra with their treats to train him with? Reducing if he started showing signs of becoming overweight.


I too feed Natural Instinct and I will be shocked if your pup doesn't love it. On the feeding guidelines you will have to see what works for your pup. When we first switched Mac he actually lost weight on the recommended amount so we upped it then upped it and then upped it again. He ends up eating nearly a Kilo (one tub) a day of the stuff! So it is expensive but it has sorted his allergies out and he is a much stronger dog with a great coat. He has nice firm low order poo( I am sure you really want to know this!!) and actually grew since the change in height which made me realize he wasn't getting the right nutrition on the kibble.


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## hotmischief

Colinstab - born36 is absolutely right - the guide lines are just that. As you say you will have to see how his waist line goes and adjust accordingly.

We met Born36 at a whizz about 6 weeks ago and I was horrified when he told me he feeds Mac 1Kilo of the Natural Instinct a day!! Mac is smaller, but far from fat, than my 10 month old who now weighs 65lbs, and mine does well on 650gms a day......so you can see how much it can vary from dog to dog.

When are you getting your pup??


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## colinstab

We pick him up on 5th  cant wait. just getting stuff sorted round the house and getting the chest freezer stocked with goodies.


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## loresonde

Raw, been doing so since 6.5wks. At 4 months he's eating 2lbs now in addition to all the vegetables he gets also. We just have to get rid of this Orijen food we got now...haha


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## rptcsml

Be very careful with the Lamb and Rice from any brand. Our girl Sophie was eating Avoderm Lamb and Rice for several years. Avoderm Lamb and Rice was recalled September 11 2012. Our Sophie passed away November 2 2012 from damage to her liver. Our Sophie was a healthy dog until she took ill in September.We believe it was from her food and have filed an investigation with the FDA. Avoderm is a product of Breaders Choice. Since Sophie died we are now finding out that there have been relatively current recalls of Lamb and Rice, one specificity from Diamond Foods, who label it differently for several brands on the market.

Please be vigilant.
Rob L


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## suzQ19c

Thank u everyone...i hope whatever u feed ur v's it is the best for u!!!! We all hav the same CRAZY LOVE for pur pups, lets realize that. Mason and I appreciate every piece of info that u give 
WHAT A CUTIE!!!!! RIIIIIGHT?


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## lebanesemommy

After reading all these comments, now I am not too sure if I am doing the right thing feeding my 4.5 puppy. I feed him Fromm Gold puppy food (the bright pink bag). In the morning, I would put down a bowl of 1.5 cups of the Fromm. He usually eats about one cup of it. I set it aside in a ziplock bag and save it for dinner. For dinner, I would add the Fromm dog food to the bowl to make it a total of 1.5 cups and then I would boil organic chicken breast (cut in half) and then cut it into smaller pieces and mix it up with the Fromm food. He loves it and always finishes the whole bowl in minutes. Does this sound good? I read that you should never mix raw with kibble. I am confused on what is the best thing to do!


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## lebanesemommy

and when you guys say raw food, do you mean literally uncooked chicken/beef or cooked chicken/beef?


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## tegee26

I do not claim to be a pet food expert, but will tell you (after 25+ years with labs) that we were frustrated with our V's eating habits early on. He is now 11-months old and doing fantastic. Well balanced and looks very healthy weight wise.

He is very much a self regulating eater and we now simply feed him in the AM and whatever he doesn't eat gets reincorporated in his evening meals so we do not waste food. He typically eats 2-3 cups per day. And we do supplement with a can of tuna, some lightly cooked fresh eggs or healthy meats if we have leftovers.

To that end, I am seriously considering a Raw Food diet. I am in the process of doing homework on it right now and all indications are that we will slowly switch him over this month.

Btw: as you can see by some my posts, I am huge proponent of Annamaet line of foods. They now have a new puppy food: http://www.annamaet.com/products/Annamaet_Ohana . They are family owned and not a "big box" corporate brand. Simply read about them, they are awesome and saved my lab back 8+ years ago with significant food allergies.

I hope this helps.......


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## Spy Car

lebanesemommy said:


> and when you guys say raw food, do you mean literally uncooked chicken/beef or cooked chicken/beef?


Na'am. 

