[freshley]

I’m just curious of your ratings for “puppy” food. All the foods listed are “dog” food and not puppy food. I thought puppies needed different nutrition than dogs because of growing so quickly. We will be getting our new pup in a few weeks so I’m doing the research now. Our previous dog was started on PRO PLAN puppy and then we switched to pro plan, then senior, then after finding your website I switched her to Candidae.

I just want to use the best puppy food I can so he doesn’t have problems later in life.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi freshley –

If you are referring to Dr. Mike’s lists of best puppy foods – all of the formulas he has listed are appropriate for puppies. The thing is (and this confuses a lot of people, so you aren’t alone) the AAFCO only recognizes two nutrient profiles: “maintenance” (ie “adult”) and “growth” (ie “puppy”). The requirements to meet the “growth” standard are more stringent than the requirements to meet the “maintenance” standard (the formulas much have higher levels of protein, fat, etc.). Personally – I don’t feel “maintenance” formulas are appropriate for any dog – even adults – as they tend to be way to low in protein and fat. If a food conforms to the more stringent “growth” nutrient profile the company can choose to label their food for “growth” or “all life stages.” What the company decides to do really comes down to their marketing strategy. As a general rule, most manufacturers of high quality 5 star foods do not cater to “life stages” – they make a few very high quality foods that exceed the AAFCO’s requirement for “growth” and label them as an “all life stages” formula. The lower quality companies that market heavily (Purina, Hills, Royal Canin, etc.) like to make a wide variety of formulas that cater to all different ages, sizes, breeds, etc. Puppy formulas, senior formulas, large breed formulas, breed specific formulas, weight loss formulas, etc. etc. are just marketing gimmicks. Dogs just need a high quality growth or all life stages formula throughout life.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[freshley]

Thanks for the reply!
I saw a post that you made a list of foods you recommend for large dogs that has less calcium. Could you share this list with me?

Thank you

[Author]

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