[pitlove]

Hi Amy-

Since most Labs will reach over 50lbs at mature weight they are considered a large breed puppy. This means that for optimal growth they need to be on a food specially for a large breed puppy. Merrick puppy food is not designed for the growth of large breed puppies, so I would say it is a blessing in disguise that he will not eat it.

Developmental orthopedic disorders do not develop due to high levels of protein in the food. This is a myth that was laid to rest some 20 years ago. What we do know now is that excessive dietary calcium and over nutrition (fat puppy) along with genetics are the leasing causes of common bone growth issues.

The challenge with finding a large breed puppy food is that not all of the companies “large breed puppy” foods meet the criteria for what a food for a growing LBP should be. Many are in excess of calcium. This means you must call or email the company and ask for a nutrient analysis of the food and double check it against the calcium calculator on this site.

[pitlove]

Hi Jessica-

If you are referring to HoundDogMoms list of appropriate large breed puppy foods, I caution you that due to her being in Vet school it had not been updated in many years. Recipes change in that time and I encourage you to make sure that the numbers you looked up for the calcium/Phos are falling within the recently updated AAFCO guidelines for large breed puppies. This may mean contacting the company directly or asking your Fromm rep for a nutrient analysis of the formula you are using.

[Jessica J]

Ahhhhh…. so glad I stumbled across this thread. As a store manager of a grooming salon & pet boutique, I literally spend my day surrounded by high quality dog food and have successfully advised countless dog owners. I have spent hours respectfully arguing against the “my vet says Science Diet” is the best food argument. My 8 year old Australian Labradoodle has mostly eaten Acana or the Fromm 4-Star GF line. She’s a finicky one and tends to prefer the Fromm. Well… 3 weeks ago a friend of a friend found a baby Lab on the side of the road. Cold, slightly malnourished, and scared. After confirming that nobody was looking for this sweet little lost soul… I made her a permanent member of my family. In desperation the first night I got her, I brought home a bag of Orijen Puppy kibble and Primal Raw Goats Milk. My only thought being that this little girl needed some good nutrition asap. After a week of thriving but with loose explosive poops, I realized that the Orijen was probably a little too rich for her belly. So I did a little research and checked some numbers and trusted my intuition- and put her on the same Fromm kibble my Doodle eats. She is gaining a perfect 2lbs a day, solid stools, looks great, etc. I have occasionally supplemented with a little Primal Raw Goats Milk. Saw the new vet at my beloved practice today and was chastised and lectured that she should be on a Large Breed Puppy food so that she doesn’t end up a dysplastic disaster at a young age. Then I came home and found this thread as well as confirmed for myself that the numbers hit where I wanted them to. Thank you for the knowledgeable common sense advice and all your wisdom!!

[haleycookie]

There’s nothing wrong with addin. Something into the food. It helps increase the amount of non processed high water content food into their diet. No matter how great the kibble is it is still cooked to death and extruded at insanely high temps. Making it void of most nutrition and moisture. Which is why food companies have to include that long list of supplements at the end of the kibble. Can dog food is still cooked at high temps but not as bad. They tend to have less add artificial supplements and even better you can top with something you get at the grocery store which is the cheaper way to go. So basically you’re making hamburgers for dinner? Before you add seasonings and such cook up a bit that you aren’t using and use that as a topper. Same with other meats and veggies.
I like natures variety, wellness (their puppy core food is the best as it’s formulated the best for large breeds, nv regular puppy is not nor is regular Orijen puppy. Go with large breed Origen if you go with that), merrick, solid gold and Fromm large breed puppy.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by haleycookie.

[Leslie W]

Yes, Pat indicated it is a “Standard Poodle” puppy so it will be a large dog so puppy should be on a large breed puppy food. Wellness, Orijen and others have large breed puppy food. For now I would look for a Chicken base with maybe sweet potato until tummy issues calm down. Preferably Grain free.

[Pat N]

I have a 3 month old standard poodle puppy. I’ve had her a month and started out with the food the breeder recommended (TLC which is not available in stores) She pooped so much and so often I became worried and wanted to switch over to grain free and more salmon. Switched to Nulo freestyle puppy salmon & peas. Pooping is still excessive and I feel she’s losing more than she’s eating. Vet apt is next week. Any thoughts on a quality puppy food that might bring pooping down to what should be in normal range. She’s only getting fed 2 times a day and she’s going 5-6 – very large piles. Thanks

[pitlove]

Hi Nacho-

I do not think that the regular Wellness Puppy formula would have caused him to lose weight. I also would not stress too much over under a lb lost in a week. Use the Purina Body Condition System to evaluate his weight as he grows and ask the breeder/your vet what the proper growth markers for this breed is. Each Golden Retriever will be different but there is a still a breed standard.

