Innova *Large breed* puppy food....

It depends on the individual dog.  This is one of the first foods I tried for Falon and she had HORRIBLE swamp gas...I mean...absolutely TERRIBLE and frequent (and she rarely has gas--that I can notice at least).  I switched her food and it went away completely.   

I know he does good on it, I've fed the adult formula, just wondering if the large breed puppy is the right formula to feed.

The adult formula is an "all life stages" food, so personally, I would stick with that. 

The whole idea of Lg. Breed puppy is to take the guess work out of feeding. Innova's was tested. Feed that because they tell you to. It's basically the same but not as energy dense to keep the growth rate going nice and slow. And the protein is higher in the lg. Puppy

 All sites should be as well designed with the N/A as Innova's.

Nutritional Adequacy

Animal feeding tests using AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) procedures substantiate that Innova Large Breed Puppy Food provides complete and balanced nutrition for growth. This product is intended solely for large and giant breed puppies under 2 years of age. For large breed dogs older than 2 years of age refer to Innova Large Breed Adult Dog Food.

Innova Adult   ME 557 kcal/cup

Innova Lg. Breed Puppy   ME 366 kcal/cup

That was kind of my thinking....less calories for a slower/moderate growth rather then the adult version that's pretty high in calories.

The ingredients are a tad different, but not by enough to cause issues...I hope.

I'll keep you posted on his progress....he was having what we thought might have been growing pains, thus the reason to home in on a more appropriate food with regulated calcium levels and decent protein for this guy. Everything else that I could find with moderate calcium had low protein content, or was loaded with heavy heavy grains and only one meat source.

He's 9 months and a NSDTR/GR mix? How big is he? In my mind this would be a 35-40 lb dog...in that case i wouldn't think large breed puppy food is necessary. My GSD and RR ate innova large breed until about 9 mos old, then i switched to innova adult for awhile...but decided to stick with canidae.

Rivers is 53# now and 22" tall.

The fruits and veggies contribute to the total carb content of 48%. Natura is one of the few companies I trust but..the only line of food I like is Healthwise. It has lower carb contents in comparison to Innova and California Naturals (because it has no fruits and veggies).

I just got back from the Vet for Niko's annual physical (excellent results, no problem with blood test).  I explained to her that I don't like to buy dry food with added fruits and veggies because those are the things I add to his kibble along with sardines, eggs, and etc.  Healthwise and Canidae are two primary brands.  My vet likes the fact that I add fresh home cooked food, give omega 3/vit E supplements, sardines, and etc. (she does the same for her dogs).  She does not think that there are a lot of vitamins left from the fruits and veggies after going through the extrusion process (since almost all kibble are extruded and cooked high heat) so why should a person pay more.  Anyway, I hope I don't offend anyone with that comment.

Pauline

No offense taken.

Rivers and my others get plenty of fresh foods too; half of their diet IS in fact homecooked meals of chicken, turkey, beef, etc. and they lots of fresh veggies/fruits.

I would be so very tempted to feed/try Canidae again...if it didn't have sage in it. I have one dog that is so highly allergic to sage that he had a horrible reaction to Canidae the one time I tried it. I'm afraid to even have it in the house for that very reason; this is becoming a major problem because a lot of excellent foods are now putting sage in the formula's.

My sister's dog does marvelous on Canidae....I've always liked Healthwise too, it's just so hard to find around here.

Perhaps once he's over 18mnths of age, I'll do more exploring with him. For instance, I like the Wellness Core formula's, but it states for Maintenance feeding only.

I actually like the Cal Natural puppy formula....but I agree, their adult formula has too many carb's. Once he's done growing perhaps he can tolerate a less carb'd diet...right now he seems to actually need the carb's....as his energy has improved 10-fold just from 2 meals of the Innova food again.

Healthwise is also not that readily available in Phoenix, AZ. I can buy the Chicken and Oatmeal without problem from a couple of feed stores. I would have to special order the Lamb and Oatmeal (with a minimum order of two 35lb bags). This annoys me a lot.  Healthwise Lamb and Oatmeal is the one lamb based food I happen to like very much (higher crude protein at 27%, lowest carb content of natura products except for Innova Evo, no canola oil - - I prefer chicken fat over canola oil, has some chicken meal i(nstead of rice/corn glutens) which boosts the protein content). 

Well, since we just got back from his first annual physical exam (Niko is 15 months old), my vet wants to make sure that Niko stays at his current weight of 70lbs (with daily exercise, Niko is lean and toned at this weight), so she wants me to cut back the kibble to 2 cups a day (he was getting 2.5 cups before) with continued added supplements and fresh food.   At 2 cups a day (max 8 to 8.5 oz in weight), it does not make sense for me to buy two 35lb bags of Healthwise Lamb and Oatmeal because it would take about 135 to 140 days to finish 70 lbs of food.  So, my option for lamb based food is California Natural's puppy formula.

That IS one thing I know for sure my pup can't handle is oats.....the one morning I fed him oatmeal he broke out in hives terribly.

Cal Natural lamb/rice puppy has mild carb level too.