hi Duncan2012. since your puppy is over 8 months, I believe you don’t really have to worry about calcium levels anymore. I don’t know many foods that don’t have potatoes, but on HDM’s list she does have Nature’s Variety Instinct. they are grain, potato and sweet potato free and they use tapioca as their starch source. I believe the least expensive formula is the chicken meal formula. so if your puppy doesn’t have sensitivities to chicken that could be your best bet. I absolutely love Nature’s Variety
Our 9-month-old Bernese mix has been doing well on Zignature, but we’d like to rotate his food. He seems to have a sensitivity to potatoes. Any suggestions for good potato-free, grain-free dry dog foods from HDM’s list? The top 5 she suggested earlier in this thread all seem to include potatoes. I know Canine Caviar is grain-free and potato-free, but it’s out of our budget.
I don’t know if you consider weimaraners large breeds, but I now feed them hi-tec naturals. This dog food is make in China which bothers me, but no bad recalls. The problem is my dogs has gas all the time. Was thinking of going to taste of the wild, but so many recalls. I am also on disability so every dollar counts and still want the best I can afford for these beautiful dogs. PS my corgi even has gas
Maggy6577
Many standard poodles are not large breeds, but some are, so if I were you I would ere on the side of caution. There are no negatives to feeding a food for large breeds except that you have a little less variety to choose from. Once your puppy is grown, you no longer have to worry about calcium levels again and you can feed any food you want.
Is my Standard poodle considered a large breed? Should I be giving her a specific food? She is getting TOTW puppy right now which is a 4.5 star food but I am not sure if it is for large breeds.
jewels
as per your post about bag size. i only get small bags of a food to test the dogs.
once they are transitioned i dont think it matters what bag size the dog requires. to me it just makes more sense to buy the largest size i can get. some of the price models are just nuts with the higher price per pound scaling the less you get. i assume we are talking large breed so i wouldnt even bother worrying about opened bags depleting nutrients through the air
but, just in case, the larger earthborn bags have a ziplock system even though i cut the upc off and mail into earthborn for the upc for trees program. my base dog food comes in zip lock 7 pound increments in a 7×7 pound shipment so i have probably 21 spare empty heavy duty zip locked foil lined bags to fill up with what ever large bags of food i have come
Yea am starting to lean that way as well. My biggest problem is having these 11 puppies, they are all going to family and close friends , I do not mind paying a little more for food but I am sure other people do and will not stick to a grain free diet. So I don’t know if it is better to start with Dr. Tim’s and maybe wean mine onto his grain-free formula or earthborn after a few months.
Brown rice, dried tomato pomace, brewers yeast. I’m thinking maybe that’s why its only a 4 star food. I’ve also been researching this site for weeks and days. Its so overwhelming! I have a doberman puppy and wanted the best food for the best value for her. I chose Earthborn Hollistic coastal catch to start with. I was going to go with fromm 4 star grain free but I felt it was to pricey for the quality of food.
I am in Los Angeles too. Well actually La Verne/Claremont area. That is good to know. I am just trying to figure it out why it is only a 4 star food? The first few ingredients seem great. I have been starting to lean towards Dr. Tim’s because of the information I have been getting here. When reading the ingredients it seems almost better than the others but I may just be reading something wrong or not really know how to read the ingredient statements.
Fromm is a really good food, top quality ingredients, but the protein levels are a bit low and the price is a bit high.
Anyone have any opinions on Fromm’s Large Breed Gold. Everyone has given me some great ideas but I just ran across this yesterday. My indecisiveness is getting the best of me for these 11 pups! What makes this a 4 star food compared to something like Dr. Tims or Earthborn. To me the ingredients look better?
I tried giving him some natural pumpkin which I boiled for a little to soften it up for him. Unfortunately it didn’t help much till I switched him to a lower protein food.
Might be too much protein or his tummy might be disagreeing with something in the food. Try mixing in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin would be my suggestion, as it’s worked for me before.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
EHubbman.
