<p>^ oh contrar, I’m a big fan of no dog food and feeding them such things as chicken and rice with veggies and such. In fact my vet supports it.</p>
<p>BARF is the best option, but not realistic for most people. You basically need an extra freezer if you want to do it economically, and time planning out meals. Even some of the show breeders I know went back off BARF (either entirely or every other meal) because it was too much of a hassle, and the difference between BARF and high quality dog foods like Orijen/Acana/Taste of the Wild/etc wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile. But if you can do it, it’s definitely the best (if done well).</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can just tack on some fresh supplements to a dry food diet, like yogurt or eggs. But for most people, a good (just because the bag says “premium” doesn’t make it good) dog food is sufficient.</p>
<p>:) As I said, there are endless discussions on what to feed dogs. I didn’t even broach the idea of BARF because I figured that if we could influence the OP’s family to use something at the level of Nutro instead of Kibbles and Bits or Old Roy or some of the crap in cans we would have scored a triumph. </p>
<p>BTW, OP, not only do you have to feed less of high quality food, but the dog’s stools are much smaller and more compact, and therefore easier to pick up!</p>
<p>Yeah, hence why I didn’t really want to touch the topic to begin with but couldn’t help myself :D</p>
<p>OOooo…that Monks of New Skete book is good and might even be at your library. I also like How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Clarice Rutherford and David Neil. </p>
<p>? The breeder’s vet checked the puppy on the day of purchase? Is this a different puppy than the one in the barn with the dam afraid of the breeder?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t feed a raw diet. It made my lab very ill.
I mostly fed her wet food but she also loved Orijen…</p>
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<p>My dogs eat raw. It’s easy and cheaper than “quality” dry food. I will never feed dry again after watching my last rottie die from a gastric torsion. It might have still happened if we fed raw, but I have my doubts after doing the research. I’m guessing a diet for the OPs dog isn’t important because I have my doubts that the poor thing will live very long anyway. Very sad that people just buy dogs on a whim.</p>
<p>Raw food isn’t that dangerous. Dogs are much more resistant to most bacteria such as salmonella by virtue of their shorter digestive tracts. Owners are more at risk of salmonella than the dog on the BARF diet. You do have to ease into BARF if your dog isn’t used to it, for the same reasons westerners shouldn’t drink the tap in India (but locals can).</p>
<p>BARF doesn’t provide any benefits against bloat though, at least not in any of the literature I’ve read. If anything, it’s worse because the volume of the food is larger (since raw contains much more water content).</p>
<p>Oh, and I’d take vet comments on canine nutrition with huge pinches of salt. Most (probably close to all) get kickbacks or perks from large dog food manufacturers. Mine tried to sell me on Iams… If you read about the origin of dog food, you’ll understand that this wasn’t some breakthrough of nutritional understanding or good intent. It began as a way for companies to sell by-products which would otherwise go to the landfill for a profit. And largely, it still is.</p>
<p>I don’t know that there have been any definitive studies on raw vs kibble regarding bloat. It does makes sense that raw would reduce the risk, but I can’t prove it. Every breeder/show owner I know with rotties feeds raw. My particular dogs breeders have never had an instance of bloat in the lines that they breed. I’m going with that track record :). Plus it’s less poop to clean up!</p>
<p>So, OP, how is the puppy doing? Us dog-lovers really want to know!</p>