about kibble for a Husky Puppy

[Java]

Hello, i have a Husky who is currenty 6month old, i was feeding him with Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain Selection - link https://www.farmina.com/in/farmina/997-natural-&-delicious-low-ancestral-grain-canine.html

I bought 3 times bags of 15 kg each, the first two times he ate normally, but the third time he doesn't eat, probably he got sick, since he is the type that eats anything.

so I was looking for a replacement, but it is hard to find good reviews,

some of the brands I can find here are

- Farmina N&D

- Purina® Pro Plan?

- Biofresh from Hercosul

- Royal Canin Maxi Puppy

I am aware that the formula may be different because it is another country, but I would like to clarify some doubts about the importance of some things

Transgenics

Dyes and preservatives, the information I get is that I should always avoid ARTIFICIAL Dyes and Preservatives, but what about transgenics?

Does being chicken with rice make it inferior to salmon or any other kind of animal?

is grain free important?

I already took him to the vet, he is in good health, and is exercising as recommended

and he is really the kind that eats anything, the brands that I can find here are horrible, even I, a beginner, know the quality, so I end up buying them on the internet

 

he prefers raw food, not just meat, vegetables and fruits he eats, but it is not every day that I can give him this, or several times a day

[wolfpup]

It is difficult to read the nutritional label as it is in a different format to ours  - however I would say the Biofresh appears to be among the better ones  - with a couple of caveats  - my main reason for this thinking is that it uses a really good form of zinc  (chelated),  -   poorer quality foods usually use zinc sulphate - which is very hard on the digestion - but chelated zinc is relatively easily digested and utilized by your dog  - and as you know zinc is very important to huskies.   It also appears to have one of the lowest ratios of starch I have seen in a kibble at around 30%  -  which is the lowest amount any kibble can be - starch is the only thing that holds kibble together.   Dogs cannot digest starch - they have no nutritional requirement for it - they do not produce the enzyme amylase in their saliva as we do which breaks down starch.    They do however contain microbes (bacteria) in the gut which can break down starch  -  unfortunately these bacteria   -  (usually Fermicutees)  also cause inflammation in the dog's gut.    They also crowd out the beneficial bacteria your dog relies on to create the short-chain fatty acids he needs for energy etc..

Transgenics   -  I am against all forms of genetically modified foods (gmo anything)  as I suspect you are - or you would not have asked the question.

   https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/why-your-dog-is-probably-eating-gmo-food-and-shouldnt/

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-hidden-dog-food-ingredient-that-can-harm-your-dog/

Dogs have been raw meat eaters for the last 40 million years, with occasional berries or fermented (pre-digested) vegetation from the insides of their prey  -   in 99.99% of that time they have not eaten grains  -   neither did we until we learned to process them  (i.e. cooking etc).     There is also the problem of aflatoxins in grains:-

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/cancer-causing-aflatoxins-found-in-dog-foods/

I can understand your dog preferring raw meat  - it is what his/her body has been designed to eat ever since the first dog 40 million years ago   - did you know that dogs and cats  share a common ancestor?   The cat is even more carnivorous than the dog so you can see how vital meat is to their wellbeing.

I understand it may not always be possible (or affordable) to feed just raw meat and vegetables - but by adding raw meat/fish/vegetables/phytonutrients to a base kibble diet   will greatly enhance the nutrition in a natural, easily digestible format your dog requires.  

I hope this answers your questions  -  of course this is only my opinion - but that is what you asked for.      In my defence I hold two qualifications in dog food nutrition.

There is one of your questions I did not answer - is chicken & rice inferior to salmon  - short answer is yes - and not just because of the rice - it is just starch, also commercially raised chickens are fed totally differently to wild chickens  - therefore their nutritional make-up will be vastly different.    A wild chicken eats green vegetation, flies, worms, insects of all kinds, it will also kill and eat frogs, small rodents (if it can catch them)  - they are omnivores  - commercial chickens eat starchy pellets and grains - so the animal eating that commercial chicken will get a vastly different nutritional profile than the dog lucky enough to catch a wild chicken. 

The saying 'you are what you eat' is actually true.   The proof of this 'theory' ................  One of my huskies went into anaphylactic shock after eating chicken ...................... - he is not allergic to chicken or to any meat  - but is allergic to soya, wheat, corn and oats  - which that chicken had been fed on.   My boy can and does eat day old chicks twice a week as part of his meat diet - these chicks are not fed prior to being dispatched so he does not react to them.   He nearly died because of what that adult chicken had been fed before it became my boy's dinner.

 

 

 

 

[Java]

On 3/7/2022 at 8:33 AM, wolfpup said:

It is difficult to read the nutritional label as it is in a different format to ours  - however I would say the Biofresh appears to be among the better ones  - with a couple of caveats  - my main reason for this thinking is that it uses a really good form of zinc  (chelated),  -   poorer quality foods usually use zinc sulphate - which is very hard on the digestion - but chelated zinc is relatively easily digested and utilized by your dog  - and as you know zinc is very important to huskies.   It also appears to have one of the lowest ratios of starch I have seen in a kibble at around 30%  -  which is the lowest amount any kibble can be - starch is the only thing that holds kibble together.   Dogs cannot digest starch - they have no nutritional requirement for it - they do not produce the enzyme amylase in their saliva as we do which breaks down starch.    They do however contain microbes (bacteria) in the gut which can break down starch  -  unfortunately these bacteria   -  (usually Fermicutees)  also cause inflammation in the dog's gut.    They also crowd out the beneficial bacteria your dog relies on to create the short-chain fatty acids he needs for energy etc..

