[Hound Dog Mom]

Congrats on the new pup! 🙂

All the foods you mentioned are great except I would avoid the Kirkland – it’s manufactured by Diamond (poor quality control/frequent recalls). I’d actually recommend rotating between the foods – the earlier you start a rotational diet and get your pup accustomed to a variety of healthy foods the better! 🙂

Grain-free diets are recommended because grains are not a natural component of a dog’s diet. Kibbles containing grains are often (but not always!) lower in animal-derived protein and carry a higher risk of being contaminated with mycotoxins. Many dogs also seem to have food sensitivities with symptoms that subside once they are switched to a grain-free diet. Grains are also inflammatory, contain anti-nutrients (such as lectins) and many (like corn) are often genetically modified. With this said, not all grain-inclusive kibbles are bad. The thing is, a starch component is necessary in kibble. Ideally a dog’s diet would contain no grains or starches but starch is needed to bind the kibble. Starch can be present in the form or grains, legumes, potatoes, tapioca or some combination of these. The thing is, many of the grain-alternative starches carry many of the same negative attributes as grains. For this reason, when feeding a kibble I believe the most important thing to look for is a high level of animal-derived protein – I prefer foods with over 30% protein with over 80% being animal-derived. Two quality grain-inclusive foods are appropriate for large breed puppies that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend are Dr. Tim’s Kinesis ALS and Annamaet’s Ultra Formula.

[scottNY]

To SadieGirlsMom, I am so sorry to hear Sadie is suffering. She is very lucky to have you, though.

I have a 7-month old pit mix rescue and although he doesn’t have those issues, he is a very picky eater and I have been told that is somewhat typical of pits. I regularly add shredded cheese, green bell peppers or carrots to his food just to get him to pay attention to it. It hasn’t mattered what brand or flavors I have given him – he just seems to be picky. I will say, though, he is more likely to eat after a walk then before. [Make sure you don’t feed her right after strenuous exercise, though!]

There are quite a few other pits at the dog park we go to regularly and we always swap stories. A few things we all seem to agree on are that pits do better with a good, grain-free food. [Since at 7-months my puppy is already at 60 lbs, I just switched to one of HoundDogMom’s 5-start large breed recommended foods.] At the first sign of any stomach issues, we also mix in varying amounts of cooked, plain white rice, depending on how severe the issue. If it is really bad, we just use rice, some shredded, boiled, unseasoned chicken breast and some no-sodium chicken broth added for flavor and smell. I also have been giving my puppy a probiotic daily since he was 2-months old. He also gets a good, canine multivitamin. At the advice of others on this forum I intend to add enzymes and likely green food supplements.

Once you get the right food and the probiotic in her, hopefully the problems will begin to fade. I also found the grain-free food helped the stools and the gas tremendously.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

[lilyh]

Thank you so much for this thread.

We pick up an Field Bred English Setter Puppy next week. The breeder feeds her (and all their dogs) Purina Large Breed Puppy Chow. Think I have finally convinced my husband to switch her off that once the dog settles into our new home (his argument: If it’s good enough for the breeder, why should we switch?). I can just anticipate the resistance when I try to suggest grain-free.

Are there articles about why a grain-free diet is suggested for dogs? Are there any All Stages or Puppy Foods that are not grain-free that people would recommend?

The puppy will be 8 weeks old when we pick her up.

Brands that I am leaning toward are:

Merrick
Fromm
Dr. Tim (not available near me, but can special order)
Wellness
Earthborn
Kirkland Signature

Appreciate feedback and open to other suggestions.

LilyH

[shadowfire76]

Just got a new puppy with what we believe to be a pitbull mix a couple days ago. Someone dropped him on a friend of mine and she was going to take him to the shelter but I brought him home with me instead. The vet said he’s about 10weeks old and he already weighs about 20 lbs. The vet said based upon his body frame and the size of his paws that he is likely to be a large dog pushing close to 100 lbs when he gets fully grown. So I am looking for a quality puppy food to feed him. I have been feeding him 4Health Performance Adult food (which I feed my other dog) while I researched what kind of puppy food would be best suited for him. I know it doesn’t have all that he needs but figure it is definitely a higher quality than standard Purina Puppy Chow. A lot of the top dog foods aren’t available in my area but I know that I can get Wellness, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, and Blue Buffalo locally. I see that Wellness puppy is on your list but is that the standard Wellness puppy or the large breed formula? Any advice is greatly appreciated. 🙂

[scottNY]

Hi All,

I posted this elsewhere yesterday, but I think it makes sense here, too. I have read so much good information here that my head is spinning. I am trying to find a reasonable balance between time, effort and cost while maximizing my puppy’s health. I suspect I am not the only one.

HDM, when you have time, would you please summarize what is “necessary” other than a good quality food to raise a healthy puppy? I live in a New York city apartment with a tiny kitchen and my income is limited. I don’t want to cheap out on my puppy, but I find it is too easy to go overboard, too. I put necessary in quotes because I understand it is an opinion, but you clearly know what you are talking about and I am hoping you can help me find an optimal balance.

I have tentatively limited the options to just a few. They can be found in my original post, for which I put the link instead of cutting and pasting. I don’t want to be thought of as a spammer. My comment is post #24191.

I look forward to feedback and hope this is helpful to others!

/forums/topic/prebiotics-probiotics-and-enzymes-oh-my/page/5/

[TmMura13]

Shadow is my 10 month old German Shepherd mix with diarrhea, demodex mites, demodectic mange, is extremely picky, needs to put on weight, might have a food allergy (possibly needs to stay from birds), is very high energy and has a low immune system. Please keep in mind that I live in Florida and I’m surrounded my national pet store retailers. There are very few small speciality pet store retailers around. Also I would prefer not to order online unless it’s truly necessary.

Shadow – Hill’s® Science Diet® Puppy Large Breed / Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Sweet Potato & Venison / Nutro Natural Choice Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Whole Brown Rice Formula Large Breed Puppy Food / Wilderness™ Chicken Recipe for Puppies

We feed him what ever he will eat at the time. This also may include canned food, treats mixed in and even sometimes table scraps.

