Well that’s a really good price. I’m going to check into that food also. I’m in Missouri so I will have to find a store that carries that brand. Thanks so much!
Hi mfulton 7! I don’t know about the other foods’ prices, but I love the Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch and Meadow Feast. They are around $41.99 for a 28lb bag here in Los Angeles where I live. I’m pretty sure they’re around the same price anywhere else
Are the foods on the list the only foods that are of good quality and nutritional value for large breed dogs? I’m driving myself crazy trying to decide on a food. I have a fawn dobie puppy as I mentioned above earlier and I’ve read this list dozens of times and still can’t decide! She is currently on the Zignature and is doing well now that she is used to it. I was hoping to find a food that is a little cheaper. Hopefully around $45 for a 30lb bag. Some I’ve looked at are Nutrisource, Rachael Rays’s and the 4health but I’ve read the 4health is made by Diamond which scares the crap out of me. I also would like to keep feeding them something that is fish base since fawn dobie’s are prone to skin issues and I think the nurish only comes in turkey or chicken. Also is it really true that dogs tend to eat less of the grain free foods? I’m trying to estimate how long a 30lb bag would last my 3 dogs. The dobie and 2 smaller breed dogs that weigh 10lbs each. Are there any articles that help with the breakdown?
I do have a large breed dog and I am specifically looking for a puppy food. Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked at the list you mentioned, but it is not split up according to puppy food.
Do you have a large or giant breed puppy? They have special considerations regarding their diet. If not, here’s a good place to start for a list of the grain-free/potato-free foods:
/forums/topic/grain-and-potato-free-dog-foods/
Regarding “all life stage” vs “puppy”, if a food is “all life stages” then it includes “puppy”.
Definitely!! Peas are a high fiber food. The foods I’m thinking of are so full of meat that they don’t have a lot of room for peas, I guess. But peas are creeping in to more and more foods these days.
Pattyvaughn you’re right they both say fromm four star but certain flavors say grain free that’s what is confusing me. Some better brand dog foods do have higher fiber I’ve noticed it seems like the ones that have more pea ingredients are that way.
If you are seeing food intolerance issues then it could be the corn, but if it is just a lot of poop, I would suspect fiber.
I thought Fromm Nutritionals was Fromm 4 Star Nutritionals, so I’m no help at all.
I think average fiber is about 3% in better dog foods.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by
theBCnut.
Its at 6% fiber. I’ve noticed some foods have that much and more. I guess we may just have to stay away from the higher fiber foods.
And the fiber level, Zignature really is a high fiber food.
I have a 3 months old pure bred boxer named Rocky. He is on Diamon Extreme Athlete dry food. He really likes it. I just emailed the company yesterday asking them about the amount of calcium in it as it is not listed in the package. I got an email back this morning from a rep who told me the calcium level is 1.9%.
Can anyone tell me if that’s a good thing? last Friday he got his second shot and has had diahrrea since Sunday. I called the vet and they told me it is because of the vaccine. I had bough a 40lb bag which is almost over now after 2 months we’ve had him home.
I need some advice.
Thank you 😀
I can’t comment too much on the foods as I have only tried wellness core puppy formula and the nature’s variety rabbit formula. My boxer/American bulldog absolutely loves loves the nature’s variety and it has made him poop less times a day. I would maybe try adding some enzymes to your dobbie’s food to see if his body can better absorb more of the food. I’m sure Marie or patty or hdm will further comment.
I have a 7 week old doberman pup who is currently on zignature trout & salmon. She has been pooin a lot and she been on it for a week. No diarrhea these are normal stools, no parasites etc she just poos 6-10 times a day. Shes eating a total of 2 cups a day sometimes a little less. I feed her 3 times a day. I also have 2 other small dogs. One of them may have allergies not completely sure though. She cannot eat totw wild it makes her vomit horribly. The 2 dogs have been on natural balance lid, zig, nutrisource. Is there a dog food that would be good for all 3 of my dogs? I like fromm but the price of the grain free is on the pricey side. What about nutritionals? I know it doesn’t say grain free BUT it does say no wheat, corn, soy does this mean its similar to grain free? Other brands I’ve been looking into are merrick, wellness core, halo, castor & pollux ultramix, avoderm, natures variety prairie, whole earth. Would any of those work for a dobie, shihtzu mix and a chihuahua?
