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Just out of curiosity- what about an "all life stages" food for large breed puppies? Such as TOTW? The protein content is 32%, not sure on the calcium.
I ask because my dog is on TOTW (she loves it). Someday down the line, I plan to get a GSD pup, but I've wondered if the TOTW has too much protein for a large breed pup.
Just out of curiosity- what about an "all life stages" food for large breed puppies? Such as TOTW? The protein content is 32%, not sure on the calcium.
I ask because my dog is on TOTW (she loves it). Someday down the line, I plan to get a GSD pup, but I've wondered if the TOTW has too much protein for a large breed pup.
32% is high for a dog food; I think the highest percentage that I fed to my GSD was 30% as an adult, and she did very well with that.
I actually wouldn't worry about high protein when they are young/puppies; most puppy foods have higher protein and fat contents than adult foods, and for good reason. In fact, Purina Puppy Chow has a protein content of 31%. Even Eukanuba Puppy is 27%, with the Large Breed Puppy Formula being 25%.
A lot of the newer large breed forumlas are actually still high in protein but lower in fat, which is the source of problems for many large breed dogs. I remember when my pup was young, I fed her a food that was relatively low in fat and she always looked so thin and rangy, a lot of people chided me for it. Fortunately, I didn't listen to them and she filled out as she got older and never became overweight (while those who plumped their puppies up ended up having overweight adult dogs, which is a death sentence especially for a large breed dog).
I would stay away from TOTW and feed something like Blue Buffalo puppy.
But, honestly, for GSD's, Grannynancy is the real expert; I would ask her what she feeds.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Originally Posted by StarlaJane
32% is high for a dog food; I think the highest percentage that I fed to my GSD was 30% as an adult, and she did very well with that.
Artie is grain intolerant and it seems that all (or most?) of the grain-free products are that high in protein. Some (such as Wellness Core at 34%) are even higher. Artie eats TOTW -- the bison one is 32%, the fowl one is 26% if I'm not mistaken.
But my question: Is it correct or is it my imagination that the grain-free foods are higher in protein? It would make sense, since the bulk of the formula would be meat.
So TOTW might have too much protien for a large breed pup... I will def. keep that in mind.
I feed a mix of the TOTW bison, fowl, and lamb formulas for my dog (4yo lab/shep mix). She stays very lean on it and has tons of energy. I hadn't noticed the difference in protien content between the mixes though. Maybe feeding a pup just the fowl formula with the lower protien content would be ok?
This is all very hypothetical.... who knows how long it will be until I'm able to get my GSD dream dog
I was told by my vet that you should feed puppy food until the dog turned 1 year. Their suggested puppy food was Purina Puppy Chow. Thus, Purina was the brand I fed until I found this forum and learned about healthier foods
So TOTW might have too much protien for a large breed pup... I will def. keep that in mind.
I feed a mix of the TOTW bison, fowl, and lamb formulas for my dog (4yo lab/shep mix). She stays very lean on it and has tons of energy. I hadn't noticed the difference in protien content between the mixes though. Maybe feeding a pup just the fowl formula with the lower protien content would be ok?
This is all very hypothetical.... who knows how long it will be until I'm able to get my GSD dream dog
I was told by my vet that you should feed puppy food until the dog turned 1 year. Their suggested puppy food was Purina Puppy Chow. Thus, Purina was the brand I fed until I found this forum and learned about healthier foods
Honestly, I have no problem with Purina Puppy Chow. If you can afford the more expensive brands, more power to you. But if someone wanted a no frills puppy food that would meet his/her pup's nutritional needs, I would rec PPC, certainly over something like IAMS.
I think that TOTW is great for adult dogs, especially a breed like a GSD. As a puppy food, especially for larger breed dogs, it is more controversial. There are those that swear by it, others who will not feed it as a puppy food.
But, as I stated in my other post, it really isn't the protein levels so much as the fat levels that you need to be concerned with for a large breed puppy. Still, I wouldn't feed 32% protein to a puppy.