[TmMura13]

Shadow is my 10 month old German Shepherd mix with diarrhea, demodex mites, demodectic mange, is extremely picky, needs to put on weight, might have a food allergy (possibly needs to stay from birds), is very high energy and has a low immune system. Please keep in mind that I live in Florida and I’m surrounded my national pet store retailers. There are very few small speciality pet store retailers around. Also I would prefer not to order online unless it’s truly necessary.
Shadow – Hill’s® Science Diet® Puppy Large Breed / Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Sweet Potato & Venison / Nutro Natural Choice Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Whole Brown Rice Formula Large Breed Puppy Food / Wilderness™ Chicken Recipe for Puppies
We feed him what ever he will eat at the time. This also may include canned food, treats mixed in and even sometimes table scraps.

[TmMura13]

Shadow is my 10 month old German Shepherd mix with diarrhea, demodex mites, demodectic mange, is extremely picky, needs to put on weight, might have a food allergy (possibly needs to stay from birds), is very high energy and has a low immune system. Please keep in mind that I live in Florida and I’m surrounded my national pet store retailers. There are very few small speciality pet store retailers around. Also I would prefer not to order online unless it’s truly necessary.

Shadow – Hill’s® Science Diet® Puppy Large Breed / Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Sweet Potato & Venison / Nutro Natural Choice Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Whole Brown Rice Formula Large Breed Puppy Food / Wilderness™ Chicken Recipe for Puppies

We feed him what ever he will eat at the time. This also may include canned food, treats mixed in and even sometimes table scraps.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I can only speak from my personal experiences. Last summer I ordered a bag of BB biscuits from Pet Food Direct and when I opened the bag there were bugs (the product wasn’t expired and there were no holes in the bag that I could see). A month or so later I purchase a bag of their cat food at a local feed store and when I opened it there was white mold all over the food (wasn’t expired and I couldn’t see where it had gotten wet). That same summer my friend got a new golden retriever puppy and tried to transition her to BB – the dog got really bad diarrhea and it cleared up as soon as she took the dog off BB. I then started reading on the negative reviews on this site and other sites and haven’t touched a BB product since. It’s too bad because they used to make really great stuff – I fed my cats BB for years. The company has really gone downhill though – imo.

[rileys mom]

I currently feed my Sheltie puppy (Riley) Earthborn Holistic Grain Free – Meadow Feast. I am very happy with the food but I have been reading a lot about the benefits of a raw diet. I can’t afford to have him on a completely raw diet, but I would like to add some raw food to his kibble. I have been looking at Primal and Nutrisca freeze dried raw food. Would it benefit Riley to have a little bit of raw added to his kibble?

If I do add raw how much of his kibble should I replace? I am currently feeding him 1 cup a day split into 3 meals. He is about 10lbs and 6 months.

Thanks

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Whitney –

I’m not sure if the calcium levels in 4Health Grain-Free or Pure Balance are okay or not – I didn’t look into these foods because they’re only rated 3.5 stars and therefore didn’t meet the criteria of my list. So if you want to feed these I would suggest contacting the companies to obtain the calcium levels. If she’s still a pup and already experiencing pain I would discuss this with your vet – while it could be an injury it is likely Pano or severe HD (it would have to be pretty severe for the dog to be showing symptoms at such a young age). I would recommend supplementing with some natural anti-inflammatories such as boswellia, yucca, turmeric (curcumin), bromelain, omega 3’s, tart cherry, or white willow and/or high doses of omega 3’s. Now may also be a good time to start a joint maintenance supplement such as glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, hyaluronic acid, green lipped mussel and/or esterified fatty acids. I’d also suggest avoiding grains entirely as grains are inflammatory.

[Anonymous]

Kobe’s Dad: have you considered an intolerance to one of the ingredients in his food? That would certainly cause diarrhea. If there is a kibble he tolerates, even the prescription diet, compare ingredient lists to look for differences. If he hasn’t yet done well on anything, maybe you could try a couple of the limited ingredient kibbles (one at a time!) to look for improvement with the elimination of things like different grains, potatoes, or protein sources. I would give each a couple weeks to look for improvement. Have you tried adding probiotics and enzymes, as I plan to do for my guy with diarrhea per Patty’s suggestion? As far as kibble amounts go, I would take your breeder’s advice as a general guideline only if feeding the same food the breeder was, as calorie counts vary so greatly. If switching brands, the manufacturer’s recommendation based on your puppy’s weight is more useful. And the 6 month cut off seems arbitrary. Consider how much growth happens between 2 months and 6 months – I’m sure he wasn’t close to 80 lbs when you got him! They need to get more food slowly and continuously as they grow, based on their weight and activity level. And 3 cups a day seems very low for an 80 pound puppy. My guy gets 3 cups/day and he is only 20 lbs! If your food is around 400 kcal/cup, I’d expect Kobe to need something around 7 cups a day. I think the 6 month mark is a good time to switch from feeding 3 times per day to 2 times, though; just divide the total amount of food daily by however many meals you are giving. Maybe the breeder feared people would keep the meal size the same and start feeding 1 cup a meal twice a day rather than increasing meal size with the decreased frequency? But remember that they’re general guidelines, and individual needs will vary. You wouldn’t expect 2 of your patients to eat the exact same number of calories, fat, and protein just because both were 55 year old males. And about the vomiting after brown rice: I would strongly advise against getting your dog anything from a Chinese restaurant, no matter how good a restaurant. There is a lot of cross-contamination in restaurants, so you never know what you are actually exposing him to, even in tiny amounts, that could cause problems. A bag of rice is cheap and readily available, and it cooks up easily. For diarrhea I would stick to white rice, though, as it is more easily digestible. I hope some part of this ramble helps.

[XaMarlowe]

My 9 month old Red Bone Hound/Lab mix is scooting and biting her booty. My vet told me to supplement her food with pumpkin, but I figured that I could just change her food and solve the problem. She ate Iams when she was younger when this problem started, so I swicthed her to Blue Buffalo grain free puppy. At first Blue worked, nice hard stools, no scooting or biting. But over time her stools loosened up and she is having the same problems again. I am very diligent about not feeding her any grain, and I know she doesnt have worms. Just bought some Earthborn coastal grain free, hope it works. Her sister still eats Iams and has no problems, any suggestions would really help. After reading many, many blogs I just feel lost. The fibre content of Blue is more than Earthborn is that a problem
? Chicken vs fish? Hound Dog Mom help!!!!
Sincerely, Max & Marlowe

[Saireah]

Thanks! Yes, it is the only Dr. Tim’s food that I’ve tried. I didn’t try the grain-inclusive formula. That’s an idea. They have similar first ingredients and the grain-inclusive Kinesis is 2% higher protein than Fromm’s Adult Gold.