So both of the fromm’s are grain free just not all stages?
Yes 2 cups a day is what I offer the puppy. I don’t think she ate quite that much yesterday though. So far this morning the puppy has pooed 4 times and she’s been up 2 hrs and ate a 3/4-1 cup of food already. That just seems like a lot for a puppy. I noticed zignature seems high in fiber its double what fromm is.
Yep somebodysme its me again HA HA. I did check out the large breed thread just wasn’t sure if I should post there or not but I am going to now.
Honestly…I wish that a best food could be recommended but it will depend on each individual dog and I really hate to say that. Since Zig is just really not working for your puppy, I’d take him off. So how much are you feeding him, did you mean 2 cups for the entire day or 2 cups three times? If you are feeding 2 cups three times then that is entirely way too much food. My 50 lb dog only got 2 cups a day on zig. I’m assuming you meant that you feed three times with a total of 2 cups for the whole day…right? It seems like, my dog was going about 5 times a day on that food which is kind of a lot. I think it’s got too much “fluff”. HA!
I see Fromm being recommended a LOT! People really do like it. Honestly, it is trial and error. What I thought would be a wonderful after researching until I was blue in the face, ended up totally not working for my dog that turned out to be highly allergic to peas. She is on a potato and rabbit diet right now that’s doing pretty good. She will need to find a better food eventually though so the whole trial and error deal will begin yet again. Unfortunately the whole grain free diet isn’t the answer for her because of allergies.
I’d say that of the brands that you mentioned, they all have their fans and non-fans. They are all high rated foods.
Have you posted in the large breed puppy thread yet? Aren’t you the same poster from the review section that asked and I mentioned the large breed puppy thread? I seem to recognize your name now. That thread should keep you busy reading for a few days! HAHA! I think it’s 30 something pages by now!
lizziegotloew
that is a huge upgrade from the ol roy which had corn first on the list, the iams has meat first
remember, we feed to our means so dont sweat it if you cant purchase high dollar stuff
using a grain food will help with costs
Lizzie: why not order food online? You won’t be limited in the least!
Sorry, Iams Proactive Health Smart Puppy Large Breed Puppy Food
I forgot to mention that i am also limited on where i can go to get dog food. However, i have stopped feeding him the Ol’ Roy and have started him on Iams Smart Puppy Large Breed Puppy Food. He seems to really like it and the packaging mentioned that it is good for brain and bone development and also immune health. I didnt see it listed anywhere on the lists that mention whether or not it is good for him as far as the calcium intake goes but it seems pretty good to me. I guess we’ll see as he gets older! Thank you for the help apriliamille 🙂
I have no idea, unless the food is starting to go bad. How old is he now? The reason I ask is that teething can loosen stools. Loose stools can also be because of getting too warm when playing, but the probiotics should help with that. There may be some reason that food is passing through the large intestine too fast, the pumpkin helps with that. That can also be a result of getting overheated. Sorry, just thinking out loud, as it were.
Yeah he is on the dr langer 15 strain. I just upped the dosage after his stools loosened. I judt bought some fresh pumpkin and cut it up in big cubes and I gave him one for lunch. Im just curious as to why his stools loosened at the end of his last food. He is not a big eater of things of the ground thank god. I dont think it can be cuz the food has too much protein right? The vet isnt much help. I want to go to a new vet now that he is neutered and is done with all the things from the adoption.
Give enzymes with every kibble meal. The process for making kibble kills all the enzymes that are naturally in the food. Is he on a probiotic? If not get one or see if you can find a bottle of plain kefir(by the yogurt) and give him a tablespoon in each meal. He may be one of those that needs a little more fiber in his food, plain canned pumpkin, just a teaspoon or two added to each meal, may help. You can freeze the extra into ice cubes so it doesn’t go bad before you need it.
