2dogmom, I feed NL to my Goldendoodle puppy. Give them a call and ask to speak with Scott (he’s the owner and will talk with anyone who calls!). He can explain why the higher calcium & phosphorous levels are not harmful much better than I can. But in a nutshell, they don’t add additional Vitamin D3 to their foods. All the vitamins and minerals come from natural food sources and don’t cause overabsorption of calcium.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 1 month ago by
MsDad.
This is really long, so don’t go running away screaming lol
Dr Tims’s Pursuit Active
Dr Tim’s Kinesis ALS
Avoderm Natural Chicken and Brown Rice
By Nature Active
By Nature Pork
California Natural Chicken Meal and Rice Puppy
California Natural Low Fat Chicken Meal
Canidae Life Stages ALS
Canidae Beef and Ocean FIsh Meal
Castor and Pollux Ultramix Beef and Barley
Castor and Pollux Large Breed
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul ALL
Eagle Pack (all but reduced fat and senior)
Earthborn Puppy Vangate
Earthborn Small Breed
Earthborn Primitive Naturals
Evanger’s Chicken and Brown Rice
Fromm Gold ALL
Grandma Lucy’s Artisan Grain Free Pork
Grandma Lucy’s Artisan Grain Free Chicken
Grandma Lucy’s PureFormance Chicken
Holistic Select Vital Senior
Holistic Select Radiant Adult Chicken
Holistic Select Radiant Adult Lamb
Holistic Select Large and Giant Breed
Holistic Select Anchovy
Horizon Pulsar Grain Free Chicken
Horizon Pulsar Grain Free Fish
Merrick Whole Earth Farms Adult
Merrick Whole Earth Farms Puppy
Merrick Classic Beef
Merrick Classic Lamb
Merrick Classic Chicken
Merrick Classic Adult Large Breed Chicken
Healthwise Chicken Meal and Oatmeal
Natural Balance Ultra
Natural Balance Fat Dogs
Nature’s Recipe Adult Lamb and Rice
Nature’s Recipe ETD Chicken Meal and Barley
Nature’s Recipe Venison
Nature’s Recipe Large Breed
Nature’s Recipe ETD Fish Meal
Nature’s Recipe Healthy Weight
Nature’s Variety Lamb and Oatmeal
Nature’s Variety Chicken Meal and Brown Rice Puppy
Nutrisource Lamb Meal and Rice
PetGuard LifeSpan
Precise Naturals Grain Free Chicken
Premium Edge Healthy Weight 1 Weight Reduction
Solid Gold Wolf Cub
Vet’s Choice ALL
Wellness Complete Health Chicken
Wysong Adult
Wysong Growth Puppy
Acana Chicken and Burbank Potato
I was really surprised at how cheap the Grandma Lucy’s is– 51 pounds for 60 bucks, and for a really god one?? I’m all about that!
Not too sure on the Solid Gold, but its just kind of hanging out there for now. I dunno what it is about that brand that gives me the heebyjeebies.
Some of these other ones (By Nature, Vet’s Choice, Premium Edge, and a few others) are cheap and look good too. As it gets cooler and my food supply starts to dwindle, I’ll look into this online dog food shopping thing, I think.
You need to read the entire Large and Giant Breed Puppy Nutrition thread and print up the google doc on pg 15 to take with you to the dog food boutiques in your area.
/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/
Hi,
I see you have Nature’s Logic mentioned however I’ve seen recent posts about high calcium – maybe too high for large breed puppies. Does anyone know if there is true cause for concern?
Hi,
I am getting an 8 week old Golden Retriever (English Cream). I had planned on feeding him Nature’s Logic Dry (all stages food), however I started reading a recent post about high calcium levels and growth issues. Can you tell me if I should avoid that food? If so, HoundDogMom what do you suggest? I’m focusing on dry food or dry mixed with cans. I thought I found the perfect food in Nature’s Logic, now I’m second guessing that choice with all the posts about large breeds and calcium intake. I did purchase a bag and started feeding it to my picky Sheltie (almost 2 years old).. When I think I’ve settled on a food, I keep reading about gassy foods or loose stools and I’m not sure what to do. HELP!
