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Boerboel puppy

David Doughty

New Member
My wife and I will be picking up our 8 week old Boerboel, Saturday 30th. I have been researching the best puppy food for him. I am open for suggestions. I have zeroed in on Fromm puppy food for large breeds. Our vet said not to go for grain-free food because studies have shown that a grain-free diet might cause heart conditions. Any truth to that? Fromm has two puppy foods for large breeds, one is grain-free and one has grain.
 

Loverboy Skyline

Well-Known Member
My wife and I will be picking up our 8 week old Boerboel, Saturday 30th. I have been researching the best puppy food for him. I am open for suggestions. I have zeroed in on Fromm puppy food for large breeds. Our vet said not to go for grain-free food because studies have shown that a grain-free diet might cause heart conditions. Any truth to that? Fromm has two puppy foods for large breeds, one is grain-free and one has grain.
The truth with grain-free is that the vets who wrote it were sponsored by Purina and Hills, companies that don't do grain-free because they'd rather use cheap ingredients like corn, soy, and wheat. The original article was not a research paper because it was never peer reviewed and would never pass peer review, so they treated it as an op-ed. The article didn't contain anything that would be considered valid scientific data. The data was not collected in a scientific manner and much of the references were to the vet's own blog.

I'm not really worried about grain vs grain-free. The only thing I might agree on is that I'd favor a diet without legumes, which are a low quality source of protein and some say it causes leaky gut in dogs. So I mostly look for foods that don't contain peas, lentils, etc. and those recipes happen to be grain inclusive. Right now I'm feeding Acana Wholesome Grains and Merrick Classic.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Actually, both Hills and Purina offer grain free foods. They just have more grain inclusive. As for the grain free issue, there are several threads with many links here on the forum that I would encourage you to take a look at. There's actually no reason dogs can't have grains. You often hear about allergies to grains, but the truth is that most allergies are due to the protein source. There are plenty of really good grain inclusive foods. Just like there are many good grain free foods. I think every person should do the research in an open minded manner and decide what they're comfortable with. I like the foods Loverboy Skyline is using. I had very good luck with them until the fat content was too high for one of my dogs. I also really like Fromm a lot. Again, it just didn't work for my one boy. I would suggest perhaps avoiding a chicken based formula as many of our dogs have a chicken allergy. (Processed, not raw.)

Here's a newer article on the grain free issue that you may find helpful.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6396252/
 

Loverboy Skyline

Well-Known Member
Actually, both Hills and Purina offer grain free foods. They just have more grain inclusive. As for the grain free issue, there are several threads with many links here on the forum that I would encourage you to take a look at. There's actually no reason dogs can't have grains. You often hear about allergies to grains, but the truth is that most allergies are due to the protein source. There are plenty of really good grain inclusive foods. Just like there are many good grain free foods. I think every person should do the research in an open minded manner and decide what they're comfortable with. I like the foods Loverboy Skyline is using. I had very good luck with them until the fat content was too high for one of my dogs. I also really like Fromm a lot. Again, it just didn't work for my one boy. I would suggest perhaps avoiding a chicken based formula as many of our dogs have a chicken allergy. (Processed, not raw.)

Here's a newer article on the grain free issue that you may find helpful.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6396252/
Thank you. IMO that article is a lot more helpful than the original DCM scare piece.

Yes, I know Purina and Hills make a variety of foods including some grain free, but since their bread-and-butter formulas all have cheap grains so they can make a bigger profit, they definitely benefit if people stop buying grain-free. Interestingly, Purina owns Merrick. According to Merrick, the founders still manage their operations. So it looks like Purina bought their stock as a strategic business move and are keeping their hands off for now, but that doesn't mean things won't change, especially if Merrick's profits don't meet expectations. Purina even offered Champion Pet Foods (makers of Orijen and Acana) 2 billion dollars to buy their company, but I don't think that has transpired as of yet. Greed will do a lot of strange things.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
My wife and I will be picking up our 8 week old Boerboel, Saturday 30th. I have been researching the best puppy food for him. I am open for suggestions. I have zeroed in on Fromm puppy food for large breeds. Our vet said not to go for grain-free food because studies have shown that a grain-free diet might cause heart conditions. Any truth to that? Fromm has two puppy foods for large breeds, one is grain-free and one has grain.

I‘ve personally had a good experience with Fromm Large Breed puppy when our Mastiff was younger. If I remember correctly, the grain-free option contains various protein sources, while the other is Chicken based (this may have changed now). It‘s a good food in my opinion based on ingredients and ratios. I had once compared the puppy and adult formulas for Fromm in greater detail and did not find much of a difference except or minor variance in the ratios. Puppy vs. adult food will always be a controversial subject with many different opinions. I can go back and see if I still have my comparison file. If I remember correctly, both formulas would have been safe for growing large/giant breed dogs. Either way, I personally think that going with their large breed puppy version would be a good choice.
 

Loverboy Skyline

Well-Known Member
I‘ve personally had a good experience with Fromm Large Breed puppy when our Mastiff was younger. If I remember correctly, the grain-free option contains various protein sources, while the other is Chicken based (this may have changed now). It‘s a good food in my opinion based on ingredients and ratios. I had once compared the puppy and adult formulas for Fromm in greater detail and did not find much of a difference except or minor variance in the ratios. Puppy vs. adult food will always be a controversial subject with many different opinions. I can go back and see if I still have my comparison file. If I remember correctly, both formulas would have been safe for growing large/giant breed dogs. Either way, I personally think that going with their large breed puppy version would be a good choice.
Fromm is not available in my area, but if it was I'd definitely try it out. I have no problem with chicken based food as long as the dog does not have that allergy, and I'm pretty sure my dog doesn't because he is free of skin and itch problems.

To the OP, if a dog does have that allergy it will show up soon enough and you can buy a different formula. Just be aware that the allergy is a likelihood and switching foods might save you a trip to the vet.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Fromm is not available in my area, but if it was I'd definitely try it out. I have no problem with chicken based food as long as the dog does not have that allergy, and I'm pretty sure my dog doesn't because he is free of skin and itch problems.

To the OP, if a dog does have that allergy it will show up soon enough and you can buy a different formula. Just be aware that the allergy is a likelihood and switching foods might save you a trip to the vet.

Agreed, the chicken allergy will/would show eventually. I wouldn‘t proactively stay away from it, as some will do just fine. Our dog was fine with chicken until about 2 years of age. He likes beef and pork, so not a big deal.
I‘ve talked to quite a few Mastiff breeders over the years and was pretty surprised about some of their food choices. Even some owning highly decorated show dogs would feed stuff like IAMS. I‘m not suggesting that‘s a good choice, but do believe that we overthink food sometimes. It obviously should be of better quality whenever possible, but many dogs seem to be doing very well "lower" quality food.
As mentioned in another thread, I‘m feeding Kirkland Lamb and Rice now (mixed with real meat). That is because my dog likes it and is doing well on it. Don‘t really care much about the ~$50 savings a month. Nice side effect of course, but not the driver here.