Wellness is not a bad food, but yes it is expensive. Can take a look at Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy, Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy, or NutriSource Large Breed Puppy to see if any of those fit your price range better. I will share with you that my number once choice out of the ones I listed will be Pro Plan because of the dedication to large and giant breed puppy growth and nutrition research Purina has done.

[Rick W]

Thanks for the suggestion on grain-free. Our previous goldendoodle needed grain free so I just assumed it was best to start that way. Certainly would be more cost effective if we didn’t do grain free.

Actually, Fromm also has a regular (not grain free) large breed puppy food that is also 3.5% Max fiber. I’ll take a look at Precise as well. Farmina caught my eye but it’s pretty expensive.

By the way, the breeder didn’t have food in the contract. I double checked after you mentioned it. Have a great day and thanks for the conversation.

[Nacho K]

Hi guys,
I have had my golden retriever puppy for 2 weeks now, and after reading all the comments in this forum, i decided to feed him with Wellness puppy food. I just realized I have been feeding him with the normal puppy food and not the large breed one. And also, he lost almost a pound in last week. From 16lbs to 15.2lbs. He is 10 weeks old. I am going to buy him the wellness for large breed puppy today. Do you know if the reason was the type of puppy food? Do you recommend any other type of Food?
After spending hours of reading the forums, here is my list but I can’t decide which one:
1. Wellness Dry Large Breed Puppy Food (~$62/30lbs)
2. Purina Pro Plan FOCUS Puppy Lamb and Rice (~$44/$34lbs)
3. Nutri Source Large Breed Puppy (~$55/30lbs)
4. Holistic Complete Large/Giant Breed ($45/15lbs)
5. FROMM Large Breed Puppy (~$60/30lbs)
6. Orijen Large Breed Puppy ($89/25lbs)

I would eliminate #6 just because it’s expensive. Any comment on the rest? Or any additional option I need to consider? Are these all AAFCO approved!?

Thanks

[pitlove]

Eek yeah I’m not a fan of life’s abundance. I’m surprised there was not some clause in the contract stipulating that you needed to feed that food for the life span of the dog or the contract was void.

Precise Holistic Complete Large and Giant breed puppy is 3.5% Max fiber. I also am not a big fan of grain free for puppies. I notice a lot of folks have similar issues as you when feeding grain free foods to puppies.

[Rick W]

Hi,

I’ve been doing a lot of research on food for our new puppy. He is an F1B Goldendoodle and is about 3.5 months old. He will probably end up around 70-80 pounds based on his parents. I currently have him on Fromm’s Heartland Large Breed Puppy kibble. It’s grain-free and based on what I could read, seemed to be better than others. I’m on here now because I’m noticing his poop is formed at first and then towards the end if very runny (gross, I know). All his vet checks have been fine. Just wondering what your thoughts are on if this is food related. I’ve tried to check out raw feeding, but I just can’t do it on our own and it’s too expensive to purchase, especially has he gets bigger.

Thoughts?

In case you need it, here are the ingredients for the food we are feeding: Beef,Pork Meat Meal, Peas, Lentils, Chickpeas, Potatoes, Dried Tomato Pomace, Dried Whole Egg, Pork Liver, Pork Fat, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Lamb, Cheese, Sweet Potatoes, Brewers Dried Yeast, Alfalfa Meal, Carrots, Lettuce, Celery, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Chicory Root Extract, Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Tryptophan, DL-Methionine, Sodium Selenite, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Vitamins, Minerals, Probiotics

[crazy4cats]

Hi shawn b-

I have fed my two lab/golden mix dogs both of these brands with very good results. I rotated through all the WEF flavors for about six months with no issues. If she likes it more, and I believe it passes the large breed puppy calcium test, why not feed it?

Also, there are a bunch of posters on this site that highly recommend the Pro Plan food as well. I have not fed it myself, so I can’t really comment on it. But, if she was doing really well on it and liked it, you might want to consider keeping her on it as well.

Good luck. Rottweiler puppies are adorable!

[shawn b]

Our 9 month old Rottweiler is finally transitioned off of the Pro Plan her previous owner had her on, and on to Eagle Pack Large Breed Puppy dry food. The only thing is she doesn’t love it. When I add a handful of Whole Earth Farms dry food she seems to love that. Does any one think The Whole Earth Farms Puppy is just as good as the Eagle Pack LBP? These are the 2 foods I am considering because they have pretty good ratings and they are what I can afford. Any advise would be greatly appreciated and thanks so much!