My boy is not doing so well on nv. Everything is amazing and I definitely will be buying this food again cuz his coat is amazing and has no rashes anywhere but at this current time I think the formula has too much protein and is causing quite loose stools. Since then I’ve been mixing half nv and half of this natural balance and his stools has improved greatly. I’m thinking of trying dr Tim’s kinase grain inclusive next rotation. What do you guys think? Can a food with too much protein cause loose stools in a dog? I haven’t been over feeding him as I’m feeding under the recommended dosage and still wen I try and go back to more nv than the natural balance the stools go back to very soft.
As far as bag size and rotation goes, that is a personal choice. I always buy the big bag to save money and I have 3 dogs so I go throught it quickly. After you have transitioned a few times you will find that your dog no longer needs transitions so you don’t have to worry about having enough food for a transition. I know several people buy the small bags so they can switch more frequently. Once your dog is used to switching it really doesn’t matter, you can even do like I did last winter and have four bags open at once and feed something different every meal. And yes, you can feed a cheaper food one time knowing you are going to feed a more expensive food next. You can feed chicken one bag and lamb the next.
To add to my previous question. What makes this a 4 star food compared to something like Dr. Tims or Earthborn. To me the ingredients look better?
Thanks guys! And no need to apologize, apriliamille. I appreciated your comments. If I am rotating at the end of each bag, then it will make it easier to try some brands I can’t find locally. I’ll just order a bag when I buy something at Petco and it will be waiting for me to use when needed. I could possibly rotate in one of those $80 NV Instinct Rabbit formulas… just as long as I’m not buying that every bag! (Wow, that’s steep.) When rotating, I assume I should buy the biggest bag of food so my pup has a decent period of time on it, right? Or does that matter? Also, do I need to rotate chicken to chicken formulas or can I switch chicken to lamb or chicken to rabbit (fish etc)? Is there a limit of how many different proteins (and possibly carbs) you should have in your rotation? Thanks!
jewels
sorry i wasnt trying to do a shameless plug for earthborn. i actually rotate between 2 differant food companies and have been testing a third
i only shared websites that I have seen and used their retail finder and an example of order ship times from chewy.com on a product i actually ordered
Rotate at the end of each bag and to different brands. Within a brand, they usually use the same vitamin/mineral premix so whatever it is high in will be high among all their foods and same with whatever it is low in.
Thanks! I was leaning towards the NV Prairie so that makes me feel more confident in my choice. 🙂 I will look in to where I can find Earthborn. I think I will start with NV Prairie however because it is easily available. Any thoughts on whether to use Large Breed Puppy or Puppy? Or a mixture of both? They are both on the list. Also, how often is it recommended to rotate food? When I rotate, is it best to stay within a brand, or does that not matter as long as the new food is introduced properly? If I start with NV Prairie can I rotate to Earthborn? Thanks!
jewels:
in my own personal opinion, I would completely avoid Innova. it used to be a very good brand. excellent even. but this past year it was recalled numerous times. it was bought out by Proctor and Gamble. I also think the same way as you do: is it worth driving further for a certain food? depending on how much further. if what I’m saving on the kibble, I’ll be spending in gas, I don’t think it is. but that’s just me. gas here in Los Angeles isn’t so cheap anymore. my choices would be NV Prairie, Wellness Core, Pinnacle, then Halo. I prefer my food to have some kind of meal in it. some people don’t, but to each his own. I don’t really know much about Avoderm. never really caught my attention enough to make me want to research or try it. I personally feed my GSD puppy Fromm Large Breed Puppy, but will be rotating to Earthborn once it’s time to get a new bag. Luckily I can get Earthborn pretty much anywhere here, and I think it’s an excellent brand.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
gsdmommy89.
jewels
are you any where near idaho falls?
there are a few victor pet foods on the list and their website says ameripet in idaho falls and pet center in rigby and 58 paws in hailey
i also did a zip code for idaho falls and set for 200 miles and got a decent list on the earthborn holistic website. try there for local retail stores?
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/where_to_buy/retail_stores.php
some of the online stores have rotational automatic send out options so you dont have to worry. and you can get good foods for alot less then the amount you posted in your comment that i cant remember (80 a bag?) that i cant scroll up to see
blah lots of edits. i had a large bag of earthborn holistic come to me in central utah from petflow.com they shipped from las vegas. 2 days ship to american fork utah
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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.
The foods that didn’t make the list come in 2 categories. 1) They didn’t answer HDM’s request for info. 2) They were too high in calcium for large breed dogs.
