New puppy owner: whats the best diet?

You are least likely to have problems if you stick to what the breeder was feeding. I have no idea how many times somebody switches from a common brand to one of the highly hyped brands and the puppy has digestive problems. That is even with the slow switch recommended anytime. I have yet to see any evidence to back the claims of the more expensive foods, http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/

I haven't seen any good arguments to back wet foods either. Other than being more appealing to the dog, they may do more harm than good, dental problems and overfeeding. Dry foods may or may not help keep the teeth clean and improve the breath. They are less expensive, easier to feed, and very important, it is easy to measure out exactly what your dog needs. How much you feed is much more important than anything else for your dog's health, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx

My puppies usually come to me eating Pro Plan growth chicken and rice kibble. At 4 months I switch them to the all life stages formula. That is recommended for larger breeds to slow growth and allow joints to develop under less stress.

I see many, many other puppies on Pro Plan. When I am with other Pro Plan feeders, there is very little discussion of the common health problems, digestive upsets, soft stools, hot spots, itching, odor, etc. Mostly it centers on eating habits and body condition. The puppies have shiny coats, bright eyes, active, etc. I can't believe Pro Plan and other common brands are the junk widely claimed. I have seen the same fine results with Iams and Purina.,

It can take some time, trial and error to find the best food for each individual dog.

Personally, when looking at kibbles, I also recommend grain free. Named meat should be the top ingredients. You can look at this site to see how they rate different dog foods. The people who made this site agree that grain free is best, so rate the food accordingly.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

You'll hear a lot of conflicting views, so do your own research and see where you fall. Personally I feel that raw and home made diets are best, as long as the owner commits to feeding the diet properly. After that, I'd recommend high quality prepared foods. Basically, most, if not all, of the foods sold in grocery stores are in my opinion low quality. Research and learn what the ingredients are, which ingredients are bad etc and then read labels.

Wet or dry is up to you. It's a myth that dry food cleans teeth, so I wouldn't use that as a deciding factor. Wet food is usually more expensive than dry but wet food does have a longer shelf life and usually contains less preservatives.

perfect diet...hmm you're gonna get a LOT of different responses here lol.

I personally am a raw feeder BUT that is just me. I'd go with a high quality dry food (if often takes more wet food to get the same nutrients...unless you buy raw rolls or something.)

Good brands
Wysong
Taste of the Wild
Blue Buffalo
Halo
Wellness

ah I can go on forever. Another good couple of brands are Innova and California Natural however me being an animal lover I'd advise you to stay away from them. P&G bought them out and while they promised to keep the formula the same, P&G is notorious for animal abuse. They also distribute Iams and Eukanuba.

This is a good website to get you started. Yeah there is a lot to food unfortunately lol.
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