Large breed puppy food--an advertizing scheme - Page 1

Why should I pay the same for a bag of food that has less protein and less fat? This is an interesting concept.

I think (though I can't be sure) that the whole idea of "large breed puppy food" is mostly due to the owners emotional issues, not any need of a puppy.

There are  people who feed a GSD pup free-choice; I can't believe it. There are people who have little quantitative commonsense.

I read that detrimental to a large breed puppy is fast growth due to high caloric intake and excess calcium, not even high protein. 

Then even more important is the idea of actual amounts  injested, protein, fat, minerals vs content in food as a percentage.

For me, I use regular puppy food with high fat and high protein, and choose one with relatively low calcium content. I always measure the food accurately, weigh the pup regularly and match ideal growth rate. 

I don't know why there is a need for large breed puppy food except for the indifferent owners.

I am not sure but I believe I am right.

 I believe the problem isn't the protein, it's the calcium and phosphorus.  Orijen LBP manages to have high protein with low cal/phos levels.  Most other high protein foods also have lots of cal/phos.  

Yes, it is not higher protein that cause problems.

The problems are calcium (often too much),ca/p ratio, and totol calories consumed.

and problems only occur with artificial added supplements
you wont have these problems if you "overdose"on natural calcium etc , as the body is able to regulate that

Thanks.

Pups cannot regulate cal intake as well as adults.

Even for adults I prefer  a food with less calcium, not more than 1.2% .

Too much calcium is a sign that too much bone is ground up into the feed.

If you restrict food amount, the calcium per unit of calorie is more important.

If you feed 3 cups of food with 1.5% calcium, it will be less cal intake than 4 cups of food 1.2%.

If the food has high calorie density, the calcium intake will be lessened.

The allowable cal content even in puppy food is rather wide. 1.0 to 1.7% is common.

I prefer closer to 1.0 for GSD puppies.

I am going to disagree that it's a scheme, and also point out that I am not a vet or certified canine nutritionits, just someone who does research.  A LBP is growing for a lot longer than a small breed, compare 8 months to sometimes 20 months.  I think a LBP should be kept lean and not overweight, to discourage rapid growth, which can lead to skeletal poblems like hypertrophic osteodystrophy, osteochondrosis, and hip dysplasia.  It's calories overall... fat is going to contain the most amount of calories.  It's also the calcium and phosphorus that is different in LBP foods...

Before these foods were available, GSD breeders would switch to adult food at about 4-6 months, depending on the breeder.  As small pups, they would eat regular puppy food.  But this switch to adult food can lead to another problem.  Some people are reading RATIOS and PERCENTAGES but not coming up with DOSAGE.  This means the adult food may have less calcium, but since you're feeding more of it (adult food is lower in protein and calories), your puppy is recieving a higher dose of caclium than if he were eating puppy food.
simple, the LBP should not get more calories than he needs, they should not have excess calcium or vit D.

Anyway, people all have fat dogs.  Those with appropriatly lean growing adolescents, maybe last few ribs showing, are told "aww, he's so thin," and ridiculed on the street as I was before, by a guy yelling out of his car "Feed that dog!!"

I think GSD puppies will do well in many food for adults, the richer kinds for adults. Many food for adults are about 25/15, which is enough for a GSD pup. Just make sure the calcium is not at the high end for adult. Many adult food has less than 1.2% cal.

Puppy food for LBP is not justified if the owner is logical and always measures the food and weigh the pup.

Really, I cannot understand, in a way, why any dog with an owner could be overweight. A dog eats what the owner provides.

There are many excuses. Free choice, many dogs and you don't feed separately.

But afterall the dog eats what you give it.

I think a dog can be underweight out of the owners control, but not overweight.