help puppy food

little_pony said:

I feed my 5 months old puppy purina pro plan all size puppy http://www.purina-proplan.com/uk/dog/puppyAllSizesOriginal.asp
At the petshop told me to change it and give purina pro plan puppy with salmon & rice and not the one i give(chicken and rice) for not to loose a lot of hairs.
I heard that because the food, the dog can have gases in the intestine, a lot of dried tears after sleep and the dog smells bad..
My puppy eats his food without problem, but he looses hairs, he has gas, tears after every sleep and an ungly smell.
I'm thinking to change his food. But I don't know which one to prefer..
Here in Greece, best dog foods are considered: Hills, Purina pro plan, Royal canine, Orijen, Acana(which is difficult to find), Eukanuba, Eagle Pack Holistic.
What do you propose me to do??

(sorry for my english)

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So if I follow you right, he is having the problems with the chicken and rice formula and you haven't tried the salmon one yet? I didn't think the salmon formula comes in a puppy formula but that might be a decent option if it does. Eukanuba has good puppy food so that is a good option. As far a shedding goes, all goldens do that. Might be just the time of the year.

I would ask you vet for his recommendation.

I would take your pup off of puppy food and put on adult food.

If your dog is not having any problems on the pro plan puppy then I would keep him on it. The salmon will not cause him to shed any less. Shedding is natural for goldens. Brush him alot and you will find less hair.
Once he gets around 6 months old you can switch him to the adult formula. One thing you can do is to put him on digestive enhancers for the gas. Natures Farmacy is a good brand. Alot of people here use it. http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/store/details.php?prodId=197

*****'s diet change

I changed my *****'s diet from a basic puppy food to Holistic (the old Eagle) brand but instead of thriving he was not gaining weight. The vet told me that althought she believes Holistic, all natural foods are great for adult dogs she felt my Sam should be on either Iams or Eucanuba puppy for large breeds for at least the first 6 months if not the first year. She felt the studies on these foods were impressive and that these same studies did not exist for the natural foods and puppies. My ***** had been underweight and is now beginning to gain weight on the Iams puppy for large breeds. Good luck with your selection. So many too choose from!

Changing foods probably will not reduce the shedding. But changing foods may get rid of the gas and ugly smell you mention as problems.

Many "all life stages" or adult foods should be fine for a 6 month old dog. Some people never feed true "puppy" formulas. Eagle Pack Holistic might be a good brand to try. Their formulas do not have wheat or corn in them as the food you're feeding now does. Wheat and corn in large amounts are not handled well by some dogs.

No dry dog food (kibble) is "natural" - which has no real meaning in dog or human food products. All brands of kibble are highly processed foods with varying degrees of ingredient quality.

And I think your English skills are just fine. Many of us can't write anything in a language other than English.