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What to feed a Standard poodle?

7K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  rock55 
#1 ·
I’ve done some research and I think I want to continue feeding my puppy dry food for a while (same as the breeders) then gradually switch to my own choice of a dry and wet food mix.
I don’t like the idea of feeding my pup the exact same food every day, is it a good idea to switch up my pups food as long as I stay within the same brand? For example, if I feed him a chicken base dry food on some days, then a beef or fish base dry food on the other days. Or will that upset my puppy’s stomach?

also, I just came across this food brand Beef & Salmon Recipe | The Simple Food Project

Has anyone ever fed their dog this brand or something like it?
 
#8 ·
Yeah totally. Grandma's insistent on giving Basil broth because she likes it every visit every meal.

Keep in mind this extra liquid during meal time is going to mean you need to make a mental note to them out to use the potty sooner or an accidently will happen.

It has to be said -- ideally no to low sodium broth, like if you plan to cook/boil/instapot chicken at home.
 
#3 ·
It is a good idea to switch not only "flavors" of food, but brands. The more variety your pup gets, the better! I switch off with every bag I buy. If you do it this way, the dog never gets accustomed to one formula, and you don't have to worry about switching over gradually. By switching brands, I mean get a list of good quality brands and switch between them. I do like Fromm Gold Star, because they have so many flavors. I go with them the most. By switching brands you are not relying on the nutrition choices of one company, and what one company may be doing wrong or not at all another company may be better at. I don't think there is any brand that is perfect, so switching it up helps to make up for human errors or choices made for reasons of economy.

Of course, if your pup has or develops allergies or other health concerns this may not be a good thing, but I believe this method actually helps prevent some food allergies and conditions. Also if your chosen brand is not available or suddenly changes their formula (with or without telling you) your dog will not have problems adjusting.
 
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#5 ·
Just to clarify, When you switch between brands do you gradually add in the new brand with the old brand or just switch it at once? How often do you switch? Is it a day to day thing or week to week? I’m worried that if I feed a chicken recipe one day then a beef recipe the next day it’ll upset his tummy
 
#4 ·
Back before dogs lived the good life sleeping on sofas, they got a varied diet based simply on what was available.

That being said, there are two important considerations. One is the balance of helpful bacteria in the gut develops in relationship to the type of food the dog eats. If you abruptly shift the food to something the dog has not eaten much before, the gut bacteria will be thrown out of whack and the dog will probably have diarrhea while the gut ecosystem adjusts. That's why people often suggest mixing the old food with the new for a few days.

The other is that poodles are more prone to allergies and auto-immune disorders than a lot of breeds. Therefore, some vets recommend sticking to a restricted list of proteins: only chicken, or only beef, or only whatever. The idea is that, if the dog later develops an allergy to their primary protein, you can switch to something else the dog hasn't yet developed an allergy to. If the dog has already become sensitive to lamb, fish, chicken, duck, beef, venison, etc. then you are stuck with a hydrolyzed protein prescription diet.

I've always given my dogs a varied diet. All have been fine, with the exception of Pogo. He was sensitive as a young puppy, grew out of his problems, and then developed a very sensitive digestive system in the last few months of his life when his cancer got bad. I had to put him on a hydrolyzed protein diet for the last few weeks.
 
#6 ·
All at once. When one bag is empty I open a new one. A bag lasts about 3 weeks. Switching daily would not be a problem, I just don't want to have a lot of bags open and then they go stale or rancid.
 
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#7 ·
All at once. When I get a foster dog I have no idea what he has been eating. I have no problem switching the dog to raw.

With kibble, the main problem is the change in grains. From corn to wheat (or corn and wheat) is upsetting. I would not feed any food with a corn base as corn is difficult to digest even for humans. Sticking with the same brand should keep you with the same grains. If you feed grain free or with the same grain, it will be much easier on the system.
 
#17 ·
Corn is used in so many foods (animal and human) primarily as a filler. In animal food, it is usually the corn leftover from other products. Corn is hard on digestion and the heart. (as in corn syrup. try to find human foods without corn syrup!)
 
