Trying to decipher puppy food. - Page 1

I'm wondering what calcium levels, pretein intake and fat content I should be giving my 16 week old male pup?  I've searched and read as much as I could find and I'm still unclear.  My breeder suggest I give him a bit of yogurt or cottage cheese twice a week.  Other things I've read say avoid excess calcium.  Opinions, thoughts please.


Chris



 

Ok, I'm considering the Orijen Puppy Large Breed.  My only hesitation is the large amount of protein.  Anyone have an alternative in mind?



Chris

Flint river ranch has anice selection of food but it depend son if your going raw.

Earthbourne Holistic Lamb - Grain Free

I never feed puppy food once the pup comes to me. I feed adult food because higher protein feeds pano and too much growth too fast. Casey James was fed Orijin puppy large breed formula by his breeder and he had terrible problems as a result. The calcium and protein were way too high. His pasterns were down and he had an injury to his neck which turned into a large mass of calcinosis circumscripta, which required surgery. The specialist felt the higher protein and calcium content led to  the *perfect storm*.

Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

I've read more on the subject of high protein food for dogs than any reasonable person ever would :)  This paper was pretty enlightening:
http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/Myths_of_High_Protein.pdf


I'm not saying you are incorrect and I do sincerely appreciate the added input Marjorie.  It's just my head is spinning with all of the pro protein and the anti protein stuff I have read.  As to the calcium from what I have gathered the level of calcium to phosphorous is ideal in the Orijen Large breed puppy food. 

So let me ask...what do you think is a good protein value?  Is 38% protein really too high?  The best puppy food I can buy for my dog is what I want for him.  Feeding raw food seems as though it would have just if not as much protein as the Orijen?

I'd love for more discussion on this so I can alter my order before it ships.

What do you feed your pups Marjorie?


Chris






    


 

The protein thing is a joke. There is not too much in there. Calcium levels can play a role but they have to be really high. Dogs eats animals, that equals protien. My Malinois is on Orijen Large Breed puppy and everytime I go to the dog park all these people say how handsome he looks. He is square and defined. It is the best kibble there is. First 5 ingredients is animal. If you cannot feed raw, feed this.

I have been feeding Orijen for years,dogs are CARNIVOROUS, need protein....best food I have ever fed..puppies strongest....it's top quality ingredients..good luck

The protein thing is not a joke, IMHO. I never had a GSD with Pano, and I have had GSDS since 1967!!! That would have to be one hell of a coincidence, never to have had a pup with Pano in all these years.

Perhaps Casey James was a unique case. He had an injury which was not taken care of, probably because the breeder never noticed it. I noticed it, not long after Casey james arrived, when he came in between my legs and turned his head to the side and looked up at me. That was the position his head had to be in, in order to feel the mass. I nearly had a heart attack when I first felt it. I was sure it was my imagination. I brought him to a reknowned specialist here in NY, who actually attached a prothesis to a 3 legged dog. The man is a miracle maker! He said there was no way such a large mass could have develped in the short time I had him, that it had to have been growing for a while!  They ran all sorts of tests on CJ to see if there was an underlying problem, but there was none. It was simply an injury that the specialist felt began to calcify, throwing down layer upon layer of calcium, due to the high calcium in the orijin food. Perhaps, had it been noticed right after it happened , it wouldnt have grown so big, but due to the position his head had to be in to feel it, it was easy to miss. It was hard to find it when looking for it, once it was found!  It could not be felt when he was standing or sitting, normally. CJ did have surgery, and he was opened up from the bottom of his ear, right down to his collar bone :( The mass was large, the size of a golf ball, sitting right on his jugular and wrapped around the nerves that went to the cervical portion of his spine. I nearly fell over when they brought it out to me in a jar.. They could only remove 95% of it, without paralyzing him :( They didnt know if it would grow back or not. As I said, his pasterns were down terribly, as well. I took him off the orijin and put him on Blue Buffalo. His pasterns came up quickly. The mass felt  like it was growing back, but it became reabsorbed by his body and the last time I had him at the specialists, NOTHING could be felt and he did not want to subject CJ to another CT scan whe nothing could be felt.
 
I am not a believer in high protein/high calcium for a pup. I asked his breeder not to feed him that, as I knew he was going to be MY puppy, but he fed it, anyway :( That doesnt mean others have to believe what I believe, but you couldnt pay me enough  to ever put any of my pups on such a high proten/high calcium diet. Thats my belief, cemented by my experience, and I am sticking to it ;) I got him off that food and the mass went away. The original high protein/high calcium puppy food ( forgot the name of it- lol- cant remember what I even ate for breakfast- maybe Evolve?) had a big warning on the bag saying the food was NOT to be fed to pups under 6 months of age.
Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

I wont feed a pup a food with more than a 26 % protein. I feed Blue Buffalo Basics as a base food to CJ and fed it to Missie T and Joss. To that I add fresh steamed veggies, sardines, crushed garlic, dry mustard, dry ground ginger and 1 cup of  either chopped london broil, roasted chicken or fish. I cooked every day for my dogs, in the past, as I do now, for Casey James.
Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate