[Pitlove]

Hi Jonathan-

I don’t feel that diet rotation or star rating is critical at this juncture for your dog. Labs are large breeds and prone to the same DOD’s (developmental orthopedic disorders) as any other large breed is. Genetics plays a role in the expression of these disorders, however nutritionists are finding more and more that in some cases proper diet can manage and reduce the risk of these DOD’s. Up until he’s roughly 18 months of age, the most important thing is keeping him on a puppy food that is suitable for a growing large breed, which means it will have restricted calcium and calories. Some All Life Stages foods do meet these requirements, but it can be challenging doing all the research and emailing required to figure out which ones are. The two companies that have done the most research on large breed puppy growth and DOD’s are Hill’s and Purina, but if you are opposed to using one of those brands then I would look at NutriSource Large Breed Puppy, Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy, Precise Holistic Complete Large & Giant Breed Puppy, Solid Gold Wolf Cub, Dr. Tim’s Kinesis or Nulo Puppy.

If you want to rotate these foods I suppose you could, but you may not want to start that during a critical growth period in case something does happen (DOD).

Hope this was helpful!