Puppy Food--Large Breed or Normal?

Windyhills · Post by **Windyhills** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:34 pm

Just curious how many with standard size hunting dog pups (GSP's, GWP's Griffs, EP's Britts, Setters, etc.) start their pups right off with large breed formulas. Or do you wait to see how they develop and adjust accordingly?

Will · Post by **Will** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:15 pm

I'm feeding Angus (16 week GSP) PMI Exclusive Large Breed Puppy. He seems to do very well on it. He is allowed 4 cups a day right now and sometimes doesn't eat it all...other days he does. It depends on how much exercise he's had. He is slender and extremely active so I have to believe he's on the right food.

Brittguy · Post by **Brittguy** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:22 pm

I feed Eukanuba Medium Breed Puppy. When Medium was not available in my area I called the company and was told to use large breed. The formula was nearly the same, she suggested not to use small breed in my case.

bondoron · Post by **bondoron** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:52 pm

I feed large breed puppy Pro Plan.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:12 pm

Some brands you need to feed large breed, some you do not. Innova has a large breed for instance, and the only difference is the kibble size. Eukanuba says to feed dogs that grow to be 65-85 lbs large breed puppy food. Some there isn't even puppy food, like canidae. All depends on the food really.

hubweims · Post by **hubweims** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:38 pm

i fed large breed puppy to my weims as pups. i now feed large breed adult eukanuba

Casper · Post by **Casper** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:47 pm

From what I understand of the large breed formulas is they are designed for breeds that are to exceed 80# in weight and is not necessary for most sporting breeds. The formulas are designed to slow the growth of the puppy in order to reduce the chances of bone and joint issues later in life. Something we don't/shouldnt have in pointing breeds.

I have since switched to an "all life stages" kibble.

FWIW

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:05 am

Casper - You are correct on the thinking behind the Large Puppy formulas, several manufacturers recommend the weight at maturity to be considerably lower than 80# to feed the Large Breed Puppy formulas.

The PMI Exclusive folks say over 50lbs at maturity. I'm certain most others are very similar in that 50# to 65# range which will hit many of our male sporting dogs.

Now the question is: Is it all really necessary? LOL

Many will say no. Many top notch, well respected breeders will say NO.

Many vets will say no. Many will say yes.

I don't think you can go wrong feeding it if your pup does well on it. I also think you can feed any good high quality adult food and do well on it too. The pet food manufacturers are probably scamming us and I bought into it...LOL...but I'm happy....and he's happy...so only a couple of more bags and we're on to adult food.

midwestfisherman · Post by **midwestfisherman** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:14 am

I feed the Nutro Natural High Energy to my dogs and pups.

Chaingang · Post by **Chaingang** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:29 am

Basically what your getting with the large breed formulas is reduced fat and in some cases protein then your standard puppy feeds. The whole premise of this is to prevent larger breed puppies from getting too heavy in the rapid growth stage than would be if using a high calorie diet.

It certainly can't hurt to feed a pup these large breed formulas, though they generally cost a bit more, but the real trick is to find a quality feed with moderate amounts of fat and or protein and feed according to activity levels. Just watch their shape and prevent them from becoming obese. Left unchecked a fat pup with this extra weight can put undue stress on his rapidly growing joints, possibly causing issues with them later on down the road. This of course is more of an issue with true large breeds over 80 lbs than it will be with many gun dogs of less weight. But I think it still pays to feed smart.

IMO it's better to have pup a little on the thin side then fat.

JMHO

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:05 pm

IMO it's better to have pup a little on the thin side then fat.

Amen. That is probably true for the older dogs and their owners as well.

Ezzy

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:37 pm

If I had a large breed puppy that was going to grow up to be over 60#'s as an adult I would feed an adult food with 24% protein & 14% fat. These are minimum percentages so really as fed it will be more than 24/14. CANIDAE, INNOVA, Eagle Holistic, and many more super premium brands have the proper amount of calcium for growing pups into adulthood. Limiting the daily amount of food as the pup grows is the key to proper weight management and not over feeding causing a fat and possibly bone stressed pup.

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:10 pm

Most super premium brands have about the same thing that the rest of the dogfoods have except it is higher priced. v A good food will work for puppies as most high energy feeds are about the same as a puppy food. I have never liked the puppy foods because the pups do tend to eat too much and get fat on them

Ezzy

Ezzy

CherrystoneWeims · Post by **CherrystoneWeims** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:25 am

I switch mine at 10 weeks to adult food. In Weimaraners there is a high incidence of Pano and HOD so switching to adult food decreases that risk.

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Puppy Food--Large Breed or Normal?

Puppy Food--Large Breed or Normal?

Large Breed for Puppies