Information on Nature's Variety for our puppy

[Doodles]

Hi Everyone!!
We're trying to decide what kind of food to put our new 6 month old puppy on when we pick her up from the breeder on Sunday. I've seen that many of you here on YT use Nature's Valley. Could we have a discussion about the best diet for a Yorkie? Our Yorkie will be about 2 pounds full grown. It this Nature's Valley a good choice for a dog that is so small? Is there a potential of bacteria from the raw food? How do you do the rotation? How often? Could our puppy just use the dry dog food in this brand or is it best to add the raw? Looking forward to the discussion! Thanks so much!
Roxie

[bamawife]

You will get several responses to your question. I don't spend as much money on my baby's food as other's on the forum do but he eats Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul for Puppy and Wellness Super5 Mix for puppies. He likes them both. He prefers the Chicken Soup, though. It is a good, all natural food and doesn't break the bank!

[KashasMom]

I love Nature's Variety! Kasha's been eating it since she was about 5 months (she's almost 7 months) it's certainly more work than kibble but in my opinion it's very worth it. There are some GREAT dry foods (and other raw foods too!) out there. It's just about what you want to feed your baby.

Pros:
- much better #2
- more interest for picky eater
- no junk
- healthy
- helps you step into BARF or other Raw eating

Cons:
- you can't just scoop kibble in a bowl and walk away
- extra clean up
- ick factor (doesn't bug me but still )

On the weight thing ... if she's 6 months and they think she'll be 2lbs full grown how big is she now???(soo teeny i bet!!) As long as she's healthy I'm sure it's fine otherwise it's just less you have to spend on food. I give 1 medallion in the am , 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner and Kasha is 4.7 lbs.

I love the raw discussion! Let it begin!

[OwnedByJezebel]

I started feeding NV in just the kibble. It's a great food. You can switch between the canned, kibble, raw, as much as you want without transitioning, and every time I buy a new bag, I buy a different protein type.

I later added raw just to see if my dogs would like it. They are crazy about it! My VERY picky 14 year old Maltese eats it as soon as I put it down, and she has never done that with any other food. My Yorkie jumps for joy, like she has springs on her feet, bouncing and following me from the kitchen to the point where I put her food down. It's hilarious. They get raw for breakfast, and it is nice to see my picky little old lady eating immediately and consistently, day after day, and getting something in her stomach first thing in the morning. Me me and my dogs, the raw feeding is very quick. I put it down, and by the time I put some fresh water and kibble for grazing down, their raw food in GONE.

Truth be told, their raw food is probably safer than human food (when it comes to bacteria). NV uses pasteurization by pressure to kill any pathogens, and the meats in the meat market at our grocery stores don't have that benefit. A certain amount of the raw chicken in every grocery store WILL have salmonella. A certain amount of the beef WILL have e-coli. That's why we should all take precautions when handling, preparing, and cooking these items to a proper temperature.

So I actually feel that the pasteurized NV will be somewhat safer than what I buy in the meat market to feed myself and dh, and we never get food poisoning from our own food. Just take the same precautions that you take with your own meats and you should have no problem.

The rest of the day they graze on NV kibble. NV kibble is actually coated with freeze dried raw food, so when you feed the kibble they are getting some raw, too.