Choosing dog foods is very overwhelming. Especially since the FDA just came out with a new report that says grains in dog food is a good thing after we've been told for years to get grain out of diets. And anything you believe, you can find supporting articles on the internet for sources that you trust. Here's what I believe.
Grain free diets aren't 100% meat. Instead they've been adding weird foods from weird places to replace the grain in traditional dog food. These foods are things that haven't withstood the test of time such as grain. So why pay more for food that isn't going to be as good for your pet.
Made in America with American products. China has many different ideas on what is healthy. Recalls. Most pet foods that have been recalled may not have been made in China but have been made with Chinese products. So be carful of big companies.
Law Suits: I think every dog food company is being sued by the other dog food companies. I choose Blue Buffalo because they're a small, family owned company. Yes, they're being sued for a slue of things. But you have to ask where the money is coming from for these lawsuits. These are big numbers. They've never had a dry dog food recall Ever. The only recall that I'm aware of is from the facility that they had the dog food made (they don't own their own processing plant which is completely normal, like most of the human consumption food that you might even eat).
RAW FOOD DIET
I'm really against this. Your dog is allowed everywhere in your entire house. They'll lick you. They'll put their mouths on your children. You're going to allow them to lick you. Some people (not me) let their dogs lick them on the face. If its a puppy its going to chew on things that you might use later. You're going to take your dog outside, throw a ball that they've have spit and yuck all over it. And then YOU WILL TOUCH YOUR FACE. Your kids are going to put their hands in their mouth. You're introducing so many germs and food born things into your home that doesn't have to be there. You're opening yourself up to touching all of these that now have raw food all over them.
The argument is that these are animals and not people so they shouldn't have cooked food. But why? Dogs and people are inseparable through out history. Some scientist thing man and dog have been together the whole time the monkey have stood up.
These are not
wild animals and don't need to eat like one.
SWITCHING FOODS
I have gotten an animal, cats and dogs, not had a clue of what it was currently eating, fed it the food I will be feeding it, and it didn't die. It didn't need to go to the vet and really nothing too much happened other than it had "looser stools" and had to go outside more often than it normally would. After 3 days, everything was normal.
But! For a puppy that is just starting out with outside bathroom training, it is a good idea to slowly creep over to a new food. It might get confused on what is going on with its body and you'll have a mess on your hand.
First, buy a small bag of the food that the puppy is currently eating. Give the puppy its normal amount of food and then add a little bit of the new food, probably about a handful. Do this for 2-3 days. Pay attention to stools. If he has really loose stools then add less tomorrow. Wait for the stool to be around the same consistency it was before. It might take one day, you might not notice a difference or you might have to do it a little longer. On day 3-4 switch the food to half and half. I would say keep it at half and half until the old dog food is almost gone. Pay attention to the stools and make sure they stay somewhat firm and the dog doesn't look confused/ uncomfortable when going potty.
The reason to do this until the food is almost gone is to not waist your money. If you are comfortable with throwing away dog food, go for it.
When the dog food is almost gone, I would add less and less of the old dog food and more and more of the new.