Think of it as kibbeh nayeh for dogs (without the bulgar) :wink

Bill


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## Koda

Hi. Our pup is 4 months old and we are having a heck of a time with diet. She has such inconsistent poo. From perfect to soft to nothing but water coming out of her butt, which could happen all in one day. The breeder had her on puppy chow, our vet put her on gastrol puppy when she was 11 weeks old and she has had 3 different kinds of medication. Including deworming. She has been strictly on a raw diet for a month. She doesn’t get any treats. We are running out of ideas. Anyone have any thoughts?? Thanks


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## Gabica

Raw goat milk from the pet store. (No pasteurized one!) Primal has worked for us even when we had some GI imbalance (i.e. too much cucumber eaten or too much pool water swallowed).
New puppy (15 weeks now) gets Goats Milk Esbilac powder sprinkled over his kibble from day 1 and other than the first day when we brought him home he has not even had the usual cream cheese puppy poop. His is as firm as the adult one`s. No treats (as u mentioned too), other than organic baby carrots and antlers or himalaya chew.
Keeping the pup quiet at least an hour before and after eating is important. If they have running diarrhea skip a meal or two and just give the goat milk. Pick up right after pooping, especially if u had worm issues. And anyways, poop attracts all sorts of nasty stuff.
Filtered, good quality water only and be consistent, even changing water can cause upset stomach.
We wash food bowl after each feeding, meaning 3 times a day. We also get their crates wiped at least once a day and wash crate pads or whatever we use at least ever other day, using hypoallergenic wash pods and add vinegar.

Hope this all helps, with high energy sporting dogs tummy can be a challenge, it took us a while to figure it too with the first one too.


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## somewhereplace

We are proponents of raw feeding, supplemented with Omega 3s/Vitamin E and a homemade veggie/fruit puree. Her digestion is perfect, you can tell her body is absorbing all of the nutrients from the food rather than passing out a bunch of junk. 

This is my opinion only, but the BARF study done on 10 dogs that was quoted earlier is done by the Canadian Vet Journal- in other words, take the study with a grain of salt. Canadian vet schools are completely backed and sponsored by kibble companies. Vets are drilled in school about how commercial, mass produced food is the only way to feed pets. There's a reason why Science Diet crap is all that's sold at the vets. Why aren't there substantial Vet-backed studies on kibble?


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## Cavscout107

We started our Tucker on Diamond Brand Natural puppy food.....he does great on Diamond brand. He is now 13 months are we are about to start mixing his puppy food with Diamond brand all natural adult food.


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## Walt Watson

usually the puppies are all okay, so you don't have to tailor the dog food for his breed.


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## texasred

I will tell you, not all pups/dogs are okay with the same food. 
I have 4 different bags of dog food right now. 
June is a less active senior. So her food has less calories. 
Odi was on the same food as Shine.
His poo not as firm as I would like to see it, even with probitoics. Rescue sent him different food, and that made it worse.
Put him on a fish based food, and his stomach is now normal.
A stray dog, that I can't catch. Is now eating the food sent from the rescue.

Be sure to rule out treats as the problem, for upset stomach. Also drop a stool sample off at your vets. 

These are my indicators for the correct food.
Firm stool
Nice skin, and coat.
Not chewing on feet, or ongoing ear infections. 
Eyes look clear, and not drainage.
Pup has energy to burn.


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## Mattie.egg

We are neophyte vizsla owners but ‘all-in’ is our general m.o. and Bronwyn (9m female ) is no exception. Reading all these posts and plenty of other info has us at a a loss still. She’s tried Fromm gold (breeder started her on that) and a variety of flavors of TOTW, and she generally just isn’t interested in more than one meal a day most days, and that not until lunch time or so...and even if we find a tasty additive like olive oil or liver powder or whatever that induces a prompt eating session, she’s over it soon Now she will attempt to snag any and all human food possible, which we work hard to prevent... 
Other than travel or interruptions to normal life that might cause her to skip meals and drop a tad of weight, she actually looks great. Tons of energy that we work hard to work off 
Should we assume that she’s just getting enough and not worry about it? I’m tempted to shop around and sleuth out a food she wants more but maybe just eating to hunger means she’s getting enough with 1-2 meals at best a day? 
She does get grain free 3kcal training treats for our daily trading practice but that can’t add up to that much can it? Sorry for the ramble. We are just curious because that seems so far outside the general guidelines... thanks!!


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## tegee26

We have two V's. A 2-yr old male and a 19-week old female.

Our male V from day one was a finicky eating and we would struggle to have him eat two meals a day. he always looked proportionate and healthy, but we still got frustrated. So we simply started to leave his food out and let him graze. He is a prototypical self-regulator when it comes to eating and we don't get overly nervous about it anymore. The most important thing is he looks healthy and fit as a fiddle.

Fast forward to our new female V, she eats like a Lab...lol. So go figure. Again, she is very proportionate and not over weight at all. We feed both of them the same food, so that make life easy as well.

So the morale of the story is, from our experience, as long as they look and feel healthy and they're getting the proper nutrition that is the most important thing. After owning Labs all our lives, we simply had to get used to how V's eat and adjust accordingly. Labs eat on a very fixed schedule and V's tend to eat a tad definitely.

HTH


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## Mattie.egg

Thanks for your input!


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