My only concern with Fromm’s Puppy Gold is that the calcium level is higher — 1.37% as-is and 1.47% dry-matter (vs. 1.16% and 1.24% respectively with the Adult).

I do normally try and feed a wet food topper, as well.

I’ve just never been able to get my 2 year old on a food that settled well with her — she’s been on Nature’s Recipe (ugh, I know) and that worked great but was low quality, Taste of the Wild, Acana, and then Fromm’s.

Perhaps I’ll try the grain-inclusive Kinesis and see how it goes? I do like how their stools are with Dr. Tim’s.

[Saireah]

HDM: a few months ago, we talked about converting my 8th month old mastiff/lab mix to Dr. Tim’s GF Kinesis. One of my main purposes for this transition was to also put my 2 year old lab/vizsla on the same food as him.

He’s doing fine. In fact, they both love the taste. However, Quinn (2 year old) has been chewing her feet like crazy since she transition 100% over to Dr. Tim’s (3 weeks ago). She developed a rash on her stomach and I actually took her to the vet to get her on steroids as over-the-counter wasn’t working. Additionally, they gave me a pill to help with the itching prior to the steroids, but that also did nothing.

At first, I thought it was her allergies flaring up. She had to be put on steroids last summer. However, she had lasted all of the summer (June and July) without any itching while on Fromm’s Adult Gold. The reason I believe it may be the food is that she’s also thrown up twice since I started feeding it to her.

The basis for the background question is this:

In your opinion, can I feed Riggs (now 10 months — will be one year in mid-October) the Fromm’s Adult Gold? Note that I said Adult Gold, not Large Breed Adult Gold.

Quinn just hasn’t done well on any grain-free food that I’ve fed her. Acana, Taste of the Wild, etc. May be too rich for her. She did fine on Adult Gold — it’s just that I wanted her stools to be a bit firmer. That’s why I decided to try and make a household swap.

Would really love your feedback as I find it valuable. Thank you very much!

[BijouMama05]

I’ve had the same problem with my dog eating these treats. I gave him one very tiny piece of freeze dried chicken (less than 1/2″) and within 12 hours he was vomiting bright yellow bile. I didn’t make the connection with ROSEMARY EXTRACT, though until later after I gave him a small bite of boiled organic ground turkey & he had the same reaction about 12 hours later (vomiting bright yellow bile). I dug the package out of the trash & it contained two ingredients (organic turkey & ROSEMARY EXTRACT). These treats also contain two ingredients (chicken & ROSEMARY EXTRACT). My dog doesn’t eat any other food that contains ROSEMARY EXTRACT with the exception of these two items. He used to be fed Nutro Puppy Food & was switched to their Toy Breed Adult Formula when he turned one year old and had no problems with it, either until they changed the formula and added ROSEMARY EXTRACT to it (This brand now has almost 1500 complaints for the same symptoms on consumer affairs). He immediately started vomiting and having diarrhea which became bloody. When he started having Grand Mal seizures & his liver enzymes became elevated we switched his food to an organic limited ingredient diet & his symptoms disappeared. We didn’t realize that the ROSEMARY EXTRACT was the problem until recently with the feeding of the Full Moon Freeze Dried Chicken Treats & the Organic Ground Turkey Meat (both of which had only two ingredients, one of which ROSEMARY EXTRACT). This ingredient is a neurotoxin/neurostimulant, a blood thinner, and also stimulated bile production (which might explain the vomiting & diarrhea). I have done some research on the Internet & there are hundreds of thousands of complaints about dog foods, cat foods & treats that contain ROSEMARY EXTRACT & all of the symptoms are the same (vomiting of bile, diarrhea [often bloody], seizures, itching, elevated liver enzymes, refusal to eat, & weight loss). I believe that this is one ‘natural’ additive that has no place in pet food or treats & probably hasn’t even been properly tested to see if it is even safe or not. Just because it is safe for the majority of healthy humans (not diabetic, pregnant, taking blood thinners/aspirin/NSAIDs, epileptic, etc.) doesn’t mean it is safe for dogs and cats.

[theBCnut]

I always portion food according to what the adult weight should be. But generally feeding guides suggest more than my dogs should eat, so remember that any feeding guideline is just exactly that, a guideline.

[dendad]

I think I’m going to try Merrick puppy food. Still, if anyone out there can recommend portion size for a puppy 2 lbs., 6 oz., I’d appreciate it. The recommendations on the can are something like 3/4 of a can per day for a 3 lb. puppy. That’s way too much, in my opinion.

[Tigerlily]

Well that is quite frustrating that I was given incorrect information.

I am quite familiar with standard poodles and all too aware and educated on the genetic predispositions in my breed. Also, in general, those of us who are knowledgeable and involved in the breed consider them to be a “medium to large breed” and we are careful to promote slow and steady growth to avoid orthopedic issues. I have always been careful to feed foods with moderate calcium levels to my puppies. That said, because poodles are closer to the “medium” end of the spectrum (or should be, in my opinion), I am sure that my precautions are just that – precautions.

I am not going to entirely rule out the two Acana formulas, but I am pretty happy with Dr. Tim’s at the moment so I may consider the grain inclusive version of Kinesis for the puppies. If puppy owners are reluctant to order online, I can suggest they feed Fromm Chicken a la Veg. Or, heck, maybe I’ll just raise the puppies on the Fromm. 🙂 A large percentage of my of my poodles’ diet is raw, but at this point I do plan to raise the litter on kibble.

On another note, does anyone know how to add a photo above my name?

[lojo]

I’m still in the process of sorting this out so I don’t have answers, only anecdotal info:
I have been feeding my gsd blue buffalo large breed chicken since I got her 2 years ago. First the puppy formula then adult. No problems at all til the last bag I bought in early August 2013. Explosive and persistent diarrhea the day after I started feeding her the ‘new’ food followed by vomiting.
I started feeding her real rice, chicken and carrots to ease her pain. Then while transitioning her back to the blue buffalo by sprinkling it on the ‘real’ food, the diarrhea started again. To be clear, I don’t know for sure blue buffalo is causing the problem. I am just a person with a dog, not a food testing laboratory. But she is highly monitored – we are always together and hasn’t eaten foreign or domestic poop, objects or greenery.

After reading about others with similar experiences on this forum , I thought I should add mine to the list. Blue Buffalo is denying any change in their formula. My dog gets sick when she eats it. I hope yours doesn’t.

