I hope this isn't a bad move!

[Jag]

Grim has been on Innova for months. However, with him getting ready to begin actually doing more (IPO club, training classes, etc.) and him being so very skinny already, I decided to switch his food to another with a higher protein. So I started looking for one that was either no more expensive than Innova, or not much more expensive. I liked the ingredients in the BB Wilderness Puppy. More meat, more protein, same other good stuff he was getting with Innova, just no grains. So I got a bag and we're going to do a VERY slow switch over. Seems a lot of people have had issues with BB being too rich, but I don't know how long of a switch over period they had, etc. So I'm going to shoot for 2 weeks to change him over. I want more muscle on him, and for him to have enough protein to repair muscle from actually doing more than running around the back yard. I hope it wasn't a huge waste of money. If this doesn't work, than I'll look for another brand or just put him back on Innova. I HATE switching foods, but I figured I want him to be able to physically take what I'm going to be asking him to do.

[Ken Clean-Air System]

If you were happy with Innova why not try Innova Prime? It's grain-free and quite a bit higher in calories and protein content than the regular Innova formulas. The Salmon and Herring formula of Innova Prime is 35% protein, 16% fat and 483 kcals/cup, for example.

[doggiedad]

you want your dog to be a different size, weight, height,
longer, etc. how do you know your dog isn't the size
that it should be? you know, you want your dog to be
different but maybe your dog is at it's natural size. you
may want your dog to be different but that doesn't mean
your dog should be different.

[Jag]

I haven't seen Innova Prime in a puppy food. Does it come in a puppy version? I already bought and opened a 24lb. bag of the Wilderness puppy. I guess if it doesn't work with his tummy, then I'll look into the Prime to see if it comes in puppy. His food isn't at the closest Petsmart, either. That has been a slight issue, because my wife has to go to the store in Toledo to get it. I was going to switch him to Evo red meat when he was an adult, because it had a higher protein content.

Doggiedad, I'm not worried about him being something other than what he is. I am concerned about him not having enough protein to repair muscle and build muscle when I'm working him. Was my post jumbled?

[Carriesue]

Honestly Ollie is not eating "puppy food"... I think in general this is mostly just marketing because they can charge higher prices for puppy food. I know there are several here who do not feed puppy food, a mod being one... I 'think' Cassidy's mom but don't quote me on that. My breeder also recommend not to feed puppy food as well.

If I were in your place I'd just go ahead and switch to the adult! Ollie is eating the regional red Orijen(though he did have one bag of their large breed puppy) now that he's eating normally and he's growing nicely and not too fast.

Just my opinion though!

[Ken Clean-Air System]

I believe all the Innova Prime formulas are All Life Stages, though some of them have a higher Calcium level than I'd like to feed to a GSD puppy.

[jocoyn]

He did not look so lean on the last pictures I saw and is still pretty young. We switched Beau over to a higher protein food around 15 months--and he has added about one pound a month of muscle, not height since then (he is 18 months)

I would like more muscle but then I have watched enough human boys grow up from skinny beanpoles in their early 20s to muscular men in their 30s and know it is much the same with dogs. It looks like his body type is consistent with good muscling but I am not sure I would be worried about rushing it.

By the same token the numbers are not at all outrageous on that formula.

[Jag]

I'll try to get better pics, as he does appear larger than he is in previous pics. I just don't want him having loss due to not enough protein. I'm not unhappy with his growth at all. Thanks for your input on what's in it. I'm new to the whole 'food wars' thing. Honestly, I've never put so much money into dog food until Grim. I just want to do the best thing for him. He seems to burn what he eats right now. With him being so much of a 'higher energy' dog than my previous shepherds, I don't think I can be ignoring the food thing. I'm not a BB fan because of the richness that doesn't seem to agree with some shepherd pup's stomachs, but I'm giving it a try. I'm leery of giving too much protein or too much calcium, but at the same time I don't know if Innova is going to meet his needs if he's even more active. While his weight is OK, he seems to be lacking in the muscle department. We'll see what happens. My food choices for him are based on him alone...how he looks and how much muscle, etc. he has not on what he looks like compared to other dogs his age. He's grown differently than others I've had. So I have to go just on him alone. The input is greatly appreciated.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Carriesue

Honestly Ollie is not eating "puppy food"... I think in general this is mostly just marketing because they can charge higher prices for puppy food. I know there are several here who do not feed puppy food, a mod being one... I 'think' Cassidy's mom but don't quote me on that.

I didn't use puppy food with Cassidy, Dena, or Keefer, but Halo was on Orijen LBP food for about a year. Orijen wasn't around back then, and all the grain free foods were not recommended for dogs under a year old. There also didn't used to be puppy foods especially for large breeds.

A lot of the all stages or adult foods are perfectly fine for puppies, but you do want to look at the calcium and phosphorous levels.

[Phoebes]

Hi Jag,
good luck with switching him over. I feed Shadow Blue Wilderness Puppy and he does really well on it, so I don't think you're making a stupid move although my experience with this food doesn't guarantee that yours will be the same. When I got Shadow on it though it was because he was having problems with the other brand, so that's different than your case where you're switching him out of something he's already doing well on.
Anyway I was speaking to a rescuer in Alaska about food and they use Barking at the Moon which is even higher in protein, like 42%, so it does make sense to switch him to higher protein kibble when you want to ask more of your dog.
I was thinking though if you're worried about some adverse reaction to the formula change, maybe you could try ordering Innova Prime online. I haven't read the small print because they don't ship to where I live but I think chewy.com and petco ship food free so you could get it anyway and keep adding a little bit of the BB until it runs out.