# Puppy Food of Choice / Training Treats



## Duke_of_Birds (Aug 6, 2014)

We bring our new puppy home on Friday, and have ordered the food suggested by the Breeder. The breeder feeds both dry and wet food to all her dogs not just the puppies. I have never fed any of my dogs wet food. She claims it helps their coat and skin.

The breeder has suggested feeding Annamaet 25% Dry Dog food, as well as EVO 95% Chicken and Turkey canned dog food. 

A few questions to start convo:

What are your thoughts on these brands?

What are your thoughts on wet food?

What brand and style do you feed?

What do you use as training treats?

TIA for your opinions and info.


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Dharma gets Oven Baked kibble adult Chicken and I give her Minute Rice mixed in. As a puppy she was started on Kirkland with the breeder and then switched to Oven Baked puppy. The breeder was feeding all kinds of human food too.(eggs, liver, chicken). We had so much digestive upset that we couldn't feed anything but the kibble. We just use milkbone biscuits now. Most store bought treats aren't tolerated by her stomach. Dharma has really just begun to like and tolerate a little bit of banana. Just beware that there are all kinds of thoughts and feelings on the different ways and brands to feed your vizsla.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

For training treats I like to use small pieces of cooked meat, dehydrated liver, and various fruits and veggies. Carrot, apple, and other crunchy ones are favorites here. 

I advocate for homemade diets, raw or cooked. So while I can't offer advice on those brands, I'd think adding in wet food would be a good idea just from a hydration stand point. The dog can certainly drink extra water to make up for the dryness of kibble, but why not add in more moisture to begin with? It probably does help with skin and coat condition as well as kidney function.


Can't wait to see pics of Duke!


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## Duke_of_Birds (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks for the great info. Please keep it coming, brand new to this breed (have had dogs before) and I am trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible. I figured there would be a good amount of opions, so it would be a good thread.

My opinions please need to decide what to do by Friday. Thanks again all


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

We've fed Acana and TOTW and have been happy with both (TOTW is still pretty new for us though). Dogfoodadvisor is really helpful when choosing or evaluating a kibble. Also, we mostly hand feed, but allow them as much food as they want (Dex especially is a picky eater and won't even usually eat as much as the bag recommends). The only dog bowl in our house is a water bowl. 

For treats, our pups love carrots, so we use a lot of those. Dex also loves scrambled eggs (the only thing he drools for!). For training, we mostly use Zukes or dried liver. 

I recently started adding in some canned food (TOTW too) to Dex's Kong. He's a picky eater and usually can't be bothered to unstuff a Kong unless it's really yummy  He goes nuts over the canned food though and I usually only put in a spoonful or so. So that might be an easy way to work it into your pup's diet.

The other staple for us is canned pumpkin (note: not pie filling) as it firms up their stools. It's especially helpful when you're transitioning them to a new food.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Also, keep in mind if you decide to transition to a new kibble, you might want to wait a couple weeks. When you first bring them home, it's stressful enough for them. Give them some time to settle in before you switch up too much!


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## Duke_of_Birds (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks for the responses I figured we would not try to transition if at all for at least two weeks and I was even thinking about waiting about month or so.

A lot of people are talking about dried/dehydrated liver as a treat. Can this be found at a normal pet store (like petsmart) or does it need to be ordered?

That also brings up another question... Where do you get your food and who seems to have the best prices?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to make sure everything is perfect for the new pup, and doesn't cost me an arm and a leg if it doesn't have too...


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Duke_of_Birds said:


> Thanks for the responses I figured we would not try to transition if at all for at least two weeks and I was even thinking about waiting about month or so.
> 
> A lot of people are talking about dried/dehydrated liver as a treat. Can this be found at a normal pet store (like petsmart) or does it need to be ordered?
> 
> That also brings up another question... Where do you get your food and who seems to have the best prices?


Yes, with Dexter we waited until he'd had all his shots before we switched his food. I wanted to know if he got sick if it could be due to something nasty (parvo) or a vaccine reaction, etc. If I'd switched his food and he had an upset stomach, it would be harder to narrow down the cause. We're switching our new pup already though since it's hard to keep Dexter from getting nibbles of her food (and it looks like he might be developing an ear infection - possibly from that or from the new switch to TOTW).

Dried liver can be found at Petsmart, etc. The kind we buy is kind of in a plastic bucket though, so it looks a little different. Store staff will know what you want if you ask them.

In hindsight, I wish I'd thought to figure out where food brands were available before we switched him! We could only buy the Acana at the specialty dog store in town. They don't have coupons, etc. and were often out of stock. So if they didn't have any, we were out of luck. This wasn't too much of an issue, but we couldn't always get the size bag we wanted. That's part of the reason we switched to TOTW, as I can get it pretty much anywhere, including at the feed stores. They are a little cheaper sometimes than the dog stores and I get coupons in the mail for $10 off/$50 order, etc.


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## Brady (Dec 1, 2013)

My breeder also had Annamaet and a wet food mix.

Annamaet is just fantastic food, and a great company.

Recommend it highly!


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