# petsmart foods?



## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

Holly is 7 months old, and she has always been super skinny, and everyone always asks if i feed her (yes i feed her as much as she will eat lol) ive only bought walmart brands because of where my husband was stationed they only had a walmart, i am going to go to petsmart and attempt to find a food that will help her gain weight, does anyone know which brands from there will most likely make her gain weight? even a little bit of weight, all of her ribs show, and her back hip bones too, she is utd on all shots and has no worms or anything. also can they weigh her there or do the vets only do that? THANKS!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

is she a picky eater by chance? We had the WORST time getting and keeping weight on Shelby while she was with us. To get her to gain weight, we had to mix in wet food with the dry food. When we stopped using the wet food, she lost weight again. There are a couple good brands at petsmart now but in all honesty, i couldnt tell you what they are as i dont buy dog food there. lol. you could try looking up old dog food threads and see what you find.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

If all of her ribs and hips are showing than she's definitely too skinny. Has your vet given you any advice?

How her activity level? Does she act like a crazy puppy? What kind of exercise does she get?

Regarding petsmart foods, I'd give the Blue Buffalo or Innova a shot. Those look like the two best that petsmarts have to offer. If you have a Petco near you, I'd try wellness.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> If all of her ribs and hips are showing than she's definitely too skinny. Has your vet given you any advice?
> 
> How her activity level? Does she act like a crazy puppy? What kind of exercise does she get?
> 
> Regarding petsmart foods, I'd give the Blue Buffalo or Innova a shot. Those look like the two best that petsmarts have to offer. If you have a Petco near you, I'd try wellness.


 
wellness is at petsmart. recently there but there now. Shasta is always real interested in the bag when we walk by when we're working on distraction training.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

KZoppa said:


> wellness is at petsmart. recently there but there now. Shasta is always real interested in the bag when we walk by when we're working on distraction training.


Didn't know that... than my advice would be to try wellness first... at least that's what I'd do.


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

she is not a picky eater and she gets exercise basically all day shes playing constantly and outside just running around enjoying the grass (because weve lived in the desert because where my husband was stationed lol) does it matter what brand the soft food is or will any soft food be fine? i will try one of those brands and see how they work!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> Didn't know that... than my advice would be to try wellness first... at least that's what I'd do.


 
thanks for mentioning it. I couldnt for the life of me remember what the heck it was called but i could see the bag.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

hollysmommy said:


> she is not a picky eater and she gets exercise basically all day shes playing constantly and outside just running around enjoying the grass (because weve lived in the desert because where my husband was stationed lol) does it matter what brand the soft food is or will any soft food be fine? i will try one of those brands and see how they work!


 
i used the kibbles and bits wet food. Bought it by the 12 pack, 12 oz cans for about $8 at walmart. Used half a can in the morning and the other half at night mixed in with the regular amount of dry food per day. Its entirely up to you what wet food you want to use if you go that route. 

You're at 29 stumps? lol


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

i will try wellness then with the wetfood! and see how that works yes were station in 29 stumps lol but hes deployed right now so im back home.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

hollysmommy said:


> i will try wellness then with the wetfood! and see how that works yes were station in 29 stumps lol but hes deployed right now so im back home.


 
lol well good luck. and thank you to your husband and YOU for your service from a navy wife. Hubby did some training out there (corpsman) before he went to Iraq back in 2009.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

I definitely wouldn't use anything kibbles n bits unless you absolutely have to. It's seriously disgusting stuff.

There are plenty of other wet foods or things you can add to the dry stuff that's much healthier than kibbles n bits that won't break the bank.

KZoppa... out of curiosity, how bad did that stuff smell? I've smelled the canned pedigree foods and it's made me gag. I couldn't imagine kibbles n bits being any better.


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

thank you and your husband!!!!!! and i will ask someone at petsmart which wet food is good too. but will deffinately try wellness since everyone seems to be saying that is good to gain a little weight.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> I definitely wouldn't use anything kibbles n bits unless you absolutely have to. It's seriously disgusting stuff.
> 
> There are plenty of other wet foods or things you can add to the dry stuff that's much healthier than kibbles n bits that won't break the bank.
> 
> KZoppa... out of curiosity, how bad did that stuff smell? I've smelled the canned pedigree foods and it's made me gag. I couldn't imagine kibbles n bits being any better.