[londoncalling1996]

Thanks Patty, Marie and Hound Dog Mom! We are hanging in there. My BFF was diagnosed about 1-3/4 years ago and it’s been a struggle, hoped for a long time that she’d beat it, but it’s not happening. She is doing fairly well in her spirit. Saying goodbye to people. Working on getting her cancer experience blog published and just coming to terms with letting go of everything, including life. Now, if only I can come to terms with her dying!

Anyhow, since this is a dog food forum, I’ll try to get back to that, but first about Lux, I have done some research on MAST cell tumors and it’s not all bad. If all goes well, checking her whole body as often as daily as we can for the rest her life might be the worst.

We will know around mid-week or so what “grade” the tumor is and if they got it all.

As far as the food situation goes, when the Vet (a she, btw) told me not to worry about too calcium, but to worry about giving Lux too much protein, I have to admit, I did think I trust HDM and the advise and things I’ve learned and I’ve gotten here more than her! Yikes. It is scary to think about what Vets are telling people. I told her we’re feeding Lux 3 cups of food a day, 1 cup X 3 a day. She said to stay with 3 cups (Lux weighs 33.4 pounds), but change to to twice a day instead of 3 times a day. I know I was going to have to do that eventually, but man, the way Lux acts like she’s absolutely STARVING every time we feed her, I’ve been reluctant to reduce the times per day!

Anyhow, then I told the vet that I give Lux a mixture of wet and kibble, 25% canned, rotating between Wellness stews and Kobe, and 75% Fromm’s kibble (Surf and Turf and Beef Frittata). She said to cut the canned food out, that it has too much fat. She said I need to limit protein and fat so Lux doesn’t have ortho problems later.

I don’t know how to address this with them, as I do believe this is one of the best vet clinics in the area. and I don’t know enough about it to make an argument with them so they look into and give better advise to their clients.

[londoncalling1996]

Hi Kobe’d dad,

I have a 17 week old Berner that tolerates Fromm just fine. I’m started with a big bag of Surf and Turf and now we’re into a bag of Beef Frittata Veg. I mix in canned food, switching around between different Wellness stews and Kobe varieties. I mix 25% canned, 75% kibble.

I wonder how much you feed Kobe? Last vet visit Lux was 29 pounds. I know she’s more that that now! I’ve been giving her 3 cups of the mixed food, (1 cup 3 times) a day. Plus a little of the mix in a kong I freeze and give to her when I put her in her crate for the night, plus she gets little tidbits of training treats during the day. But, you’d think we’re STARVING her. Yesterday found a shredded bit left of a pair of my underwear. My 16 yr old daughter said there was some fabric hanging out of Lux’s butt yesterday that she was biting at, so my daughter helped her and pulled it out. So gross. Seems like we have our old Berner, Bailey back. He’s been gone for 7 years now and man did I go thru underwear back then! Crazy. I guess it’s in the breed. Some form of Prader Willi or something!

[weezerweeks]

My nephew has a 4 month old golden puppy. He is feedin her signature limited ing trout and salmon food. Is this a good choice?

[MrsNix]

Hi, Kobe! Somewhere in this long discussion, and I’m sure Hound Dog Mom can tell you more about how she feels about grain inclusive foods, but she mentions that she only included grain-free because that is her preference. She doesn’t believe that a grain inclusive food is a bad choice for everyone, but she prefers to feed her bloodhounds grain free. I’m sure she can expand on that for you.

Our beagle, who is no longer with us, had a severe corn allergy and sensitivity to both rice and wheat. Our first instinct was to just chuck it all and go with a combination of foods I prepared myself and grain free kibble (which was very hard to find in 2007 in Okinawa where we lived). She was not thriving on a totally grain-free diet, and we tried a lot of different things over about a year. She had runny stools; she was not very energetic; and her coat was not as glossy and she shed more than she ever had before. Grain free diets bring out the best in some dogs. They thrive on it and it does amazing things for them. Our little dog did not thrive on a totally grain free diet, so we looked for something else.

I eventually came upon Pinnacle brand foods, which are also 5-star dog foods, but they include quinoa and oats. She did extremely well on the Pinnacle. Within a couple of weeks, her coat looked better and her stools firmed up to normal. She was back to being “on the beagle crack” as we always said when she was her hyper-and-needs-exercise normal self.

I don’t believe that Hound Dog Mom or anyone else with the best interests of all dogs would say that the same diet is best for ALL individuals, but grain-free is helping a lot of dogs who cannot seem to thrive on foods containing grain.

[apriliamille]

hello all, i just read the entire thread and whew tons of information. i have a few questions but wanted to also make a few comments if they would help as well.

my 7 month old doberman girl is a rocket eater. so fast she throws up. i found i was able to slow her down by using one of our deep wall cookie sheets for her food. prior to this she would eat so fast that she would finish in time, throw up, eat again and then go and try to ninja the boxer’s food while he was eating. now the boxer finishes first and stares at her eating. a nice cheap solution to speed eating.

i saw a couple posts on high value treats. i live in central utah and we have a meat and game processing locker here called fords. they sell dog jerky treats that my girl goes bonkers over during our track training. i messed up a small ziplock baggie thats in our training pack and whew, the leash harness and toys smelled like the jerky the next session. they sell them on ebay for 15 bucks / 2 pounds free ship

hound dog mom, thank you soooo much for the information docs. one of the pages back i saw where dr tim was removed from the 2nd list but man it took me 3 hours to get through the whole thread. was it due to it not saying puppy or ALS on the packaging? i cant remember. This list came at a very fortunate time for me. we love our food we feed but due to a short term financial crisis emergency i have to reduce costs untill i get back on my feet. luckily i have 70 pounds of her current food available for her to help with a transition. im hoping to find something i can supplement her current with until i get back on my feet (i hope that makes sense). i was starting off thinking after the first doc of either earthborn or dr tim. but then the 2nd doc came out. any suggestions on this?

also we have a facebook group that is for our zip code regional for pets. may i share your doc on that for others to look at?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi kobe –

The trout and salmon formula is appropriate for large breed puppies. They recently came out with two new formulas – duck and zssential (a multi-protein formula) – and I haven’t had a chance to look into either of those formulas yet. While I do believe you should reserve a couple novel protein sources in the even that your dog ever does develop allergies, there’s no reason to avoid a limited ingredient kibble just because your dog doesn’t have food allergies. In fact, I prefer single protein kibbles so that when I rotate I know my dog isn’t getting exposed to the same protein source daily. My dogs eat raw now and I only feed one protein per meal.

