New pup soon- what food should I put him on?!

Hopefully we will have a collie x lab pup from mid june. We will be taking him home when he is just past 7 weeks.

Now, there is so much choice! I don't know which one to put him on and could do with some advice.

I would want something thats reasonable but not the equivilant of pumping old style blue smarties into pup on a daily basis.

I must admit, with my first dog who was a lab, my parents made the choice of food and it was *shock horror* tesco premium kibble . He lived to 13 and was a very healthy dog until the last year when he slowley went downhill. I am not saying this was the right choice or the wrong one!

On the other hand, I have been told that nothing but james wellbeloved is fit for a dog, but it seems to have a hefty pricetag when you see whats inside.

Then others will say if you can get it in a supermarket its not worth feeding and that only something like AG will do.

But then on the other end of the spectrum I know someone who still competes with their dog in agility at 12 and is on chudleys/chappie.

And then others just say well if it gives them firm poos, shiny coat, they are healthy and not hyper, its obviously working for your dog.

Please help me! so much choice

I think they are being weaned onto hills science plan if I remember correctly?!

You should start off feeding whatever the breeder feeds and then switch to the food of your choice slowly.

Some good, easily available dry brands off the top of my head:

Fish4Dogs
James Wellbeloved
Wainwrights
Skinners (duck and salmon flavours)
Applaws
Arden Grange
Barking Heads
Burns

My last two puppies were started on James Wellbeloved puppy and then by 5 months were switched to Skinners, which they have been on ever since.

If I had another puppy, I think I would start them off on Barking Heads Puppy Days and then do the same as I did before -- switch them to Skinners at 5 months of age.

Thanks very much

Harringtons is a good food too x

It can be a bit of trial and error as not all foods will suit all dogs

I'm not a great fan of feeding only a kibble diet and nothing else. Dex had constant skin irritations when on dry food and it was only when I moved him onto wet that these stopped. He's on Wainwrights wet trays, and also has other things such as fish, eggs, bits of anything I eat that are safe for dogs. He's also now enjoying a raw meaty bone; when I first tried this he wasn't interested so maybe he's getting more adventurous!

Other good wet foods:
Naturediet
Nature's Harvest
Lilly's Kitchen


From what I understand, the best dry foods include:

Orijen
Acana
Arden Grange
Wafcol
*the first two in particular can be pricey

iv fed my lab puppy on wainwrights large breed puppy and james welbelloved large breed junior and hes great on both of them, apart from a wind problem! iv heard that the skinners duck & rice is a good one that i might put him on when he needs to go onto adult food as it seems a better price for very much the same content as the james welbelloved.
He seemed alittle hyper on the large breed foods which had 30% protein and since having 24 % protein in the james welbelloved junior he seems alot more calm? dont know if it is the protein or not.
My 15 year old dog has harringtons which she loves (she is a very fussy lady!) and she looks great! and its also alot cheaper but still having a half decent content.

Funny you saying Wafcol. I remember my dad being made to feel very guilty by the vet as although we were feeding him far more than the breeder reccomended he was still wayy too light. As soon as we changed over to tescos he was fine , which is why im wary of putting him on a really high end food if the low-medium end stuff is going to do just fine... hmm! so confusing!

I agree with this. The amount of elitism surrounding pet food is just nuts. Especially the idea that if you can buy it in a supermarket it automatically must be crap - it's just too cheap and easy an option for the truly dedicated, obviously

FWIW I raised my pup on Skinner's and Naturediet, both the Puppy/Junior varieties, and I have no complaints with how he's turned out.

TBF. there are a lot of foods on the supermarket shelves (for human and pet) that I wouldnt touch with someone elses barge pole.

Harringtons, Arden Grange, Lilys Kitchen to name but a few can be found in supermarkets. Lilys is totally organic too