My little black lab Holly is 4 1/2 months old. I have been taking her to obedience class and she was wired up and hyper last night. (She was locked up most of the day, unfortunately). The training scolded me about her dog food, saying that she was on too high of a protein dog food and that labs don't need puppy food. The food I am using was recommended by my vet, who has labs of her own. Has anyone noticed a large difference with high protein (28% it says on the bad) vs. lower protein foods. I am in the US so most of the brands mentioned in other posts are foreign to me (literally). She is a pretty excitable pup, but starting to calm down just a bit. She is still a baby though.
Lab pups don't need puppy food? I would ask why they would be excluded from the rest of the dog breeds. There is lots of info on this forum regarding food and you will get some quite knowledgeable replies too, but I think I would choose the vets expertise over the trainers.
Never have I heard such rubbish , sorry ! Pups need a high protein food , protein being the building block of muscle development to name just one job . A protein content of 28% is definitely not too high , so don't change food if its suiting her digestion and please pay no heed to anyone who tells you that its too high ! Little Holly is still very much a baby as you rightly say , and still needs puppy food , she will calm down as she matures and begins to take on more exercise, mentally and physically .
Getting the right balance of nutrients is important at any age and puppy food is specifically designed to have the correct ratio of calcium to phosphorous, something that is very important for developing joints, especially in large-breed puppies. 28% really isn't massively high for protein, so I wouldn't be concerned about that. Lab puppies are full of energy, excitable and bouncy. It's just how they are.
I don’t think her hyperactivity has anything to do with her food. It’s more likely that she was locked up most of the day. How long was she alone for? Labs, and especially pups need human stimulation and don’t do so well when left alone for hours. She was probably so over excited about having attention more than anything, plus add in other dogs, would make most pups wired.
We were told the opposite. I was told to get a high protein that was lower in carbs if he was too excitable. I didn't really follow it if I'm honest but Stanleys food is 33% protein and he's doing just fine on it
Whatever is generally right (and you'll get differences of opinion on that) may not be right for Holly. If you examine the puppy food ingredient list I bet you find very little difference between it and adult food of the same brand. One night of hyper behaviour after being locked up most of the day can hardly be pinned on food of any kind. In my reading I have read that too high protein is not for puppies as they cannot possibly do the high energy work of, say, a adult sled dog, or a working herding dog, that the food was aimed at, but the food was about 40% protein. The ingredient I learned was most damaging was too high calcium.
I definitely think that food can affect behaviour, in the equine world it's well known and changes in diet can make a massive difference to "hyper" behaviour, so I don't see why it isn't the same for dogs, if excess energy is available to use in this way. But I am not a nutritionist and the dog food market is a minefield, so I can't advise on the right diet, all dogs are different. Being locked up all day isn't going to help her though at all, and I agree wholeheartedly that young Labradors are naturally bouncy. In my experience not all trainers get that! And something I've learnt since being on the forum is that only a canine nutritionist can give advice on diet, apart from vets I think that is.
Thanks to all for the comments. I have pretty much decided that I am done with that trainer, and am not going to let her misguided comments impact me. I am using the food my vet recommends, and even though nobody is perfect, I am going to trust the training of experience of my vet. The internet is a terrible place to learn sometimes, as there are opinions all across the board on what is good and not good. High protein is good, or bad. High carbs are good, or bad. High calcium is good, or bad... It is enough to make my head spin. I think I'll go pet my dog and calm down.
I'm so pleased to hear @RMBIII that you are changing you trainer . US regulations state that a puppy food must have a minimum % of protein, which if I remember correctly is something like 21%, not sure without looking it up though. The right food for your pup is the one that is eaten heartily, produces steady weight gain, firm poop and at a price you can afford
I worked at a vet clinic, and puppy food is definitely a must for puppies; in fact, we recommend pregnant/nursing females be fed puppy food as well. I'm watching Moose's sturdy little body grow nice and strong, and altho he likes to take (as in steal) a bit of of my smaller dog's weight control food, I will no way change him from his puppy nutrition any time soon.
We had the all age dog food for our puppy to start, but his coat started to get dull and we started to see dandruff. So we switched to 4Health(Tractor Supply's highest quality food, and also a 4.5 rating food). Now four weeks later his coat looks like a leopard its so shiny and the dandruff has disappeared. After changing to the puppy food(no soy, wheat, or corn, a lamb and lamb meal) his night time sleeping behavior improved greatly very fast.
