# American Staffordshire Terrier Feeding interval Question



## VincentVega (Nov 4, 2012)

Hi I'm new to this forum and I can use all the help I can get! I haven't had a puppy since I was in high school back in the 80's. Back then Purina Puppy Chow cover with powdered milk was one of the best puppy foods on the market. Now according to a fellow pet owner that I met yesterday at Petco stated that it is pretty much a corn product, with all the fillers and such and not very nutritious.  This made me sad for two reason: 1. The breeder I bought my dog from feed my little guy Puppy Chow exclusively, although he seems to be very healthy and intelligent. 2. Now I don't know what's the best food for him as there are lots of brands to choose from. The young lady I met at Petco recommended Blue Buffalo lamb, rice and oatmeal for puppies. Is Blue Buffalo better than Puppy Chow? How should I go about changing his food he eats 1 1/2 cups of food per sitting. How often does he have to eat? I planned on feeding him in the morning and then in the evening when I get out of work. Please help as I clearly forgot how to feed a an 11 week old puppy.


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## boxerlover876 (Dec 31, 2011)

Blue Buffalo is better, but definitely not the best. I feed raw, but the only kibbles I'd reallys recommend would be Evo, Nature's Variety, Orijen, Go!, and Now. 

I fed Duke three times a day at that age. He got breakfast, lunch, and dinner feeding.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Blue Buffalo is better for sure, but if you can afford to go grain-free, you'll probably really see the benefits as your dog grows. Blue Buffalo Wilderness is their grain-free line. Earthborn Primitive Natural is another grain-free, moderately priced food. Look for an "All Life Stages" food.

In my experience, APBTs and ASTs tend to have really sensitive stomachs and skin. Allergies or sensitivities seem common and every pit bull type owner I know that feeds grain-free has noticed a significant improvement in things like dandruff, dry skin, itchiness, redness between the paw pads and overall better digestive health. 

If your breeder was feeding Puppy Chow, it is an indicator to me that your dog _may_ not have come from a carefully planned line with carefully matched parents to help provide the best genetics possible. I am not saying the breeder is bad or anything, there isn't enough information for that, just that choosing a really low quality food can mean the breeder is tight for funds or hasn't done much research on nutrition. So feeding the best food you can reasonably afford will help balance any health issues and set the dog up well as he grows.

Think of Puppy Chow as feeding kids nothing but McDonalds fries and sodas while a good grain-free food or some of the better grain-inclusive foods are like feeding kids a home cooked dinner with lean meat and healthy veggie tables.

I'd feed 3 times per day and when the dog is older, 2 times per day.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

BB is better but I agree with Shell that if you can afford grain-free you will see the benefits.

Check out this site. Many grain-free kibbles are now adding a lot of pea/pea protein so try to look for one without so much pea. 
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dry/5-star/

I feed prey model raw to my dogs but have a foster dog on kibble. He's done the best on Earthborn Holistic brand, the Primitive Natural formula. The other formulas from Earthborn have too much pea for my liking. I've also tried him on Acana, Merrick Before Grain (now called Merrick Grain-Free I think), and just got him a bag of another brand to try. You might want to try a few different kinds to see what he does best on. For my foster, the best kinds he's been on _for him_ don't make him as gassy and he doesn't need to eat as much of it to maintain weight.


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## VincentVega (Nov 4, 2012)

I am so confused when I think of a dog diet in the natural world my thinking is that they eat meat and bones. Its kind of hard to imagine wild dogs eating brown rice, veggies, fruits, berries, yucca, tomatoes paste, carrots, oatmeal, barley, peas and sweet potatoes Out in the wild. Blue Buffalo seems good enough it has meat and calcium everything else seems to be a guessing game as to how it will provide a complete dog diet, I do agree that corn has zero nutritional value so I won't be feed my boy that crap anymore. Seems like a scam to me I mean hollistic really?!?!? Did know dog hunted hollistically. I just want to buy good dog food for my dog so that his diet is complete. Don't wanna spend thousands of dollars and hours making food that may of may not help him. Also don't think its good to keep switch up his food everytime I think it isn't helping him although I do understand changing from say lamb to chicken to beef but I honestly don't think they care especially if they eat it. I was told if I switch his food he would get the runs and vomit. My little is doing great with Blue Buffalo so I'll see how it goes but I don't think I'll be switch up his food all that much. I may just go with the wilderness which seems to be more in line with what a K9 would eat in the wild. I am certainly open to more suggestions though, since I have been out of the dog ownership game for some time now.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

I feed my APBT Wellness puppy, but I'm going to switch to a grain free since I know he doesn't need large breed.


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

I recommend, as usual, fromm  I just love the company and the food. My dogs are doing great on it. I dont feed the grain-free one, but they do have grain- free food.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

Salina said:


> I recommend, as usual, fromm  I just love the company and the food. My dogs are doing great on it. I dont feed the grain-free one, but they do have grain- free food.


I got some samples of Fromm gold the other day. My dogs loved it, so I went to go see how much it would be to buy a big bag. I was surprised at how inexpensive it was for the quality! It's definitely something I'm going to feed in the future.


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

Hallie said:


> I got some samples of Fromm gold the other day. My dogs loved it, so I went to go see how much it would be to buy a big bag. I was surprised at how inexpensive it was for the quality! It's definitely something I'm going to feed in the future.


 i feed the four-star one and not the gold one. but not because gold is bad, but because withing the four-star line you can switch around flavors without any problems (unless you have a really sensitive dog). i started out with the puppy gold though... (side note: no i do not work for fromm *lol*, just a super happy customer)


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## RedGermanPinscher (Jun 22, 2012)

Shell said:


> Blue Buffalo is better for sure, but if you can afford to go grain-free, you'll probably really see the benefits as your dog grows. Blue Buffalo Wilderness is their grain-free line. Earthborn Primitive Natural is another grain-free, moderately priced food. Look for an "All Life Stages" food.
> 
> In my experience, APBTs and ASTs tend to have really sensitive stomachs and skin. Allergies or sensitivities seem common and every pit bull type owner I know that feeds grain-free has noticed a significant improvement in things like dandruff, dry skin, itchiness, redness between the paw pads and overall better digestive health.
> 
> ...


^^^This^^^


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