what is the best food

Question
I am getting a 9wk old male  miniture schnauzer and with all the artical about what to feed your pets, I am confused as to what is the best for him??

Answer
First of all, keep your puppy on whatever the breeder is using for the first few weeks so as not to upset his intestinal tract. He will be under a lot of stress the first couple weeks as he gets used to his new family and surroundings. Once he is well settled in, then you can gradually switch over to a different product if you choose.

With schnauzers, you do have to be cautious with diet as you don't want to give them anything with too much fat in it due to the fact that most of them seem to carry a high level of fat in their bloodstream. The highest I like to go here is 15%, but some people refuse to feed their schnauzers anything higher than 12% fat. Since I have never had problems with pancreatitis in my dogs, I am comfortable with the 15%. You might ask your breeder if she/he has ever had to deal with pancreatitis in his dogs.

I feed Eagle here, and have for some time; it is an excellent product. Not only did I do personal feeding trials between it and a couple other products many years ago, I was also given a private tour of the Eagle plant when I stopped in there unexpectedly one day on my way out to the East Coast. I cannot speak more highly of the Eagle products and the people involved with it.

That said, look for a product whose first ingredient is a meat protein, or preferably a meat meal (meaning all the water has been removed from the meat). There should be a minimum of grains in the food, and *NO* by-products in the food. Foods with probiotics (good bacteria) in the food are a plus. Some other good foods are Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, and Flint River Ranch; there are several others out there, but I can only remember so many*G*.

Be sure to get your new puppy into your veterinarian within the first three days or so to make sure that his health totally checks out, and also take in a stool specimen for examination. If something turns out to be wrong with the puppy, you want to be able to return it to the breeder and get your money back.

You might also want to consider joining the Simply Schnauzer Forum to learn more about schnauzers. It is a great group of people! http://simplyschnauzer.net/forum/index.php

Also get yourself the paperback book, "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford and Neil... it is a great little book!