[kobe]

Dear Hound Dog Mom,

thanks again for your info!!
one last question–what do YOU think of Zignature kibble?-i just received samples of a limited ingredient kibble with the Zignature label
do you think it meets your requirements –or not–to feed a 5 month old bernese puppy?
also, is it better to avoid limited ingredient kibble if my pup has no food allergies?

your advice is much appreciated

Kobe’s dad

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi shilohsure –

Pre-made raw food is very expensive and Primal is probably the most expensive brand of all. Pre-made raw really is financially impractical for large breed dogs and multi-dog households. If you want to feed raw I’d highly recommend researching homemade raw and learning to make your own. Homemade raw is higher quality than pre-made raw and it’s much cheaper. I’m currently spending under $200 per month to feed my two girls raw – they’re both around 70 lbs. and they each eat about 2 lbs. of meat/bone/organ + extras (eggs, kefir, veggies, supplements, etc.) per day. If you go to the raw food forum there’s a thread with recommended menus, you can check out what I feed my girls there. “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown is a great book for beginners getting started on homemade raw.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Sue’s Zoo]

As much as I would love to feed all RAW, my puppy (and the next one we plan to get this fall) would end up costing about $800 a month on Primal when they’re only half grown!! That’s based on Primal’s feeding calculator on their webpage.

50lb puppy eating anything but beef requires a minimum of 14lbs/week (beef is 10lb/week). Best pricing is at PetFoodDirect averages approximately $40/6lb bag. So about $100/week! And that’s for one dog that’s only half grown.

Am I calculating something incorrectly??

Definitely will have to combine with kibble. But then I am totally confused about how much to feed! Please help!!

[harp31]

Thank you for the suggestions, I am looking at some samples (some free and some minimally priced) from K9cuisine. I value your opinion (based on what I have seen on this forum) so I will forgo the TOTW. The rotational diet makes sense, too. I am getting samples of Orijin, Acana, Amicus, Fromm, Solid Gold, The Honest Kitchen and some freeze-dried grain-free chicken and beef from Dr. Harvey’s. Hopefully, they will like the freeze-dried. I have tried the pure canned pumpkin a couple of times but I don’t want to add it to every meal, since they eat 3 meals a day and I’m afraid that may be a bit too much pumpkin. My last 2 Boston’s were picky eaters, too and they ate mostly canned food but it seems like I tried every brand there was available and they were never really fond of any of them. I ended up cooking for them a lot (beef/chicken and brown rice with vegies, etc.) I was feeding them a small amount of Canidae dry with the home cooked mixed in with it. I was hoping to find a good quality food so I don’t have to spend so much time preparing a home cooked diet (but I will if I have to). Thanks again, this dog food selection always seems like a daunting task for me … sigh. Mary

[kobe]

HI,

I am a new member and need advice on my bernese mountain dog pup in NYC
unfortunately, he was sent to me from he west coast with giardia intestinal infection–the good news is that after multiple courses of metronidazole and fenbendazole,i think this parasite is gone—the pup is 5 months old this week–i am starting to slowly transition him off the Hills I AND D—i was recommended the natures variety-large breed puppy kibble which i have been adding slowly—–BUT THE COMMENTS I HAVE READ ON THIS FOOD AND COMPANY ON THIS WEBSITE HAVE NOT BEEN THAT POSITIVE!!!

I KNOW I NEED to limit the calcium but i am confused by what i should be feeding him—regular kibble vs raw food vs ziwipeak?

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi shilohsue –

I’m familiar with Missing Link. Looking at their puppy supplement (assuming that’s what you’d be using) there’s nothing in it that should pose a problem however I’m personally not impressed with their line of supplements – there are much better supplements out there. The biggest issue that I have with their supplements is that they all contain molasses – in other words sugar, it also only has on strain of probiotics which isn’t going to be of much benefit. Some supplements I’d recommend:

WellyTails Puppy Smart Start (I used this for one of my dogs until she was 6 months old) it contains colostrum, marine algae and microencapsulated fish oil which provide DHA and EPA, 6 strains of probiotics, 7 digestive enzymes, antioxidants and whole foods.

Nature’s Logic All-Food Fortifier which is completely whole food based and contains 5 strains of probiotics and 4 enzymes.

Dr. Harvey’s Formative Years for Puppies and Young Dogs which is an herb and whole food based supplement.

Frozen foods would be a better choice than freeze-dried foods because they’re less processed and they’re much cheaper to feed.

[Hound Dog Mom]

My friend had a similar experience with Blue when feeding it to her golden puppy – diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, etc. Cleared up as soon as she switched foods.

[Sussieque]

Dear ORENC26,

RE: Diarrhea in Puppies

I also recently got a Cavalier King Charles puppy. She had the same problem with diarrhea (really bad). When I first got her @ 9 weeks old, the previous owner was feeding her Purina Special Blend (i think).

Anyways, we had rain here for over a week straight. Poor baby had to do her business in the rain and walk on the wet grass. I took her to the vet for her second vaccination and was told that she had a Yeast infection (in her ears which also gets in their digestive system) The vet gave me an anti-fungal med., an ear med. (Zymox is better) and a stool hardener. You can use Imodium Advance. ONLY 1/4 tablet daily and for just a 2 days!!! (go by weight of dog) Brandi was 5 lbs. then.

She (Brandi) got a little better but still had some diarrhea problems. I researched the internet and spoke with the vet & a local breeder.

They all suggested to feed her Boiled Chicken (white meat to start) with cooked white rice, mixed with some 100% Pumpkin. I fed this to her for 2 weeks. (note: adding a good vitamin may help but check the ingredients carefully!). After feeding Brandi the Chicken-rice combo for 2-3 weeks I wanted to get her back on a dry (kibble) puppy food. I chose “Orijen” Brand 80/20 Puppy dry food. Available at most Pet Stores and online.

I mixed it 50/50 with the Orijen and Purina One Beyond (White Meat Chicken & Whole Barley flavor) and 1 heaping Tablespoon of 100% Pumpkin. (NOT the pumpkin pie filling!!!) I introduced this mixture over 10 days (see the internet on how to do this). On the 10th. day she was eating just the dry kibble food with the pumpkin. At this point I added a Probiotic (you can pick up at pet stores – capsule form and read how much to add per day – goes by weight). Come to find out that the Orijen 80/20 puppy dry food has natural Pre & Pro Biotics (for GOOD bacteria for their digestive system) in their puppy food.

