Hi everyone- new member here, and I’m hoping for some advice about feeding my 12 week old Irish Doodle pup (Irish Setter mixed with Standard Poodle). Both parents are approximately 65 pounds, so I assume he’ll be considered a LBP.
Long story short- he came from the breeder on Adult Purina One Lamb and Rice, and I transitioned him onto Science Diet LBP food on the advice of our vet. He had terrible diarrhea and loose stools for a couple of weeks, and after some research, I found these forums and tried a couple of things and finally settled on Earthborn Holistics Meadow Feast. I was even doing boiled chicken and rice, but the diarrhea didn’t completely go away until I stopped the rice and got him completely on the Earthborn, which led me to think it might be a sensitivity to the rice/grains. He finally has great poop (Lol) and I’m really happy with it. He is too- he gobbles it up!
However, we went back to the vet yesterday and she insisted we have him on a puppy food and that an “All Stages” food is not good for puppies. I’ve read most of this thread, and been all over the site, and I think I’ve learned enough to doubt her advice, but she does have me second-guessing myself a little bit. The only thing that worries me is that he is really thin and a little smaller than his litter mates, so I want make sure I’m giving him enough protein, fat, and calories, while watching the calcium of course! I noticed EH Meadow Feast has the lowest protein and fat of all of their varieties, so I picked up their Great Plains variety (Bison and lamb) which has higher protein and fat content, thinking I would mix it with the Meadow Feast since the rest of the ingredients looked similar. THEN I noticed the Great Plains variety is not on HDM’s awesome list for large breed pups, just the Meadow Feast and Coastal Catch.
So, here are all my questions:
Is Earthborn a good choice for him? I’ve also considered Wellness Core, Fromms Gold LBP, and Merrick- might one of these be better?
Is the Meadow Feast enough protein and fat?
Should I stay away from the Great Plains- was the calcium content too high to be included on the LBP list?
Thanks in advance for your replies!
