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This is a great question, especially because there are so many food options out there for puppies! Several brands of food including Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, and Purina One are often preferred. These companies do a lot of research and quality control to ensure their foods meet strict nutritional standards so I would recommend one of these brands for Sixx. These companies also make canned puppy food which may entice Sixx to eat more enthusiastically. Thanks for using Boop by Petco!
I personally do not like Blue Buffalo at all. They have had serious quality control problems which they have admitted due to the fact that they don't own their own factories. They therefore give the recipe to someone to make, and have no control over whether or not the recipe is followed exactly. Plus many colleagues have reported an increase in gas with this food. I would not recommend Blue Buffalo for Fiffy. As for the other two foods, between the two of them I would recommend the Nutro Max. It's a better quality food in my opinion. Just so you are aware, grains are beneficial to dogs and I do not recommend feeding a dog a grain free food unless they have a proven grain allergy, which isn't very common at all in dogs. Food allergies are the least common type of allergies in dogs, and when they do have a food allergy, it is most commonly related to protein not grain. There are very few dogs who have true grain allergies. It is beneficial for Fiffy's health to feed her grains
Decreasing her eating amount after a growth spurt is normal. They probably recommended large breed puppy so she wouldn’t grow to fast which can cause bone problems. Once she’s full grown I recommend regular adult food. No reason to do either large breed or small breed since she will be medium size. I don’t think grain free food is worth it. I like a well balanced dog food such as Hills. They do research on their food and include the optimum amount of nutrients, rather than excess. Your breed could become overweight so please adjust the quantity of food to keep her on the lean side. Hills does have some Natural foods, and many speciality foods such as those for sensitive skin and stomach, joints, weight management, and for medical problems also. My dogs start on Hills and stay on for life, changing the specific food as they grow, and even into their senior years, or with medical problems. There is a lot of advertising to sell different dog foods but I like to base my choice on
You can ask 3 different vets and probably get 3 different answers when it comes to food recommendation; however, I personally am not a fan of Blue Buffalo because of their high protein content and also their unwillingness to list their complete ingredient list to AAFCO. I trust a couple of brands including Royal Canin (by far my favorite), Hills Science Diet, and California Natural (Innova). I would recommend either of those and it has to be puppy large breed until Timmy turns 1 year of age, at which point he can be switched to the adult food. Purina puppy is ok and is a little lower on the list of high quality brands to choose from. Iams is a step above the Purina in my personal opinion.
Congratulations on your new puppy! Out of those three I would choose the Life protection chicken and rice large breed. Golden Retrievers are a breed that are susceptible to heart disease and grain free diets have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and so I would always avoid those diets. At this time the link is not completely understood but it's best not to risk it. Henry will be a large breed dog and so he needs large breed puppy food to regulate his growth which makes him less prone to skeletal diseases. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.