So our breeder has recommended feeding a quality adult dog food to our lab puppy of 11 weeks. Per her suggestions, we are feeding Victors Beef and Rice 2 x a day. Her reasoning for feeding the adult dog food is that most puppy food is geared for rapid growth and may cause hip and bone issues later. After her first visit with the vet, the vet disagreed and says she must be on a puppy food. We are just learning, so would appreciate input (positive only please).
The breeder and vet are both right (ish) However.... Adult dog food tends to have higher ratios of phosphorus and calcium, these minerals are responsible for skeletal growth, a high ratio is not recommended for large breed dogs such as labradors. So I can see where the breeders logic is coming from, slow growth is preferable to fast growth in large breed puppies. Puppy food does not accelerate growth but does tend to contain higher levels of fat and protein which young pups do need. Adult food contains lower protein, and lower fat content, as obviously adult dogs don't require these higher levels. My recommendation would be for a single source novel protein puppy food designed for large breed dogs. A single source is useful down the line if you need to eliminate a protein source due to a possible allergy. It is becoming more common to see dogs with an intolerance to beef and chicken. But that is just me being a bit pernickety perhaps! Finally, what goes in, must come out...stick to small frequent meals, and carefully watch amounts, I always go a bit lower than the package guidelines, and upping, or adding a small extra meal if puppy looks a bit too slim.
