My friend has brought his dog up on Pedigree puppy 100% complete and has had no problems with his boxer . on reading the packet my wife realised that there is only min 4% meat & 4% rice should this not be alot higher ? What food should i be using ? and anyone got any good supplement & vitiman advice .

if feeding a proper puppy food of good quality you shouldnt need to supplement with anything, if feeding BARF you may need to ( i dont feed this so unsure if this is correct) a lot of dogs are fed pedigree puppy and do ok on it, however it isnt a very good food generally , and its worthwhile doing a bit of homework into dog foods.
what breed and age is your dog?

he is black labrador 8 weeks old . at the moment he is only getting scrambled egg , rice , boiled chicken , ect as directed by the vet ( upset tummy ) . but on completion what should i put him on ?

the diet hes on hasnt isnt balanced so it will need to be gradually changed to a proper puppy food. dog food is a personal choice and comes down to quality, availability, budget and how your dog does on it. i feed my puppy hills dry and natures diet wet foods. my dog loves it is thriving to be exact, i can get it easily and my other dogs have done well on it. a few good quality ones are arden grange, burns, natures menu etc.
has he had an upset tummy long? could be caused by stress with all the change in his life, introduce any new foods very gradually.

To the OP

I take it the Pedigree puppy food is the wet variety - in pouches?

I'm confused as to who owns this dog as you say initially it's your friend's but you seem to be personally responsible / involved in feeding it ...

Anyway, IMO Natures Menu, Natures Harvest & Nature Diet are all better moist completes than the one being used.  All are readily available at PAH and vary just a little in price.

If intending to switch to a dry complete it would be best to do your own research as quality, availability and price points vary considerably. I like my dogs to enjoy their food and look forward to it appearing - if they are disinterested and picky with it then as far as I'm concerned they deserve better   That said in general terms a "good food" is one that suits YOUR dog, likewise a "poor food" is one that doesn't suit YOUR dog   It suits your dog if (a) your dog enjoys it and (b) your dog is healthy on it, i.e. good coat, good body condition, clean eyes/ears/supple skin, firm bowel motions, no itching/flaking/weeping skin etc

For ideas on where to start with researching suitable dry diets, try Arden Grange ; Burns ; JWB ; Wafcol ; Zooplus the latter being an internet order site with Orijen & Timberwolf among others, both well rated.

I find a part raw and part moist complete diet to be the best for optimum condition but that's what works for me and mine and wont necessarily suit your dog, lifestyle or pocket

In the meantime stick with the bland, home prepared foods recommended by your vet until your youngster's tummy issues are totally resolved.  Whichever diet or combination you opt for introduce VERY gradually to avoid further upset.

HTH, Teri

teri - i think the dog in question is a lab puppy, the friend raised a boxer on pedigree, i had to read it a few times before i realised

Hi sincypoos, did the vet say it was colitis then? (basically inflamed and irritated gut lining!! ) You are feeding exactly what I was feeding For Louis' upset tummy. Every so often I have to put him back on it - usually after I have tried feeding him something new and differant to vary his flavours   he seems to have a sensitive tummy!!! His usual food is Orijen (dry complete food ) and Naturediet chicken (adult complete wet food) with extra veg and he has no probs on this. After his first upset tummy period when we got him, I put him on Naturediet puppy ( firmed his poos up nicely )which he loved until a few weeks ago, hence the adult version now....

hi there its my dog which is a black lab, i was saying that my friend brought his boxer up on pedigree and seems to be fine however ive heard that pedigree is the macdonalds of dog food, was just wanting to know which food to try, thankyou for your advice have researched a bit and im considering putting him on pero, anyone know if this is a good one?

Hi killickchick, vet said it was a touch of colitis, he has had tiny white grains in his poop last night and today didnt know if that was due to the anti biotics or because weve been feeding him rice etc? I was thinking of trying tommy on pero puppy once his stomach is better as they do a compete premiuim food for adult labradors, was wondering if you'd heard any reports about it? Thanks again

Hi sincypoos

apologies, I misread your post

I've had a look at the Pero food site and it's pretty much average ingredient & price wise.  It's main ingredient, as with the majority of readily available dry completes, is cereal and the meat/fish content % is relatively low - again, this is not uncommon and so down to personal preference if you have no hang ups re quality.

I can't comment on how well it performs as I've not used it or heard of anyone who has but see they have a trial offer on at the moment so perhaps you could give it a go and see if your pup enjoys it    The trial size bag would not last long enough to determine whether or not your dog was thriving on the diet.

regards, Teri

have a friend with a Lab with an 'iffy' tum (thought this was unusual in Labs?) and they feed Nutro Choice Lamb and rice, been a couple of months now and the dog looks fantastic and no tummy probs.

>that there is only min 4% meat & 4% rice should this not be alot higher ?

Yes.. Much,much higher. for comparisons sake,Orijen has 70& meat and no cereals/grains.Available at zooplus.

Thank you ktee i'll give that a look .

I would try to avoid any food with a high cereal content if your pup has colitis.My boxer had colitis as a pup and cereals were the first thing we eliminated from his diet(vet said it was the most common cause),he's been fine sinse with no repeat of the colitis.I find gluten free food suits him best.JWB is very good and readily available.Orijin and timberwolf are ideal but I had to keep switching when zooplus were out of stock which just upsets his tummy.

>Orijen has 70&

Sorry,that should read 70% meat. How anyone can think that a dog will thrive on a food with only 4% meat just puzzles me

But they do Ktee.

My ex thinks I waste money on my dogs food as a friend of ours has kept GSDs and Rotties for 30 years,  all long lived healthy dogs and they are fed on basic economy brand of supermarket dried food. He has seven at the moment all with lovely shiny coats.