Hello hdm and friends unfortunately duke has been having loose stools towards the end of his bag of wellness core puppy formula. This confused me because his stools had been firm but it did have an oily look to it, and then right as I was gonna receive the next bag of food which is now natures variety lamb (which he absolutely loves and devours) his stools softened up to now diarrhea. The vet said his stool sample came up fine and prescribed him something for inflammation I believe of the liver or colon? I now give him a Swanson digestive enzyme twice a day out of his 3 meals. Can someone maybe give me some advice or some type of direction as to what I should do for dookie.
lizziegotloew
do you have a costco card?
can you see if you can afford kirkland brands? if budget is a problem then look for a grain food and not focus on grain free types.
but please oh please if you can do not feed him ol’roy
shopping online at petflow or chewys and hitting 49 bucks is free ship
also if they are not in your state that removes taxes. that might help a bit on budget
Definitely go back to 25/75 until stools are solid. You can add a spoonful of canned pure pumpkin to each meal to help. And adding probiotics and digestive enzymes will help his system adjust quicker. Many times new animals need time to adjust to new situations before feed changes. The new home alone would cause a certain amount of stress which will loosen stools all by itself, then adding the physical stress of a food change on top of that was probably too much for him.
I was here a few weeks ago asking a few questions about food for our new golden retriever puppy who came home 6 days ago. We are loving on Murphy every chance we get 🙂 So, I decided on Wellness Core Puppy. He was started on Exceed with the breeder (think that’s the name, maybe Excell, its from Sams Club). I don’t beileve this is a quality food, I might have read in this forum its made by Diamond? Anyway, we started 6 days ago giving him 25% Wellness, 75% Exceed. Did that for 3 days. Now we are at 50/50 for day 3. His stools the day we brought him home were solid and firm. Stools have progressively gotten looser and looser, to the point this morning they were diarrahea. Getting concerned about Wellness??????? I would greatly appreciate some advice if anyone has had the same thing?
I was reading about food rotation is there more about that on this thread or is there another one I should go to. Thank you.
If you look at the spreadsheet, you will notice that TOTW is not on it. All of their formulas are too high in calcium. If you are overwhelmed then just print up the spreadsheet and take it with you to the store. As you see a food on the shelf, check for it’s name on the spreadsheet. Good luck.
Hi I have two Great Danes one is 1yr old and the Other is 6 months old. I also have a bloodhound. We feed TOTW. I was wondering if that was a good food for them. I saw the spreed sheet and it was overwhelming and while I love my vet they are not that helpful when I ask food questions. We live in the country so I go to tracker supply or the feed store for our food. I have been trying to read up on what to look for and heard great things about TOTW. Please and Thank you. I am new to this group and trying to understand it all and read it is overwhelming.
Thank you so much
AnonymousInactive
I’m lost!! I just brought home my roommate’s, grandson’s 7 yr old staffordshire bull terrier. I know I want a high quality food that is 100% USA made. I’ve been researching everything (Blue, TOTW, 4 Health, etc). He was eating >iamond alternated with purina. I don’t like the diamond recall of 2012…it didn’t affect Max’s previous state but it did affect mine. I realize he isn’t a large breed but he isn’t a small one either. Since he is already use to a some what quality of food I want to started asap.any suggestions I’m brain dead from reading endless reviews and I’m no closer to knowing what would be the best for Max. He does need to lose about 5 to 10 lbs. I have never done anything like this so please bare with me.
^^ to sara i had my puppy on welness core and he enjoyed the food a lot and his coat was always very nice and soft. I recently just finished the bag so i rotated to the nature’s variety rabbit meal and my boy loves it even more! He absolutely devours all the food and his stools have been very good. Im no expert but id say start giving your guy some coconut oil supplements and maybe look into a turmeric supplement. Maybe HDM can further chime in
I’m new to the forum and am hoping I might be able to get some advice. My husband and I have a five and a half month old Cardigan Welsh Corgi who is showing signs of pano/elbow dysplasia. We had x-rays taken and there is significant space between his elbow joints (right side is worse). We aren’t sure if this is something he might grow out of or if it is, in fact, dysplasia (we are seeing a specialist this weekend). However, we’ve been feeding him Orijen puppy since we brought him home and I’m concerned the protein content might be too much for him and could be contributing to this. It’s undoubtedly a high quality food and he is growing fast on it. I don’t want the vet to put him on a prescription diet as I don’t believe they are nutritious. From reading this thread, it seems that Wellness Core Puppy might be a good option for us? I am also not sure if we should just switch him to an all life stages food at this point? I would love any recommendations that anyone might have – we want to do right by our little guy and I really thought I was giving him the best with Orijen.
