OKEFEILD ACRES RECOMMENDS

Eukanuba Large Breed Adult Dog Food  (for Weimaraners  and Mini and Standard Goldendoodles)

NuVet Vitamins 

Coconut Oil (Available At Some Walmart Cooking Aisles, And Health Food Stores) - provides essential fatty acids and helps promote healthy skin and a beautiful, shiny coat.

While getting to know my new adoptive families, I always question those with older dogs what type of food that they have been giving them.  Most people are telling me that they have feeding them Eukanuba and that they live into their older years (some up to 16!) strong and healthy with few health problems.   This is just a tip from us here at Okefeild Acres, check with your vet to see what type of food that they recommend.

You may be wondering why Okefeild Acres recommends an adult formula dog food for growing puppies.  Although none of our puppies have ever had joint problems, increasing evidence gathered by vets and breeders is showing that high protein puppy foods are causing a dramatic increase in joint and hip problems.  When a puppy receives too high of protein and higher levels of calcium, contained in puppy formula foods, they can grow too quickly and their soft tissue cannot keep up with the rapid bone growth.  Below on the left is a picture of the legs of a puppy (not one of ours, these are just pictures showing examples) that had been fed high protein/calcium puppy food.  The right picture shows the same puppy's legs after he was switched to an adult formula food.  Fortunately there was enough time for the problem to be corrected before the growth plates had closed.

 

Puppy With Poor Structure Due To Nutrition	Same Puppy After Changing From A Puppy Food To An Adult Formula

When fed high protein/calcium, the bones grow faster than the surrounding soft tissue causing the feet to turn off to the side, which is very painful.  If the protein/calcium is lowered and an adult maintenance food is fed to the affected puppy before the growth plates close, this problem can sometimes be reversed, depending on how closed the plates are.  Lowering the protein/calcium will not cause your puppy to be smaller as an adult, he will just mature to his genetic size at a slower rate.

NUTRITION

By Pat Hastings

The following information was provided by Pat Hastings, a leader in canine structural evaluation and an experienced AKC show judge.  Go to http://www.dogfolk.com for more information on obtaining her books and videos to improve your breeding program.

When you consider that a puppy grows for 18 to 20 months and a child grows for 18 to 20 years, the speed at which damage can be done by improper puppy nutrition is staggering.  Feeding a puppy improperly for one month is the equivalent of feeding a child improperly for one year.  Thus, it is imperative to make sure your puppies are doing well on whatever you are feeding them.  Just remember how quickly nutritional damage can occur, once the growth plates close, nutritional damage is permanent. 

Something we as consumers must rethink is the idea that more is better.  Why would we want to feed our puppies more powerful nutrients than human children?  They start out on formula or breast milk, and then slowly move to strained, bland fruits and vegetables.  They are hardly coaxed to gum down salads, steaks or multigrain dinner rolls.  When was the last time you saw an infant chomp into a pepperoni pizza? 

High-powered nutrients can enable bone to grow faster than it was meant to grow.  However, the growth rate of tissue is unalterable.  If a puppy receives more nutrients than it can utilize and those nutrients accelerate the growth rate of bones beyond the growth rate of tissue, the tissue can be weakened.  Therefore, close attention needs to be given to how puppies are doing on the food that they are being given.  My recommendation is always to feed a name-brand product.  If you see any structural weaknesses that could be caused by what is being fed, switching to a lesser-power food (Usually of the same brand) generally corrects the problem, as long as the growth plates have not yet closed.  The younger the puppy is when this change is made, the faster the problem is corrected.  As stated earlier, the nutritionally-based weakness becomes permanent once the growth plates have closed.  If you are feeding a quality, maintenance food to your adult dogs and they are in excellent condition, then that is usually what you can safely feed your puppies from day one. 

FOOD CHECK LIST

Your dog should:

Be in good weight

Have tight feet

Have straight legs and pasterns

Have a full coat with a healthy sheen

Have clear, focused eyes

Have supple, smooth skin

Have no inflamed or irritated membranes (eg, ears, feet)

Have a firm stool

Display an alert, animated attitude

A HEALTHY WEIGHT

As far as weight condition, there are three elements to check on your dog:

You should be able to feel all of the ribs with your hand, but your fingers should not fall between them

You should be able to find the hip bones easily by touch, but they should not be visible (unless your breed standard calls for it)

When looking straight down on the topline of most breeds of dog, you should be able to see an indication of a waist

Monitoring your dogs weight day by day is so much easier than working to fix a weight problem once it has become too obvious. 

RAW FOOD DIETS

I have seen many adult dogs that are on a raw-food diet and many of them are in wonderful condition.  However, the majority of 8-week-old puppies on raw-food diets that I have seen have had serious nutritionally-generated structural problems. 

Here again, the raw-food diets seem to provide more powerful nutrients than most very young puppies can fully utilize.  Also, if you are a proponent of raw-rood diets, be aware of a parasite called Neospora Caninum, which may have some relation to canine encephalitis, myocarditis and paralysis.

You can obtain information from http://www.naturalholistic.com/handouts/neospora.htm or your vet or board-certified canine nutritionist. 

SOME FINAL TIPS

Your new puppy is used to eating the food dry, free choice from morning till evening.  In order to help with housebreaking, you will want to divide the daily recommended amount into three feedings given at the same times each day.  Use the feeding guideline, according to the weight of the puppy, on the back of the dog food bag for the total daily amount, using the Healthy Weight recommendations given above.  Twice a day, we add a couple of Tablespoons of Alpo or Pedigree canned chunk food with NuVet vitamin powder and 1/2 Tablespoon of coconut oil.  If you choose to use a different brand of food, be sure to change to the new food slowly. Mix about 2/3 of what he has been eating with 1/3 of what you want him to have. Use this blend for a day or two, then over the course of the next week or so, slowly start adding in the new food until it is completely replacing the original. This will help prevent an upset stomach and possible diarrhea.  Look for quality brands that have done extensive testing and are well known to produce a quality food without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and additives.

The last meal of the day should not be any later than 6:00 which will give your puppy time to eliminate before bedtime.  You should be able to feel a nice layer of fat over the ribs.  Keep an eye on his weight, it's best to be a little bit on the lean side to encourage healthy joint growth, yet not too thin to where he is not thriving and growing well. Expect to divide the recommended amount to three feedings, then two feedings a day over the course of the first year. 

Treats are a welcome way for your new puppy to be encouraged in their training.  We have found that our dogs love Pupperoni Brand Treats.  These are in stick form and can be broken into bite size pieces which are really handy for use during training.  I use a "fanny" pack" belt or pocket to keep at my side, which frees my hands,  during training time. 

Check out our "Common Dog Toxins" page to see what kind of foods are harmful to your dog.  It really is best for dogs to not be fed "people food" as it is not specially formulated for dogs and can cause bad eating habits and obesity, not to mention causing bad habits at dinner time!  Feed your dog their special mixture when you eat so they can be trained to eat their own food and not beg.