What do I feed my Mini Aussies

Current age:  2.5 years old (Indie) & 6.5 months old (Tulsi)

What am I currently feeding?

Fromm 4-star recipes: Game Bird kibble  

Sometimes I will switch them to the Duck & Sweet Potato:

Fromm is the best brand I've used so far for my picky-sensitive stomach Indie. I have tried Merrick, Blue Buffalo (recent lawsuit because food contained different meat than advertised), Wellness (made both our cat and dog sick), and Evangers (law suits galore, stear clear of them). Fromm is excellent, high quality, and never a recall or lawsuit.

My mini aussie never used to eat dry food by itself, but he eats the Fromm alone! And the best part is, he has continued to like it.  Previously, he would stop eating the dry food after 3 days or so and turn his nose up to it. I rotate between the two varieties that don't contain beef or fish (beef upsets my dog's stomach, and fish foods put him off for some reason).  My dogs likes these varieties, experiences no stomach issues and had good poop.

I'm convinced now, after trying many brands, that this is one of the BEST for a mini Aussie. It's great for Mini Aussies because it has a small kibble size and unlike Origen/Acana, the Fromm seems to have a better balance of protein:carb:veg. Even though it is a grain free mix, it doesn't upset Indie's stomach. The Acana was always too oily and made my dog gassy with mushy poop. I used to feed blue buffalo small breed kibble, but then read on Dog Food Advisor that brand is not very high quality after all and mass produced. Then I found Fromm which is family owned, small batch, never had a recall and is made in the USA.  I used to think my dog needed some grains in his food to firm up his stool, but since switching to Fromm I have not had this issue.

Since switching to Fromm all his and poo issues have gone away and he happily eats his food. 

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Choosing a food for your puppy 
(age 2-6 months)

I used this food whenTulsi was a puppy and I recommend looking for an adult or puppy kibble that has small kibble size.

High quality wet foods I've fed my dog:
Fromm Family Foods

Merrick Pet Foods (like Puppy Plate)

Try to find a kibble with a tiny size (about the size of petite green peas or corn kernels)

When I got Indie at 7.5 weeks, he was only 6 lbs and his mouth was tiny.  It was hard for him to eat the kibbles I was buying from Acana.

Tip: Sometimes you can feel the kibble through the bag to see how small they are. You are looking for a kibble that is the size of petit green peas.

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Choosing a food for Adolescence 
(age 6 months - 1yr)

Once your puppy gets their adult teeth completely in (usually around 6 months), you can switch to any dog kibble you want.  If you were feeding them wet only, you can now switch them back to kibble and then do wet food as an occasional treat.   

Fromm 4-star line (what I currently feed) is specifically formulated so that you can change varieties without upset.

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 Questions & Answers

1) Do I need to feed them puppy food?

You can if want to, but No it's not necessary. If you do choose to feed puppy food, you should stop or tapper off and switch to an adult food at 6 months old. In fact, my breeder and vet warned against puppy food all together for a mini aussie.  The issue being that it can cause them to grow too fast during their spurts and their ligaments and tendons may get stressed or be weak.  I fed Indie adult food and mixed in a little wet puppy food and he is proportionally perfect and has a sturdy strong frame. He jumps off of all kinds of crazy shit, hops on rocks, and generally stresses the hell out of me but he's NEVER been injured! (despite me cringing on many an occasion).

I am currently feeding my new puppy, Tulsi, the Fromm Puppy Food and will start mixing in the adult Fromm Gold now that she is 3 months old.

2) Are grains OKAY?

Yes.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Brown rice, oats, barley...it's all great!  In fact, my dog NEEDED this to help him firm up his stools!  I've recently switched Indie to a grain free kibble, Fromm 4-star, and he's doing great. The other grain free's I've tried upset his stomach.

Quick Tips:

-If you want to know whether a food is good or not, look it up on Dog Food Advisor for a complete review of ingredients, any warnings, and to see comments from other dog owners.

When choosing a dog food, you want to look for:

Known meat as the first ingredient.  E.g. "deboned chicken" or "duck meat" or "lamb meat".  It can be a meat meal and that's okay too, so long as it says what kind of meat. If it says something generic like "meat meal" STAY AWAY.

NO brewers rice or ground rice. Rice is just fine, in fact, my dog needed it when he was young to help him have firm stools.  But, brewers and ground rice are the byproducts from other processes and therefore they have no nutrition.  They're just put in as fillers.

Look for Simple ingredients that you recognize.

AAFCO approved, complete nutrition...try and find this on the label.