[John L]

We recently adopted two 12 week old lab mixes, currently on Purina Pro Plan. Both have VERY dry skin. Vet agrees to switch food, trying a salmon based food, as a good step since there was no sign of any other cause. Looking over the EC puppy lists most seem to be chicken based. Is it safe to stay within the brand and family of food choosing a salmon based variety instead? Anything else I should look for?

[Jane E]

I think dryness can be seasonal and linked to the colder dryer air. That being said it is not always the protein either,meaning salmon does not always offer a higher fat content (which would affect the skin). Larger breeds can do well on adult formulas too…this allows for slower growth. There are many brands which a great,Pure Vita,Canine Caviar,Fromm and I have even heard good things about Victor or Costco’s brand of dog food. Adding some fish oil to the existing food may be a way to go too

[John L]

Completely agree, seasonal weather here in NJ could have a lot to do with it, especially since these two were rescued from MS and have only been here a month or less. As for the protein we thought it was worth trying something different and the vet agreed, also it might help if there is some sensitivity to chicken.

The DFA analysis isn’t kind to Purina Pro Plan. I see Merrick is well liked but was bought by Purina. Seems they may not have changed anything though. I also had someone recommend Annamaet, but not something I can find locally.

[zcRiley]

Go to Chewy.com and buy Zignature dog food. There’s 5 different formulas from which you can choose and rotate. Reviews are proven success rate of curing food, yeast and skin conditions due to individual allergies.

[crazy4cats]

Hi John L-
The Editor’s Choice is a list of bands. Any of the brand’s flavors or recipes would be included. That being said, make sure you choose one that is appropriate for large breed pups. The calcium amount is crucial for them while growing. There is a great article on this subject on the review side of this site. I frequently feed my two labs Whole Earth Farms. I think their puppy food is ok for large breeds. Please double check though.

The weather is probably a big factor with the dry skin. I give my adult dogs a can of sardines per week. Maybe split the can for your two if you want to try it out.

Good luck with your new bundles of joy. Got mine together too. They are littermates and there was certainly never a dull moment for a couple of years. Good and bad, they are literally inseparable now. They love each other, but at the same time, insanely jealous!

Again, check out the large breed puppy article and have fun with those pups!

[John L]

Thanks for the tips! I’ve definitely noticed a lot of people mentioning Zignature with high favorability. I’ll keep that on my short list. We ended up visiting a couple local retailers, one pet store and one natural food who was the local Annamaet reseller who had about a 5′ section of shelving dedicated to kibble and I think there was one bag of Annamaet along with Acana and Origen. At the pet shop we narrowed our choices down (since we wanted to start them on something else to replace the Pro Plan sooner rather than later) to Wellness and Nutro. Since Wellness still had chicken and Nutro did not we went with the Nutro. That may not be the long term solution but after a couple of days they are likely what little we’ve mixed in so far.

We also picked up a coconut oil based canine skin lotion the pet shop recommended. We’re on day two of that, plus the weather here is much improved from a dryness perspective, so hopefully we’ll see some results soon!

[pugmomsandy]

John L,

The recipe used in a puppy article has been verified by the dog food company to be within the guidelines for calcium and phosphorus. Any other recipe within that brand would need to be verified or did not fall within guidelines. For each recipe you are considering for your pup, contact the company and ask for each analysis for that particular recipe to see if the calcium and phosphorus and calories are within range, and plug those numbers into the puppy food article.

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

[John L]

Correction, we chose Nulo (Freestyle), not “Nutro”.

[Author]

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