HELP! Ideal diet for German Shepherd puppy

Hi there,

Sadly our 13 year old German Shepherd dog passed away at New Year, and as the house has not seemed the same since losing her we have decided to give a home to a puppy from German Shepherd rescue.

As it's 13 years since we've had to look after a puppy (approx. 6 to 8 wks old) I was just wondering if anyone had any advice about what the best diet is.

I know some people prefer a natural food diet whilst others may use the newer all in one dried food products.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sorry to hear of your loss.
I would keep it on the food that the rescue have been feeding until pup is settled. Then really the choice is up to you. I use Arden Grange and this food was actually put together by a GSD breeder so it should be good for them.
Becky

Thanks for your advice.

I've seen other websites that have recommended Arden Grange food for German Shepherds.

Is this a specialist food which would have to be bought from a pet shop or can it be bought at a local supermarket?

You will be able to order it from a pet shop or you can order it on line from Arden Grange themselves.
Becky

We're currently trying to change our puppies diet from tinned food to a dried complete food which is sold by the Pets at Home stores.

However, we have encountered a problem with the meat side of the diet as the puppy seems to be having problems with Butchers Puppy food, to be blunt it's made her need to "poop" more frequently and when she does it's appearance is very soft.

Has anyone else had problems with Butchers Puppy food and if so what tinned food did you use which didn't cause any digestion problems?

Any help would be much appreciated.

The only tinned food I could recommend is Chappie, especially for a gsd who might have a sensitive digestive system. Maybe try that if you want to feed tinned? Royal Canin do a special german shepherd food too but it's a kibble in a bag, but they might do a tinned equivalent?

Take a look here:

http://www.bestpetpharmacy.co.uk/det...t.asp?id=67437

Is this Butchers Dry? If you check the ingredients and it lists cereals/rice first then this is why she produces a lot. if you put 100gms in one end that's what's going to come out the other! I can't recommend Arden Grange highly enough. It produces a lot less poo but you would need to change slowly so they get used to a better quality diet.
I've fed Arden Grange for 10 years and never had a problem with it.
Becky

like has already been said keep her on the same diet until she is settled in but my aunt fed her G.S pup asda complete food right from the word go and he is fine on that personal choice
ATD xxx

As the owner of a puppy GSD, I figured I post this for future refernce even though this is an old post.

Be carefule what you feed him. I got my GSD when he was 3 months old and continued to feed him Royal Canin which is what the breeder was feeding him. I also mixed in some puppy cans. But he would poop literally 8-9 times a day and it was always diarrhea. So I kept switching up his food until I found this canned food called BG (Before Grain). It was an all meat product and that definitely helped his stomach.

However when he turned 8 months old, he started walking with a limp... a really bad limp, not putting any pressure on his front paw. I took him to the vet and they x-rayed his paws and found nothing wrong except some dark areas on his bones which was over-development. He was growing too fast. So the vet had me switch him to regualr adult food because he was getting too much protein in his puppy food. 2 days later, he was completely fine again.

A few weeks later I talked to someone else who owned a German Shepherd and they told me their puppy went through the same thing. So just be aware... feed them a good puppy food but if you notice anything funky, don't overlook the food as the cause. It'll save you $500 at the vet for them to tell you your dog has 'growing pains'.

Hi and welcome. What you decide to feed is ultimately up to you and everyone has their favourite. Personally after 30 odd years of owning a range of breeds of dogs (show, working, pet and experience of breeding too) I would say that without a doubt feeding raw is THE best way to go for your dogs overall good health - after all it's what they are designed to eat, and they're are so many benefits not least the maintenance of essential enzymes that cannot be given back in processed foods. However this is not always suitable for everyone to do and there are a range of superior feeds readily available now. I have found if I need to feed a complete dry that Origen is a particularly good one with no additive, no cereals for fillers and so on. Many processed foods have low grade proteins in them.

You may find it useful to review this independent link and decide for yourself which feed would suit your particular dog best. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

There tends to be an overload of information out there at times and it can be difficult to wade through it all to find the truth. Good luck and shout out if you need anymore advice.