[Gina H]

I did have two fecal samples tested two weeks apart from each other. All negative. He is on metronidazole and it helped what was diarrhea. He’s also on Fortaflora and I have added pumpkin to his food. Right now, he is only on the Fromm Large Breed Adult. My breeder is adamant against anything labeled “puppy”. I have noticed that the ingredients are pretty much the same.

He was on Pro Plan Focus when I brought him home. He had very loose stools on that. And I was not happy with the ingredients.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Gina H.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Gina H-
Have you had any fecal tests done? Specifically for worms, giardia and/or coccidia. These are all common for pups to have. They all can cause loose stools and intermittent diarrhea. Are you feeding the large breed puppy formula? Have you tried any other foods yet?

[pugmomsandy]

Have you looked at the Editor’s Choice list of Puppy foods? There is also an article with a calculator in (in the Review side) it so you see if the current food you are feeding is within large breed puppy guidelines.

/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

[Susan]

Hi Ron,
yes what other brands have you tried did they all have grains & same protein (Chicken)??
As soon as my IBD boy eats a kibble with Barley, Oats, Chickpeas, Lentils, Corn Gluten Meal his poos go sloppy, you can’t pick them up….
Have you tried “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mounatin Roasted Lamb?? it has just Lamb as the meat protein, Sweet Potato, Potato, Peas, Egg, Berries
Have you tried kibbles with very limited ingredients that have Poatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Egg? Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes seem to firm a dogs poos up, well most dogs….
Have a look at “4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Stomach, it’s just Potato & Egg as main ingredients, it’s pretty much like a vet diet but cheaper, then if his poos do firm up I’d slowely start adding 1 new cooked ingredient to his kibble every 3 weeks & see does his poos start to go sloppy again, add cooked boiled rice, add ingredients from the kibbles he’s been eating & doing sloppy poos on, work out which ingredients he’s sensitive too??…

“Canidae” make a few large breed formula’s, there’s their new All Life Stages, LID Turkey & Brown Rice Large breed formula but all their large breed formula’s have grains except their other brand “Under The Sun” Large breed formula but it has Chicken & Chickpeas, your dog might be OK with Chickpeas you’d have to try & see, this is why its best to try the “4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Stomach Potato & Egg LID formula then you just add the cooked ingredients & try & work out which foods he’s sensitive too, it might be chicken as chicken is normally in these Large Breed Puppy formula’s.

Have you tried Kefir to strengthen his gut? start with 1 spoon a day then after 5 days give 1 spoon twice a day.
Dosages
Recommended Minimum Daily Intake of Kefir
Small size dogs or cats – 1 tsp. – 1 tbsp.
Medium size dogs – 1 – 2 tbsp.
Large dogs – 2 – 3 tbsp.

[haleycookie]

First have u had her dewormed? Second why are you still feeding the same food if it’s always been soft poop? Try changing to something else. Make sure she’s in health as well from the vet. I have a family member who has had multiple labs and they’ve all been on large breed puppy then adult by blue buffalo with no issues.

[Linda C]

Hi all! I think I’ve narrowed down our pup’s loose stool to a chicken sensitivity. She’s a large Breed puppy (Bernese Mountain Dog, our third) and so a lower protein percentage is needed. Both our breeder and vet advised adult large breed rather than puppy food as puppy food promotes faster growth. We started her on Fromme, moved to Taste of the Wild Venison (still had some chicken in it) and now have her on Natural Balance LID Venison and Sweet Potato. Her stools are fabulous (who knew we’d get so excited about good poop!), but the food is only rated 2 stars. Any recommendations for a quality, chicken free, food? Beef or venison? Thanks for your help! Btw, she’s been vet fecal tested twice, all clear.

[Nadine H]

How long did it take for him to do better on the Fromms? I would ask the vet how long to keep him on it. Is he on the Large breed Puppy?
Anytime we tried a new food I would take them right off if I saw loose poop. I wonder if I took them off quicker then I should have.