Transgenics   -  I am against all forms of genetically modified foods (gmo anything)  as I suspect you are - or you would not have asked the question.

   https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/why-your-dog-is-probably-eating-gmo-food-and-shouldnt/

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-hidden-dog-food-ingredient-that-can-harm-your-dog/

Dogs have been raw meat eaters for the last 40 million years, with occasional berries or fermented (pre-digested) vegetation from the insides of their prey  -   in 99.99% of that time they have not eaten grains  -   neither did we until we learned to process them  (i.e. cooking etc).     There is also the problem of aflatoxins in grains:-

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/cancer-causing-aflatoxins-found-in-dog-foods/

I can understand your dog preferring raw meat  - it is what his/her body has been designed to eat ever since the first dog 40 million years ago   - did you know that dogs and cats  share a common ancestor?   The cat is even more carnivorous than the dog so you can see how vital meat is to their wellbeing.

I understand it may not always be possible (or affordable) to feed just raw meat and vegetables - but by adding raw meat/fish/vegetables/phytonutrients to a base kibble diet   will greatly enhance the nutrition in a natural, easily digestible format your dog requires.  

I hope this answers your questions  -  of course this is only my opinion - but that is what you asked for.      In my defence I hold two qualifications in dog food nutrition.

There is one of your questions I did not answer - is chicken & rice inferior to salmon  - short answer is yes - and not just because of the rice - it is just starch, also commercially raised chickens are fed totally differently to wild chickens  - therefore their nutritional make-up will be vastly different.    A wild chicken eats green vegetation, flies, worms, insects of all kinds, it will also kill and eat frogs, small rodents (if it can catch them)  - they are omnivores  - commercial chickens eat starchy pellets and grains - so the animal eating that commercial chicken will get a vastly different nutritional profile than the dog lucky enough to catch a wild chicken. 

The saying 'you are what you eat' is actually true.   The proof of this 'theory' ................  One of my huskies went into anaphylactic shock after eating chicken ...................... - he is not allergic to chicken or to any meat  - but is allergic to soya, wheat, corn and oats  - which that chicken had been fed on.   My boy can and does eat day old chicks twice a week as part of his meat diet - these chicks are not fed prior to being dispatched so he does not react to them.   He nearly died because of what that adult chicken had been fed before it became my boy's dinner.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, sorry about the delay
I read it a few days ago, but I was a bit busy and couldn't answer it at the moment and forgot to do it later 

 

 

I will update here, I don't know if I should create another topic to ask for help

he will be 7 months old next week, this week he started to destroy sandals and shoes, he never did it before, i even increase the amount of exercise, but he still looks like more destructive, i also looking for new toys but quality things for dogs is way to expensive for my country, things like 10 Usd in USA is like 25-30 usd in my country so i need to do a better job choosing

He also started to bitting me when using leash usually when we are going out of home to a walk or when we are on a park and leaving after 1h or even when a dog pass near us, its like he want to walk free, i did it a few times when we are walking very late at night, but as we don't have specific places for dogs I can only do it when it is very late and there are no people or cars around, and it only happens very late

he is not aggressive with other people, but he rarely barks for people and a lot of the times he tries to follow the person or lean or even jump on them, and although I never let him do that with strangers it scares people, he is weighing 25kg with only this age, his brothers are smaller, his father weighs 34kg and the vet said that he will probably be bigger than his father

 

 

[wolfpups]

He is of the age where he will start to destroy things if he is left alone  -  a bored husky is something to be feared  - one of my boys ate the arm of my sofa and armchair because he was left alone overnight  (we were asleep upstairs).    Try to keep him mentally stimulated  -  play mental games with him  - it will tire him out more than exercise if he has to use his brain.   I started out with a treat under a paper cup  with two empty paper cups -  then switching the cups around and he had to work out which one the treat was under.

How old was he when you got him?   Usually if a pup is taken from the mum too early they can develop biting habits to try and get what they want.    Usually the mum and his siblings teach a pup that this is not acceptable behaviour.   Do you have dog behaviourists or even a dog trainer who may be able to help?   It sounds as if he may need a dog trainer  -  to teach you both.

[Java]

On 3/13/2022 at 10:04 AM, wolfpups said:

How old was he when you got him?   Usually if a pup is taken from the mum too early they can develop biting habits to try and get what they want.    Usually the mum and his siblings teach a pup that this is not acceptable behaviour.   Do you have dog behaviourists or even a dog trainer who may be able to help?   It sounds as if he may need a dog trainer  -  to teach you both.

7 month right now, was 7 weeks old

Yeah, i also think but we dont have a trainer near our city