Thanks!
I’ve read her list and have been following this thread for a while now, so I know about the calcium levels ( that’s why I’ve been feeding the puppy the Earthborn Coastal Catch formula). But my question is about my adult GSD. I’m trying to get her to put her weight back on. Should I put her on puppy food to help her recover her weight? ( of course, I’d go with one on HDM’s list).
AnonymousInactive
Use Hound Dog Mom’s list from this thread, almost all foods are ”All life stages” anyway, so perfect for your situation. Actually I think there are only two or three puppy foods on that list, due to most puppy foods containing too high percentages of calcium for large breed puppies.
I would like for both to be on the same food, so I was thinking switching my adult GSD to puppy food ( they are both currently on Earthborn Coastal Catch) such as Fromm Large Breed puppy.
/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/
huge thread with several documents hound dog mom created. has an outstanding list of grain and grain free foods for a large breed pup look around page 15
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This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by
apriliamille.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by apriliamille.
wow netherlands to dallas, texas bet that is a scenery change. nothing quite like saying welcome to usa outside of plopping into texas. start a thread in the raw section to help with locations and ideas for looking for raw for where you are moving to.
gsdmommy89, are you looking for one food for both the adult and the pup?
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This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by apriliamille.
Hi there everyone. I know this is a puppy thread, and I do have a GSD puppy ( with monstrous paws so I knew he’ll be large!), but I do have a question that maybe someone here could answer. Aside from my puppy, I also have his mom, a 3 yr old GSD. She’s been eating the Earthborn Coastal Catch, but I can’t seem to get her to put weight on. During gestation and nursing, I fed her Earthborn Puppy Vantage. She used to be around 68 lbs. I weighed her yesterday she’s down to 59 lbs. I spoke to my vet, which also monitored her during pregnancy, and she told me that maybe I need to try something with grains in it. She’s been fed a grain free diet pretty much all her life, except when I fed her the Puppy Vantage. The vet told me she’s probably just taking longer to recover from nursing, as she didn’t find anything abnormal. She also told me to try adding Missing Link, to add vitamins or something like that. My dog isn’t bony, but you can tell she is underweight. I was thinking of switching both my GSD’s to Fromm Large Breed puppy. Maybe the puppy formula has more calories and fat so she can gain her weight back? I don’t know. If anyone can give me some advice, I’d really appreciate it. Food? Supplements? Thanks a million!
AnonymousInactive
Thanks for this wonderful thread, most of all Hound Dog Mom for her great knowledge, research, and unbiased advice.
I have brought home a puppy from the rescue, it looks to be a lab/greyhound mix, it might become large, it might turn out to be medium, but I opted for the safe bet and I am feeding it low calcium.
I have recently moved to America from the Netherlands, and fed my GSD raw, but over there I can go to the butchers and get cuts and special dog-food easily. Here I have to find out anew where to go and what to buy. But I am impressed with the many different brands of quality dog food.
And tripe in a can! Brilliant!
I have learnt so much on this thread! I have read everything and printed HDM’s list so I have no questions, just:
Thank you all very much! Especially Hound Dog Mum.
HDM attempted to contact every company with a 4 or 5 star food. If your 4 or 5 star food of choice didn’t make the list, it is because A) they didn’t get back to her or B) their calcium levels were too high or C) they got back to her but they didn’t answer her request for actual or average calcium level. A lot of companies don’t care if they don’t answer your questions and a lot of companies have too high calcium. HDM did not make seperate lists for each possibility. Just be aware that any food that didn’t make the list is either too high in calcium or the company didn’t care about serving potential customers. That alone is enough for me to not buy the food.
AnonymousInactive
Hi Pattyvaughn and Hound Dog Mom – I just wanted to let you know that so far your advice has really helped our 3 month old golden. We have him on Earthborn Coastal Catch, with a dollop of pumpkin and about 1/3 of a digestive enzyme pill in each of his 3 meals, and about 1/3 of a probiotic capsule’s contents once daily, plus a frozen Kong of Earthborn’s chicked based wet food to distract him while we eat our dinner. His stools have really firmed up, so now we can focus on puppy mischief rather than worrying about health problems! Thanks so much!