[Susan]

Hi Venessa L,
Stick with kibbles that have only 1 single meat protein with limited ingredients & once you find a few that she likes & agrees with her start rotating them to build up her immune to different ingredients, it sounds like Seasonal Environment Allergies & Food Intolerances like my boy gets, he starts rubbing his bum & mouth & gets red around his mouth/muzzle after eating Chicken, start giving weekly baths to wash off any allergens that might be on skin & coat look for in an anti fungal anti bacterial medicated shampoo I use “Malaseb” medicated shampoo excellent for red itchy skin, smelly skin/coat, allergies etc I also buy the baby wipes Coconut Oil wipes or the Cucumber & Aloe Wipes Adli’s have the Wipes when they have their sales or I get Huggie baby Wipes & I wipe Patch down after he’s been outside or when we come back from our walks, I know when he starts rubbing his mouth, head, body on my rug he’s itchy so I either bath him or use the baby wipes…
Start keeping an Diary & do you have Pet Insurrance? get some before you tell teh vet & he diganoses your dog with Allergies then I think its classed as a pre existing health problem & not covered so if later you have to see an Dermatologist your covered as Dermatologist are very Expensive….
here’s a really good Face Book group call
“Dog Issues, Allergies & Other Information Support Group” https://www.facebook.com/groups/240043826044760/
A Dermatologist frequents the group + other people going thru the same problems as you
Here’s some LID foods to try for stomach/bowel problems (food Sensitivities) & Itchy Skin problems.

* “Natural Balance” limited Ingredient Formula’s read ingredient list for each formula as some of NB formula’s have different ingredients like Chickpeas.

* “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb

“Canidae” Pure formulas or “All life Stages” Large Breed Puppy, Adult Turkey Meal & Brown Rice formula has limited ingredients.
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products, scroll down a bit look to your right for “View All” click on page 5.

* “4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Stomach, is Egg & Potato
* “4Health” Special Care, Sensive Skin, has Hydrolyzed Salmon https://www.tractorsupply.com/landing-pages_brands_4health-special-care.html

[Susan]

Hi Cody,
start doing your own research so your puppy has a good start to her life, follow “Rodney Habib” on his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib & watch his new free 5 part video’s “The Truth About Pet Cancer” scroll down Rodney’s F/B page & find Episode 2 & 3 & WATCH these episoes PLEASE so your pup has the best start to her life, also feed 4 smaller meals a day “Canidae” has their All Life Stages, Large Breed Puppy Duck Meal formula, or Turkey Meal Brown rice Wet & Dry formula’s.
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products scroll down a bit look to your right for
“View All” then click on Pages 5 & 9 for Large Breed Puppy Forumla’s & later when your pup is 6 months old start adding fresh healthy foods to her diet & rotate between different kibble brands so she isnt eating the same food 24/7, Pitbulls Staffys are prone to food sensitivities & skin allergies so get her use to a variety of foods & this strengthen her Immune System, just make sure if she is going to be fed a dry kibble her whole life you rotate kibbles but after watching Rodney Habib video’s Im pretty sure you’ll be looking for healthier food instead of feeding dry processed kibble, I only feed dry Kibble cause my boy didn’t have the best start in his life & now has IBD & cant eat a raw/cooked diet..

[Sharyl M]

I would be interested in a review of Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy Food, especially with regard to your article on Calcium intake for large breeds and danger of hip dysplasia in later life.

[haleycookie]

Blue Buffalo is far superior to puppy chow. Puppy chow is mainly corn and not a whole lot else. Blue Buffalo isn’t the best of the best by way better than puppy chow. Also if he’s overweight and also malourished at the same time how is that possible?? A lot of vets hate Blue Buffalo which I totally understand. Seems to give a lot of dogs diahrea. But a family member of mine has have her chocolate lab on blue for 7 years since he was a puppy and he’s the picture of health. So if he’s having good bowel movements, strong nails, soft fur not shedding much he should be just fine. But also try the puppy cans of food for now instead of the kibble. Just for a couple weeks if you can then I would switch to their large breed puppy food if you think the dog with get over 50 lbs.

[shawn b]

We just adopted a 9 month old Rottweiler. The people who owned her had her on Pedigree, then they switched her to Pro Plan. Now I have her. I am on a very strict budget, yet want her to get a really good dry large breed Puppy food. Very hard combination to find! I bought her Eagle Pack Large Breed Puppy Dry food for now, while I am searching for something even better. It is $39.99 for 30 lbs. and that is what I can afford. Please help me, I really need every ones input and thank-you so much in advance!

[pitlove]

Hi Jessica-

Depending on the breed, a puppy will reach an adult at different ages. Small and medium sized dogs when fully grown can transition to adult food at 1 year, toy breeds can often switch earlier at 9 months, large dogs over 50lbs at mature weight is about 18 months and for giant breeds some say to keep them on a puppy formula until 24 months.

If he was already lean and fit before switching to raw and has now lost more weight, you may be under feeding him. I am all for a lean, conditioned dog, but you can go overboard. Any idea what Leo’s projected adult weight will be with that combo of breeds?

[CockalierMom]

Hi,
I have been away for the past few days, and have just caught up on where you are. I have been through all this–stay positive and do not give up. Everything you are describing is consistent with not having enough gut bacteria to digest the new food- my little allergy girl’s gut was so bad I could not even add 4 single kibbles of a new food without her getting diarrhea.

