Mabel is on Arden Grange Lite and is doing very well on it. We choose it because our last lab was on it when we adopted him from the Dogs Trust and he thrived on it. I don't think there is any particular right or wrong, you just need to find what suits your dog and your pocket.
Mine is on 'More' large breed puppy up to 18 months. (She's one). She came on it from the breeder. I thought about changing it recently coz it's quite expensive but when I compared ingredients and it's composition it came up so favourably that I'm sticking to it for now.
Trying to find the best puppy food and found one review on Diamond Naturals, just curious to see if anyone else uses it and has had success.
Diamond is not bad food, it has some 25% proteine. Large puppy formula has Lamb and rice. Rice has close to zero value, but on the other hand, it won't give puppy alergies. If you like the food (again, it is good food), try and see how puppy does on it. Watch his stool, coat, observe behaviour (scratching armpits, biting tail and back legs more than usual, ear inflamation....). Remember there are people who search for the right food for years. I have seen puppies/dogs, being left almost with no hair on Orijen and then do great on food that is "on the cheap side". My previous dog did not like Arden Grange, did bad Eukanuba, Hills, Nutra and Nutro Gold. We tried Bosch (active) and he was a new dog. Full of energy, no infections, coat was amazing. It all depends on the dog.
Funny how individual puppies react to food - we had the exactly opposite happen with Roamin' after transitioning him to what our pack is fed (Purina Pro Plan) he had stool issues; putting him back on the breeder's recommended Eukanuba settled him.
Large and giant breed pups should consume diets that contain at least 30% high quality protein and 9% fat (dry matter basis) - Nutritional Requirements of Large and Giant Breed Puppies ... A common misconception found in many internet articles is the claim that dietary protein should be controlled in large breed puppies to prevent skeletal abnormalities. This theory was disproved some years ago (Nap, 1991). Most commercial puppy foods contain more protein than is thought necessary, but studies have shown that protein contents of 23% to 31% (dry matter) do not have a deleterious effect on growth. The effects of high dietary protein contents in the range of those found in raw diets have not been investigated, to this author’s knowledge. https://ivcjournal.com/feeding-large-breed-puppies/
Regarding all-life-stages food.... In 2017, AAFCO began to require these statements Pet food labels for puppies and all life stages will soon have to have one of two qualifiers for the nutritional adequacy statement (AAFCO statement), which is required on every food to show it is complete and balanced: [Pet Food Name] is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for growth/all life stages including growth of large-size dogs (70 lbs or more as an adult). [Pet Food Name] is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for growth/all life stages except for growth of large-size dogs (70 lbs or more as an adult). Choosing an All-Life-Stages food that has used real food trials (where dogs are fed the product for a specified amount of time and examined with records kept) rather than one that is simply based upon the nutritional guidelines AND one that contains the first statement above, if perfectly okay as long as the calcium/phosphorus ratio is within the large breed puppy guidelines. Most of the better dog foods already have these labels on their bags, but for those who don't? They had two years to implement the changes - one year remaining of that two years.
We recently changed to Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20. Our Shih Tzu always had soft stool. Lincoln seemed a bit thin and was not gaining much weight. Since the switch all three dogs have well formed solid stool. Lincoln @ 4 months old is a robust 25 pounds..
It is isn’t it.... we feed a raw diet as that is what the breeder had him on and there are many supposed benefits, but raw is a mine field in its self. I’m not totally pro raw like most are, but I’ve yet to smell one of buddy’s farts and his poos are rock solid every time, and he absolutely loves it, just to give you another option, as if you needed another on ha ha!
we have Kyko on royal canin pediatric junior large dog as this is what the breeder had him on. He really enjoys him & so far seems to suit him. He loves it so much its scarfed down in about 2 seconds. Going to get him a slow feeder & a snuffle mat to try and slow him down as he gets hiccups at least once a day after eating. It's mighty cute but shows how much he's gulping it down
@Browneyedhandsomebuddy How much does feeding him raw cost you? It is a new thing where I come from and new, "home made, awesome, super duper, healthy....." manufacturers pop up every day. So, since everything new must have a price of platinum, it would cost me 15-25€/kg.
Mango, if you have some local butchers you might find it cheaper to feed raw by dealing directly with them and researching how to do a DIY raw diet. On the other hand, it is definitely more convenient to feed pre-made raw. When I first investigated it, it seemed ridiculously expensive when I used the calculators on the raw websites. However, dogs eat WAY LESS than whatever any manufacturer recommends - whether it's raw, kibble or wet food. So it works out much cheaper. I actually think we are spending about the same on raw as we did on kibble, perhaps even less. I feed 2 dogs raw for about £60/month and that's on a pre-made raw diet... (Nutriment).
I use pre made raw where all the bone content etc is done for you, it’s not cheap, but the breeder had him on it and I did a lot of research and decided to continue. I just felt it was natural, I knew exactly what was in it etc, he loves it and seems to be really thriving from it. That’s not to say there aren’t great alternatives. As I said, I’m not fickle like some raw feeders can be. It’s costing me around £1.50 per day at the moment, but I could probably do it cheaper.
We use combination with kibble (Orijen- Regional Red- all life stages) together with BARF (raw meat with bones). 2 meals are kibble and one is barf, usually dinner. Currently this is not cheap because Orijen is expensive.
After tring a variety of different foods, and reading up on different foods so much that I did not know what was best anymore, since every web side you read has different opinions and test results, we put our girl on NUTRO Ultra large breed puppy, and she is doing absolutely fabulous on if. Her fur has gotten a lot shinier, no more loose bowels, and she loves it.
