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”.
Some trainers believe that high protein affects behavior adversely.
We decided to transition our English Setter puppy from Purina Large Breed Puppy Chow to Wellness Core (Thank you, HoundDogMom, for your list!).
The animal behaviorist that we are working with on Puppy Training expressed a concern over the high protein level. I know from the research I have read that the true concern should be over excessive calcium and calories, and read the articles that were posted on page one of this topic. Are they any additional science-based articles that debunk the myth of high protein being bad for puppies?
Thank you.
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.
hmm i had not thought about the fiber percents i was blaming it on the corn in the canin. her main base kibble is 3 percent 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, 8 months ago by
theBCnut.
Pattyvaughn- would you happen to know the difference between the fromm nutritionals and fromm 4 star nutritionals? I know the 4 star is grain free but the the nutritionals say no wheat, no corn, no soy therefore wouldn’t that mean they are close to the same? Also are they both all life stages?
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.
That can definitely affect amount and frequency of BMs.
We noticed that also. Zignature’s fiber level is double what Fromm’s is….
And the fiber level, Zignature really is a high fiber food.
Okay maybe its a combo of her being so young and the dobie breed 🙂 Thanks for the advice everyone .
mfulton7,
ive never tried those brands.
my dobe pup from 8-12 weeks was on royal canin maxi puppy, she seemed to poop a lot from memory. then she went on redmoon chicken potato (3 cups) and the poop seamed to not happen as much and the farts were non existant. in her 7th month ive transitioned some earthborn meadowfeast (financial issues as to why) but still using redmoon as a base (4 cups combined). she got some gas back but the poop is still only maybe 4 times a day
Mfulton I bought the instinct based on the list from hdm. I used both wellness core and natures variety and I personally think he is doing much on the nv rabbit instinct but lately his stools have been loose but I think that is because he is teething.
Is the natures variety your referring to the instinct or prairie?
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 🙂
Wow I think that might be exactly it. He now just starting loosing the very last of his baby teeth. The enzymes are for sure working though as he has been doing less poop though. He is about to be like 5 months old
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
My dog kept loose stools on the Wellness and we have been changing ever since.
Hi, i’ve been trying to do some of my own research but it’s proving rather difficult and frustrating. I have what i thought would be considered a large breed puppy and i’m concerned that i’m not feeding him correctly. I feel like this because he seems to be growing up very quickly but he still seems very skinny to me. I can see his ribs and other bones most of the time. He is a Timberwolf, Redwolf and Labrador mix. He is currently about 6 months pld and is lready huge. I’ve never had a large breed dog before but i fell in love with him and was advised to start him off on Beneful puppy chow when i got him at 7 weeks. My boyfriend recently started him on Ol’ Roy but i heard that he needs to be on puppy chow until hr is a year old. So now i’m trying to decide what would be best to fees him to he grows properly and healthily. However, i am a student so i’m on a budget and i need to be able to get him something that’s also cost effective. Can anybody help me?
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.
You may need to slow down your transition and go back to 25/75 for a few more days
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?
Have you seen this?
/frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/
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
Organic extra virgin and I give 1 tsp per 20 lbs of body weight.
Thanks, all. I’ve been perusing the spreadsheet and am making a list of options! Regarding the coconut oil, does anyone have tips on how much to give? Do you use white or whole pressed?
dana629
for what it’s worth. Dr tim hunt (dr tim’s) made a post in another forum:
Did you know that a large breed dog has calcium/phosp needs that are acceptable for a yorkie, but if use what is acceptable for a yorkie it could be too high for a large breed dog
technically you cant go wrong selecting from that list in the prior post as they are good for large breed
use petflow or chewy if you see something you like that you cant get local
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This reply was modified 12 years, 8 months ago by
apriliamille.
AnonymousInactive
Thank you so much. I know I was in the wrong place but that was the only one that looked to be active.
dana629
start with hound dog mom’s spread sheet and find something that you might like
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit
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.
4 months ago