Hello
I am in Ontario and pet value has now Earthborn yeah. For my large puppy it will be grain free Coastal Catch and Meadow Feast correct. If we are looking at food rotation for my large puppy can you tell me if the following kibbles would be ok:
Now Fresh for large puppy
Wellness Core for Puppy
Earthborn Coastal and Meadow Feast any other with that brand
Orijen maybe , he had gas and loose stool with it.
What do you think of:
Go grain free for puppy
Merrick grain free, they have 5 any I should not buy
Horizon Legacy for puppy
From grain free they have 5 any I should not buy.
Acana grain free
Thanks for the help
I have a ten month old German Shepherd who is having leg problems. We have taken her to the vet and had xrays done, and there is nothing wrong. I have do e some research and seen that certain foods aren’t as good for large breeds. I don’t like the food she is on right now (Beneful Puppy) because its not set for large breeds, and because of the other nasty ingredients in it. My problem is which food would be the best to help correct the paunches is having in her legs? We had her on the Purina ONE for large breeds, but she stopped eating it. I’m at a loss on what’s good for my girl.
I have a 16 week old purebred Border Collie puppy out of working stock lines.
He’s an amazing pup in every way, intelligent, lively, loving, and very social.
However….
Ricky has since I got him had very loose stools. We have three other dogs two Golden Retrievers and a Chihuahua (Shh, don’t tell him I called him a dog!)
None of our other three ever had loose stools, Ricky also poops a lot!
Not like 4-5 times like some puppies do but like 8-10 times a day.
His potty training has been an extreme difficulty and is not progressing as it should.
We’ve tried changing foods and adding supplements.
He just has show no signs of improvement.
I am a big fan of the raw diet but am not currently able to feed that with my finances.
He is currently on Diamond Lamb and Rice Large breed puppy.
My other dogs eat Diamond with no problems what so ever, they have a nice shiny coat and have never been in better health.
What do I do about this? I just am all over the board here and don;t understand why he poops SO MUCH and why it is so loose.
He is 100% healthy (had a blood panel done and everything) he is on Revolution for fleas and HW.
He gets feed in the afternoon around 12:00pm and at night around 6:00pm
Then gets a small snack of food before I leave for school around 7:00am of so.
He is very active and shows know underlying issues what so ever. His coat is beautiful! No smelly breath, or itching ect.
I just am baffled.
2 questions: soft stool and gas and rotation
– when can we start rotating food for large puppy. Tienan is 7 months. Introduced new food Now Fresh ,this week in 3 days and no problem He had been on Orijen for 5 months. Can I introduce another food when this bag is almost done?
– on Orijen his stool was softer and we was passing lots of gas. Does this means too much protein for him?
Hi Katie,
Bless you for taking on this big boy. He’s lucky to have you.
I would think it’s likely that the chewing and biting could be food intolerance / allergy issues as much as it could be compulsive behaviors. Would you be in a position to try to distract him every time you catch him chewing? A quick walk, a quick game of fetch, a doggie massage? Also, maybe give him something healthy to chew on that is tastier than his nails or fur. That’ll give him some extra calories also. Try bully sticks or raw, meaty bones like a turkey neck for snacks and chewing satisfaction. Samoan81’s suggestion for satin balls is a also a great idea.
I think I’d get him off of the grains though and would definitely increase his protein. His body needs more protein to repair and rebuild. I wouldn’t use anything less than 30% protein. He’s an adult now, so you don’t have to be as concerned with Calcium levels ~ which are what you limit with a large / giant breed puppy ~ not protein. While she mostly suggests foods with grains, the Great Dane Lady has a list of foods she recommends along with some great advice. Have you visited her site: http://www.greatdanelady.com/. Also, here’s a link that’ll take you right to the page of foods she recommends: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/criteria_list_of_better_foods.htm.
