[CassandGunnar]

If we end up bringing home an 8 week old puppy today, and it looks like we'll be getting one of them, what are the better choices for food:

Adult vs Puppy
I've been reading the threads about this and there seems to be a debate about too much calcium in large breed puppy food. Is regular puppy food a good alternative, or is it better to go with a "regular" food?

We currently feed TOTW Wetlands and according to what I've read, this is too high in calcium for an 8 week old puppy. I've had a few puppies in my life, but not for almost 4 years. We fed Gunnar Nutro Large Breed Puppy Formula and I know that's not an option. (No longer a Nutro fan)

Without starting a war, what seem to be the current options and thinking about this.

I grew up on Dragnet and worked in law enforcement for 25 years, so when I say "Just the facts, ma'am" that is really what I'm looking for. LOL
I like a variety of opinions and options so please feel free to offer what you know.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Emoore]

I think your general puppy foods have more calcium than the large breed foods. The large-breed puppy formulas have lower calcium/phosphorus to help keep growth slow. Some people like to feed a large breed puppy formula, some like to stick with an all-life stages food that's below 1.5% phos and 1.2% calcium.

On the advice of my breeder, I've decided to skip the large breed puppy food and go straight to an all-life stages food.

 

[cassadee7]

I feed Orijen Large Breed Puppy.

 

[momtoshadow]

We are using Wellness Super5mix Large Breed puppy

 

[ElvisP]

I feed Orijen Large Breed Puppy.

Elvis (9 months old) has been on this since he was 8 weeks and he's is doing fantastic on it. It's a rich food and you need to find his perfect serving size so that his poops don't run too much. Also, switch him over very slowly (3-4 weeks) from what the breeder is feeding him because his little body won't be prepared for the richness.

Good luck.

 

[Kola_2010]

Blue Buffalo large breed puppy food

Hi my puppy just turned 9 weeks old, she is the love of my life. I recently got her Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy Food, it has to by-product and it is really good for GSD's because of the extra vitamins in it... check out the website.. you'll see what i mean...

 

[crboggs]

Another happy Blue Buffalo LBP customer here.

 

[SouthernNdN]

I am in the process of switching over to Orijen LBP. My pup goes crazy over it and loves it. I agree with the earlier statemnts on it, you have to switch slow with Orijen due to the richness of the ingredients, however once that is done, all is good.

Due to the dryness of my pups coat I've also started her on a Flaxseed, fish oil pill, which just started two days ago, however I've been switching over to Orijen for the past 2 weeks or so now, and am already seeing a little bit of difference in the coat!

 

[2CrazyDogs]

We feed Wellness LBP & Blue Buffalo LBP food. Both have low calcium levels and both pups do well on each food.

 

[doggiedad]

i've never fed puppy food to a puppy.

 

[Cluemanti]

Used to feed Orijen now we are on Wellness super5mix LB. Both are great foods.

 

[FG167]

If Orijen was available by me, I would totally feed that.

But, it's not. So I fed my pup what I was feeding my adult dogs - and I rotated between puppy and adult foods - primarily when Madix was a wee baby, I fed Holistics Selects.

 

[3ToesTonyismydog]

I feed Orijen Large Breed Puppy.

I did to. Great stuff. I also feel it is good to get 2 different kinds of puppy food. I fed my dog, Large Breed Puppy until he was 20 months. It was the same price so what the heck. With Large breeds this is a very good food because it has a lot of Glucosamine & Chondroitin which is good for their joint grown. It also has a good deal of meat in it.

Crude protein (min.) 38.0 % Crude fat (min.) 16.0 % Crude fiber (max.) 3.0 % Moisture (max.) 10.0 % Calcium (min./max.) 1.5 % / 1.7 % Phosphorus (min./max.) 1.2 % / 1.4 % Omega-6 (min.) 2.6 % Omega-3 (min.) 1 % DHA (min.) 0.6 % EPA (min.) 0.3 % AA (min.) 0.12 % Carbohydrate (max.) 25% Ash (max.) 7.5% Taurine (min.) 0.35 % Glucosamine (min.) 1400 mg/kg Chondroitin (min.) 1200 mg/kg Microorganisms (min.) 120M cfu/kg pH 5.5

Puppy Large

Check their site for their store locator or you can get it from

http://www.petflow.com/start?utm_so...tm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=dogfoodchat2

 

[3ToesTonyismydog]

The great thing about this food is that it is made In-house and isn't made by a giant corporation that can't be trusted. Here is a list of some othe companies who make their food in-house.

Champion foods (Orijen & Acana)
Fromm*****
Merrick*****
Horizon Legacy*****
Petcurean, Go, Now & Summit
Natura Pet, Evo and the rest. Dry only..
First Mate
Precise, dry only
Timber wolf ???
Breeders Choice (Avoderm and Pinnacle), dry only..
Eagle Pack, dry only..
Evanders
Flint river ranch
Holistic Blend ???
Tuffys Pure Vita and Nutri Source

 

[GSD_Xander]

When I got Xander he was on Kirkland puppy.

After a bout of diarrhea all over my floor (probably not food related) I switched to ORIJEN LARGE BREED PUPPY.

It's working, he's healthy.

TOTW is too high calcium (I just found that out).