She emailed every 4 and 5 star food to ask for the calcium info. Many didn’t bother to reply at all and many had too much calcium.
Also, any ideas why Merrick isn’t on the recommended list? My older standard poodle loves their food.
Thanks! I just got back from Petco (the only pet store around… I live in small town Idaho). I’m not able to find the majority of the recommended foods on the google document in my area. I know I could order online, but I’d really like to find something local that works. I tend to be scatter brained with all the kids and pets running around my house and I’d hate to run out of food and have to wait on shipping! Our Petco carries the Nature’s Variety Instinct line, which would be my first choice, but I’m pretty sure my hubby would croak if I bought an $80 plus bag of dog food. I looked around at what else they might have and they do have Wellness Core but not for puppies. The options I was able to find are Nature’s Variety Prairie options, the Halo Spot’s Stew options, Pinnacle options.. they might have the Avoderm options, and I think I can find Innova around here as well. Of these options, do you have any recommendations?
For training treats, my favorite is Vital Essentials Freeze Dried dog food and I also make my own by baking chicken or making little meatballs and baking them, but those get your hands messy, the VE doesn’t.
HDM hit all my favorites for large breeds, which are the 2 by Earthborn and the 2 by Nature’s Variety. I love Brother’s Complete and Nature’s Logic too, but they will have to wait until your pup is done growing.
Thankyou Hound Dog Mom ,Love this breed <3 its hard to find the healthier foods here in Texas all I have is petco which sells wellness halo and natures variety which I usually get would anyone know where to get better foods maybe on a trustworthy website ? Or a local store they know of ?
Thanks! I forgot to ask about training treats. This puppy is very full of himself and is going to need a lot more training than my last standard. I don’t want to undo any good I’m getting from the right food by using poor training treats. This pup is highly food motivated so I’m sure I’ll be using treats alot. I always cut them in to tiny pieces but I’d still love to know if there are any particular brands/types recommended to go along with these feeding guidelines. Thanks!
Since she doesn’t believe that breed specific foods are anything more than a marketing gimick, they are general. I have to agree with her. Genetically, your dog is almost completely identical to a wolf, coat type doesn’t matter, since good food will feed any coat type, so feed your domestic wolf, and let the poodle take care of itself.
Free feeding is fine if your pup doesn’t overeat. I don’t like it personally, but I understand your vet’s reasoning. Don’t put out more than your dog will eat in a day, so you aren’t feeding stale or rancid kibble.
Hello everyone! I’m new and found this site while trying to search for answers for my 11 week old standard poodle puppy. The breeder sent me home with instructions to feed him adult food not puppy food. She feeds a 50/50 mixture of Purina Pro Select for Sensitive Stomach and Skin (salmon) and Eukannuba Adult Large Breed. My vet disagrees and told me to only feed a large breed puppy food. I’m glad I found this site! I haven’t read all 37 pages of this forum but did read several pages on either end as well as looked at the document link on page 15. My head is swimming (numbers/stats/percentages make my brain hurt). I will be spending days on here trying to get a grasp on this subject, but meanwhile I wondered if there are any recommendations for this breed? The document listed foods by alphabetical order… is there anyone willing to give me a top three or five choices in the grain free and grain inclusive categories? Also, the breeder said to free feed to avoid bloat. Is that the consensus here or are scheduled feedings preferred for puppies? Thanks! I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed!
The updated list also has grain inclusive foods and I would strongly advise anyone with a dog on Purina that is showing signs of food intolerances to avoid chicken and all grains, like the plague. And at 10 months calcium levels are not that much of a concern anymore.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
theBCnut.
justme2,
Look at page 1 and 2 of this thread for the food recommendations. There’s a google doc link in there.