DIARRHEA IS COMPLETELY GONE!!!!! Thank God!

I still give her the Orijen and the Purina One Beyond with pumpkin (she is 3.5 months old now) Still NO diarrhea. : ) HAPPY MOMMY HERE.

I think I will switch to Acana Brand – Wild Prairie dry kibble soon because it is a bit less expensive and made by the same company. Plus it has less of a high protein content. Below are their websites:

Orijen: http://www.orijen.ca/
Acana: http://www.acana.com/products/regionals/wild-prairie/

These pet foods are made in Canada with only natural products (Grain Free). They have their own Processing Plant and process ONLY their dog and cat foods. BTW – My cats love their 6 Fish Dry Cat Food.

These foods are a bit more than your cheaper store-bought brands but worth getting rid of the diarrhea for good. Plus knowing she is healthy, happy and growing as she should be.

Hope this helps and good luck with your new baby cavalier. Precious, aren’t they? ; )
Sussieque

[Hershy]

Hi, Patty,
Thanks for your post. Well said about the topic of Vets and animal nutrition…always room for improvement, right?…by me, too! I definitely plan to do a much better job feeding my “kids” a delicious and healthy diet.

HI, HDM & Patty,
And looks like I may get a second chance with my Charlotte girl. I am thankful that Charlotte’s cancer screen came back negative yesterday evening, but Vet held back saying there was none, in that she said she sampled only a small portion, so could still be early stages. I’ll take that, and look at it as another chance to do a better job with her. If she has it, at least it is very early.
Thanks, HDM and Patty, for encouraging me to go ahead with the test. Of course I needed to know. Not sure what I was thinking.
Now, moving forward with her new diet, mostly raw. I will start with her, and slowly add the other 3. Although I have already transitioned all to 4 & 5 star kibble. I top my puppy, Crystal’s, Nutri-Source Lg. Breed puppy food with Merrik Grain Free Tripe, and the 3 big dogs have been getting Pro Balance Canned as a topper.
I can’t thank you all enough for this education I continue to receive. How I nourish my dogs will keep improving, and I will definitely keep in touch with this forum.
Will soon add the raw food forum to my list of preferred reading : )
Patty, hope your dog’s result was at least as good.
Thanks, again!

[avamom]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have been referencing DFA since I first put down the deposit on my English mastiff puppy. She is will be 7 months old this week and we have had a time. I was feeding Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy for the first 5 months. She had a rash and I thought it might be a food allergy she was on flea meds and I never saw any. It wasn’t horrible but it was constant. I took her off thinking maybe it was the chicken and put her on Natural Choice Sweet Potato and Venison. It got much worse within a week. Got to looking at ingredients and realized there were sweet potatoes in the BBWP as well. Tried Natural Choice Venison and Potato better but still not gone (this one had carrots). We discovered a beta carotene or at least an orange vegetable allergy. Took her off everything and cooked her rice or potatoes and ground venison for a month. She got too lean and even though she was getting a multi vitamin I was concerned about proper nutrition. Help! What can I feed her that is good for her overall health and proper growth, but that does not cause allergic reactions.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi mommyvar –

I’ve heard of TLC but I’ve never used it and don’t know anyone that has so I can’t give any personal experiences with the product. It looks like a decent food although, at 26%, it’s a little lower in protein than anything I’d feed. Also, at $63.95 for 30 lbs., the price is pretty steep for a grain-inclusive food with only 26% protein. It’s by no means a bad food but I think you could get a much better food for that amount of money.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi EHubbman –

I would try to discourage him from drinking lake water – although not highly likely it is possible for dogs to contract giardia or leptospirosis from doing this. Has he been tested for Giardia (giardia can cause yellowish diarrhea) and is he on a quality multi-strain probiotic and digestive enzyme supplement? If not, I would have him tested for giardia (you have to specifically ask for this test, it won’t show up on a regular fecal and make sure your vet sends the sample to a lab – much more accurate than in-house testing) and get him on digestive supplements. You may also want to give an herbal digestive supplement (such as The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form) a try – some people have had a lot of success with herbal digestive supplements.

Orange tinged stool can be a sign of small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) – meaning the intestinal flora is off balance. This is common secondary condition with dogs who have endocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). I would definitely discuss this with your veterinarian.

The Zignature Trout & Salmon formula is appropriate for large breed puppies and would be worth a shot if you want to try Zignaure – I believe the formulas are all fairly similar except for different proteins sources.

Raw would be a great option – especially for a sensitive dog. If this is something you’re willing and able to do that’s wonderful. It will be necessary to do a lot of research prior to embarking on a raw feeding regimen, however. I would recommend checking out dogaware(dot)com and picking up a copy of Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.” You can also check out the recommended raw menus thread in the raw food forum – I have many of my crew’s menus posted.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Is Mila eating a homemade diet or commercial diet? (Sorry I’m drawing a blank here – I know you were trying raw but I can’t remember if you switched her completely to homemade raw or are just supplementing a commercial food with raw). If you’re feeding predominantly a commercially prepared balanced food (be it raw, kibble, etc.) I personally feel Mila would benefit much more from a whole food based supplement as opposed to a supplement such as this which consists of mostly synthetic vitamins and minerals (for more details on the benefits of whole food supplementation you can read the post I just made to sharkie on the large breed puppy thread). If she’s eating homemade food and you were planning on using this as a vitamin/mineral supplement, it’s not going to supply adequate levels of vitamin e or manganese (I don’t think I see managanese?) and I still feel that a whole food based supplement should be given in conjunction with a multivitamin/mineral. Sorry if any of this is repeated information or was already discussed, my brain isn’t all here today and I’m forgetting who I’ve talked to, what was said by who, etc. lol

[k9cancer]

My Pyr 3 month old is on raw food. I woud like to give him some vege sups like sweet potato. Is that appropriate and if so portions and preparation help would be helpful.
I was wondering if I could bake them for a little crunch in his diet?
D

[twinelm]

HDM,
He is a Bullmastiff. As fast as they grow, I was surprised at the reported Pro Plan users. I am thinking there may be some disingenuity going on though since the breeder WORKS for them in marketing so she may be getting assurances that yes, they are feeding it when they are not. Thank you SOOO much for doing this research. Storm’s Mom replied to my post in the general comments on puppy food and sent me that link. I am busy cross checking what I can find and afford and how it compares to the breeder’s food (so I can talk to her about it). I don’t want it to be a deal breaker but I am having issues with feeding a puppy something for 18 months I know is pretty much a terrible product.
Lynn

