[Franksmom]

I'm thinking about changing dog foods, Frank is 8 months and about 75 pounds, I would like to keep all my dogs on the same type dog food but can't find a lamb large breed dog food.
Is the large breed that important, or do you all know of any I can get with the lamb?
I've only found one large breed lamb so far, he gets a mix of adult and puppy right now.

 

[ZAYDA]

All depends on which food you are feeding but yes LBP is what you should be feeding.
You need to be concerned with the calcium amount in puppy food.
What kibble are you looking to get everyone on. What ages are your dogs.

 

[DJEtzel]

You don't need to use a large breed dog/puppy food, but you do need to use a food with the proper calcium levels in it to ensure slow bone growth. Flip those bags over and check the calcium contents- should be no more than 1.5% for safe bone growth. Good luck!

 

[sable123]

You don't need to use a large breed dog/puppy food, but you do need to use a food with the proper calcium levels in it to ensure slow bone growth. Flip those bags over and check the calcium contents- should be no more than 1.5% for safe bone growth. Good luck!

Don't drive yourself crazy on this. I know 2 Great Dane breeders that have been feeding Abady with 2.5% calcium and very high protein & fat for the better part of 25 years and have very sound, very desirable dogs.

There is no consensus on the upper end of calcium and the studies are not very impressive.

This is 90% marketing and 10% science.

 

[ZAYDA]

Here we go again.... I think you are missing the point which is... A puppy needs to grow slowly so we keep their calcium intake below 1.5%.

You are saying that someone raised 2 Great Danes an did not follow these guidelines and they lived a long healthy life. I know several people who smoked all their lives and died from old age what does that mean it's ok to smoke. We are just saying that during a puppies young life allowing them to grow slow is healthier for them, hence stay below 1.5% calcium intake.

 

[Franksmom]

Maybe I worded my questions wrong.
Frank is on large breed puppy right now.
When he goes to adult I want to be able to put all my dogs on the same food, and I want one that's based on lamb.
But I'm having a hard time finding a large breed "lamb" adult food, so is the large breed as important for adults as it is puppies or can i feed the reg. adult lamb based food.
My other dogs are 4 years/55 lbs and 7 years / 60lbs none of them have weight or any other health problems.

 

[Emoore]

No, it's not as important to feed a large breed adult, a large breed adult food, as it is to feed a large breed puppy a large breed puppy food. If you find a lamb formula food that you like it's perfectly acceptable to use it once you make the switch to adult food. What do you feed now?

 

[sable123]

Here we go again.... I think you are missing the point which is... A puppy needs to grow slowly so we keep their calcium intake below 1.5%.

You are saying that someone raised 2 Great Danes an did not follow these guidelines and they lived a long healthy life. I know several people who smoked all their lives and died from old age what does that mean it's ok to smoke. We are just saying that during a puppies young life allowing them to grow slow is healthier for them, hence stay below 1.5% calcium intake.

2 Great Dane breeders, and dozens of litters. There is ZERO truth to the old wives tales that puppies grow faster on certain foods. If you read the fews studies that are out there they always come full circle to the puppies weight not growth. Proper weight is important, very important.

I can tell you from years of breeding that many adult orthopedic problems are often the result of injury as a puppy or neutering too early. Some owners insist on training too heavy too young or jogging with a 6 month old.

I have never witnessed any litter growing slower or faster on any particular diet. And I don't know any professional dog handler or breeder that believes this nonsense. Growth is hormone dependent.

 

[DJEtzel]

2 Great Dane breeders, and dozens of litters. There is ZERO truth to the old wives tales that puppies grow faster on certain foods. If you read the fews studies that are out there they always come full circle to the puppies weight not growth. Proper weight is important, very important.

I can tell you from years of breeding that many adult orthopedic problems are often the result of injury as a puppy or neutering too early. Some owners insist on training too heavy too young or jogging with a 6 month old.

I have never witnessed any litter growing slower or faster on any particular diet. And I don't know any professional dog handler or breeder that believes this nonsense. Growth is hormone dependent.

I have witnessed my own dog growing a LOT faster on purina puppy chow than on solid gold LBP.

I know TONS of professional handlers and breeders that believe this, and after reading studies, it only makes sense. More calcium= more bone growth. Don't come here and try changing everyone's opinions, because you likely won't succeed.

 

[sable123]

I have witnessed my own dog growing a LOT faster on purina puppy chow than on solid gold LBP.

