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Hi ladies! Let's talk puppies!!
Hi everyone!! It's been a months since I've posted anything on the boards (and even then I was mostly a lurker!), but there's nothing like a new puppy to get ya chatting!!
First, the important stuff. Her name is Daisy, she's a black lab, and she's 12 1/2 weeks old. She's the sweetest, smartest, cutest thing on the face of the planet, and I'm in love!! 
I'd love recs on good puppy books, especially any related to EF/healthy/natural puppiness! The more, the merrier. I'm a book junkie!
While the dog has more toys than some uber-spoiled children, I'd love any recs on favorite toys. She'll get to the point where they won't last long, and she's outgrowing some of her smaller ones anyway!
Also, let's talk dog food. I scrolled back 10-12 pages and only found one or two posts about dog food. Any recs on your faves? Is anybody doing raw food? That's something we're considering at least rotating in when she gets bigger. We're currently switching her to Innova Large Breed Puppy from Bil Jac.
Any links to threads of previous discussions would be good, or other website recs, etc.... I just want knowledge!! I've done a lot of digging, but I'll take any info you've got!!
Thanks everyone!! Have a great day!!
Re: Hi ladies! Let's talk puppies!!
We found Wellness worked well for our Golden, and when we were Costco members we did the Costco brand food bc it is super cheap and has great ingredients.
Toys... yah.... have fun with that! If you haven't tried Bully Sticks, I recc. them. They are really expensive at pet stores, but if you find she likes them, you can order like 100 online (ebay I think?) for much cheaper- it is well worth it!
Have you tried the ahrd Nylabone? I don't know what the pet experts opinion is on the saefty of those but my parent's dog loved them! We also did some raw marrow bones sometimes- you can get them from the meat dept. of teh grocery marked as either marrow bones or soup bones.
Hey we need pics!!
We haven't really talked pet food here. There really aren't that many "EF" solutions, but the Innova is a great choice. www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a good site to look at pet foods. I feed prey-model raw, meaning, not a pre-made, and not "BARF" style ala Billinghurst with a bunch of added veggies and stuff, although I do toss veggie scraps in at times with their organ mix (one of mine is picky about organs, so it gets blended and mixed in stuff). You really shouldn't "rotate in" raw. You can rotate similar foods, but switching feeding styles is not something you want to do regularly. www.rawlearning.com and www.rawfed.com are two good sites on raw feeding, also the book Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze. I go through about 120+ lbs of meat a month, so unfortunately I can't buy organic and free range, but I do buy from a fairly local poultry farm. Raw feeding is more 'green' than kibble in that its not having to be processed so less energy.
I read a book on greening your dog, I thought it was ok. I have done holistic veterinary care and avoided chemicals and such with my pets for a long time (in medications, house cleaning, yard, etc) so it wasn't too helpful for me, and I can't find it by googling! I picked it up from my library. The libary has lots of (well mine does at least) great books and DVDs on dogs.
Not green, but a great puppy training book is called You & Your Puppy. Also anything by Patricia McConnell.
The Cuz toys and Kongs are great for pups, long-lasting. Actually my oldest Dane is 7 and we still have his puppy kong. Rope bones are great for chewing and you can soak them and freeze them for teething. Just make sure he's not tearing them apart and eating the strings (most dogs don't). Fleece braids are also great for tugging and chewing on, and cheap, or you can make your own.
Congrats on the puppy! I'm a huge fan on labs, especially after they've outgrown that hyper, get into everything, destructive puppy stage.
I feed my dog Canidae and so far so good. We tried Wellness, and Innova EVO and she had awful gas on those. Dogfoodanalysis.com is a great site to find info about food.
My dog loves her Kong. She gets easily distracted but that thing keeps her attention until she is sure that every last morsel is gone. If you get something you can stuff with treats, make sure it has a couple holes. I read this story recently about toys with only one hole being dangerous because a dog can stick its tongue in and the suction makes it impossible for the dog to get out.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
I think Alisha feeds raw.
We feed Wellness CORE (low fat but I wouldn't worry about that with your dog--our dog has a condition that requires a very low fat diet)
Innova is a better food than Bil Jac
www.dogfoodanalysis.com is helpful
I would try to feed a 4-6 star food.
I personally hate bully sticks b/c of how they smell. I get tendons instead.
In terms of treats, every dog is different, but our dog is a fruit and veggie-saurus. She LOVES all kinds of fruits and veggies. We give her broccoli, apples, carrots, green beans (she likes them cooked especially), blueberries, strawberries, radishes...she's not into celery. Avocado, grapes (and raisins), and onions are big no no's for pets. I like these things for her because they are crunchy and low-fat treats. Now, my brother's dog turns her nose up at fruits and veggies so it is individual, but it is something to try.