A couple of questions… Did you stop the kefir? How much and when did you give it?

Kefir is basically lactose free so there will not be a “dairy” reaction as many animals and people have to lactose.

I still think you are not waiting long enough before increasing the new food based on the condition his gut has been in. (A 7 to 10 day transition works for dogs with healthy guts prior to a food change-not dogs in the shape that Atlas was in.) When you make a new addition, if he has not been consistently firm for a couple of days prior, then it is only going to make him more runny. The soft and runny poo is a sign he does not have enough bacteria to digest the food properly and when you add even more, it gets worse. Take Atlas back to a 1/4 cup or the new food or just the LID and chicken and potato. When he becomes consistently firm for 3 to 5 days (like you said he was before you started the transition), then add 1/4 cup of the new food. I would wait at least 3 to 5 days after he gets firm to add another 1/4 cup.

I know you need to get Atlas on a large breed puppy food as soon as possible, but I think it will take some time. I suggested the kefir before because you will be able to transition faster with it. You may need to add a couple of tablespoons with each meal to see a difference.

[Tyla M]

Robyn,
In regards to what Nadine said. Luna had loose stools on her first grain free food. I’m not sure if it was caused by the other products put in place of the grains, or if it was too rich for her with the protein. I just switched her to fromms duck and sweet potato and going to see how well this one works. I love fromms and they have good calcium levels for most of their brands for large breed puppies. I started with their regular large brees puppy food but my pup itches with chicken so I had to move on from it.

[Tyla M]

Thanks for the responses. When I got Luna she was on the Purina Pro Plan Focus large breed puppy food and was scratching and biting like crazy then. At the time I didn’t think it was chixk3n. Switched her to Fromm large breed and loved it, as far as poops and how she looked, but itching continued. It only lessened when I switched to a food with no chicken in it. As soon as I introduced the old fromm back into her diet, she started biting and scratching excessively again. So I’m going to stay away from chicken. I really like fromm, and I like their research and how they provide you will all of the nutritional info on their website so I may try one of their large breed foods next. Just decided between the grain free with all those peas and chickpeas, or swith grains, with rice and sweet potatoes. I’ve read from other people that their dog had loose stools on grain free and she had that on the GF zignature. Not sure if it was too rich with the protein level, or if it what was put in, in place of grains. Man, I’m more worried about what she eats than what I eat!!

[Nadine H]

I looked at both of those foods. I couldn’t use the large breed puppy because of the lamb. One of my pups can’t tolerate lamb. I contacted cs and they finally recommended the adult that you’re looking at. They sent me the complete vitamin, mineral etc analysis so I could compare them and there is a big different between the two products.I wasn’t comfortable putting two dane pups on the adult food. After reading some of pitloves comments I tried the purina focus large breed puppy and both of my danes are doing very well on this food. Vet did tell me that maybe only 1% might have a food allergy and so many foods include chicken.

[Tyla M]

Interestingly, they have the same practically the same fat, protein, and calories…or off by 1-2%. Calories are off by 9 but I’ll have to look at the vitamin and mineral levels in each to compare. Calcium in one is 1.13 and 1.14 in the other. She doesn’t do well with high protein and the large breed puppy one has 30% fat, while the large breed adult has 28%. A duck and sweet potato one has duck, duck meal, pearled barley, sweet potato, brown rice, oatmeal, white rice, egg, etc, . How do those Ingredients look? The other 2 I was talking about had beef, pork meal, peas, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, dried tomato pomace, egg…..then all have fruits and veggies stuff after. Clearly 2 are grain free and one is not. I just finished the signature zssentials, and her poop went soft and green for the entire bag. I started weaning her back to her old food and poop looked better but the itching started up more again, convincing me that it is the chicken or the grain …and from what I’ve read it seems it’d be the chicken over the grains. That’s why I’m just stayi away from chicken for now and will see how it goes.

[Tyla M]

I was wondering if anyone knew what the differences are between large breed adult food and large breed puppy food, other than calcium levels. Because I’m looking at the large breed adult from FROMM, and it’s actually less than the large breed puppy food for calcium. Are there other factors I should be focusing on? Thanks!

[Atlas T]

Hi everyone,

This is a long story, but I’ll try to be concise: we adopted our 7mo old lab mix puppy 1 month ago. Before that, he was fostered by my brother, so we know his history. He has had very soft stools for a long time (I’d say slightly more firm than emoji poop), that vary from slightly softer/harder, but never truly hard, and he was pooping about 5 times/day. There tend not to be any pieces of unprocessed food in them. All of this was on Instinct Large Breed Puppy food, provided by the rescue.