Also, one food I’ll suggest you try adding to his diet is Abady granular. It’s usually very well tolerated and is very calorie dense, about 800 kcals per cup. Their website is very strange, but I would suggest calling them and telling them what’s going on and get their recommendations. They’re extremely helpful over the phone. Here’s their website: http://www.abadyfeeds.com/ and here’s their phone number: Tele: (845)473-1900 * Toll Free: (877)-99ABADY .
Have you tried giving him some pureed pumpkin for the loose stools? That usually helps a lot.
Peace & Blessings,
Betsy
Thanks Patty for the info.
Questions for Storm Mom
I am in Ottawa can you tell me which puppy food for large breed you would recommended. I have HDM list and not too many she recommend I can find. Some brands we have here and not seeing them reviewed here. My concern is the calcium level and high protein as my puppy is large on the verge of becoming giant! I prefer grain free. I have presently Orijen and Now Fresh both puppy food for large breed.
When doing an elimination diet, your treats have to be of the same protein/carb as the diet you are trying. For example, my Micah was very young when he started having problems and I knew he had always been on a chicken and grain food, so I started with eliminating chicken and all grains. I used a turkey and tapioca based food, gave turkey necks for chewing, and dehydrated turkey bits for treats. He had no problems with turkey, tapioca, peas, sweet potatoes, then I added beef, beef ribs, liver bits for treats, and so on. No treats that aren’t the protein you are trying or one you have already found to be safe.
It turns out that Micah really does have a problem with chicken and some grains, but not all of them.
Storm’s Mom, on the review side, is the one who will know what is available in Canada. You might just want to print up Hound Dog Mom’s list and take it with you to the pet boutiques in your area.
As far as how long you need to transition, it will depend on your dog. Give him a couple weeks the first time or 2, just to be safe, then one week should be fine. But after you have been rotating his food for a while, you will find that he no longer needs transition time at all. Buying the biggest bags is fine as long as you use them up in a timely manner so the food does not spoil, which shouldn’t be an issue with a large breed.
Hello from Canada
I am french so my writing english could be not the best so excuse my spelling/ grammar mistakes.
I have read the 43 pages and decided to register. Definitely valuable information. What I have learned and knew nothing about is rotation of food. So now I would like to start my puppy who is 7 months on this new regime of rotation. He has been on Orijen puppy food for large breed since he was 10 weeks. I have bought” Now Fresh” puppy food for large breed. Wondering which other puppy food or all life stages food I could add that are available in Canada. Questions for the ones who are experts in this:
1- how many type of food can I add?
2- how do I do the transition, is one week enough to change from one brand to another one when puppy has been on only one food for the last 5 months?
3- I would like to keep buying the biggest bags. So when there will be one week left of food in the bag can I mix it with another brand of food and when this one is almost empty start the transition again and keep doing this.
Thanks
How do I safely add sardines and eggs into my puppies diet without changing the amount of calcium they will be getting. I have looked at nutritionals on sardines and it seems they do have a solid amount of calcium. Also what other raw natural foods do you think I should be adding into her diet and how do I go out about that. Obviously the base of the diet will consist of dry but I definitely want to add natural raw in as often as I can and as early as I can. Also , chew like Elk and Deer antlers have calcium as well. I just want to make sure they are not getting an abundance of these minerals from the toppers or treats.
Wow April very nice find. My puppy is having sensitivities to the high protein in the rabbit at 36% protein. He is having loose stools but since going on more dr Tim’s kinesis food his stools have firmed up. I may have to try that next round. I just got dr Tim’s and I will be reporting in a couple weeks.
did you all see the 2 new earthborn holistic grain free?
large breed and weight control
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/large_breed/
koa’s mom this might be the thing for your dogs with the 26 protein in it
KarinK: go back a couple pages, someone shared the link of HDM approved foods for large breed puppies.