I recommend getting a kong--and I would get the bigger kong and let your dog grow in to it. You can fill it with food, treats, peanut butter, plain yogurt--and then freeze it and put it in her crate...this is helpful for keeping them busy!
Our dog didn't really like the buster cube but I know that is popular. I make my own buster cubes out of plain cardboard boxes with a simple hole poked in it that she can tear up and find the treat. She likes that more (we have a small dog and I felt like the buster cube was too big for her to manage)
Our dog has the yellow "Gingerbread man" lambswool squeaky toy. I know a lot of dogs would destroy that, but she LOVES it and has had the same one for five years!
I recommend getting a small toy bin and putting your toys in that--trust me, your dog will be able to find the bin--and pick out the toys they want! Rotate toys in and out of the bin--it helps you from having to buy new toys all the time.
My dog loves carrots too! I'll have to try some of those other veggies - mine has to be on a low fat diet, too, and it's so hard to find low fat treats.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
Thanks for all of your replies!! I appreciate it!!
So far treat-wise we're giving her VitaLife Chicken Tenders (basically chicken jerky, but this particular brand doesn't add anything like others) and Prime Freeze-Dried chicken treats (same as above- nothing added. Just chicken). She loves them, but I think she'd eat just about anything!!
She does have a Kong, but we can't do PB in there anymore. It give her horrible gas!! Poor Daisy, and poor mommy!!!! Thanks for the other ideas to put in there. I was going to try Sunbutter (because seeds are supposed to be easier to digest than nuts), but I can't find any without sugar. Like a crazy-hyper puppy needs sugar!! Hahaha!!! I'm going to try to DIY it. It can't be that hard!!
So, what do y'all do about vaccines and fleas? She had a few fleas at first, but DH treated the area with DE, and she seems fine now. We're going to do the yard as soon as it stops raining!! I'm just getting started on the vaccine research, so any ideas/advice/links would be greatly appreciated!
Oh- and for the record, she will get spayed (is that the right one for a girl dog? Whatever. She's not having puppies!!)
Oh yeah! Once we discovered the magical carrot I would just be eating veggies or chopping them up and I would have a little dogger by my feet--and I would try out whatever I had! Now she hears the chopping of the knife from anywhere in the house and she KNOWS to come running!
Also Wellness makes those little cookies..and they are pretty low in fat I think...less than 6% I *think* I feel pretty confident giving her those, and we also give her the same kind of jerky as the PP mentioned..the chicken "Breath freshener" kind
As for vaccines I follow a very limited vaccination schedule. My choices are probably a little more hardcore than most, but are part of a comprehensive whole health plan, and personalized based on my location and our risk factors. One of the best things you can do is find a good vet who is educated on the risks of vaccines as well as the benefits and will help you weigh these options. Unfortunately the pet vaccine industry is very unregulated and they sell you more by pushing vaccines that don't work (lepto, for the most part, as an example, or the ridiculous giardia 'vaccine' total BS), that are unncessary (constant bordatella vaccinations is overkill for most dogs), that are given too often (most vaccines have a far greater duration than they tell you but this way they sell more), and so on.
And even more unfortunately, the veterinary industry as a whole is out of date, and the consumer side is generally uninformed. Being informed and having an up to date vet is key. Years ago all 17 veterinary schools in North America changed their vaccine protocol, and yet, still many vets follow the outdated one.
Good vaccine info:
http://www.critteradvocacy.org/
http://www.doglogic.com/vaccination.htm -- the most up-to-date, safest 'full' vaccine protocol. Dr. Jean Dodds is by far the leading researcher in animal vaccines.
For puppies, I do singled out shots of parvo and distemper, alternating with three given at 4-6 weeks apart, starting at no earlier than 8 weeks. Any vaccines given before 8 weeks have little likelihood of stimulating immune response (because they generally will still have maternal immunities).
Where I live, and with our lifestyle, contact with wild animals, diseased animals (domestic) and even most parasites (like ticks) are unlikely. We also do not have heartworm, and I'm not sure I'd ever live somewhere I'd have to dose my dogs routinely with an insecticide.
As for flea treatments, again, constant dosing with insecticide, not for me. I use natural repellents (Ark Naturals Neem Protect, and a local product), use Neem spray on my yard and keep brush down, etc.
I give thumbs up to all of this info...We also follow a limited vaccine schedule, and do not do flea and tick medication--although we do live in a high heartworm area so we do that. We don't do lepto or bordetella either
...I am very adamant about this for personal reasons and it has been important that we have vets who were open to my concerns--thankfully all our vets have been amazing and well-informed!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This is exactly what I was looking for!! I know there are some that we will definately do (like parvo), but I really wanted to do further research from reputable sources for the rest!! Oh- I had one of those links for raw food earlier, but not the other one, so thanks for those, too!!