[Anonymous]

I only feed my dogs holistic health extension. it is the only food that ive found that hasn’t had ANY recalls and is natural and nutritious for your dog

[twinelm]

I am contemplating co owning a very large breed show puppy 130# at maturity with a breeder who happens to work for a very large commercial dog food company. She says all of the other puppies who went to show homes also are feeding that company’s Large Breed Puppy formula (except one who feeds raw) which happens to have a 2.5 star rating here. I feed my rescues 4-Health grain free and have fed Nature’s Variety Instinct prior to that so I have for years had a “thing” for proper nutrition and LOVE LOVE LOVE this website. I am horrified at the thought of feeding that food to the pup for the next year or 18 months. Can you help me figure out what to feed? And maybe convince her it will be okay? Puppy is 3 months old now. Thanks,

[k9cancer]

theres a lot of info on what to feed a puppy here on the forum. search calcium levels in the forum. You wi get a list of recommended foods based o calcium levels

The thread PugMom suggested is a GREAT one, and helped me figure out what to feed my Presa Canario pup (mastiff).
What you’ll find in the thread is that the protein content for large breeds is not nearly as important as the calcium and phosphorous levels. Hound Dog Mom put together a great list of 4 and 5 star grain free foods for large breed pups.

[Shawna]

Hi Lagotto,

We noticed (at the breeders) that she had excessive drinking and urination, as compared to her 5 siblings, when she was about 6 weeks old. She came to live with me when she was 9 weeks old. At about 4 weeks old she started failing to thrive — because she had a collapsing trachea and couldn’t get enough milk from her mommy. So the breeder put her on raw goat milk and egg whites, syringe fed every 2 to 4 hours, til she could eat on her own. She was weaned onto raw food — mainly hamburger, eggs, raw milk etc.

When she came to me I was making a home made raw diet for my current dogs and she went on that same diet. At her vet visit I told her holistic vet she urinated/drank a lot but her vet poo poo’d my concern and said puppies drink and therefore urinate more. She has bright eyes, she’s very smart, good coat quality etc. She’s a healthy puppy… In looking back I’m actually thankful that happened. Audrey continued on the homemade raw diet til her one year checkup where her bloodwork showed high bun and creatinine. I started tweaking her diet and would take her in every three months for additional bloodwork to see what the tweaking was doing. Turns out, the diet I had been feeding her all along was the best for her with one exception. To the diet I added a “prebiotic” and probiotics to help lower her BUN. Works like a charm..

Audrey continued on the homemade diet for several years but then I got too busy to keep up with homemade exclusively so I started incorporating commercial raw diets — Bravo as an example. Became busier yet and moved exclusively to commercial raw — Bravo, Darwins, Answers (recently started) and premixes like The Honest Kitchen Preference and Steve’s Premix with raw meats.. Audrey turned 7 years old the end of June and is still going strong. I have NOT lowered her protein. I have not lowered her phosphorus or made any other changes than adding prebiotic/probiotic and supplements. I use Garden of Life’s Primal Defense probiotic and Fiber35’s Sprinkle Fiber as the prebiotic. A really good prebiotic, made specifically for dogs, can be found on Dr. Mercola’s website under the “Pets” link and then under “Products”.

I would NOT regularly feed her kibble if I was paid to do so. In my opinion, kibble will cause a much earlier death in a kidney disease dog.. Kibble is a POOR QUALITY food for kd dogs/cats—even the best kibbles on the market… At the very least, feed a canned diet. If you can, feed raw or lightly cooked. I also don’t feed Audrey any grains. IF you are going to feed grains it needs to be either sushi rice (aka glutinous rice) or cream of wheat (or farina). These two grains are low phosphorus. All other grains have higher phosphorus and don’t add anything to the diet that can’t be found in a more species appropriate food.

You also want to feed higher fat foods — ditch the lean ground beef.. Feed the highest fat foods you can get (unless she is showing signs of pancreatitis). Fat adds calories without phosphorus—adding organic coconut oil is a good idea too. Protein is NOT damaging to the kidneys and only needs to be reduced to prevent symptoms of uremia in the later stages of the disease — such as vomiting or depression. Audrey has NEVER to date ate low protein.

Let her have ALL the water she wants. Audrey used to sleep in the water bowl when it was empty — she was that obsessed with water and, I’m guessing, desperately trying to tell me she needed some. She started this, sleeping in water dish, at the breeders. I kept potty pads ALL over the house for her. I was lucky in that she used them. During the night I keep her in a 4 foot by 4 foot enclosure we made (for our foster puppies). It was made out of wood and plastic chicken wire. I had her water bowl, her kennel, a blanket outside the kennel and a potty pad with LOTS of newspapers under it — she would fill a potty pad to the point of leaking during the night. As she got older she was able to hold it. Since about three months of age she has slept with me in my bed at nights.

Darwins now has a kidney diet.. I haven’t seen it yet but I do think it is worth checking out. Urban Wolf has a premix designed for kd dogs that can be added to raw or home cooked meats. And I think Grandma Lucy’s has a lower phosphorus premix that is also suitable for dogs needing their phos lowered..

Also consider adding a whole food B and C vitamin to the diet. These two vitamins are “water soluble” and because of the excessive urination can become depleted if not supplemented. I use Standard Process Cataplex B and C. I also give Audrey a whole food multi as a precaution. I use Standard Process Catalyn. Standard Process also makes a whole food supplement specifically for dogs with kidney disease. It’s called Canine Renal Support — I HIGHLY recommend using it. I also give liver support also by Standard Process — Canine Hepatic Support. The liver can become overstressed in a kd dog.

I HIGHLY recommend only using reverse osmosis or distilled along with a mineral water like Evian. Mineral waters (only those lower in sodium) have shown some positive benefits to kidney patients.

Also try to eliminate as many chemical toxins from your house as possible. I was already living in a relatively toxin free environment but I had to eliminate my Swiffer mop, candles ets. These have chemicals in them that the kidneys have to filter — putting an extra strain on them OR adding to the blood poisoning when the kidneys can’t filter as well. DO NOT use flea/tick or heartworm meds on her. And DO NOT vaccinate her. Audrey has only had one set of shots (given by the breeder before I got her) and has NEVER had a rabies shot. She was diagnosed before getting the shot and I was able to get a lifelong exemption for her in my state.