With help from the rescue, we put him on several different dewormers, several probiotics, and finally an antibiotic (metro), but nothing helped the poop. The vet took a fecal sample and found no problems. About 3 weeks ago, he actually started having diarrhea, so I put him on a bland diet (pumpkin, rice, chicken) and it got BAD: became explosive diarrhea. I completely limited his diet (no treats, no peanut butter for pills, nothing else) and it was still bad, even when it was chicken and rice (no pumpkin). After about 4 bad days like this, I decided to try a different bland diet – just chicken and potatoes, and once or twice, egg + potato. This firmed things right up (conclusion = he may be intolerant to rice, but does great with chicken and potato). Within a day, his poop was actually formed and semi firm. He stayed on this diet for about 4 days. Then I decided to try to transition him to dry kibble – Nature’s Domain Puppy (I decide to try this one because it doesn’t have rice). I’ve done this transition veeeery slowly (we are on Day 5 now) and his poop is gradually getting worse again.

The rescue has suggested that while he is not intolerant to chicken (as proven by the chicken and potato bland diet success), he may be intolerant to whatever preservatives are used in chicken kibble. They suggested trying Nature’s Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato. This will be my next attempt, but I’m feeling a bit hopeless. And while I’m hoping this is the answer, I wonder if something else could be going on? The vet has not been helpful, so I’m hoping folks here can provide some suggestions of what to do! And I do want to note that cost and affordability are a definite consideration, so I’d rather not go to expensive limited ingredient foods unless absolutely necessary.

Also, he has not had gas, vomiting, itchyness, lethargy or any other symptoms as far as I can tell – just the soft stool. One more thing to note – diarrhea has somewhat coincided with when he was given topical Revolution, but I’m not sure there is causation there.

[Nadine H]

When you say Large breed puppy what breed is it? I used Victor for awhile and I think they have a good food. I had to switch because something changed in their formula and Logan had problems with it. If you’re talking about A dane puppy the beef and brown rice is a good option. Less calories and fat. You want slow growth and high fat and high calorie probably wouldn’t be my choice.

[M N]

I will first admit that I have not read this entire thread. I have however read large portions of it, as well as many other articles on this topic.

I currently have a 1.5 year old German Wirehaired Pointer. I have had him on Victor Nutra Pro for about 4 months now (switched from TOTW) and he has been doing very well on it. I currently have no complaints whatsoever (well, I would be even happier if it was a bit cheaper, but I don’t think that counts).

I am getting another puppy shortly. Ideally, I would like to feed both dogs the same food. Any opinions on Nutra Pro for a large breed puppy?

3.5g Ca/kCal, 1.2:1 Ca:P

But, at 38%, protein is considerably higher than other large breed puppy foods…

Protein 38.53 %
Fat 20.81 %
Fiber 3.17 %
Carbohydrates
“Calculated” 22.6 %
Moisture 7.95 %
Ash 8.03 %
Calcium 1.38 %
Phosphorus 1.16 %
Cal/Phos Ratio 1.2 Ratio:1
Magnesium 0.14 %
Potassium 0.624 %
Sodium 0.33 %
Zinc 198 mg/kg
Iron 325 mg/kg
Copper 17 mg/kg
Cobalt 0.2 mg/kg
Iodine 2.2 mg/kg
Manganese 44 mg/kg
Selenium 0.42 mg/kg
Vitamin A 13780 IU/kg
Vitamin D3 1145 IU/kg
Vitamin E 180 IU/kg
Vitamin B12 0.09 mg/kg
Riboflavin 6.8 mg/kg
D-Pantothenic
Acid 22 mg/kg
Niacin 75 mg/kg
Folic Acid 1.27 mg/kg
Pyridoxine B6 4.10 mg/kg
Thiamine 10.15 mg/kg
Biotin B7 0.23 mg/kg
Ascorbic Acid 47 mg/kg
Choline 2100 mg/kg
Taurine 1400 mg/kg
Omega 3 0.45 %
Omega 6 2.6 %
DHA 0.16 %
L-Carnitine 60 mg/kg
Calories On Bag 3909 kcal/kg
Calories per Cup on Bag 475 kcal/cup

https://victorpetfood.com/product-items/nutra-pro/?portfolioCats=164%2C165%2C135%2C134%2C133%2C153%2C159%2C160

[Tyla M]

