supplements or not - Page 1

 Just brought home our baby.  Breeder says joint supplements are not necessary if using quality puppy food.  Any thoughts?

Please I beg of youy for the life of that pup DON:t start any supplements just feed him/her a good top class food THATS IT.

and play with him/her a lot

cheers

If at all you feels you would have a good night's sleep, give a spoon ful of Omega OIL throughout his/her life THATS IT

cheers

B

Complete dog food is exactly that, complete.  You do not need to add supplements and there is the possibility that adding supplements can damage your puppy as its system becomes overloaded, remember the saying "you can have too much of a good thing".

If the genes of the dogs are good the pup will not have any joint problems. If the breeding is crappy No matter WHAT Supplement you give its not gonna save the joints. Just take care of too much exercise in first year.

 Thanks everyone for the replies.  I love this board!  It is incredibly helpful for first time GSD owners.

Margarita...the only thing I would add to the above...and that is to feed a good quality of food is to every once in awhile add in some pieces of  "Fresh Raw Chicken"...and this will give your puppy/dog everything they will need....They will love the Raw Chicken and it will also give them things that the kibble won't give them...

I usually buy 10 pounds of Raw Chicken at a time...and I use a meat cleaver and just cut the pieces up somewhat...Then just add a few pieces to my dog's reagular dog food...

~Bob~

 And if you add fresh, raw chicken, don't be surprised depending on the source of that chicken, that your pup gets sick with salmonella. If you wish to feed raw, then get involved with people who know what they are doing. But do not just willy nilly decide to feed raw meats to a pup that is used to kibble.

Joint supplements aren't really necessary.  Just make sure you don't over-exercise your puppy, have her jump off any surfaces or rough house as that can cause injury to developing joints.

As far as "quality" food, that has become a heated discussion.  With all the food recalls out there and questionable ingredients, you really need to do your homework.  Not all foods are made the same and even some foods that one would think are good quality have come under fire.  You can do a quick search on this messagboard for specifics.  I recently took all my dogs off of Nutro Natural Choice dog foods because of reports dogs were dying.  My dogs have always done really well on these foods, but I just don't want to take the chance and I was questioning why the store shelves went empty for so long when there was supposedly nothing wrong with the food.  I also have chosen not to shop at Petco any longer when reports came out about the unsanitary conditions of their warehouses and that food may be contaminated from things seeping into the bags. 

I've had good results with Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy food.  I also like Blue Buffalo dog food.  These you can buy at Petsmart.

Feeding raw chicken can be exciting to a new puppy (or dog) but it's quite messy and that high a level of protein can cause stomach upsets.  If you want you can have your puppy chew on a marrow bone.  They really like that and it's also natural.

I usually supplement with a tablespoon of cottage cheese to help with ear development.  I also give all my dogs a little dollop of yogurt a few times a week for digestion.  While I used to use a puppy multi-vitamin, I now use a product called Fresh Factors from Springtime Inc. and my current puppy (who's almost 7 months old now) has a great coat and is in general great health.

Have fun with your puppy!

Momof Beckett

hodie - after 30 years of adding the odd dose of raw chicken I have never had a case of salmonella in my dogs.