Hi Hound Dog Mom,
First of all, thank you so much for your dedication to, and excellent work in filling in some of the gaps in the grey area that is proper giant breed puppy nutrition. Finding this forum has eased a lot of the stress I’ve accumulated in looking for the right food for my puppy after hearing/reading conflicting opinions of what he should be eating from our vet, Saint blogs and non-giant puppy info sources…
I have a lovely 9 month old fixed male Saint Bernard. He is hovering around 85 pounds and growing fast with lots of energy, the appetite of a lion and a very healthy, lean body shape. Unfortunately he is having problems with digestion of his current food as his stool is consistently soft/diarrhea on the tail end of going to the bathroom (it always starts out solid). He is currently on Wellness Large Breed puppy formula and after reading your article and lots of reviews of other people having issues I see that it’s time to switch.
After researching some of the food on your list, I have my eye on the Earthborn Holistic brand, possibly the coastal catch variety. I do have a couple of questions and wonder if you might have an opinion-
1) I have read several of your responses for people asking about portions to feed a puppy on an adult food and understand, of course, that it is based on individual needs. But I am trying to ballpark where to start him based on his age as an older puppy with higher energy levels and a good amount of activity. His appetite is monstrous as well, I feel like he could eat way more than what we give him but of course I am respecting a healthy diet and trying to maintain a safe weight for his growth. We feed him a bit more than what the Wellness bag recommends because he seems so hungry and it has not affected his weight at all. Should I start him off at 1 1/2 of what the chart says? Not sure if 2 times the amount is too much as he’s not such a small puppy anymore….
2) Although your list has the EH varieties listed as 5 on DFA, the DFA website itself lists them at 4. I double checked to see that the calcium percentage is still the same as listed on your chart, and it is. But do you think the 4 score is a negative reflection on the brand if it dropped from a 5 to a 4?
Thanks so much for all of your help!