HDM or anyone that can help. I found this website (which I think is great), but the more I read, the more confused I get. After reading numerous posts, I came across one in which HDM recommends Nature’s Variety Limited Ingredient Turkey and Rabbit formulas for Large Breed Puppies. I fed my 13 year old Golden (who just passed away) the LTD ingredient formula for the past 2 years of his life (when I found it). Loved it!! Would love to start my new Lab puppy on this food as well. However, their website doesn’t list the calcium and phosphorus. Are both of these recipes within the normal calcium/phosphorus ranges for large breed puppies?
Also, if ok, I have read it’s good to top food off with other things like tripe, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, canned sardines, carrots, etc. If I add these things to the diet, does that not throw off the calcium/phosophorus in the diet? How do I control this? Would love to be able to add these things to the diet but I’m no scientist and can’t be doing all kinds of calculations everytime I want to add something to my puppies food – but I also don’t want to harm him.
Also, any names/recommendations on probiotics/enzymes and where to get them? Is there are need to give these to a puppy if you give him a good quality kibble?
Any suggestions? If you could give me the name of your favorite 2 or 3 foods to feed my large breed puppy it would be a great help. That way I can rotate th food. Price is not a problem.
Thanks.
Good canned food for large breed or helps for large breed I will use it as a mix
koa’s mom,
i had that turmoil when i first got my doberman pup in march and was advised to go low protein low calcium for the first few months of her life. dfa reviews do tend to favor high protein foods and i dont recall a grain free 5 star kibble that is sub 30 percent. there are real good 3 and 4 star foods. they just dont have the protein content to make it a higher star but they have outstanding real ingredients just like the higher star foods.
i used redmoon chicken and potato (23% protein, 1% calcium, 4.5% ash, 0.9% phosphorous). its 3.5 stars. their lamb and potato is 4.5 stars and their chicken and yellow pea is 5 stars. i seriously dont think they put junk in their lower star rated food to earn that star rating.
have you looked at drtims kinesis als? its 26 percent protein. or did i miss something about mandatory grain free?
edit. when she hit 7 months i started transitioning in earthborn meadowfeast, drtims pursuit and drtims kinesis als. in her 9th month i do a rotation of meadowfeast and kinesis als but still use a redmoon chicken and potato base cuz i like it and they do good on it (the boxer adult is on the redmoon as well)
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
apriliamille.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by apriliamille.
I know, it is very difficult. I have been going back and forth for weeks trying to decide what to ween a litter of puppies on and decided to go with Wellness Core( which I’m hoping is the right decision based on your experience). I would find a food that is close percentage wise and then call or email the company for the actual average protein content. They all have that information.
Sippmanir, Thank you for the link, but I already have seen it and that is what prompted me to switch to Wellness Core Puppy, but now I’m faced with an issue that, according to the vet, is requiring me to feed a low calcium AND low protein food. I’m just not sure what to feed because most foods have protein content of 30% or more, even the all life stages food. Earthborn Meadow Feast states no less than 26% protein , but what does that really mean? To me it means that it it is likely higher than 26%.
Another thing I find confusing is the protein content in the raw foods. For example, under the food analyisis of Primal Raw frozen, it gives a dried protein content of 47% and a protein content of 15%. What do I go by? I don’t know how to interpret that.
Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to get my dog kn the best food possible ASAP.
KarinK: look at the post above yours, that link is for the foods for large breed puppies. You will have to look through the list and see what is available on amazon and locally. Any reason you can’t order from one of the great online sites?
On your list provided of dog food, (unsure if it applies to Large Breed Puppies), I found
Blackwood, Grain Free Salmon (Puppy to Adult Formula) as well as Annamaet Salcha. Are either of these good for large breed puppies? Also, don’t see the calcium/phosphorus/protein listed on the Blackwood food. If they work, would prefer the Blackwood because of the lower protein level 28%. Please help!!!
