[Nomad60]

So I took Damon to get the sutures removed from his ears today, and the vet that did the removal asked me what I was feeding him. I told him Taste of the Wild Puppy large breed formula and he told me to stop feeding that to him. He then pointed to the knots on Damon's front legs (see pic) and said the food was causing these and it was causing Damon to grow too fast, which is a bad thing. He then told me to switch him to a brand like Purina, Science Diet or Iams.
Now...I did a lot of research on foods before I started feeding and although Purina isn't the worst, it also isn't the best due to the ingredients and the Iams got less than stellar reviews. However, the TOTW, along with Orijens, were always highly rated.
Are those knots something to be worried about? Is the vet correct?

 

[EmilyB]

Feeding a large breed a puppy formula can cause them to grow too quickly. I don't think you need to feed what the vet is recommending but you may want to switch to the adult formula.

 

[Jennie ATX]

Nomad, you said you are feeding TOTW Large Breed puppy but I don't recall there being a LARGE breed puppy TOTW formula. On their website they have two puppy formulas and neither are marked large breed puppy. They are also both grain-free and fairly high in protein, which may be a problem for some dogs.

If you are feeding a regular puppy food you need to switch to a large breed puppy formulation or even an all-life stages formulation. Regular puppy food has too much calcium for a large breed. Try Innova Large Breed puppy, that is often recommended here.

Google "knuckling over" and see if it seems like that's what your problem is. Here is some info from a popular website: Knuckling Over and HOD - Developmental Orthopedic Disease | GREATDANELADY.COM

ETA: Yes the knots are something to worry about, but you can find a large breed puppy food that is more appropriate for your puppy and still high-quality. Definitely keep an eye on the problem and if it doesn't get any better after switching foods, you'll need to take him back in to the vet. Whatever you do, don't give any extra calcium or puppy supplements.

 

[Jennie ATX]

Both Acana and Orijen make large breed puppy foods - I like Acana a lot, it's what I feed my own dogs.

 

[Nomad60]

Oops, you're right; I just looked at it and it is only puppy formula, not large breed. Hmmm....time to switch dog food. I ordered some of the Orijen earlier.

 

[sam77755]

Acana is a great puppy food

 

[Nomad60]

I feel really bad now. All this time I thought the TOTW was a good, healthy food for him and now I find out I was actually hurting him by feeding that to him. The Purina One large breed puppy food (one of the ones the vet recommended) has 28% protein vs. the 27% the TOTW has so isn't the Purina even worse?

 

[EmilyB]

Some good reading here:

The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare?

 

[LindaH]

High amounts of protein isnt the problem. Protein sourced from meats is good. Protein sourced from veggies and/or grains is hard for a dog to digest and is hard on kidneys and liver. You should be fine feeding Orijen as long as you dont overfeed. I would sit down, take that pups wrist joint between my palms and massage it. Massage each joint for 15 minutes twice a day for ten to fourteen days. Massaging his joints should help straighten him out faster and he needs exercise, too.

 

[Nomad60]

Some good reading here:

The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare?

Excellent, thanks

 

[Nomad60]

High amounts of protein isnt the problem. Protein sourced from meats is good. Protein sourced from veggies and/or grains is hard for a dog to digest and is hard on kidneys and liver. You should be fine feeding Orijen as long as you dont overfeed. I would sit down, take that pups wrist joint between my palms and massage it. Massage each joint for 15 minutes twice a day for ten to fourteen days. Massaging his joints should help straighten him out faster and he needs exercise, too.

Will do. By exercise, do you mean nice slow, long walks or running around in the backyard playing fetch and such? I've been letting him run around a couple of times a day so he can burn some energy and get exercise but I want to make sure that hard running is good for him while he's got those knots.

 

[LindaH]

Just let him run around and play. I wouldnt play fetch too much, so he doesnt overdo himself. No forced exercise.

 

[stryker2]

What ever you feed. DO NOT feed the foods the Vet mentioned. Also watch what treats you feed. Nothing with corn, wheat, soy for starters.
LindaH has a lot of the food sites on her posts.

 

[Patches Mom]

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble is also a good place to look at dog foods. I have heard most vets do not have that much schooling in nutrition. Lean to read the back of the bag the ingredients.

 

[mmctaq]

I'm not sure that those don't look like normal, knobby puppy wrists, to me... hard to tell without some more photos, but I am not so sure there is a problem there, at all.