Large breed puppies

[juliefurry]

Ok, I have two large breed puppies and I have heard that large breed puppies should be fed the large breed puppy formula for longer than their first year. Is this true? And if it is how do I know when to stop feeding them? My vet just sort of gave me this blank stare and said "oh, it depends on the breed." He didn't tell me anymore though. Some people have said 18 months and some people have said a full 24 months.

 

[Mordy]

i wouldn't recommend a puppy food at all, not even a specific "large breed" one. a good quality, regular adult food labeled "for all lifestages" supplies everything a large breed puppy needs, without the two extremes of either feeding a filler laden food or supplying a concentration of nutrients that is too high.

 

[Fran27]

Ok I am confused now... I'm planning on feeding Innova to my puppies (one large breed, the other medium breed). You're saying that I should just get the adult innova food and not the puppy one? I was planning on getting some normal puppy food and some large breed puppy food... It sure would make things easier for me because it's hell to feed them their own food, but I would think that Innova knows what they are doing when they are making puppy and large breed puppy food...

 

[Barb04]

Before Innova came out with the Large Breed Puppy food about 2 months ago, they told me to feed the Adult Puppy food and were able to give the proportions for a puppy. I started on a different brand and switched to Innova Large Breed Puppy when it came out.

Here is the link for customer service at Innova to ask them any questions you have:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=contact-us

 

[showpug]

I have a mastiff/wolfhound cross puppy who eats the regular Innova Adult food and does great on it and he will be over 120lbs at maturity at least!! Just get the Innova adult and give it to both....you wont be sorry

 

[Fran27]

That sounds good.. And much easier for me! Thanks Now I just have to wait a week or two before they are mostly done with their current food...

Any idea how much I should give for a 2 months old medium size puppy and a 7 1/2 months large size one?

 

[juliefurry]

Oh, that's a good idea. Hmm...maybe I can just feed them all the same brand of food and save myself the extra trip to the petstore.

 

[showpug]

For Innova I would follow the guidelines on the bag for the most part OR go to www.naturapet.com and there is a spot (feeding profile wizard under tools) that you can enter in you pets activity level, name and weight and it will give you an approx. amount to feed. With young puppies as in under 5 months I usually feed what the bag says. As they age I tend to stick to the lighter end of the recommended amount and adjust as needed. Fat dogs are unhealthy dogs

 

[Fran27]

Ok I bought some, and for the cats too. I'm amazed that it was actually cheaper than I thought ($13 for the small cat bag, $36 for the large dog bag). I took the adult dry one, it seems it's about the same composition anyway, and I'm already having dreams of not having to separate the dogs to eat anymore (especially as they always think that the other dog's food is tastier ). Although now I'm worried that Tips will eat more than his share, or Boris will eat everything, lol.

I checked quantities, it's about 1/2 cup a day for Tips and 2 1/2 cup for Boris - basically, about 50% less than the other food I used, for maybe 30% more... so it's actually cheaper!

Now I don't know how I'm going to do to change their diet... I'm tempted to start now and just pitch what's left of the other food (nutro natural choice) when I am done, but I hate throwing food away and it's going to be a math nightmare for me to change the diet progressively... I'll start another thread on that.

Thanks a lot for all the advice

 

[Mordy]

feeding guidelines differ slightly for puppies on the innova adult. i have a separate sheet on that from natura and will gladly forward a copy if you email me.