[JLH]

Would love to hear from experienced standard poodle owners, as to what they recommend for a poodle puppy diet age 10 weeks - 8 months. Ideas about what to feed poodles seem to have changed so much over the last 15-20 years and was curious as to what is being recommended these days for the highest quality diet and what some of the best brands are out there (we used to feed our poodle royal canin). Our standard poodle passed away about 4.5 years ago and are thrilled to be getting a new standard poodle in early September but its been a long time since we have fed a puppy!

 

[VanessaC]

It’s really up to personal preference...

Personally, I believe fresh food is the highest quality diet that we can feed our dogs. I feed raw food but I think that gently cooked food would work too. Some brands of premade raw I like include Answers, Vital Essentials and Small Batch. In my area there are a few local premade cooked foods that are nutritionally balanced, but you could also buy supplements (BalanceIt or Meal Mix are two I know of) to make sure your puppy gets everything it needs if you’d rather make it yourself. You could also calculate the nutritional profile of the foods you’re preparing and go from there, but I’d be extra cautious since puppies require a specific calcium to phosphorus ratio for optimal development and can’t regulate some excess/deficiencies as well as adult dogs.

If you wanted to go the kibble route, plenty of people seem to like Farmina. I think Instinct, Orijen, and The Honest Kitchen are all good options too.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I can vouch for Farmina and Honest Kitchen. They both smell very un-kibble-like. Peggy eats Farmina Ancestral Grains. (She's a year old, but still on the puppy formula because we bought a massive extra bag at the start of quarantine and just finally opened it.)

And I've been slowly introducing Honest Kitchen whole food clusters.

Honest Kitchen is made with human-grade ingredients. Peggy likes it so much, I was buying it just as training treats. But it's starting to crowd out the Farmina now.

Looking forward to hearing more about your new puppy!

 

[JLH]

It’s really up to personal preference...

Personally, I believe fresh food is the highest quality diet that we can feed our dogs. I feed raw food but I think that gently cooked food would work too. Some brands of premade raw I like include Answers, Vital Essentials and Small Batch. In my area there are a few local premade cooked foods that are nutritionally balanced, but you could also buy supplements (BalanceIt or Meal Mix are two I know of) to make sure your puppy gets everything it needs if you’d rather make it yourself. You could also calculate the nutritional profile of the foods you’re preparing and go from there, but I’d be extra cautious since puppies require a specific calcium to phosphorus ratio for optimal development and can’t regulate some excess/deficiencies as well as adult dogs.

If you wanted to go the kibble route, plenty of people seem to like Farmina. I think Instinct, Orijen, and The Honest Kitchen are all good options too.

Thank you. I will check these brands out.

 

[JLH]

I can vouch for Farmina and Honest Kitchen. They both smell very un-kibble-like. Peggy eats Farmina Ancestral Grains. (She's a year old, but still on the puppy formula because we bought a massive extra bag at the start of quarantine and just finally opened it.)

And I've been slowly introducing Honest Kitchen whole food clusters.

Honest Kitchen is made with human-grade ingredients. Peggy likes it so much, I was buying it just as training treats. But it's starting to crowd out the Farmina now.

Looking forward to hearing more about your new puppy!

This is very helpful. Thanks!

 

[JLH]

It’s really up to personal preference...

Personally, I believe fresh food is the highest quality diet that we can feed our dogs. I feed raw food but I think that gently cooked food would work too. Some brands of premade raw I like include Answers, Vital Essentials and Small Batch. In my area there are a few local premade cooked foods that are nutritionally balanced, but you could also buy supplements (BalanceIt or Meal Mix are two I know of) to make sure your puppy gets everything it needs if you’d rather make it yourself. You could also calculate the nutritional profile of the foods you’re preparing and go from there, but I’d be extra cautious since puppies require a specific calcium to phosphorus ratio for optimal development and can’t regulate some excess/deficiencies as well as adult dogs.

If you wanted to go the kibble route, plenty of people seem to like Farmina. I think Instinct, Orijen, and The Honest Kitchen are all good options too.

Thank you Vanessa for these details - I've taken note of ALL of them. Much appreciated.