It's a matter of personal choice and checking the ingredients. I would say all of the above are better than Bakers. I am not a fan of feeding just kibble and prefer to feed fresh food but appreciate it may not be suitable for everyone to do this .

There is very little evidence any one food is better than the next. It is possible Bakers does have too much sugar and other junk, but other than that, I doubt it makes much difference what you feed. As you say, everybody is pushing their own product. Facts are few and far between, much less common that strong opinions.

Before the current form of the net existed, we were raising puppies for a large dog guide school that feeds Pro Plan, no better rated than Science, Iams, etc. Once I started reading how awful it was, I started digging. What I have learned is that many other service dog schools with all their resources to determine the best diet and the incentive to do so, are feeding back of the pack chows including Iams, Science Diet, and Pro Plan. I have not been able to find any research backing up the claims of the premium chows. I have challenged people on open forums to provide me with research backing the premium chows. They don't seem to appreciate the importance of controlled testing. Those selling premium chows are very good at exploiting the emotions of many.

Now getting back to your original question. There has only been one hint about how much you are feeding. Puppies often come from the breeder overweight and feeding what the package says is often too much. Nobody knows more about producing sturdy, long lived larger dogs than the service dog schools. They are quite insistent those of us caring for their puppies keep them lean. It may not be as critical for smaller breeds, but can't hurt.

Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. You should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them. Each dog is different. Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its food and exercise adjusted to its individual needs. Chaz recently started a thread with a good illustrated chart on body condition. It got off to a good start, but is bogged down in a bunch of off topic wrangling.

Here is a good link too, http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageSe..._obesityhealth

I would defimitely ditch the Bakers food if I were you. It is probably the worst of the dry foods with its many additives, sugars & colourings, at the expense of good quality meat-based protein.

It is important that young puppies get the nutrients they need during the growing stage of their lives. And personally I think that a varied diet ensures that puppies get used to wet, dry, raw etc food & makes it easier for you to find foods they like & makes meal times more interesting for the puppies.

I feed raw food & bones bit I appreciate that this is not for everyone. Some of the better quality wet foods are NatureDiet & Denes. They contain a high proportion of meat & no grain/cereal fillers that are nutritionally no good for dogs but are cheap, so attractive to commercial dog fod manufacturers. NatureDiet does have rice in it but most dogs are tolerant of rice.

But even supplementing the puppies meals with a bit of human quality raw minced meat will help ensure that they are getting better quality nutrition. Bakers is just like allowing kids to grow up on a fast food diet of McDonalds, pizza etc ~ not a good idea!

Labman most people here with the exception of yourself have enough sense to know one food is better than another or we would all be feeding our dogs minced cardboard and a vitamin pill.

It seems to have escaped your notice we are discussing 11 week old Cocker puppies here not an adult dog and the o/p should not be too concerned about the size of a small puppy's waist.

I am aware from your previous posts that you underfeed puppies by giving them too few meals and deprive them of water so you would not be someone I would take advice from on puppy care.

I see you are still mentioning the secret guide dog /service dog school which can't be named in case they are 'pestered' though some of us would like to know who they are to check if they are aware how you treat the puppies they place in your care.
Here is a link for you, there are a number of posts in the thread that require a response from you , I think you may have missed them ...
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=127579&page=2

Please be aware that Minihaha has nothing to base her opinions on except the way it has always been. My posts are based on the practice of service dog schools as determined by professionals with access to all the scientific research plus their experience with thousands of dogs.

There was an extensive discussion of weight in a recent newsletter from a service dog school.

''Obesity is the number one nutritional disease affecting dogs. It's estimated that 25-45% of dogs in the US are obese. Studies have shown that joint and locomotive problems increase by 57%, circulatory problems by 74%, respiratory problems by 52%, skin problems by 40% and cancer by 50% in animals that are overweight.

Large breed dogs that are overweight also are more prone to developing hip dysplasia. Obesity is especially dangerous for young puppies, as their underdeveloped frame cannot support the extra poundage that it must carry.''

Thanks again for your responses, please dont get into any argument over my questions, I feel such a numpty having had dogs for so many years, my puppies the larger of which is stocky and well up to weight, she is a bigger boned dog in all directions , the wee 'Ruby' is dainty and I do think perhaps we have offered too much food really(usually a large handful each with mince and juice), but having sensibly backed down opting for little often rather than large infrequent ,(obvious)they were both keen at 6.30 this morning and legged it from their pen to the back dor for their dishes, but Ruby having spent seconds nibbling backed off as though waiting for her sister to go first , she has been like this since we got her and though we have tried seperating them this seems to unerve her as she is a little anxious at times.
I even resorted to hand feeding her ....she does seem interested initially but after a couple of mouth fulls backs off messes about and I have to basically push her back to the dish she even barks at the dish and plays with the food .She is trim but her ribs are reasonably well covered.
I just dont kow where to start with a view to changing their diet if she is as fussy with the next??
In all other ways she is like any other puppy a real little tomboy

Hi,

Just a couple of thoughts - are you feeding them seperately, by which i mean from their own dishes on opposite sides of the kitchen and not letting them swop about as they please - I would feed them seperately leave them with their food, possibly in seperate rooms, or one in a crate, one out, for say 15 - 20 minutes and then, without a fuss, take the food up again. Little and often is best for small tummies - certainly at 9 weeks (which i think you said they were) mine would be having 4 small meals a day.

I wouldn't at this stage be adding anything to their food - as this could pursaude them to hang out for something better on their food each meal. I would also stop feeding her by hand, she will eat if she's hungry and hand feeding to her is just encouraging her to play about at meal times.

So far as changing the brand you are feeding, I would simply start mixing in the new food with each meal over a period of about 4 - 5 days. so on the first day they would have mainly what they are having now with a tiny bit of the new food, then gradually increase so by the beginning of the third day they are having half and half, and keep going that way.

Good luck with your puppies

Kate

Thanks Kate for your reply the puppies are actually 11 weeks old , but that is irrelevent at the moment, I have tried feeding them seperately but the 'wee' one becomes anxious...I guess I am just worried at her being small, she was the smallest of the litter so not surprising really, she also has boundless energy and had all the usual vet checks etc, no other reason at all to be concerned so I will stop nagging everyone take on board all advice and feed a little often and try to chill out myself...I think at the back of my mind the loss of my last Spaniel, ironically last June , is making me overly concerned, my dogs are always my life and I guess I just want them to be healthy big bouncy girlys, then I can relax and enjoy them.

Big thanks everyone!!