Hello All! So glad to have found this forum, lots of great knowledge! We are getting a 8 week old golden retriever puppy this coming Saturday, very excited! Our last golden lived to 15, we lost him 2 years ago. Amazingly enough, it’s a whole new world in the dog food world for us now…We fed Rusty Nutro Max and he lived 15 years, though it seems that isn’t the best food out there.We want to start off on the right foot with this puppy so are trying to make food decisions. I was wondering about Merrick, looks like a great line, but I see it isn’t included at all on your calcium chart Hound Dog Mom (thank you for putting that together!)….So wondering/assuming the calcium levels are too high? The other food I really liked was Earthborn Holistic Meadow Feast, but a worker at a pet store talked me out of it, saying it’s 1st ingredient is sweet potato, rather than a protein source. My hopes for a food are: grain free, meets safe calcium levels for a large breed puppy, and wondering if I should avoid potatoes as they are “yeasty”, our 15 year old always got ear infections, and wondered if it would be helpful to avoid these. Help save me from this vicious dog food circle I am stuck in! I’d love to hear your expert opinions 🙂 We also can’t afford the way hi end foods….
