Large Breed Puppy Food

[Ivy]

I have a concern. Timber is on Orijin large breed puppy food. The protein is at 40% (min). I was recently told that it WAY too high for a large breed pup and that it's not recommended for bone growth and he could have problems later on. Tynan is on Fromm large breed puppy and the protein is at 26% (min). That's a huge difference between the 2.

Anyone have any insight?

 

[hankthetank]

WOW 40% is really high 26% is alot better are they puppy food or not ....? what kind of pup do you have

 

[Ivy]

An anatolian shepherd pup and a lab/saint bernard cross pup

 

[Steve the dog trainer]

Hi Ivy

It is true that 40% protein it way to high for a large breed of dog, in fact almost any dog outside mushing dogs that need the high protein/high calories to run it is too high.
We know that anything over 35% protein in a food, most dogs are gonna put it to waste, but when dealing with Large breeds its even more prevalent that you control his growth rate and with a high protein food would be difficult.

The difference in the Timber/Orijen foods vs the Fromm brand and it protein discrepancy is because of the fact that the first 2 foods are what we call Grain Free, foods that utilize no rice, wheat, flour or corn in its production. Fromm does use a brown rice I think and maybe a pearled barley which is really a binding fiber.

Hope this works out for you, in your case you might want to continue to use the Fromm brand or look at foods like Canidae, Chicken Soup Large Breed puppy, Natural Balance, Wellness and Innova brands. They all make great foods that are between 24 - 30% protein yet will be considered Holistic foods without the usage of corn, wheat, flour and most importantly By-products.

STDT

 

[Ivy]

thank you

 

[WizCipher]

I would have to disagree with the comments above.

http://files.championpetfoods.com/High_Protein_and_Large%20Breed_Study.pdf
http://www.skeptvet.com/index.php?p=1_24_Large-Breed-Puppy-Food

 

[Steve the dog trainer]

out of curiosity which part to you disagree in? I think we're all here to help each other, do share your thoughts with us.

STDT

 

[Tailcreek]

Hi Ivy

It is true that 40% protein it way to high for a large breed of dog, in fact almost any dog outside mushing dogs that need the high protein/high calories to run it is too high.
We know that anything over 35% protein in a food, most dogs are gonna put it to waste, but when dealing with Large breeds its even more prevalent that you control his growth rate and with a high protein food would be difficult.


STDT

Hi Steve, maybe you could help us understand better by sharing your source for the above statement?

Jennifer
www.tailcreekmastiffs.com

 

[Steve the dog trainer]

Hi Jennifer,

If you do some basic research online you'll find the information to my statement of high protein and the problems of development with a Large dog, especially a Mastiff. My source also comes from first hand knowledge of working within the Pet food industry for years in the development and nutritional side of it. I had my reasons for leaving the company but lets just say that the majority of these companies are all about maximizing profits using the cheapest ingredients available to them. Consumer have very little knowledge of what's goes on in this industry and the manufacturers want to keep it like that.

With that being said, remember we are talking about kibble (dry) dog food here. Foods such as Orijen uses a nice blend of real meats and meals to achieve the stated protein levels in there foods. Most of the majors (foods sold at grocery stores or super pet stores) utilize cheap grain ingredients to reach the optimal protein levels that has been set forth by AAFCO which is at around 22 - 26% protein for all dogs. In order to differentiate from an adult food to a large breed adult food would mainly come down to the amount of protein/fat in each. Too much protein can cause a puppy to grow to fast and issues with bones, structure and possibly kidneys can occur over time. There are many foods available to choose from, not one food is the best for all dogs so do your research and see what your dogs does well with. If dogs were the ones picking there foods instead of us humans then the dog world would be a better place.

Let me add this: We all know Water is the best for us, no calories no fat yet too much water can lead to "water intoxication" a condition that causes sodium dilution in the body and eventually will kill us. So too much of a good thing isn't always so good.

Hopefully this helped, I'm not here to bash/trash anyone but simply to give information from another point of view as well as help share my knowledge and experience within the pet industry especially with large, rare and mastiff breeds with everyone.

Thanks Jennifer for asking that question.

STDT