about changing puppy foods

Casey,my puppy is now 15 weeks old 3 weeks ago she weighed about 10lbs. She's supposed to be a terrier/husky mix and grow to be under 30lbs. She's eating Purina One puppy Chow. She will not eat it unless we mix something with it cut up steak or this Pedigree little champions stuff. My mom went to this store and a guy gave her a bunch of samples of different foods(I have never ever heard of any of them) Well we went to see the Super Dogs yesterday and we got some samples of eukanuba
It is for small breeds. Would that have any affect on her growth? Is it too early to try to switch her food? If it's not can someone give me a step by step on changing her food.

 

And does it hurt them if you are giving them Purina puppy chow and just start feeding them Purina one puppy chow without going through all the steps? What does it do to them?

 

Switching from one food to another can give them diarrhea, I dont know how similar Purina and Purina one are though.

Is it that your pup just doesnt like the food youve been giving or is it maybe that its a bit tough for her to bite on? Have you tried softening it with some warm water, letting it soak for 10 or 15 minutes and then trying to give it to her, warm water will also bring the smell of it out a little more, might seem more appetizing to her.

 

If your gonna switch foods I'd switch to something a lot better than eukanuba. Innova, Calif Natural, Natural Balance, and many others are all great foods. Basically any food you can find at a grocery store isn't a good food. Petsmart-type places have middle of hte road food. To get the really good stuff you usually have to find it at an independent-type pet store.

But...to switch foods you should do it rather slowly, maybe one to two weeks. Just start adding the new food to the old food a little more each time. like 3/4 old, 1/4 new then 1/2 old, 1/2 new then 1/4 old, 3/4 new, etc.

 

We used to use Eukanuba, but then Natural Choice had some kind of promotion and you got 30% more free with the bag, and now we've found it somewhere (Petland) where it's even cheaper than Petmart (Petsmart just started carrying it, so now the prices have gone up). The dogs LOVE it, I don't even have to buy them treats anymore, lol, they'll work for their dog food.

 

My dog has ALWAYS been a picky eater.... But I bought some natural balance to use as a treat ... and he fell madly in love with it. He's now on it full time and looooooves it... it's definitely great quality too! I find it at Petco.

 

I use Natural Balance to feed the foster dogs and also as training treats for my raw fed dogs.

Sometimes people forget that the more expensive food costs less than you think when you factor in that you feed less of it. Naturally, a healthier dog also makes up for the cost in saved vet bills.

 

you know, i thought of posting that same/similar comment!
Nice to see that someone else loves the Natural Balance. I never knew about that product until Petco opened in our town (We've always been a petsmart-kind-of-family). It's great stuff... super healthy... and so far, so good.. HE LOVES IT! I highly recommend it!

 

My own dogs are raw fed, but since the fosters most likely will go to a kibble-feeding home I feed them Natural Balance instead. It's not a terrible idea to choose several different "quality" foods and rotate them every few months or so. That way the dog is getting different nutrients and hopefully filling any gaps any one food might have.