Do dogs need some 'junk'?

I feed my 9 week old cockerpoo on Fish4Dogs dried puppy foo which he loves. I swapped him onto this from the Beta puppy he was on as I had read good reports on it and it doesn't contain all the cereals etc of some other dog foods.

I was happy with him being on this as he really loves it, but a friend of mine recently said that it might not be good to have him on something so pure all the time, as if ever he does eat other stuff he will be intolerant to it.

Do you think she has a point - is it a good idea to change foods now and again with pups so they become exposed to lots of different things?

I wouldn't have thought so as changing too often would just upset their tummies. I have an 8 and a 9 year old dog and they were always fed the same dog food (Pero organic chicken and rice) until Cherry developed an allergy and the vet said to change food in case it was this upsetting her. Now they are fed "Barking Heads" salmon and potato which is similar to Fish for dogs. I wouldn't have changed had it not been for Cherry as they always looked really healthy and Parker has loads of rosettes for "Dog in best condition".

Hi sorry, i think your friend is talking tosh - its not good for them to keep mucking around with their food especially different brands. "if it aint broke don't fix it" is the phrase i'd use, if your dog is happy on his current food i'd leave well alone

I wouldn't mess with the everyday diet, Fish4dogs is apparently very good too but you can mix it up with what treats you give. Cheese, liver and some veggies like carrots all make great treats and you can use your imagination to give soem variety there.
Kongs are also good for this =]

Oh goodness no, leave puppys diet alone, dont chop and change. If you got something that suits, stick with it

I don't necessarily believe in chopping and changing all the time when the food agrees with a dog, but I do believe in getting a dog used to all types of different foods.

One way you can do this is to get the free trial size packets from various manufacturers and just use these ocassionally as treats etc.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Hali, that is a really good idea. I have a puppy king that I stuff with cheese and treats when I go out and have ti leave him so I will have a search online for any freebies!

I wouldn't change her diet at all, if she is happy and thriving on it... I messed with Jamie's diet when he was a puppy following 'advice' from friends and created a fussy dog!! I would do as Hali says, feed her the fish4dogs and give her various treats so she gets used to other food and has various tastes.

I'm pretty sure that Skinners will send out free trials.

If you ever go to country shows/ dog charity days, many of the stands give away free trial sizes (and you often get them as a 'prize' for entering the companion dog shows).

Just don't give too much of a new one at one go.

I'd be careful with what you feed a pup as a too much change can lead to a dodgy stomach.

BUT, when they start maturing a bit, I like to give them a bit of everything. I find that dogs which are only used to eating the same one or two things react quite badly when given something different. On the other had, if they are used to variety, when they get into something they shouldn't (which, let's face it, happens often with greedy dogs) you don't have to wake up to a dog that has diarrhea all over your kitchen floor at 3am with a bad tum...

So, while I don't switch foods all the time (mine are fed Skinners, or Chudleys if I forget to order my Skinners in time), they do get lot's of extras.