Large/giant Breed Puppy Feeding?
I’ve heard that feeding large/giant breed puppies puppy food (even large breed puppy food) is bad for them because it causes them to grow too quickly, putting strain on their bones and joints.
I’ve also heard that feeding them grain-free diets or raw has the same effect and should not be done.
Basically, they should be fed an adult food right off the bat.
I personally believe that puppy food is a marketing gimmick to begin with and that, providing the adult food fed is a /high quality one/, it would do just as well. I don’t believe that there is any need for the so called ‘puppy foods’.
But, what I want to know is whether or not this information on large/giant breed puppies is true. No guesses… give me actual research, please.
I’d read this article by the Great Dane Lady and found it sound enough: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/do…
But then I went through more of her articles. I was very disappointed to find articles against grain-free diets (for any dog), as well as articles saying raw feeding (for any dog) was not a good option. Worst of all, the only raw feeding she even seemed to be basing it all off of was the BARF diet (which isn’t even a very good raw feeding model to begin with).
It’s caused me to question her information as a whole.
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The Great Dane lady has a lot of good info in areas except for her nutrition & feeding info. Much of it is now very outdated.
She also tends to promote products in which she has a vested interest.
A Dane puppy should not be fed a puppy food, not even large breed. The protein, fat & calcium levels are too high and can cause some very serious growth issues.
Many grain free foods are too high for a growing Dane puppy as most are over 24%, but they are fine for puppies 12 months & older.
A raw diet is also wonderful for Danes of all ages. There are a lot of very expereinced Dane people who feed raw.
Here are a couple of links that may be helpful for raw feedinghttp://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htmhttp://www.barfproducts.com/feedingcalcu…http://www.6stardanes.com
Vets are wonderful, I’ve worked with/for them for 36 years, however when it comes to nutrition, foods & feeding they are sadly lacking. They aren’t the best source of feeding & food info especially when it comes to feeding giant breeds.
Feeding raw is a natural way to feed. It is giving a dog natural meat proteins not artificial proteins from grains/veggies. The proteins in raw meats can’t be compared to proteins in commercial kibbles…they are completely different and processed differently by the dog. The protein levels in raw meats don’t need to be considered.
I had 2 vets tell me to not feed puppy food, that it would cause them to grow too quickly and put stain on their bones and joints. Also a respectable trainer/breeder told me the same thing. So, my dogs have always been on adult dog food from the moment they set foot on my property. I will not feed puppy food, ever, but do feed a very high quality kibble to my dogs.
I have a puppy Doberman. It is better to give your big puppy puppy food because it has stuff in it to help them grow and keep them healthy but it is not good to feed an adult dog puppy food because it makes them fat.
We didn’t feed our Great Dane adult food. We fed him puppy because our vet told us it was better for him because of the mineral and vitamin difference.