Special nutritional needs for Goldens?

Hey Christi,,,I don't have an idea about Goldens,,,,,,,,,but just wanted to say I also hope he and Ruby are best friends!
Congratulations on your new puppy, can't wait until you get him,,,and put up pictures for us!

what do you feed your other dog now?

I don't own a golden myself, but the first nutritional objective when feeding dogs like that is to make sure they don't have accelerated growth to prevent joint issues--make sure you feed a food that has a lower protein percentage and a lower calcium to phosphorus ratio (which are usually inter-connected).  Most (and I use that lightly) large breed puppy foods accommodate this.

Thanks, Dyan - we can't wait for the new boy to come home!  He's sooooo cute and good natured too, so far.  We brought Ruby over to see him and they were great together.  She was pretty gentle but I'll keep an eagle-eye on them when he comes home. inegrovegold, I currently rotate Ruby, an almost five month old Aussie, between Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken Meal and Chicken Soup Puppy.  She does very well on both and I'd like to feed this to the new pup if possible but  I know I need to take into consideration that they will be different sizes and will grow at different rates. Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken is 24% protein and calcium is min. 1.5% with phos. at min. 1.1%.  I have no idea what that means in relation to each other.  Eagle Pack, on their website, does not recommend this for large breed puppies.  They recommend their regular large breed puppy formula but the third ingredient is ground yellow corn and I'm not going that route.  Their holistic line has no corn at all, nor does Chicken Soup Puppy.  

I feed mine Solid Gold Wolfcub 2 times a day and FarMore Raw Frozen Buffalo 1 time a day. I can't think of any specific nutrition information for goldens other than feeding them large breed puppy food.

I think chix soup puppy might be good, but can't remeber all the specs. I add fatty acid sups. once they (I use DermCaps from F&S) get older and are on adult food.
Congrats! Goldens are "pure gold" []

Congratulations on your new puppy. I have a 2 year old female Golden Retriever also named Ruby. I would go with the Chicken Soup Puppy. My Vet told me Goldens do tend to gain weight easily. We had been feeding Canidae All Life Stages. I was concerned with her weight gain and needed to make a change. So I tried the Canidae Platinum. She didn't like it as well. We are now on Chicken Soup Large Breed. Great food with a lot less calories and she loves it. I was also considering going to the Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken Meal -another very good food, but the Chicken Soup costs less. Something to consider with 2 dogs.
I am looking forward to the day when I can get another Golden puppy. They really are wonderful dogs. Have you picked a name for him yet?
 
 
 

Eagle Pack makes a Large Breed Holistic formula, that's an all life stages formula. It's different from the orignal Large Breed Puppy, which does have corn.  The Holistic Large Breed doesn't have corn.  It's the one in the orange flowered bag.  I like Chicken Soup, but if you compare the feeding instructions between EP Large Breed Holistic and Chicken Soup - you have to feed more of the Chicken Soup.  Solid Gold Wolf Cub is a great large breed formula too.

Boy have I learned a lot in the last few days about large breed dog foods. Jojo, I couldn't find the formula you mentioned on EP's website.  The large breed holistic formula they list says that it's specifically for adults.  I spoke to an EP customer service rep twice this week to get more info about their foods and she explained something interesting to me.  The term holistic means whole health nutrition and is basically a marketing term.  EP considers all their products holistic.  She also helped me with the corn issue.  EP does use corn in their large breed puppy for a variety of reasons.  First off, the outer shell of the corn is removed and the inside is very finely ground.  The outer shell is what everyone (humans and canines) can't seem to digest and it, in and of itself, has no nutritional value.  However, according to EP, the part that they do use, is a stable carb source that helps maintain fat and protein ratios (wheat is an unstable carb source).  It is also a source of Omega 3 and 6, it helps other ingredients get through the digestion process.  Lastly, they say it also helps promote natural skin healing.  I've never heard these things said about corn before so naturally I'm skeptical but I think I may have been too quick to say no to corn.  She did say that if corn is listed multiple times then it is being used as a filler. In talking with my vet, he made a point to tell me that a protein level of 28% (Chicken Soup puppy) is not appropriate for a large breed puppy and that I should look for something around 23-24% to keep his growth slow and steady.  I'm going to keep Ruby, who is a smaller dog, on a rotation of the CS puppy and EP Holistic Chicken Meal because this is a good rotation for her.  But for Samwise, I think we'll try the EP Large Breed puppy and see how that goes. Incidentally, the breeder was feeding Merrick Puppy Plate which has a higher protein in it.  She sent some home with me and EP is sending me a bottle of their Holistic transition to help when I switch him over.  I've called them and other companies several times this week agonizing over what to do and EP was the only company who was great about answering my questions.  CS took two days to call me back and I never even heard back from TO. Thanks again for all your help. Christi  

John Marshman (Eagle nutritionist) made an interesting comment on the old forum. Apparently they will be removing corn from the LBP.

http://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/244446.html

ORIGINAL: jcatkc

I like the ingredient list of the Innova LB puppy better than the Eagle Pack LB puppy (just my opinion) -

The EP includes - Ground Yellow Corn, Dried Beet Pulp, Corn Germ Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast

The Innova includes NONE of the above

Odd that EP's LB Adult is part of their Holistic line and drops all of the corn ingredients, unlike the LB puppy formula.

 

ORIGINAL: brittman

John C. re: Eagle Pack Large Breed Adult vs. Puppy and corn. Take another look in August.

Thanks, Kelly, you are so good at recalling info from previous threads.  I admire your memory skills! I guess I don't really need to worry then, if what he intimates is true.  I'll be sure to keep an eye on the ingredient list. I wonder if they are taking it out to satisfy their customers concerns or if there really is a nutritional reason to remove it.  Something to think about.

I wonder if they are taking it out to satisfy their customers concerns or if there really is a nutritional reason to remove it.

I am also curious...

hello Christi, congrats on your new puppy. i have a 16 months old male golden retriever, he is on canidae all life stage, i also put some salmon oil on the top of the kibbles. 2 weeks ago i was looking for a golden puppy for my friend, i talked to a ckc breeder who told me she feed the goldens vitamine C since 8 weeks old. also she told me to start the goldens on glucosamine when they are 8 years old. i am not really sure if the dog really need vitamine C, i remember i also saw a post said that the dog will generate vitamine c by themselves, they dont really need to ingest extra. any one has an idea on this?

Some dogs can't digest corn. It goes strait through them and return they will not get all the nutritional benefits from corn.
 
I forgot to say Congrats on the new puppy.