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Reply To: Large and Giant Breed Puppy Nutrition

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Hound Dog Mom
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You can’t look for a certain percent of calcium, whether or not a certain percent is appropriate will vary depending on the caloric density of the food. In a food which contains more calories than TOTW 1.4% may or may not be appropriate. If the food is low in calories, the dog will need to eat more to fulfill its energy needs and vice versa. So for example, if one food has 1.4% calcium and 3,000 kcal/kg and another food has 1.4% calcium but has 5,000 kcal/kg – you can see that the dog eating the lower calorie formula would end up consuming much more calcium than if it were eating the higher calorie formula. For this reason, calcium must be looked at on energy basis – usually grams per 1,000 kcal. Most nutritionists recommend the calcium levels not exceed 3.5 g/1,000 kcal. for large breed puppies. The TOTW formula you mentioned has 3.9 g/1,000 kcal.

You can give boiled eggs as often as you want as long as they don’t exceed 20% of his balanced meals.