Pro Plan- good food??

[fudgesmammy]

We feed Fudge on Pro Plan Puppy she loves it. Does anyone else use Pro Plan? No one's mentioned it in any of the posts before. Is there a reason for it's seeming lack of popularity?
When we got her we were told she shouldn't be given treats or anything at all other than her 3 meals a day. She's 9 weeks old today and seems neither fat nor thin but we'd like to be able to reward her with some slightly more interesting things that bits of pro plan. Any suggestions? We did get her from a kind of puppy shop- we know we shouldn't have, at least we've done her a favour- so we're not always totally convinced about the advice they've given (they had about 20 breeds of pup in the kennel place) and we've been checking stuff out with our vet who lives next door- we just don't want to pester him too much cos he's our neighbour not just our source of professional opinion!!!
Also- we bought Fudge a little red ball with a bell in and she just barks at it- she won't play with it. why not?                    

[Pammy]

She probably won't lay with the ball because of the bell. That kind of ball is usually usec for cats. Get her a bnall without any form of noise maker and play with her so she gets to see what it's for.

As for the treats business. It is actually fairly sound advice not to give treats etc. What they don't mean though is not to reward her. They mean not to supplement her food with tit-bits etc as these can become habit forming and lead to bad nutrition and obesity in extreme cases.

When she has been a good girl it is OK to give her a treat to reward her. That will help encourage her to continue the good behaviour. Some dogs do enjoy a piece of the kibble. It's us humans that think they must be bored You could try other things like pieces of Schmacko - dogs love them. You could make your own liver cake - which almost all dogs will do anything for. You just need to watch that you don't over feed her by giving too many treats and then her normal amount of food.

hth                    

[Jane S]

Purina Pro Plan is a good quality complete food - I do know quite a few breeders who feed it down here in the West country. I have found our very young puppies don't like it but as we've just won another big bag of the Puppy Food, I am going to try it on our 6 month pup & see how we go. If she doesn't like it, no doubt there will be a bag going spare soon

Jane

PS Tiny pieces of cheese are also good to give as training treats (as long as you don't use crumbly cheese )                    

[markjcage]

Our puppy loved proplan (we were given a bag free by the vet after her first check up) Then we found it really hard to buy it where we are (Eastbourne). We then tried almost all the other foods (she would eat them if we bought a small bag, but as soon as we bought a 10kg or so bag, she turned her nose up! (how Cocker of her!)
She now has Pascoe's mix with some fresh chicken (and she seems to love it - although we are only buying 2kg bags!)

As a healthy treat I'd recommend carrots - no fat, full of vitamins and good for her teeth. And she loves them (still!)                    

[fudgesmammy]

That's really encouraging- we're not exactly pro's!
We accidentally dropped a carrot the other night and she ran off with it so seeing as they're good for her we'll probably use them more often! She likes cheese too- applewood smoked today but not stilton!
Will try and get a different ball- she seems to be fussy over toys- wont go anywhere near the squeaky newspaper thing but wont leave the squeaky tweety pie alone! Bizzarre.                    

[Michele]

As a healthy treat I'd recommend carrots - no fat, full of vitamins and good for her teeth. And she loves them (still!)

My lot absolutely adore carrot and brocolli too (the stalk not the florets :-)                    

[angelad]

Cooper likes carrotts too, but he doesn' t eat them, he nibbles bits off and sptits them out so I end up with bits of carrot everywhere  :-                    

[Loraine]

Candy loves apple.  Is this okay to give her?  Think I'll try her with carrot too; cheaper than JWB cracker jacks!                    

[Jane S]

Candy loves apple.  Is this okay to give her?  Think I'll try her with carrot too; cheaper than JWB cracker jacks!

Most fruits & veg are ok to give dogs - except grapes & onions I think (but even then you would have to feed a lot to cause problems, the odd grape now & again isn't going to hurt)                    

[Gilly]

Is it OK to give a puppy fruit or veg? Don't want to upset her tummy                    

[Jane S]

Sure Gilly - our pups love small carrot sticks & pieces of apple                    

[Gilly]

I'm gonna try her with some apple tonite
Thanx                    

[*Jay*]

Brook loves all fruit and veg but his favourite is green grapes. He only gets a couple when he fetches the letters and even then, its only when I actually remember to buy some                    

[angelad]

Cooper likes apples too, he thinks its an edible ball, rolls it around for a while and then realises he can eat it. Trouble is its the same as with the carrot - he eats some but then nibbles & spits it out!

He absolutely adores cooked courgettes though!                    

[Gilly]

I tried Buttons with some tiny pieces of apple last nite and she loved it I might get more adventurous and try her with some carrott tonite