Hello everyone, and Hound Dog Mom in particular (I’ve heard you seem to be the expert):
I was just given the link to this forum and I am thrilled to have found it. November 2nd I will be bringing home a purebreed English Labrador Retriever (8 weeks old). In the past, I have been very concious about what food I give to my dogs and have stayed away from any products having anything to do with Diamond, or any that have been recalled for one thing or another. Little by little I came across companies like Orijen, Acana and Nature Variety Limitied Ingredient (for my older dogs). I thought I’d have no problem with my new little guy with any of these foods, until I started reading more about the long term effects of calcium/phosphorus to large breed puppies. The more I read, the more confused I got. Also, I find that the really good quality foods are VERY high in calcium 38%+. At this point I am at a loss as to what to buy. I want a a natural, holistic food, grain-free that kibble that I can feed my little guy without worrying of any long-term negative effects on his health/bones…or kidneys (due to high protein).
Can someone please give me a list of 3-4 different ones (I’ve been reading that a rotating diet is best) that would be available in the Miami area or at least through Amazon.
Thanks in advance for your help!!
GSDGuy: you can get almost any dog food you can think of delivered to your doorstep from either Chewy.com or PetFlow.com. Free shippiing at $49, I think. Chewy tends to have the better prices, PetFlow seems to have more specials.
Canidae large breed puppy food all life stages is there anything else like that with the title (large breed puppy food all life stages) but that I can get at petco or petsmart we don’t have almost no local pet stores here
Hi all,
Need some help with picking a puppy food brand… my 5-month old boxer has trouble digesting (loose stool+occasional diarrhea). At 6 weeks of age I put him on Fromm Large Breed Puppy. After a month, decided to switch to Orijen brand, no change. I tried mixing in pumpkin, and recently did white rice diet for a few days, now re-introducing kibble. He is otherwise great, healthy weight of 40lbs at 5 months of age, full of energy, dewormed regularly. I am considering trying Wellness brand next, and Now Fresh. Also thought of doing a limited ingredient feed. It is hard to try different feeds, takes a while to introduce it, then to see if it works, then switch again… what a pain.
I feed him abt 3.5 cups of dry food daily (feeding 3x), which feels right and agrees with the feeding guidelines.
I previously had my dogs on Trader Joe’s feed, Iams etc. and they did great – lived very long and healthy lives. With this puppy I am trying to stick with the best quality, grain-free food everyone is talking about, and doesn’t seem to be working for me!
Any words of wisdom, anyone?
Thank you!!!
Would canidae large breed/all life stages puppy food be a wise choice to buy I see its a 3 star rated food
KOA,
How long was she on Wellness? What was she eating before? If you look back in this thread Wellness should be a fine food for her and should not be the culprit. After reading this and many other studies I decided to wean my 11 newborn puppies onto Wellness CORE puppy.
Hound Dog mom, I just had xrays done on my 5 month old German Shepherd puppy beccause she was favoring her left hind leg on occasion. She has panosteitis. I have been feeding Wellness Core Puppy. The vet said I need to feed her a lower protein food, something 25% or less. What do you suggest for possible options. I prefer grain free and raw is ok too.
Hi Hound Dog Mom ( or other who know what to do )
I have decided to wean the wean the litter onto wellness core puppy. It was one of your 5 recommendations and they have been great to send puppy packs with samples for everyone. I will be rotating my dog with the NV instinct as well as Earthborn. My question is… How do I safely add sardines and eggs into their diet and my girls diet without changing the amount of calcium they will be getting. I have looked at nutritionals on sardines and it seems they do have a solid amount of calcium. Also what other raw natural foods do you think I should be adding into her diet and how do I go out about that. Obviously the base of the diet will consist of dry but I definitely want to add natural raw in as well as often as I can and as early as I can. I want to be able to have recommendations for all the new owner so they can continue these puppies on a healthy lifestyle. Thank you all for the info. This has been a great forum!
Regarding Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy, the trainer I work with told me that it was now corn free. The packaging still lists corn gluten so I called the company and they said that they HAVE REMOVED the corn/corn gluten, they just legally have 6 months for the packaging to be updated to reflect the change.