I know TONS of professional handlers and breeders that believe this, and after reading studies, it only makes sense. More calcium= more bone growth. Don't come here and try changing everyone's opinions, because you likely won't succeed.

With all due respect its rubbish. Experts around the world cannot seem to find an upper limit for calcium intake, although the studies have been done above 3.3% and there is some evidence in changes to plates and bone plateaus, not length or growth rates. The fact that these studies have been mostly sponsored by Purina and done on Labs should make anyone suspicious.

Puppies don't grow in a linnear fashion, just like people. I doubt Purina Puppy Chow had anything to do with it. Animals grow at the cellular level. Excess calcium gets excreted.

This is just marketing BS.

 

[Konotashi]

So you feel like the food has nothing to do with the growth rate of puppies? Interesting.

 

[gsdraven]

sable, can you post these studies in another thread so it can be debated there based on the facts vs in Franksmom's thread?

My opinion is that large breed food isn't necessary. From what I've seen, the only difference is a little added glucosamine and chondroitin in the food which isn't enough to make a difference.

 

[sable123]

sable, can you post these studies in another thread so it can be debated there based on the facts vs in Franksmom's thread?

My opinion is that large breed food isn't necessary. From what I've seen, the only difference is a little added glucosamine and chondroitin in the food which isn't enough to make a difference.

I will when I have a chance. I did forget to mention I have gone through this with many people and with simple math you can discover that in many cases your dog will consume more grams of calcium on a large breed food depending on how much you feed.

I am not saying don't be careful, what I am saying is don't believe the pet food companies. The profit margins are much fatter on the specialty formulas and the science dubious.

 

[Konotashi]

I don't think large breed food when a dog is older is as important as when they are puppies. I think it's better to stay on the safe side when they're young and feed LBP food.

 

[Franksmom]

"No, it's not as important to feed a large breed adult, a large breed adult food, as it is to feed a large breed puppy a large breed puppy food. If you find a lamb formula food that you like it's perfectly acceptable to use it once you make the switch to adult food. What do you feed now? "

How do you get the quote to appear in the entry where it's set off from the others?
Right now I feed lamb and rice Lg breed Eukanuba (I dont' need to hear anything about this food, I've read the other threads)
My dogs have done well on the Iams/Eukanuba for 20 years, but I've been checking prices/ingredients, and I'm looking at switching to the 4health that TSC has but they dont' have a large breed lamb based food that's why I was asking.
​

 

[Emoore]

How do you get the quote to appear in the entry where it's set off from the others?
Right now I feed lamb and rice Lg breed Eukanuba (I dont' need to hear anything about this food, I've read the other threads)
My dogs have done well on the Iams/Eukanuba for 20 years, but I've been checking prices/ingredients, and I'm looking at switching to the 4health that TSC has but they dont' have a large breed lamb based food that's why I was asking.

Hit the quote button at the bottom of the post you want to quote.

Cash ate the 4Health hi-performance and did very well on it. Rocky eats the large breed, primarily because it's lower calories per cup and at his age he has a tendency to pack on the weight. He just didn't get to eat very much of the high performance; with the Large Breed he gets enough food to keep him happy and stays nice and trim.

 

[Franksmom]

Hit the quote button at the bottom of the post you want to quote.

Cash ate the 4Health hi-performance and did very well on it. Rocky eats the large breed, primarily because it's lower calories per cup and at his age he has a tendency to pack on the weight. He just didn't get to eat very much of the high performance; with the Large Breed he gets enough food to keep him happy and stays nice and trim.

Thanks for the info. I keep a close watch on my dogs' weight so it's good to know they large breed may help with that if I need it.

 

[sable123]

So you feel like the food has nothing to do with the growth rate of puppies? Interesting.

A very poor diet will but that will never happen nowadays even with a low-end commercial food.

 

[Tim Connell]

I feed all my dogs Holistic Select. I feed the Lamb, and the Anchovy/Sardine/Salmon. I've found that it's a very good quality food without an astronomical price.

2 are GSD's, and one Malinois. All keep great weight on, and have great coats and general health. I supplement with NUPRO Silver, and Springtime Omega 3-6-9, and Bug Off Garlic.

I've always fed strictly adult food from a pup with all of my dogs, to avoid that rapid growth scenario. I'm no dog food expert, but know enough to listen to those who do...and when educated by those that know much more about it than I do, I take their advice.

 

[Rerun]

No, we don't feed a large breed adult food, nor do I feed LBP. We do watch the ca/pos. levels in the standard puppy/adult foods.