The right food

Question
Hi, I'm going to be getting an 8 week old female maltipoo puppy, and was wondering what the best food for her is. I want to give her the best food possible, but don't want to discontinue feeding her that food because of the high price. So what's a great food that's not a crazy price?

Thank you, and I appreciate this service
Miranda

Answer
There are many strong opinions about food, but very little hard data on how healthy dogs are on different diets.  Nearly everything you will find on the internet at best is based on speculation about the ingredients with no scientific testing to back it.  Nearly all the commercial foods are formulated to have all the nutrients the AAFCO has determined dogs need.  The amino acids, minerals, vitamins, etc., it is all in there.  Some foods charge more for ingredients that sound better to dog owners.  I have heard good and bad reports on almost every brand there is.  My personal experience is that dogs do quite well on common brands such as Pro Plan and Iams.  

What I would do is find out what the breeder is feeding and continue it.  If it is outlandishly expensive or hard to find, at least feed it a few weeks before making a slow transition to one of the common brands.  And stick to the dog food.  There is no reason to add other things.  The dog foods are a complete and balanced diet and adding other things only throws off the balance.  

Here are some links to a different side than you will see on much of the net, http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01brod.html http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/articles2.html#nutrition

Here is another important link, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx  How much you feed may be more important to your dog than what you feed.