So, according to them, any package of Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy with and expiration date labeled November 2014 or later does not have the corn gluten. It is not a grain-free food as it does contain rice, but this is the next food I am planning on giving my English Setter, Annie. It is on HoundDogMom’s approved large breed puppy food list.
Nutrisource is a good food and reasonably priced. It is a family owned company similar to Fromm with no recalls and I believe they’ve been in business for 50+ years. I was going to fees my dogs the nutrisource seafood select, I belive that’s the name, however my large breed dog is only 9 weeks and the calcium content was 1.9 which was way to high for her. I definitely wouldn’t rule that food out for the future though.
Weber hunde: I’m really not familiar with either of those. Months ago, with much help from this forum (!), I finally made a list of what I wanted to rotate among. Those included: Fromm (he was fed Fromm for the bulk of his 1st year, but it is too cost prohibitive for us to continue), Merrick (mixed review so far, but probably an allergy – not a knock against the food), Earthborn and Dr Tim’s. And in the back of my mind: Zignature.
Most of the choices had to do with DFA reviews, sourcing/producing in the US, ownership of company (for example Diamond brands have lots of recalls), and price point.
Long and short of it is, I really don’t know why I never included the two you ask about – I would just check on the ownership and manufacturing plants and read the reviews!
Thank you gsdmommy89 ~ I appreciate that you took the time to share your experience. Obviously, NV is a highly regarded company and they probably are taking the necessary steps, however I could just never in good conscience knowingly feed my dog a food from China. Certainly not when there are so many other choices. There have just been too many “incidents”. I’m not saying I wouldn’t feed NV, just not the rabbit.
mfulton7
i used pure canned pumpkin with my transitions. i believe pumpkin is considered prebiotic. maybe look at a prebiotic or use canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie cans). the transitions i have done are slowwwwww. a couple pieces for a day or two. then 25 percent of one of their meals for a day or so then 50 percent of their meal for a day or so.. and on and on. also i use a tablespoon or two of pumpkin with their meals. and their bed time crate kong treat is a frozen layer of pumpkin and peanut butter (if i use too much new food and nightly walk looks a little off)
im in the middle of doing a drtim kinesis and am up to half of her breakfast meal. her poop is kickable if that makes sense.
edit. oh yeah i forgot about our sundays which might play a factor in how our dogs are doing (we do a variant of the 5/1/1 meal plan). our dogs get a raw breakfast of venison, elk (compliments of a game locker here in our region) a baked sweet potato, cooked green beans, herring in plain water, and either a cored apple, cored pear or bannana depending on what we have that morning along with plain greek yogurt. dinner is a raw marrow bone
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by apriliamille.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by apriliamille.
To Sully and Duke:
I used to work at a pet supply store that only carries super premium and premium brand foods (i.e: Fromm, Orijen, Merrick, Nature’s Variety, ZiwiPeak, etc). I did alot of research on every brand we carried because customers have a lot of questions about food, especially people that are switching from grocery brands like Pedigree and Purina since they want to know exactly why they should spend that extra money. I use Nature’s Variety, and I too am very wary of where things come from. As for their rabbit formula, I have used it and I love it. I know it’s sourced from China, but feel confident in it because of the testing they’ve done and also because for a while they did not carry the rabbit formula in the cans or raw. I called, emailed, asked many different representatives in many different ways, and researched as to why this was. I was satisfied to know that they didn’t want to source their rabbit from just anywhere. They’d rather not have any rabbit than to have questionable suppliers. Yes, there are U.S rabbits, but if what they use now is already pricey, could you imagine the price of it if it was U.S supplied? OUCH!! This is my opinion on NV Rabbit ( I’ve used all three varieties: kibble, raw, cans) and I am a huge fan of them. Of course everyone has their own reservations, I just thought it’d be nice to share my experience.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
gsdmommy89.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by gsdmommy89.
Duke the Boxer: this is what they’ve told me so far:
“The rabbit protein we use in our canned and raw diets is from China. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our diets. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients.”
I replied that I was asking about the kibble and have not heard back. Personally, if the canned and raw diet rabbits are from China, I personally would likely not order the rabbit kibble….(aren’t there US rabbits??)
