Search forum
Back to German Shepherd Dog
Liked top 20
ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Best puppy food (28 replies)
Best puppy food by macrowe1 on 03 May 2012 - 02:42 |
| Does anyone have recommendations for the best puppy food? I don't feed raw, but I like good quality food. |
macrowe1 by PINERIDGE on 03 May 2012 - 04:37 |
i would definately recommend a large breed puppy forumla -- without a lot of grains -- (including tomato pumace and/or beet pulp). I'm not in favor of feeding grains (that ferment) to large breed dogs (who can bloat). puppies that are gaining 2-4 pounds per week need a lot of good nutrition - and regardless of the food chosen, a multi-vitamin is a required addition to any diet. ask 10 people - and you'll get 12 opinions -- I have used ABADY, both raw and granular for over 30 years, with excellent results. |
PINERIDGE by live4schutzhund on 03 May 2012 - 08:23 |
| Earthborne Holistic Lamb Grain Free I switched from TOTW Buffalo. Orijen Red is probably the best you can buy. |
live4schutzhund by magdalenasins on 03 May 2012 - 08:52 |
| Orijen makes a large breed puppy food now as well. |
by Jenni78 on 03 May 2012 - 12:48 |
| Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT feed TOTW or any of the other grain-free "superfood" type formulas to a puppy UNLESS it is a large breed puppy formula, OR you have checked the total calcium content. Approx. 1.2% is proper/optimum for a large pup. Some of those foods mentioned have THREE TIMES the recommended levels of calcium. Considering how much of them a growing GSD pup would have to eat to get the requisite nutrition and energy, given that they are adult foods, they could be getting even more than that, 4-5x for some foods, which could have disastrous results. You have to log in to read most of these, I think, but this shows just how much is documented on this matter. http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=excess+calcium+skeletal+abnormalities+orthopedic+dog&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0%2C14&as_ylo=&as_vis=1 |
Jenni78 by jdiaz1791 on 03 May 2012 - 13:03 |
| Orijen is the best, large breed Orijen..best is Orijen 6 Fish..Good luck |
jdiaz1791 by Conspicuous on 03 May 2012 - 13:16 |
| Jenni, Orijen LB puppy, has 1.5-1.7% calcium, 1.2-1.4% phosphorus. Is it not a good choice? Thanks! |
Conspicuous by Jenni78 on 03 May 2012 - 13:25 |
| That should be fine; Orijen is very dense; you don't need to feed a lot of it. The problem is when the percentage is what's looked at but not how much has to be consumed in order to meet the requisite energy and nutrients. What I was saying about TOTW and other similar ones is that they have 2.1% calcium, but the pup has to eat SO much of it that it's getting way way more than that, when all is said and done. Total calcium intake is more important than the ratio, according to the most recent research. Not that ratio isn't important, but if the calcium is too high, regardless of phosphorus, you can still have major skeletal problems. Additionally, Orijen has high quality ingredients; the less appropriate sources found in cheaper foods like TOTW and the like are more likely to cause problems because they cannot be metabolized properly. This is something more people are becoming aware of, and why foods like Nature's Domain are becoming popular, because they use ZERO synthetic ingredients. There isn't much published yet on the effects of synthetic vitamins/minerals but I expect there will be in the coming future. |
by Conspicuous on 03 May 2012 - 13:33 |
| Ok, I have horses, so I do get what your saying as we have the same issues with feeding grain (as far as some horses requiring less to stay in good body condition, but then you need to supplement with a vit/min top dress so they get the recommended daily amounts) I am hopefully getting a pup in a couple of months, so I'm interested in this thread. So you think the Orijen LB puppy is a good food as long as they stay in good body weight while following their feeding guidelines? |
by Jenni78 on 03 May 2012 - 13:41 |
| Yes. It's still a bit "richer" than I like to feed, but I think you could do a lot worse. |
by magdalenasins on 03 May 2012 - 16:06 |
| I think Akana is the less protein rich version of Orijen and they have a LB puppy food as well. Not sure what their calcium levels are. As far as TOTW I never had to feed more than I did EVO or Orijen to mainatain weight but with the Diamond buyout I won't use them anymore. |
by GSDguy08 on 03 May 2012 - 16:24 |
| I'm thinking some good ol Roy, cooked in beer, and then set in grease should be a good quality food for any puppy. Make sure this is an outside dog though, they "might" have runny stools. On a more serious note, jenni, I'm curious what does too much calcium do the puppies? And what about the new "puppy formulas" of Taste of the Wild that were recently put out? Would theirs have too much? |
GSDguy08 by Jenni78 on 03 May 2012 - 16:27 |
| GSDguy, google it if the links I provided don't work for you. As I said, severe skeletal abnormalities can result. It would be pages and pages of typing that wouldn't be as effective or efficient as reading it for yourself. Magdalena, TOTW was always Diamond, I thought. I thought Canidae and others were more recently bought out. |
by swingfield on 03 May 2012 - 17:02 |
| Wow.. I was glad to have come across this thread.. I have never heard of Orijen dog food..and glad to hear that it is carried where I live I am going to grab a bag to try.. I was amazed at the ingredients! |
swingfield by sentinelharts on 03 May 2012 - 20:31 |
| I am a big fan of the Champion brand and feed my adult dogs Orijen and Acana fish on alternating days from raw but I have stayed away from their puppy formula as I feel the protien levels are too high. I try to stay under 30% for my pups whenever possible and grain free as it seems to help with the prevention of panosteitis. Some say it helps, some say it is unrelated. The Orijen large puppy has 38% protien http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/puppyLargeAnalysis.aspx The Taste of the Wild site provides some information and even talks about this exact subject (calcium levels and protien levels)http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/pet_care/puppies/medical/17/ It seems with the introduction of grain free foods, the protien levels in quality adult foods have gone up drasticly. Years ago, puppy foods had more protien in them than adult foods but now, we see that puppy foods often have less (or should have less) What do you (all) think about or have you seen about the protien levels and the relationship to the occurrance of Pano? Do you think that the protien levels and the calcium levels go hand in hand as it relates to Pano and other developmental orthopedic disease? |
sentinelharts by Sherman-RanchGSD on 03 May 2012 - 20:39 |
| IF you are in America I recommend iour Life's Abundance at www.K9Holistics or our store at www.Sherman-Ranch.us Our dogs love and do great on it. Gluten Free, chemical, by product and hormone free. Debi |
Sherman-RanchGSD by Sherman-RanchGSD on 03 May 2012 - 20:41 |
| dont forget the www.K9Holistics.us the dot us .. Life's Abundance has many other quality products. My favorite is the SEALOGIC for humans and pets. |
by peter c on 03 May 2012 - 21:59 |
| james wellbeloved is a great dry food |
by DDRCzechFan on 04 May 2012 - 01:57 |
GSDGuy08, I found this, took a screen shot directly off of TOTW's website, as I too, wondered the calcium content of their PUPPY formulas. |
DDRCzechFan by CMills on 04 May 2012 - 02:49 |
| I'm a bit confused, above there are 2 mentions of TOTW being Diamond??? Can you two posters clarify what you're meaning? |
CMills
Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!