Justme2,
If the shepherd is a “large breed” then he needs a food with a special calcium level and calcium:phosphorus ratio for proper joint development and to avoid too fast growth of bones and orthopedic disease till he’s at least 18 months old. There’s a section here in the forum for “large breed puppies”. Check it out for sure. As for the yorkies, the smallest kibbles I’ve used are Nutrisource Small/Medium Breed Puppy, Nature’s Select Hi-Pro, Amicus (for toy breeds, grain free) and Nature’s Logic. These are ok for pups and adults and all of them are gluten free last time I checked. Then the next size up kibble but still very small is Nature’s Variety and Brothers Complete, Nutrisca, and Nutrisource grain free Lamb. I’ve used all of these in my house. I’ve fostered over 200 pugs now! On a side note, as Patty mentioned a possible grain mite issue, Purina did have a recall for mold in the recent past. How do you store your kibble? Do you keep it in the original bag and in an air tight container in air conditioning and preferably roll the bag down so there’s not much air in it? Or do you pour it out into a container? Do you clean the container before you refill it?
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
pugmomsandy.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.
hello,
we have a 10 mo old 105lb shepherd, we leave the food out all the time and he only eats when he’s hungry, both parents are 150lb so he’s going to be big. We’ve been feeding him Purina Pro Plan Focus large puppy breed but we’ve noticed on the last 2 bags he’s been scratching terribly, no fleas and he’s starting to get red spots on his stomach. Is there a better dog food to feed him? thank you so much
GSDguy:
I also have a shepherd puppy. he’s 3 months old. I feed him Fromm Large Breed Puppy. But HDM did include her list of appropriate foods and that’s where I picked mine out. I chose it because 1) Fromm is a family owned company 2) it’s easy to find here in L.A 3)I pay about $51 for a 33lb bag. it lasts a very long time. the only thing I didn’t like at first was that it is a bit rich, so my puppy’s stools were somewhat loose. but that was something simple canned pure pumpkin cleared right up. other than that, it’s awesome
I switched my 11 week English Setter puppy from what the breeder was feeding her (Purina Large Breed Puppy) to Wellness Core Puppy over about 8 days. My husband thought her stools seemed loose (they had a shape, but lost consistency when picked up) and wanted to switch her back as a trial to the Purina. I did not want to do that, so called the vet and the person I talked to recommended mixing a bland diet of chicken & rice into her food.
So for lunch, I cooked organic long grain rice, mixed with chicken (which I have been treating her with all along) in Wellness Core. Within 10 minutes she was throwing up all over the place. I took her to the vet, who thinks it could be a reaction to something else, but I also had some of the rice and my tummy has been gurgling and knotted.
My gut (and gut instinct) tells me it was the rice, but the vet said they had never seen rice cause vomiting and that it is likely not it. Anyone else ever have a reaction like this?
I called the manufacturer of the rice and store that sold it to inform them, and saved it in my freezer for them to examine.
I know there is such a thing as too much calcium, but is there such a thing as too much protein? The animal behaviorist I am working with to stem Annie’s biting and jumping said that the protein shouldn’t be above 28 (she raises rhodesian ridgebacks) but I think the people on this site know better. Appreciate your input.
Thank you so much for reposting this link HDM.
Does anyone know anything about the calcium levels of Performatrin Ultra, grain-free? It is the store food of PetValu and ranked high on Dog Food Advisor, but didn’t make the your list so was wondering if it was calcium or something else that kept it off the list?
Thank you.
slippmanjr –
I wouldn’t just look for a quality food and not worry about whether it’s grain-free or grain-inclusive – aim for a food that has at least 30% protein. There are some great grain-free foods and horrible grain-free foods – same for grain-inclusive. It’s about the quality of the ingredients and the amount of quality, animal-derived protein. I typically lean toward grain-free kibbles because they generally contain more protein but the Dr. Tim’s and Annamaet Ultra I mentioned are two very high quality grain-inclusive foods that I don’t have any issue with recommending.
