Diets : To supplement or not to supplement ?

dyan

bmorerottdog1

He has advised me to not use the "large breed" puppy food as it often causes  the bone to grow too fast in these dogs.

I might be wrong...but I think that they advise to not feed puppy food to large breed dogs.....but the "puppy food for large breeds" is usually formulated so that they don't grow too quickly.

If that's the case, then there would still be no benefit, since the formula would basically be the same thing as an "all life stages" food.  Generally the special foods (puppy, senior, lite, hairball, etc) are more expensive so why not just feed an all life stages food?

Liesje

If that's the case, then there would still be no benefit, since the formula would basically be the same thing as an "all life stages" food.  Generally the special foods (puppy, senior, lite, hairball, etc) are more expensive so why not just feed an all life stages food?

I wasn't suggesting to feed large breed puppy food, just saying that companies like Eagle Pack make their puppy food for large breeds just for that reason for them to not grow to quickly.  While raising Gibson...I switched between the adult formula and large breed puppy food.... there was no difference in price at PSP in our neck of the woods.

The Great Dane Lady Linda Arndt warns against feeding Dane puppy food all over her website.

Hey , did you say that you show your dogs ? Do you breed as well ? You had commented on  the hips of your GSD's...do you have them x-rayed ? When we breed our rotts , its all done by German standards. All of our rotts still have their natural tails instead of being docked. It is a requirement for registrations and show entries. It took some getting used to , but I wouldn't have it any other way. To see a rott without a tail looks funny to me now. But back to the hip thing... Before we breed , it is required that the dogs pass hip and elbow x-rays by ratings from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animal. Anything less then a good/fair rating and the dog is not allowed to be bred to prevent the potential of passing on a hip/elbow problem to the litter. Its' costly but all worth it to preserve the breed. Ever tried making chicken jerky (dehydrating raw chicken) ? Makes an excellent training treat ,even bland and unseasoned. Most dogs love it. And its' really good for them.

I show and compete in several events but do not breed, don't plan to.  I have a good friend that's a breeder, so I show with her and we train in the same club.  If I want to help with puppies and such, I can help her or "borrow" a puppy for a while.  We also show, train, and breed to German standards.  All of the breeding dogs were originally from (or are still in) Germany.  Her husband is a world known veterinary radiologist, now retired from his teaching and research but still runs his own clinic at their home.  He x-rays all the dogs around 6-8 months.  We do not submit prelims to the SV in Germany or to the OFA because to be honest this man is every bit as qualified if not more so, so we trust his opinion.  When the dog is at least 12 months, we re-do the x-rays and send them to Germany for the "a-stamp" and then at two years can do it again for OFAs.  I haven't done the a-stamps yet so I might wait until 24 months and submit to OFA at the same time.

I'm so glad to see people take great concern in the long term health of their dogs and future litters as well. It's not some I see to often both where I grew up and also where I'm living now. Keep up the great work.