Is grain free dog food really for all life stages?

Question

I wanna switch my 3 month old Toy Poodle puppy's food from Pro Plan to Nutrisource PureVita grain free bison. The guy at my local pet shop said that all grain free dog food is for all life stages, meaning my puppy can eat it too.

Should I feed my dog this food or stick to puppy food? I like nutrisource because it's above average quality (according to dogfoodadvisor.com) yet price is right.

Ingredient list and more info about the food: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/purevita/grain_free_bison

Answer 1

I generally prefer a puppy food for a puppy. Puppies need different than adults and senior dogs. I would stick with a a puppy food. My recommendation would be to find a good quality puppy food that you can feed that will help your puppy to grow as they should and get the nutrients that they need.



Personally I like the Nutro Ultra Small Breed Puppy formula. It is a holistic dog food with blueberries, cranberries, and pomegranates which are great for your dog's immune system. It also has chicken, lamb and salmon which makes the food smell better and taste great for dogs.



I hope that helps!



Geoffrey

Pet Nutrition Specialist for The Nutro Company

Answer 2

I guess that all depends on how you look at it. Technically, any food can be fed to any puppy or dog, and if that given canine does well on that food, no matter the age, then I guess it would be considered all life stages food. Not all grain free foods are labeled as being all life stages, and some foods that do have limited grains are. A good example of that would be Merrick brand. Their regular food IS labeled as all life stages food, but they still carry puppy and senior food. We feed our dogs Taste of the Wild, and it's NOT listed on the front of the bag that it's an all life stages food. Many times how a bag of dog food is labeled is just a marketing ploy. An example of that would be Royal Canin dog foods. They have foods that are labeled as being breed specific. Now, I can see that a working Border Collie may need a different diet than a Maltese, but why would a Shih Tzu need a different diet than a Maltese? I would bet that if you looked at the ingredients label of both breed bags, they would both be the same. Anyway, in my opinion, Nutrisource is a much better food that Pro Plan, and I would switch a 3 month old Toy Poodle to that in a heartbeat and not worry about what the guy at the pet shop told you. Most of the emplyees of these pet shops don't know jack shyte.

Answer 3

Any food labeled "for all life stages" must meet the nutritional needs of a puppy. While this may be ok for puppies, it wouldn't be right for adults nor senior pets. Each life stage has differing requirements for proper nutrition. Too much of anything can be just as bad as too little.



As far as "grain-free," this is a great marketing tool that has apparently worked. Any dog can be sensitive to any ingredient in the food. Grain is not necessarily bad, depending on the individual pet's sensitivities. A dog can easily, for example, be sensitive to beef.



What I believe you should do is to select a good, reputable diet for your pets that is easy for you to get when you run out. Stick with it after you decide. Remember that pet store employees are trained to sell that particular brand, and are given talking points to make the sale. Vet employees, on the other hand, receive no compensation from food companies, and yes vets DO keep up to date on all the nutritional information for the pets they serve.

Answer 4

I've been reading quite a few articles lately in my dog magazines about how the dog food manufacturers are actually ripping off dog owners by telling them breed specific foods are the best for a certain breed of dog. The only sure thing about kibbles is the nutrition in puppy food is usually better for a puppy than adult food no matter who makes the dog food.

I raised Miniature Schnauzers for over 20 years as a breeder on Purina Puppy Chow and Purina Dog Chow and they never had any problems with it, allergy or otherwise. In follow ups to my pups, the owners all told me the dogs were doing just fine on Purina dog foods.

Unless your puppy has a food allergy problem, I would stick with Pro Plan which is actually a very good dog food and the company spends a great deal of money researching how to feed dogs better all the time.

Grain free is only necessary if your dog has a problem with grains.

Much of what you read about "which dog food is best" is nothing but hype to get your money.

Answer 5

Grain free is a great option but would consider one for puppies as their needs as different. Does the food list amounts to feed for puppies? Could use one for puppies and then switch to that when the dog is older. I agree with previous answer that it's a much better food than what you are currently feeding.

Answer 6

My dog loves it =] He's always had issues with allergies, but it cleared up once I switched him to Canidae. His coat's shiny and he doesn't have hair falling out as much (aside from shedding xD), his eyes aren't runny anymore, he isn't constantly itchy and licking his paws, and he's got a lot more energy. Thus far, its great ^^