I need to know a few dog foods good for a german shepherd puppy he’s 9 wks of course for bone and coat and joint you know gsd stuff,right now he’s eating blue buffalo life protection chicken and brown rice (puppy) ,I just want to know a brand to were I can stay on for a while cause he needs the best food right now I’m some what knowing what to look just not exactly
Hi sippmanjr –
I personally prefer raw (my dogs eat a homemade raw diet) and in terms of the best – I believe raw is as good as it gets. I would also give preference to dehydrated, canned and freeze-dried foods over kibble. However assuming you’re looking for a kibble, if I had to choose my “top 5” they would probably be (in no particular order): Annamaet (Aqualuk, Salcha or Ultra), Dr. Tim’s Kinesis, Nature’s Variety Instinct (LID Turkey or Rabbit), Wellness CORE Puppy or Earthborn (Coastal Catch or Meadow Feast). I love Orijen foods and their new large breed puppy formula is an improvement over the previous formula (the old formula was way too high in calcium) but it’s still slightly high in calcium for me to recommend. Don’t feel that you need to pick one food and stick with it, rotating is healthier and it’s good to get puppies accustomed to a rotational diet as soon as possible. If you feed kibble, I’d also recommend topping the kibble with a quality raw, canned or dehydrated food or healthy fresh foods (like eggs, tinned sardines, lean meats, or plain yogurt or kefir) as often as possible.
Hi Hound Dog Mom,
You seem very knowledgeable on this subject. I just found your post after beginning to do a lot of dog food research. My fathers Golden Retriever just gave birth to 11 puppies a week and a half ago. We are not backyard breeders trying to profit of these dogs. They pups came from a 55lb female Golden, and a 110lb male. Both are my fathers family dogs. This will be there first and last litter. All dogs will be staying close and going to family and friends. One of them will be my young families first dog in our home. With that being said, I want to wean them onto the best food I can to help curb any growth or health issues. I also want to pick a food that I can keep my puppy on as well throughout their puppy stage and into adulthood. We live in Southern California so getting these foods is usually not the issue. Not to mention there are endless resources online. My Question to you is… What would be your top 5 choices for this breed? Any help you can give would be great. This is the food I purchased yesterday on the recommendation of my local feed store. I am starting to regret my decision since it is not grain free and am probably going to return it based on what you have to say. it is the Canidae large breed puppy http://www.canidae.com/dogs/life-stages/dry/large-breed-puppy/duck
I’m sure this has been addressed, but are there any freeze dried raw foods that are ok for large breed puppies? My trainer has recommended Stella and Chewys Lamb dinner “cakes” for training purposes because they are healthy, nutritionally balanced, very tasty and easy to break apart for small treats and the pups love them. Does anyone know the calcium content?
mfulton7
look at chewy.com and petflow
i have gotten small bags to try from chewy.com they tend to have more of the smaller increments (atleast for the earthborn and the drtims) the dogs just get a lucky care package as i boost the shop cart to 50 bucks for the free ship. (yeah im like that) i tend to order from petflow the most though as they ship quicker to me. (they are in vegas and im in utah)
a couple questions: is grain free a mandatory requirement? (maybe its in an earlier posting i missed) reason im asking is due to drtims kinesis ALS comes to mind as it has ocean herring meal, catfish meal, menhaden fish oil and salmon meal in it) . (i have a small size on the way to test it) its 1.48 per pound and on the 2nd list from HDM. earthborn coastal 1.82 a pound. if your concerned about coat health and you just cant find that ideal dog food you like. you could always toss an egg into the kibble and some canned sardines in water (buck a can at walmart) every so often. our boxer and dobe pup get an egg 3 times a week tossed into their kibble and a can of the sardines once a week.
there are tons of good foods out there, hound dog mom’s list is the best of the stars system and the petfood companies that actually were willing to divulge information to her
Look at Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Nature’s Logic, and Brother’s Complete.
I have an 8 week old american bulldog that I was told to feed blue buffalo wilderness puppy but it’s causing loose stools. The vet says he’s healthy and worm free and suggested science diet which I won’t give. I’ve been reading up on the foods and I am so confused. Can someone please help me find a good food for my pup. I don’t mind the cost.
mfulton, can you use a service like Wag.com? I buy most all of my dog food from them. The shipping is free and they carry many high-quality brands.
Also, there’s a very good chance that you can save money by ordering dog food online.
Mfulton: until other new foods come out that are appropriate, this is *the* list to choose from. If you pick other foods, they will be not good foods or not appropriate for large breed puppies. It’s up to you to choose what you want but maybe you need to pull out another $5 or $10 from your budget to feed a correct food for a large breed puppy.
I can’t find a store anywhere around me that carries that food and I was going to go with Nutrisource but the calcium is way to high for my dobie. They said its a 1.9. This is so frustrating. If price didn’t matter ud have have no problem but unfortunately it is. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks all!