#9 ·
Broth is only suitable for dogs if it's free of alliums (onion, garlic, etc).

"Allium species toxicosis typically ensues after consumption of a single large quantity of the material or repeated small amounts."

 
#10 ·
You'll see information also regarding grain inclusive food vs grain free in relation to a possible connection between grain free and DCM in dogs. There's no conclusive proof of a connection but it is possible.

As a precaution until more studies are done and unless your eventual poodle reacts badly to grain inclusive food, I'd avoid grain free.

Whatever you choose to feed, you want to be sure that it's a completely balanced diet. See the WSAVA site for guidelines on selecting foods.


How to read a pet food label

Rotating your dogs food has pros and a few potential cons. Look up "rotational feeding" online. I rotated two proteins and two brands with my mini boys as puppies and add a small amount of our dinner protein with dog safe veggies as an additional rotating topper. One was never a keen eater so while looking to make a change I landed on a food that he looovvved. I stuck with the single food but still rotate the dinner topper nightly. It's a small amount so there's little chance of digestive upsets.
 
#11 ·
One thing I would add is that diets like the one you posted are very much a fad right now, and even if it is a balanced diet, I would worry about production stopping because the company shut down (not to mention, quality control is likely less of a thing due to more limited staff). I also am cautious to believe that they are properly balancing their diet, since A) I see no mention of a nutritionist on staff anywhere on the site and B) they base their diets on some "herbsmith, inc." company diagram that I have doubts on its actual effectiveness. Seems like somebody wanting to make a quick buck to me, which is common in these kinds of startups. If they have been around since, say, the early 2000s, then maybe I might be willing to look further in to them, but they aren't likely to last longer than a few years after the freeze-dried craze dies down.

I like to swap my foods out after each bag finishes just in case something gets contaminated or one of the dogs starts to get bored (very likely with a Poodle!). Plus there's more of a likelihood that if one diet is lacking, the other will make up for it.
 
#13 ·
FP, I hoped you'd drop in here :)
FP has a nutrition thread started with a lot of research time in.
The links are there for you to look thru the materials.
Worth your time to look.
 
#15 ·
I use Nulo right now, and will be switching to Farmina for my next bag (expensive, but at least since I'm switching bags regularly it balances it out), but as Rose said, if you ask twelve different people what they feed, you'll probably get twelve different answers. :) My dogs are also small breed, so what works for mine might not necessarily work for your spoo.
 
#16 ·
I’ve done some research and I think I want to continue feeding my puppy dry food for a while (same as the breeders) then gradually switch to my own choice of a dry and wet food mix.
I don’t like the idea of feeding my pup the exact same food every day, is it a good idea to switch up my pups food as long as I stay within the same brand? For example, if I feed him a chicken base dry food on some days, then a beef or fish base dry food on the other days. Or will that upset my puppy’s stomach?

also, I just came across this food brand Beef & Salmon Recipe | The Simple Food Project

Has anyone ever fed their dog this brand or something like it?
Gentle Giants Beef kibble plus mix in Gentle Giant Beef canned. and just a bit of lean, cooked ground beef. Gentle Giants has different flavors, but our Sammy prefers the beef (turkey gives him the runs)
 
#19 ·
I’ve done some research and I think I want to continue feeding my puppy dry food for a while (same as the breeders) then gradually switch to my own choice of a dry and wet food mix.
I don’t like the idea of feeding my pup the exact same food every day, is it a good idea to switch up my pups food as long as I stay within the same brand? For example, if I feed him a chicken base dry food on some days, then a beef or fish base dry food on the other days. Or will that upset my puppy’s stomach?

also, I just came across this food brand Beef & Salmon Recipe | The Simple Food Project

Has anyone ever fed their dog this brand or something like it?
Feed a fresh food diet. Nutrition is the foundation of health. Rotate proteins within the fresh food diet.
 
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