Okay @Pitlove and anyone else that has success not going grain free. I had been feeding my pup Fromms Large breed puppy food and her poop was great but I was wondering if she was itching and biting from chicken or something in it. I switched to zignature…her poop has been green and soft for almost the entire back so it’s time to look yet again for a new food! I’m starting to think I’ll have more options as far as with low calcium levels if I don’t just look at grain free foods. I’ve done research and have heard both sides. I know you’re a big promoter of not grain free due to your pups intolerance of peas and success not going with GF. Please convince me with reasons why so I can start looking for the best food for my pup that includes nonGF!:)

[Nadine H]

So today I decide to go to the Purina website. They have a thing you can fill out so they tell you which food is best. I’ll be darn if it didn’t come up Pro Plan Giant Breed Adult. Now I’m somewhat conflicted, do I feed the large breed puppy of the giant breed adult that has a a little lower protein, fat and calories. Ingredients look almost identical. They have online chat that is really worthless, the person I got couldn’t answer my question, I was asking about the large breed adult when a dane is still growing until at least 18 months or longer. I kept getting the message that they would be back with me shortly and after more then ten minutes I gave it up. So then I called the 800 number and i was told large breed puppy until 18/24 months for a great dane, As usual I’m overthinking this but really thought a co as big as Purina could do better then different people giving me different answers for the same question.

[Nadine H]

Well I for one am done searching. We’re going with Purina Pro Choice Large Breed Puppy. I have spent a fortune trying different foods that I thought were the best, now I read about this. Orijon is one of the most expensive foods that you can buy and now I wouldn’t feed it along with several others that are suppose to be the best.

[Christine H]

I would like you to consider a brand sold at Tractor supply. The name of the product is 4 health puppy, with grain. We breed Standard Poodles. We use the 4 Health for puppies, as well as 4 Health adults for our big dogs. We are not a “puppy mill”, our dogs live in our home and in our beds! My partner and I did a lot of research through the years. We have changed food several times until we found one that has the protein to fat and grain ratio. We have large, healthy and beautiful pups, and I have to believe that the food we feed them has a lot to do with that. Thank you for your consideration. Christine Henderson EMERALD COAST BREEDERS.

[Evan G]

Thank you so much for this post!
We are the proud parents of a 3mo old Weimaraner puppy. When we got him, he was being fed blue buffalo wilderness large breed. After talking with our vet, it seems he feels the same way that a lot do, too much protein. While reading this forum it seems that may not be completely accurate. His explanation was too much protein would make him grow faster than his joints and bones could keep up.

In an effort to help him with his growth we have gotten him into swimming, to be a low impact exercise on his joints.

Back to the food though, with our vets advice in mind, we started him on Horizon Pulsar which is salmon based, and much lower protein, (28%)

I really want to find another option that will be a better fit for him. I’m looking for some advice. I tried looking at the 5star options, but they all seem to be very high protein.

Any suggestion for some good quality food within our budget of about 100$ a bag would be greatly appreciated.

[Nadine H]

I did a lot of reading today and decided to get a bag of Purina pro plan focus large breed puppy. I have spent so much trying to find the perfect food and I’m really starting to wonder what I’m doing. The Farmina is good but is it that good that I need to pay over 200 a month.
I’m just not sure. My vet recommended the purina, he has danes and thats what he feeds. I read hundreds of reviews today from people that are having very good results. We’ll give it a try, I still have two bags of the Farmina so it’ll be a very slow transition and fingers double crossed that it works out. Thanks for your help pitlove!

[pitlove]

Hi Nadine-

Farmina looks like a fairly good company. I see they are dedicated to research and have a staff of qualified people formulating their diets. Especially if it agrees with your pup, I would continue to use it. They do also make a chicken and pomegranite in a large breed puppy formula, that might be more appropriate for him than the adult one.

As far as the feeding guidelines go, it looks to be an extremely high calorie food. This is likely the reason for the low seeming feeding guidelines. If you do decide to up his food intake make sure to check that hes not gaining a lot of weight. It is best to use a low energy density food for large breed puppies to help with weight gain, but if you have done fine thus far in keeping him lean I’m sure he will be ok.

Purina Pro Plan is what I use for all my pets and they do best on it. There is no ingredient in Pro Plan that concerns me in the slightest. The reason the feeding guidelines are so different is because of the kcals/cup. If you fed him the Pro Plan Sport 30/20 which is 475 kcals/cup he would eat about 4cups a day if fed as an “inactive” dog. It would be a little higher if fed as a “typically” active dog.

[pitlove]

Hi Nadine-

The main thing to be looking for in a large breed puppy food is an appropriate calcium/phosphorus ratio and an appropriate calcium/calorie ratio. Dr. Mike has a nicely written article with a calculator attacted that will tell you if the food you choose is appropriate for a large breed.