As mentioned, Audrey turned 7 last month and is not on any medications (no phosphorus binders, no sub-q fluids etc) just the supplements.

I don’t use it but I know others that have had positive results with the herbal tinctures from Five Leaf Pharmacy. http://caninekidneyhealth.com/ I would NOT follow their diet though… 🙂 http://caninekidneyhealth.com/

I would also highly recommend reading the material on Mary Straus’ dog aware website. This is the site where I got most of my knowledge / as well as courage to continue feeding Audrey a high protein raw diet. She has some EXCELLENT info on the site — when to feed low protein, when to lower phosphorus and how much (phosphorus is an essential mineral – lowering it too much too early can have unintended consequences), which foods are lower in phosphorus etc. http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

Your puppy can still have a fantastic quality of life.. Learn as much as you can, stay positive and enjoy her fully!!!!!

If you ever want to chat offsite, I can be reached at shawnadfaemail @ yahoo. com (take out the spaces–they are included here to prevent robot spammers from sending me junk mail).. 🙂

[Anonymous]

We just recently “adopted” (adopted from the people who bought him from a breeder, as life changes happened) a Saint Berdoodle puppy, Tobi. He is now about 8 months old, we’ve had him for about 6-7 weeks.
He was on Purina Puppy Chow when we got him 😛
Locally we have Feeders Supply pet store, they carry lots of brands, including lots of holistic.
I picked out Professionals Large Breed Puppy.
I have 2 main concerns for feeding Tobi.. Nutrition, I want to feed him the best quality food I can afford. Cost, we are a one income family, with 2 kids and 2 dogs. I cannot afford to pay $50-60 for 25lbs of dog food.

Tobi did great with transitioning to the Professionals, but is now having loose stool (for about a week now). He still eats fine, and acts normal.

Im thinking of trying something different. And after reading several pages on this thread, Im seeing that perhaps I don’t need to be buying “large breed puppy” specifically?

I also have a Aussie mix senior dog (11yrs old), with no age ailments so far. Currently she is on Nature’s Recipe Senior, because it was at Big Lots for $30/25lbs . She is a picky eater, and seems to like it well.

I would love to find something they can both be on eventually? Or even now? Without breaking the bank.. 40-50lb bags would be great!

Currently Tobi is eating about 5 cups a day of the Professionals LBP… that bag is emptying fast!

This fall we plan to switch them to a 50/50 raw/kibble diet (with more research first) once hubby is able to get an extra couple of deer and turkey.

Any suggestions on brands to try, that are at least corn free, but I would prefer grain free, and are not going to kill my budget! 🙂

[ShihTzuOwner]

So I was looking at your suggestions and Wellness Core seemed the best out of all based on availability from where I live, and it’s balanced protein to carbohydrate ratio.

The puppy formula out of all of them would be more appropriate for my 2 month old.

I also saw this one

Basically, the same as what I’m feeding my puppy currently but for that same reason, it could still trigger the itch he has.

So if anyone can just guide me between these two brands or suggest other brands, it would be really appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I have just had similar experiences as that on page 2 of the thread where Swissy Mix talks about her Bernese/Greater Swiss mix throwing up on Taste of the Wild puppy food. I have an almost 8 month old Bernese male who is right around 80 lbs. We got him at 8 weeks old and started him on Blue Buffalo and then as I researched how to feed larger breed dogs, I decided to switch him to TOTW. They have puppy formulas now that are 1.4% calcium / 1.0% phosphorus, which I thought was in line with what he needed. I’ve been alternating between the 2 varieties now for around 4 or 5 months without any issues.

As of the last 3 days though, Walter has also thrown up his food 3 separate times right after eating. I tend to think it is because the kibble is too small for him and he’s not chewing like he needs to. The end result of his vomiting makes it clear that he doesn’t need to bother chewing his food. I tried feeding him in a larger, more shallow bowl so he can’t inhale and we have stopped feeding him right after he comes in the house and is all hot. I thought the problem might be a combination of being too hot, eating too fast, not chewing enough. However, this morning right after he woke up he did it, so I guess it is either just the not chewing issue or the food itself. I don’t think it is a puppy issue, because he seems perfectly fine otherwise.

So my questions are as follows:

1. Does anyone know of a good food that has larger bites and still stays in the recommended ranges of cal/phosphorus? I guess it may have to be an all life stage or adult formula. I hate to be a stickler on price, but I feel like I’m already spending a lot on what he is on to make sure his food is higher quality, so I’d like to stay in line with TOTW, which is about $50 / 30 lb. bag.

2. How do you tell proper weight of a dog as hairy as a BMD? His weight is right in line with what he’s always averaged (about 10 lbs. / month), but he has such long, wavy hair, it struggle to tell if I’m feeding him enough or too much. I’ve been staying within the guidelines recommended on the bag, but it’s kind of hard to tell for sure. Any tips?

3. Any suggestions for getting him to slow down on his eating? He doesn’t have to compete with any other dogs, so there’s really no need for him to eat like he does.

[mommyvar]

Hello HDM. I have an 11 week old St. Bernard. I have been researching food since I brought him home at 8 weeks. He is still on the food that the breeder had him on, Royal Canin. I want to change foods, and I was told Orijen LBP was one of the best out there, but it is not on your list. What was the problem with this food? If I should not feed Orijen LBP, what would the best choice be? Would Nature’s Variety Instinct be okay? I was hoping for a food made in Canada. My puppy is also taking two supplements NuVet Plus, and Arthri-Soothe Gold. Your help is very much appreciated. Thanks.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi gsdmommy89 –

Good question. If you read the criteria at the beginning of the list you’ll notice that I’ve included all appropriate foods that are rated at least 4 stars. The two Victor formulas you mentioned are rated 4 stars. I personally wouldn’t feed them to my dogs due to the low protein content. I’d also prefer to see someone feed a higher protein food to their pup. However, if I were to have only included 5 star foods on the list (the only foods that would have protein levels high enough for my preferences) there wouldn’t have been enough options and it could also be prohibitive for those on a budget. The 4 star foods listed with lower protein levels are by no means bad foods, I would just prefer more protein.

I prefer the grain-free Earthborn formulas over the grain-inclusive. The puppy Vantage is not appropriate for large breed puppies. I was told the actual calcium level for the Puppy Vantage formula is around 1.56%. I did email the company last year about the grain-free formulas and was told the actual levels are generally close to the minimum – I have re-emailed the company to verify the information I received last year but have not yet received a response.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.