Just out of curiosity- what about an "all life stages" food for large breed puppies? Such as TOTW? The protein content is 32%, not sure on the calcium.
I ask because my dog is on TOTW (she loves it). Someday down the line, I plan to get a GSD pup, but I've wondered if the TOTW has too much protein for a large breed pup.
I've been feeding both of my young Malinois TOTW a rotating diet of TOTW Pacific Stream, Bison and Venison, and the Lamb formula (also feeding it to my two older dogs)
Sasha started in on the rotation at twelve weeks. I transitioned her brother Baron to it when I brought him home at 10mos of age.
Both dogs have done really well on it. Reasonable growth rates, lots of lean muscle mass, and nothing but praise regarding their condition from multiple vets.
I wouldn't hesitate to feed TOTW to young dogs again based on my experience with Baron and Sasha.
Artie is grain intolerant and it seems that all (or most?) of the grain-free products are that high in protein. Some (such as Wellness Core at 34%) are even higher. Artie eats TOTW -- the bison one is 32%, the fowl one is 26% if I'm not mistaken.
But my question: Is it correct or is it my imagination that the grain-free foods are higher in protein? It would make sense, since the bulk of the formula would be meat.
Oh, absolutely. I have no problem feeding something like Blue Buffalo Wilderness to the cat; cat food is always much higher in protein (35-40%; a good kitten food is 40% protein) than dog food.
That's really interesting that Artie is grain intolerant--I'm guessing he has an allergic reaction? If so, I guess that is the equivalent of Celiac's disease in a human, which is actually quite common as well.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarlaJane
Oh, absolutely. I have no problem feeding something like Blue Buffalo Wilderness to the cat; cat food is always much higher in protein (35-40%; a good kitten food is 40% protein) than dog food.
That's really interesting that Artie is grain intolerant--I'm guessing he has an allergic reaction? If so, I guess that is the equivalent of Celiac's disease in a human, which is actually quite common as well.
Interestingly enough, when Orijen switched from 30/70 to 20/80 (which affected its protein level, making it even higher in protein), Artie's tummy retaliated. THAT was too much protein for him.
As for Artie being grain intolerant, it was never confirmed with a vet or anything. It went like this: I adopted him in May 2007. His poops were always mushy. He was eating Science Diet. I switched him to Iams. Still mushy. I knew NOTHING about food and the vets just told me, "Good food. Some dogs just have mushy poops and need their anal sacs expressed every month." That just didn't sit well with me. So, I found this forum. And people started telling me about grain-free food. I had never heard of the food names that they were suggesting, but I tried some of them. Well, as soon as I switched him to grain-free food, his poops got firm. He still needs to have his anal sacs expressed, but MUCH less frequently (i.e. a couple of times per year vs. every month). So, I'm *assuming* that he is grain intolerant in that I'm assuming that his poops are indicative.
I have raised 4 German Shepherds and one did get Pano around 4 months. What I usually do is feed them large breed formula for a couple months and then switch to a good adult formula. Some breeders will just tell you to feed them adult food only.
Interestingly enough, when Orijen switched from 30/70 to 20/80 (which affected its protein level, making it even higher in protein), Artie's tummy retaliated. THAT was too much protein for him.
As for Artie being grain intolerant, it was never confirmed with a vet or anything. It went like this: I adopted him in May 2007. His poops were always mushy. He was eating Science Diet. I switched him to Iams. Still mushy. I knew NOTHING about food and the vets just told me, "Good food. Some dogs just have mushy poops and need their anal sacs expressed every month." That just didn't sit well with me. So, I found this forum. And people started telling me about grain-free food. I had never heard of the food names that they were suggesting, but I tried some of them. Well, as soon as I switched him to grain-free food, his poops got firm. He still needs to have his anal sacs expressed, but MUCH less frequently (i.e. a couple of times per year vs. every month). So, I'm *assuming* that he is grain intolerant in that I'm assuming that his poops are indicative.
Grain intolerant, or just cheap food intolerant
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