Large Breed Puppy Food - Page 1

I had my boy to the vet recently for his vaccine boosters and the vet found no fault with his weight or size but of course wanted me to switch from Canidae ALS (which is what the breeder recommended) to Science Diet (naturally they get kick backs) or another large breed puppy food.  I understand the argument for using large breed puppy food, but I was wondering how many actually use it?  The pic is my male @ 14wks.

Stephanie

 

First of all, remind your veterinarian that German Shepherd Dogs are not a "large breed dog". Canidae ALS is fine if you are going to feed kibble. My Sucherquelle dog did ok on it ;-) though he is now on a raw diet.

This is a good resource for kibble feeders: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Your Vet got to be messing with you.....LOL I feed my pups Wellness Large Breed Puppy. To me its the best puppy food out there and the only one I feel comfortable recommending to others. I mix it with raw turkey for the pups.

Well hello to a fellow Sucherquelle puppy owner...thanks for the info & link mollyandjack!  You have a very handsome boy there! :)

I had thought about switching to Wellness Large Breed Elkoorr, it would definitely be what I feed if I move away from the Canidae.  I have feed Wellness Core to my 2 adult bullies because of skin issues and really liked the product.  

I do mix in raw turkey or tripe with the Canidae 1x per day and fortified dry milk on another feeding.  Right now he is eating 1 1/2c 3x per day.  I'm just one of those worry-wart mommies that constantly rechecks what I'm doing to ensure he's getting the best I can do/afford.  

Also, I forgot to mention...the vet said his front tendons were bowed because the bone grows faster than the tendon, but it should rectify itself over time...any opinion on that??  His legs look find to me, he is not bow-legged in the front or any other obvious visible fault.

Thanks again!
~Stephanie & Panzer vom Sucherquelle

i just think your vet isnt very familiar with the german shepherd breed. i feel Solid Gold Wolf Cub which is a large breed puppy chow but i was highly concidering trying a litter on the just standard puppy chow. the only difference is the large breed puppy chow has less protene to slow down the growth rate so you dont get tendon and ligament problems. but in my food it only changes it by 1 % so haha i dont see the big difference in it. it has the same ammounts of glucosamine and other nutrents. there are probably many typos my apologies

Thank you! Your boy is quite the looker as well.
My friend's Pyr was raised on Wellness Large Breed Puppy and he did well on it.

That is the one thing that irritates me about most vets.  They think Science Diet is the best food out there. But since Science Diet and Purina are the ones that teach most of the vets about nutrition, I guess it shouldnt be much of a surprise that most vets recommend these brands.
The one thing that really stood out about the vet that I use is that she doesnt recommend these brands. Her first recommendation to me when I talked to her about dog food was Natural Balance. I was really surprised to hear that from a Vet.
Getting back to the topic of Large Breed puppy food vs ALS. The way I feel is that as long as the puppy or dog is getting a good quality kibble then their should be no problem. If your pup is doing great then I would not switch at all. Canidae is a good food. All the dogs or pups I have seen that are fed Canidae look awesome.

science diet is a great food. i fed it for years. i now feed iams w/raw meat

If you weigh the pup and the food it eats rather accurately, and monitor progress, you do not need any large breed puppy food.

Of course, you never let the pup have free-choice of food.

It is the total amount of food, and so the components, taken in that matters.