Hey DFA community i wanted to see what you guys thought about this treat i found.
http://biostareq.com/formulas/canine/dog-star-fish-raw-food-treats
It says its made from Menhaden fish meal which ive read that supposedly arent exposed to high levels of mercury because of their depth that they live at. Only thing i saw is that it has 9.29% ash.
Serving: Per Treat
Crude Protein (min) 33.00%
Crude Fat (min) 16.7%
Crude Fiber (max) 5.85%
Moisture (max) 10.15%
Ash (max) 9.29%
They also have a liver meal dog treat for the same price with less ash. Also i might add that my dog is a puppy american bulldog boxer mix so hes gonna be a large breed and i am worried about high ash levels.
To Weber Hunde: Hello, I wish I could be more helpful but we’re struggling now to find a solution! I will tell you that I once rotated to BB Freedom and in the short time Sully was on it, his stools were better than they had been, but he broke out in a terrible rash. It certainly could have been coincidence with the timing of the new food, but we got off it immediately…didn’t even finish the bag.
Now he’s eating Merrick Grain Free Beef and again, stools are the best they’ve ever been and he’s itching worse than ever. Although he’s been itching since the day we got him, he seemed the best on Fromm (both Large Breed Gold puppy and Grain Free Surf and Turf), but we’ve tried to get off of Fromm as it is really too expensive.
Earthborn Holistic Great Plains is next on our list. I’ll let you know!
Sully is your dog has no problem with foods with high protein I would really recommend the rabbit if you can catch it on sale. I’ve never seen my dookie’s coat so amazing. He also loves the taste of te nv. I think it’s cuz they have a raw freeze dried putter layer so dogs go crazy over. It was a little weird when I first gt the bag cuz the food was so black but it is how it’s suppose to be. Let me know if you have an questions about nv. I just order dr Tim’s kinesis Grain inclusive so I will be reviewing that in a couple weeks.
Good morning, all! I am new to this site, but have already found it so helpful. My request is to Sully’s mom: I too am experiencing excessive itching and biting of my two lab puppies. I have them on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Large Breed Chicken recipe. I have since changed the 3 month old’s food to BB Life Puppy with Lamb and Rice, with some success. He is still itchy, though. What food have you found has helped with this?
as an aside, he was on ivermectin for mites, which have since cleared up. Also, no people foods of any kind for either pup!
Thanks for any feedback!
GSD Guy, read this thread, somewhere here is a list of foods appropriate for large breed puppies.
I need help on adog food that helps slow growth rate ,my dogs growth problems bother him a lot and I want to know some foods that’ll help him rest easier at night :/
I must have been replying to someone whose dog sounded like it had an intolerance issue and mentioned that the dog was on Purina at some point, but I wasn’t sure if it still was. Almost all Purina foods are chicken and grain, so that would be the most likely things for the dog to develop an intolerance to. Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast would be a good one for you to try. Beef is a common allergy too, BTW. Look for something that has different protein and starch from what he was itching on. When you find a food that works for him, give him some time to get over ALL symptoms, then start adding single ingredients to his food to see if he starts reacting to them.
Thanks, Pattyvaughn! I just looked at InkedMarie’s list and printed out. I found Nature’s Variety Instinct grain-free chicken on sale at petfooddirect.com for $50.99 (free shipping with code), so I just bought a bag to give it a try. I think I’ll try Earthborn’s Meadowfeast next. Thank you for all the suggestions!
InkerMarie made a grain free, potato free list. It is a stickie in the dog food ingredients category. You can compare it to HDM’s list to find a good food.
My dog absolutely devours and loves loves his natures variety rabbit meal. Great bag of food. I will always buy a 30 pound bag when it’s on sale. My dookie’s coat is gorgeous. Even when he’s the dirtiest and we are about to clean him he still has a shiny ad soft coat. I’m not too sure if he rabbit doesn’t have any potatoes but I know it is grain free.
