Grain free LG Breed Puppy?

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Grain free LG Breed Puppy?

Posted : 7/30/2009 7:17:07 PM

So, Ophira just turned one a few days ago. Currently, she's eating Innova Large Breed Puppy along with raw meats/bones/organs, canned food and kibble toppings (cottage cheese, sardines, yogurt, raw eggs, etc.) She's almost out of her Innova, so I'm going to be ordering some new food right away. All my other dogs are on grain free rotation, but I'd like to put her on grain free, too. However, I'm just not comfortable putting her on a grain free kibble right now, since she weighs about 50 lbs and will probably continue to grow a bit more. I'd like to keep her on a lg breed puppy formula for another 6 months, just to ease my mind. I've been looking online and notice that there are some grain free large breed puppy options such as Orijen LG Breed Puppy.

Here is Orijen LG Breed Puppy's analysis:

Guaranteed Analysis %:

Protein (min.) 42
Carbohydrate 18
Fat 16
Moisture 10
Omega-6 2.5
Fiber 2
Calcium (min.) 1.4
Phosphorus (min.) 1.1
Omega-3 1

Thoughts?

Are they still safe? Does Ophira REALLY still need large breed puppy formulas? I don't want to take any chances. Any good brands of large breed puppy (grain free or not) that you recommend?

Any input is appreciated! Thanks.

brookcove

Posted : 7/30/2009 10:22:54 PM

Orijen's pretty awesome. I've been feeding it to my puppy with great results (regular puppy version). I'd trust them if I had a large breed pup, except I think with something like a Great Dane at extremely high risk for growth related deformities I'd go with a tried and true like EP.

Plus, 50 lbs is a bit borderline for "large breed" isn't it? At a year old she's not going to get more than 20% larger, right? That would be no more than 60 lbs, again, just on the border. So going with a LB formula of any kind, even the grain free, should be plenty safe now that she's a year old.

My pup is six months old and I'm switching him to an adult formula, but that's because it's customary to do that in Border Collies.

I would definitely supplement with fish oil, however, since probably OFAs are balanced to account for more food being consumed than your smaller youngster will eat. Fish is brain power for young dogs! Big Smile

4mutts

Posted : 7/31/2009 7:17:11 PM

Thanks for the input!

I think I'll go ahead and order some Orijen Large Breed Puppy today. Atleast I'll be getting the best of both worlds.