Murphysmom- I chose the coastal catch over meadow feast because the calorie count and protein content are higher, so I feel like I’m getting a bit more bang for my buck, but I know some people have concerns about mercury and other contaminants in fish-based foods, so that might support a decision to rotate or stick with a different protein source. Good luck and congrats!
Earthborn Meadow Feast is a great food and appropriate for large breed growth, so is Coastal Catch.
We are bringing home an 8 week old black lab puppy this weekend and are trying to figure out which food to start him on. He is estimated to grow to about 90 lbs and has been eating Purina Pro Plan Sport. We also have an 11.5 year old chocolate lab (70 lbs) who has been eating Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison for a few years. I would love to be able to have both dogs eating the same (better!) food if possible and we would switch our older dog to the better brand. Our older dog has really slowed down, has had ACL surgeries, has arthritis and is prone to yeast growth in her ears. She has allergies, but I think they are more seasonal, to grasses and such (itchy skin, licks her paws) since they flare in the spring.
After reading through most of this thread, do you think it’d be okay to put both labs on Earthborn or Fromm?
Rotation between brands is important. No dog food is perfect and foods within the same brand are likely to have the same imperfections such as too much of one vitamin and not enough of another, so switching between brands helps to mitigate these imperfections.
murphysmom,
i cant remember which forum i read it on but tim hunt (dr tim) had an interesting discussion about “meal” and why he used it and considering iditerod sled dogs use his stuff im sure its valid. i may be wrong in my understanding but pretty much i took it as take a deboned chicken and dehydrate it then prep it for kibble mix then compare it to chicken meal on a protein per weight amount then look at the cost and efforts to put a good protein kibble to market at a value. we use a kibble that has “deboned chicken” as the first ingredient and its definitely hitting the pocket book. (i assume since my dogs are getting a premium chicken breast in their kibble instead of a grocery store for human use)
i think there is quality to “meal” look at some of the ash contents of the kibbles using meal. there are some good numbers out there.
on a side note. i have been transitioning my pup onto meadowfeast to help with the pocket book while i do more research on her food i want to use when she hits 1 year old and i start pushing her physically. i have to feed her on a tray exclusively with the meadowfeast (not saying yours will need to) its a smaller kibble then she has ever had and she has reverted to her younger days of vacuum. also the earthborn UPC for Trees is a neat program they do.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by apriliamille.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by apriliamille. Reason: keep finding i dont make sense in my sentances
So, after cramming for “dog food final exam” (also know as bringing puppy home!), I have narrowed down my choices. Puppy is 8 week old golden retriever. wanting to be grain free and obviously concerned about calcium and large breed puppy concerns. I am between Earthborn Holistic (Coastal Catch and Meadow Feast) and Wellness Core Puppy. These are all 5 stars and on the list that HDM so generously has put togerher and shared (THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!) I like that Earthborn has 2 choices, so we can rotate foods. I would love thoughts about one versus the other if anyone has them! I am so thankful for the dog food wisdom shared on this site 🙂
TigerLily,
As KobesDad said, I do have more time. I do, today, killing half an hour til I have to leave. Since I had time, I scrolled thru this topic.
Kobe’s Dad started posting here on August 9 th. That same day, HDM advised him to scroll back to find the list of appropriate foods. That same day, he said he couldn’t find it & ome one told him the exact page.
The next day, August 10 th, he asked if certain foods were appropriate. The next dy, HDM explained why they were not.
August 17th, he again was told what pages to look at. I stopped there as I have to leave in ten minutes but he has been asking since about foods. He’s not new here, the information has been given to him but, for some reason, he keeps asking about other foods. HDM made a list, it’s available to him. If she updates the list, she’ll tell us.
I my not be nice but sometimes, people have to do some research for themselves, even if its as simple as opening a PDF provided to them.
I think this is an updated list of foods from HDM. There are an awful lot of pages now in that Large Breed puppy thread…
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit?pli=1
Kobe’s dad: look at the list of appropriate foods for large breed puppies, right here in this thread, for foods.
FYI, Honest Kitchen is not raw.
