Hi
Im buying a puppy in the next few weeks and im researching which puppy food to switch him onto once i get him but its all so confusing
My top choices are
Basil’s dog food
Acana puppy
Taste of the wild puppy
Eukanuba
Im looking for something 100% natural with no wheat gluten rice or filler’s of any kind basically something as close to raw feeding as possible but without all the mess and freezing raw feeding requires
Im looking to feed about 400g a day once he reaches his full grown weight of 25kg he’s currently 12 weeks old but im unsure of his weight till he has his vet’s weigh in with me once he’s here
I have about £1.50-£2.00 a day to spend on his food
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Hi, and welcome to the forum!
All 4 foods you picked are good choices, but remember that there is no absolute answer when it comes to dog food. Some dogs do great on a low carbohydrate, high protein diet but many others don’t. The golden rule is always to see how your puppy goes: if after 2-3 weeks on the new food you are still dealing with soft (or even runny) poo, most likely there is too much protein in the food; if the puppy struggles to gain weight and the growth is slow, probably he needs a little more protein… just go with the flow 
What you call “fillers” are ingredients rich in carbohydrates, which are actually a very important part in a dog’s diet; there are definitely differences among them (wheat worse than white rice, worse than brown rice, for example) but I would discourage you from completely disregarding their contribution.
Also, please remember to keep the puppy on the same food that the breeder has been feeding him/her for a couple of weeks; once the stress of settling in a new home is gone, you can switch food.
A final tip: to weight the puppy you don’t necessarily need to go to the vet. Get yourself on a scale and take note of your weight; then get on the scale again while holding your puppy. The difference of the two measurements will be your puppy weight. This is a good method until he/she is able to sit still for a few seconds.
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Hello and welcome to the forum. This is a good time to learn something about pet food because a good diet can go a long way to keeping your dog healthy and well. As you say, there is so much information and so many products that choosing a suitable product can be very confusing. With this in mind, we have a thread here which might be useful for you. The Dog Food Directory filters are also helpful for narrowing down the search. We can help you to use this tool when you are ready to change food. Hopefully, puppy will come to you with a sample of the food that the breeder has been using and as has been said, it is best to stick with that for a little while until puppy is settled. Don’t be in a hurry to swap and take your time over any food change so as not to upset the dog’s digestive system. Please let us know which food the breeder has supplied and we can give you and opinion and review link.
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Of the four products listed (based on, reviews & folk I know who have fed it ), Acana would be my choice from the shortlist. Acana is allegedly extruded at lower temperature than most other kibbles.
Air dried products such as ziwipeak are closer to raw but cost is too high for most.
Another product type to consider might be cold pressed…basically low temp pressing rather than high temp baking. For me if going down that route the Gentle brand would be my choice due to products & superb customer services from a business proprietor who genuinely cares about what she sells. There are some basic storage considerations as it can sweat or break down in wrong conditions.
I note you like idea of raw but not the mess or freezer issues. Currently I mainly feed Nutriment trays as I prefer to feed farmed salmon based complete BARF. Nutriment trays stack well, allowing easy storing in household larder style fridge freezer. We have 2 dogs (combined dog weight 35kg). I buy 20 trays at a time. Lab typically eats 1.25 trays per day spread over two feeds. I occasionally feed Wolftucker BARF compete too. Wolftucker are moving to trays now too… in my experience their products are less sloppy than some other brands, (if that is an issue). If smell is an issue then do consider some protein sources &/or brands products have different odours to others. I am aware some BARF complete products can smell &/or seem to have higher amounts of visible blood, however, I assure you that some research trial & error can reduce this very significantly. (Adult Chicken Wolftucker for example in my opinion has texture & consistency similarities to serving a quality coarse pate). Manufacturers should be able to advise on which products may be less odorous or messy than others - this may reduce need for trial and error sourcing & feeding.
I should also add that I have vegan & vegetarian humans in the home so mindful of need not to make kitchen look like a butchers yard at dog feeding times.
Mindful I have jumped in with comments including my BARF experience. I only did this as OP stated keen to feed a kibble as close to Raw as possible. In my view dried extruded Kibble is some distance from Raw feeding, however strong the desire of the feeder to find something close to it in a dry extruded kibble.
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A good basic & concise explanation of air & freeze dried.
I suspect both food types will currently be massively over the max £2 per day budget on OP’s 25kg when grown dog. I prior priced daily cost to feed Ziwipeak air dried & also Orijen freeze dried for my 26kg (working line & properly exercised so so not huge), Lab. I can’t remember the exact maths but projected cost was totally off limits for me at the time… I think I posted re the then likely costs on these boards…A forum search may find my associated ramblings.
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There is also an air dried premium dog food from Sweden that has been in the UK for a while called Wonderboo and is available from Pet Pavilion. I haven’t checked where it fits in money-wise with the other brands mentioned.
https://petpavilion.co.uk/collections/dog-food?page=5
https://petpavilion.co.uk/collections/dog-food?page=6.
https://wonderboo.com/uk/
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My calculations show its less than £2 to feed all those foods he’d be having upto 350g a day split into two meal’s once he’s fully grown next year ??? I’ve used all the individual calculator’s on the supplier sites
We’ve decided on Basil’s dog food as the most complete for him with the best ingredients and amazing reviews
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Hello and welcome to the forum, I wish you luck with your chosen food. It would be great if you could let us know how your pup gets on.
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I’ll be posting quite regularly on his progress there doesn’t seem to be many reviews on Basil’s either which is disappointing
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Meg, Well done for doing the maths & alzo coming up with some newer products in the specified budget.
Chicosmama, Glad you decided on a food. I confess I didn’t initially recognise Basil’s as BARF complete. Just be mindful that squeezing chubbs can be a bit messy. If you find this a hassle you can run hot water over packaging when frozen. Contents can be emptied into sealed container(s) & kept in fridge.
Initially you may need to split chubb contents to avoid waste or food turning rancid before due to being served. Always check storeage guidelines but more importantly trust your nose. If it smells or looks bad chuck it & defrost another.
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