 
The kibbles and bits wet food didnt smell all that bad. I can totally agree with the gag thing with pedigree though. Even my husband couldnt open THAT can. 

OP, there are also gravy's you can mix in with her dry food to encourage her to eat a little more and because the gravy's have a higher fat content, that may help but they're not cheap. a 16 oz bottle usually runs about $5 depending on brand. You can also check out TOTW and chicken soup brand wet foods.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

hollysmommy said:


> thank you and your husband!!!!!! and i will ask someone at petsmart which wet food is good too. but will deffinately try wellness since everyone seems to be saying that is good to gain a little weight.


The people at petsmart are definitely not experts on pet nutrition. They're just people that happen to work at a pet store... they don't getting training courses and definitely aren't experts. Most that work there don't know more than the average pet owner.

Do your own research, so you don't have to rely on the opinion of someone that just so happens to work at a pet store. 

The brands mentioned are a good start. My general rule is if you can find the food in a supermarket, cvs, or gas station, than it's no good.

There's plenty of old threads discussing kibbles in the diet and nutrition section of the forum. It's literally months of reading if you wanted to try and read it all. Plenty of good, but repetitive info.



KZoppa said:


> OP, there are also gravy's you can mix in with her dry food to encourage her to eat a little more and because the gravy's have a higher fat content, that may help but they're not cheap. a 16 oz bottle usually runs about $5 depending on brand. You can also check out TOTW and chicken soup brand wet foods.



You can also go outside of pet food when adding things to kibble. Canned pumpkin, yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken breast, beef, table scraps, and raw egg are all things that can be added to dry kibble to add some interest... it can also make a picky eater as well though.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

hollysmommy said:


> thank you and your husband!!!!!! and i will ask someone at petsmart which wet food is good too. but will deffinately try wellness since everyone seems to be saying that is good to gain a little weight.


thank you!

keep in mind petsmart employees dont actually know good foods. They're likely to recommend some of the worst choices (science diet, nutro.... ) if you can get the wellness canned, that would be the route i'd personally take if its available. Also remember to steer clear of food reps. They're definitely going to try and push you to a food you dont want.


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

which one is the right one? 

Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy Food - Food Center - Dog - PetSmart

Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Puppy Food - Food Center - Dog - PetSmart

i just want to make sure i get the right one that will help her gain weight. and ill deffinately do my research about the wet food before i go buy it!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Here's Shelby. The PITA we had the worst time getting and keeping weight on. She's a beautiful dog and her fur was SOOOOOO soft but so tough to keep weight on. You can see in the picture, that her coat is gorgeous but you can see the bumps along her back from her spine and her bone hips.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

definitely large breed.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

KZoppa said:


> definitely large breed.


Agreed... if you're going with a puppy food, definitely get the large breed puppy. 

Never get a large breed puppy regular puppy food... there's too much calcium for a growing large breed puppy. Less calcium = slower and safer bone growth.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> The people at petsmart are definitely not experts on pet nutrition. They're just people that happen to work at a pet store... they don't getting training courses and definitely aren't experts. Most that work there don't know more than the average pet owner.
> 
> Do your own research, so you don't have to rely on the opinion of someone that just so happens to work at a pet store.
> 
> ...


 
keep in mind, you can give a raw egg whole BUT you shouldnt do it more than twice a week because it can cause diaherria.


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

here is a video of her from a few days ago i dont know if you can see how skinny she really looks in person though.


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## missmychance (Jan 20, 2011)

Frodo was really skinny at that age, also a picky eater. He didn't start filling out til 2 and half yrs old. As long as she's eating, i think she is fine. I agree with other posts about Petsmart food. I'd definately go with Wellness or Blue Buffalo. Your video was cute, Frodo also loves playing in the water.


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## Rodeo. (Feb 25, 2011)

My pup does very well on Innova. I plan on feeding Taste of the Wild when she's younger. But anyway she is very active and still keeps a good weight.


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## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

How much do you feed her? Perhaps she just needs more food. I'd try the Blue Buffalo or Wellness. My female is on BB and her coat looks really good.


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