Confirming Grain Free

[ewinston]

I asked this question not too long ago but only recieved one response so i am not quite confident on this decision. I was wondering if it was okay to feed an 8 week old puppy canidae grain free. I recently saw a thread that discussed feeding a puppy good high quality protein is okay. If so how much would you feed?

[faust]

I would feed between 2 and 3 cups a day. Do 3 feedings if your schedule allows it as well. Canidae grain free is a good quality food but it is super high in calories per cup for a growing puppy. ME (kcal/cup) 498. Because the food is so calorie dense I would err on the low side of the feeding chart. Going with 2 cups at that age and staying with a small amount throughout your pups growing stages unless you see weight loss. You want a thin puppy where you can feel every rib without a layer of fat and you should be able to see the last 2 ribs as they grow.

Other grain free options are significantly less calories. Orijen being around 450 for the adult and ToTW being around 360-370 depending on the formula.

[ewinston]

That just scares me. So two cups a day of Canidae and he will be okay? Or would you just play it safe and just cancel the grain free and go with the beef and ocan fish formula (Canidae)?

[SirMuttleyCooper]

I know how you feel - it's a bit scary at first b/c you don't want to screw up and cause growth issues, etc. My new pup (11 weeks old) is on TOTW and he went from 3cups of Iams to 2 1/4 cups TOTW a day. I've started to up it as he's growing (meaning he may be at 2 1/2 cups now), but his growth is steady and he looks good! But like Faust said, err on the lower recommended amount and go from there. If the pup is acting starving or had a growth spurt, up it a little at a time. It'll all be ok!

[Meatos]

I would stay grain-free. The point of eating grain-free is that you are not filling your dog up on fillers that he cannot digest. Dogs weren't designed to digest corn and soy, etc. so you're just pumping the money into his food, and he's just crapping it all out rather than really using it.

You can feed so much less because the food is much higher quality. It's like when you eat a big spinach salad with chicken breast and a side of veggies, you feel much more satisfied than if you were to eat a bag of chips and a side of ice cream.

What Faust is saying is start with 2-3 cups and try it for a couple of days. Use your boy's ribs as your guideline and adjust as necessary.

If it helps you put it into perspective, my girl is 7.5MO and has been eating Orijen 6 Fish since she was 5.5MO. She is eating 6-7 cups of the Orijen and her littermates are all on a grain kibble, eating 10-12+ cups. The Orijen is almost 500 calories per cup, so she's eating 3000 calories. That's a lot...more than I eat in a day! Would you say that, compared to her littermates who are eating almost twice as much, she is starving? Not so.

Overfeeding is a big contributor to growth problems, so it's always best to lowball then adjust up or down as necessary.

[faust]

The one thing you will notice is small amount you will need to feed to keep them at a balance weight and nice steady growth. You will always feel you are underfeeding them because our eyes always tell us they need more. Do not let your eyes fool you. Your dog will be taking in significantly less calories with grain free then on a grain inclusive diet and producing much less waste.

Faust has been eating ToTW for two months and the one thing you can tell is he is thin. Which everyone comments on. Never unhealthy thing but just that he is thin and people are not used to seeing thin healthy puppies. His growth has been extremely steady tho. He is reaching maximum growth for each of his stages (month to month) in height but always on the middle range for weight. I have not noticed any spurty growth tho other than when I first changed his food.

[ewinston]

Thank you so much for all the great advice and reassurance. We will start the pup on two cups a day and work from there. Ever since i started researching the breed everyone has preached low protein, low protein and i feel better knowing that if done right this will not be bad for the pup..thanks again everyone.

[Meatos]

Thank you so much for all the great advice and reassurance. We will start the pup on two cups a day and work from there. Ever since i started researching the breed everyone has preached low protein, low protein and i feel better knowing that if done right this will not be bad for the pup..thanks again everyone.

The low protein mainly applies to the grain proteins. You want to keep those to a minimum. In a grain-free kibble, all the protein comes from meat, which dogs were designed to digest. Besides, since you are feeding so much less, it's important to look at the amount of protein per cup. Since you are feeding so much less, the protein levels in a grain-in vs. grain-free kibble are comparable.

I stick by what I said about overfeeding, though. That's the key! Keep the amounts in check and be realistic. Dogs don't 'eat with their eyes first' in the way that humans do.