Large breed puppy food question

[Incantation]

We recently bought a giant breed puppy. She is our first puppy since the days of feeding giant puppies adult foods. We are currently feeding Life’s Abundance large breed puppy, as that is what her breeder started her on. Protein min 25%, crude fat min 14%, crude fiber max 4%, Ca min 1%, P min .8%

I was perusing the Dog food advisor site, and noticed that the only 5 star dry puppy foods were grain free, and have very high protein.

I understand about choosing a food with the proper Ca/P ratio to avoid growth issues, but what about the protein levels in some of these foods? I am wondering if a super high protein levels are unnecessary/possibly detrimental.

What other things should I consider if I decide to switch her to another brand (I would love to get something that I could buy locally instead of having it shipped).

[DoubleClick]

Many people believe that the safest thing to feed a large breed puppy is actually adult food rather than puppy/large breed puppy. The protein levels in puppy food can many times accelerate growth and lead to issues. When I was raising a large breed puppy a few years back, I noticed that he was starting to knuckle over pretty early on, even when on a large breed puppy food. I switched him to a high quality adult kibble (and did excessive/obsessive research on the Great Dane lady’s website beforehand about protein and Ca/P ratios) to find an appropriate food for him. Knuckling over stopped and my boy grew at a very moderate and healthy rate.

You might want to do some additional research, but I think you’d be safe considering a high quality adult kibble.

[SarahKing]

[QUOTE=Incantation;8378390]
We recently bought a giant breed puppy. She is our first puppy since the days of feeding giant puppies adult foods. We are currently feeding Life’s Abundance large breed puppy, as that is what her breeder started her on. Protein min 25%, crude fat min 14%, crude fiber max 4%, Ca min 1%, P min .8%

I was perusing the Dog food advisor site, and noticed that the only 5 star dry puppy foods were grain free, and have very high protein.

I understand about choosing a food with the proper Ca/P ratio to avoid growth issues, but what about the protein levels in some of these foods? I am wondering if a super high protein levels are unnecessary/possibly detrimental.

What other things should I consider if I decide to switch her to another brand (I would love to get something that I could buy locally instead of having it shipped).[/QUOTE]

Dog food advisor was created by a human dentist with zero veterinary OR nutritional training.

Long scholarly article here which basically states that diets specifically designed for large breed puppy are the most nutritionally appropriate. They have the appropriate calories and minerals and an appropriate calorie density for slow controlled growth.

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/developmental-orthopedic-disease-large-breed-puppies?rel=canonical

[Houndhill]

I’ve had good results feeding either adult food, or large breed puppy food to fast growing puppies of giant breeds.

It is important to provide appropriate exercise…enough, but not too much, nothing high impact (be careful with playing with much bigger individuals).

What breed is the giant breed puppy?

[Incantation]

Thank you all for the replies, and for the article.

I know the dog food advisor guy has no actual education in canine nutrition, but I use the site to compare foods. I noticed that all the grain free foods are so much higher in protein. I wasn’t sure if all that protein was actually good for a giant breed puppy. I think after reading the article, that I will stick to a high quality non-grain free large breed puppy food.

The puppy is a Mastiff, now 4 months old. We trying to give her a good base fitness (walking and trotting on the farm), with some off leash romping. Playing with other dogs is always supervised and only with other puppies atm.

[Houndhill]

OP, sounds like you are on the right track. Please keep us posted.