/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

I don’t know what your reasoning for staying away from carbs were but dogs can very easily digest and utilize foods with up to 50% carbs.

If you want a good Dane food I would recommend Precise Holistic Complete Large & Giant Breed Puppy. It was formulated by an ex-Great Dane breeder. My boyfriends brother used it for his Dane and he grew perfectly. It is not grain free. I also personally have a dog that can not eat grain free foods or he gets sick, so I avoid them like the plague.

[pitlove]

Great! Glad you found a food that agrees with him. I also agree that a large breed puppy food should not be needed in his case.

I do like Fromm as well, however I did feel that when I had my dog on the large breed adult gold his stool was larger and not as well formed. For my pack ProPlan has produced the best stools to date.

[pitlove]

Hi Kim-

Canidae makes a Life Stages Large Breed Puppy formula. Since they do not provide a typical analysis on their website you will need to email them and ask for it for that formula. Post their response and I can help you determine if the food is appropriate.

As I mentioned to Margaret, I never trust a company’s large breed puppy food unless it’s one like Hill’s, Purina or RC. Too many smaller companies have foods labeled for a large breed puppy, but it reality are in excess.

[pitlove]

When I put those values into the calcium calculator on this site I get:

Calculate
Calcium = 6.3 g per 1000 kcal
Ca to P ratio = 1.8 to 1

Absolutely inappropriate for a large breed puppy. Sad to see that no changes have been made to their formula in an entire year.

Foods like this are why I continue to stand by my recommendation of using a food from Hill’s, Purina, or Royal Canin. You literally never have to worry about those brands having large breed puppy foods in excess like that.

[Margaret G]

Hello, I have a 12 week old Irish Wolfhound/German Shepherd mix. She was on Taste of the Wild Puppy food but we were recommended to switch to Holistic Select Puppy Food for Large and Giant breed dogs. I am concerned after reading these posts that the calcium is too high. I slowly switched her from the TOTW. Her stools are soft but formed. I was thinking I should switch to a lower calcium kibble but after reading these threads, I am wondering if I should stay where I am for a bit? She is growing fast, already 27 pounds. I want to be sure we are using a food that will keep her bones as healthy as possible. I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you everyone.

[Tyla M]

Hey Tabitha,

Welcome to my life about 2-3 weeks ago. My puppy just turned 4 months and has been scratching and biting since I got her at 9 weeks. It definitely isn’t fleas so vet gave me fish oil incase it’s dry skin. Hasn’t helped, so I also felt like it was a chicken or dairy issue. I was using Fromm’s large breed puppy food but it has eggs and chicken so I did tons of research to find a food low in calcium with no chicken. My vet also wanted me to try grain free, so that made this process even more difficult. I personally would stay away from corn… I’m trying zignature zssentials… it has no chicken or dairy and calcium isn’t horrible. When I looked it up online it had said minimum 1.0% so I figured the max couldn’t be too high (Don’t want over 1.5%). However, the bag says the min. Is 1.2% so I’m assuming the max. Is 1.5%. I’m waiting to hear back the exact max. Or average because I emailed the company. I couldn’t wait longer though so I am currently weaning her off fromm’s to the Zignature. I also bought Weruva’s Hot Dayum canned food which has no chicken, and I use it as a topper. There is just so much info. Out there though and it’s hard to find a food that hits everything you want, especially for a large breed pup. I’ve spent way too many hours trying to research it all and now I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this food works. Fortunately, my pup, Luna, hasn’t scratched or bit until she was raw or losing hair…not yet anyway. Best of luck!!

[pitlove]

Yes it could be, but those symptoms ring more true to an environmental allergy than a food one.

I would put her back on a very simple chicken and rice or chicken and corn based diet designed specifically for large breed puppies. The ones that stand out to me are Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy and NutriSource Large Breed Puppy. Leave her on that through the winter to see if the symptoms subside. If they calm down in the winter, this may indicate an environmental allergy. It may take a while to determine what the cause of the itching is. Possibly another full year to see if the symptoms arise again during summer.

Do you by chance live in the South? Environmental allergies are rampant down here because of our humid climate.

[pitlove]

Hi Tabitha-
Food allergy is rare in dogs and at only 17 weeks old highly unlikely.
Victor Yukon River is highly inappropriate for a large breed puppy. With a Ca/Phos ratio of 1.5:1 and a Ca/Kcal ratio of 4.9g/1000 kcals, the diet is approaching the safe upper limit for the calcium to phosphorus ratio and well exceeds the recommended calcium to calorie ratio. Protein is not an issue. 20 years of research has proven that.

Also you have not described any symptoms so it is hard for us to help.