# Taste of the Wild food for new puppy



## Gsdsrgr8

Hello everyone.

I just got a new puppy yesterday. He is 9 weeks old & weighs about 25lbs. The breeder recommended continuing to feed him Taste of the Wild dry food only. I am now feeding him 1 cup 3 times a day. The last time I had a GSD puppy I prepared his food fresh, i.e. ground beef with some vegetable & a hard boiled egg from time to time. I mixed this with his dry food. He was very healthy & I never had a problem feeding him this way. Granted that was over 10 years ago & I assume that there have been great strides made in how to properly feed a GSP since then. 
Do any of you use Taste of the Wild? Should I use puppy formula? Have you had success with this food? Is there something better I should switch to? Does anyone use vitamins daily? I saw that some breeders recommend them. It's been a long time since I've had a puppy & I want to make sure he is eating as healthy as possible.

Thank you for any help you can offer.


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## Rua

Taste of the wild is very good food, but you need to be careful about giving your puppy too much calcium. TOTW tends to have quite high calcium levels in their food, which isn't a problem once your dog is fully grown, but really shouldn't be given to growing puppies. The lowest calcium food TOTW do that I am aware of is the Pacific Stream Canine one. So if you plan to stick with that food, I recommend giving him that. I gave my first growing puppy this food when she was about 5 months upwards and she did well on it. She is a smaller female GSD and I felt she would do fine on this. However, I have another MALE GSD puppy and I have found a different grain free food that is much lower in calcium to give him instead, simply because his build is much bigger and stockier than hers was and I don't want him growing too much too fast.

The methods you mentioned about giving your other puppy ground up homemade stuff is brilliant. I (and many on this forum) do this all the the time our dogs do great with it. Just be careful not to overfeed and adjust your dry food accordingly on the days you plan to supplement with homemade food. 

Welcome to the forum!


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## andreaB

TOTW now have puppy formula with lower calcium level. I fed my puppy just like you are feeding, mix of dry and home made. He was going good on it, but he was picky eater until I switch to raw when he was about 8 months old. I still have some left over TOTW and use it for treats, he loves it.
Also i use NutroPro silver every day ( he is mountain biking with us ).


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## mjnitsche

I feed taste of the wild puppy with some raw meat mixed in. And also give Nupro silver. My breeder had him on this and I continued with it. He is doing great.


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## 3ToesTonyismydog

You are gonna get some arguments on this one, but I totally disagree with feeding this food at this age. Your breeder is a breeder not a dog food expert. Most breeders are into breeding, to make money, but NOT ALL. I have asked 2 different vets and a dog food nutritionist and they all believe puppies should be on puppy food, because the nutrition break down is different. 

Best Puppy Foods


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## Ken Clean-Air System

Taste of the Wild makes two puppy foods: Pacific Stream Puppy, and High Prairie Puppy. The Pacific Stream is lower in calcium and phosphorus, but either should be fine.


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## Gsdsrgr8

Thank you so very much for the advice & info. I'm going to Petsmart tonight for his food. It's been so long since I had a puppy in the house. LOL


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## wildo

You'll not find TOTW at Pet Smart. At least not any of them around here.

Personally, although TOTW Pacific Stream Puppy is pretty low in calcium, I felt it was a little high compared to other alternatives. The Pacific Stream Puppy formula is 1.4% calcium "as fed" [1.0% Phosphorus] which I assume means an average. Another option, Fromm Large Breed Puppy Gold, has a "typical analysis" of 1.01% calcium [.95% Phosphorus]. I've read online (though not on Fromm's site) that they have a guaranteed max calcium of 1.2% Coupled with the fact they've not had any recalls, are a great quality food, that was my choice over TOTW-- which, mind you, I feed my adult (would have been nice to have only one brand/bag of food!).


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## AngVi

The breeder I got my little guy from was feeding it to him. I put my girl on it too. I am very pleased, they have the most beautiful coats, very shiny and they don't shed to much. My girl had lots of problems with her digestion when we go her and the new food has cleared her up. 


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## Galathiel

Right now I'm planning to use Innova Large Breed Puppy (which IS available at Petsmart). Its calcium/phosphorus levels are : Calcium 0.9 % and Phosphorus 0.72 %

We'll see how it goes. I feed my other dog Blue Buffalo Wilderness and will probably switch the puppy eventually to it, Wellness Core or Innova Prime (pretty much the best available locally).


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## 3ToesTonyismydog

Ken Clean-Air System said:


> Taste of the Wild makes two puppy foods: Pacific Stream Puppy, and High Prairie Puppy. The Pacific Stream is lower in calcium and phosphorus, but either should be fine.


I had no idea TOTW came out with a new puppy food. I have not seen it in my area yet, but then again I am not gonna feed any Diamond made products. It looks like a pretty good ingredient list, but as always, I always recommend adding as much fresh meat as you can afford.


Healthy Pet Foods For Dogs Puppies Cats and Kittens - Taste Of The Wild Pet Food


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