[GunnarBear]

Gunnar is 12 weeks old today! We just took him to the vet and he weighed in at 31.2lbs. Currently, he's eating between 4-4.5 cups of Innova Large Breed Puppy a day.

Our breeder was telling us how her dogs have a tendency to grow very quickly and to limit protein content to under 30%. Is there any truth behind this?

I would love to start him on a raw diet (or maybe a higher protein grain free) but she told me to hold off until 1 year to 18 months old. I see what other people feed their puppies here and of course it depends on the pup, but I'm just looking for another viewpoint on this.

His stool is solid and he has no problem eating his food everyday. If it ain't broke don't fix it kinda thing? I don't know, just puzzled I guess. Thanks in advance for the help all. Happy Holidays!

 

[TxDobieLady]

he will be fine. My puppy and many others on this site are on TOTW grain free diet which includes 32% protein and ive seen no ill effect only positive ones

 

[Sinister]

What kind are you feeding? Mine only has 25% protein. I want to switch to the puppy formula (28%) and I supplement raw.
Honestly I think grain-free is a great way to go.

he will be fine. My puppy and many others on this site are on TOTW grain free diet which includes 32% protein and ive seen no ill effect only positive ones

 

[MeadowCat]

The idea that high protein is dangerous for puppies is a myth. The most recent research suggests a high protein diet is just fine. It's the ratio of calcium/phosphorus that you need to be worried about. I know plenty of pups that have been raised on raw. If you do it right, you should be fine. Shanoa grew up on Orijen large breed puppy formula and did fantastic on it. Nice, slow growth, and very healthy.

Further reading on the "High Protein myth": http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

 

[GunnarBear]

Thanks for the advice, it was pretty much what I was leaning towards. I was looking into both the Orijen puppy and the TOTW. Orijen is slightly higher protein content, but I'm sure the quality of both foods is top notch. This weekened I'm going to pick up a bag of the Orijen and start mixing. I'll monitor and see how he and his belly like it.

 

[TxDobieLady]

What kind are you feeding? Mine only has 25% protein. I want to switch to the puppy formula (28%) and I supplement raw.
Honestly I think grain-free is a great way to go.

The yellow bag of Taste of The Wild - Bison formula. Alice loves it she doesnt like the pacific stream formula

 

[LindaH]

Thanks for the advice, it was pretty much what I was leaning towards. I was looking into both the Orijen puppy and the TOTW. Orijen is slightly higher protein content, but I'm sure the quality of both foods is top notch. This weekened I'm going to pick up a bag of the Orijen and start mixing. I'll monitor and see how he and his belly like it.

While you don't have to worry about the amount of protein you are feeding, you do have to worry about the calories your puppy consumes. If you overfeed a high quality, high protein food, you are looking at some growth problems.

Just remember that a puppy can't eat as much of the high protein foods as they can of the lower protein foods. So be very careful of the amounts you feed your pup.

 

[MeadowCat]

Yes, Linda's correct on that! Shanoa ate less of Orijen than she did with other foods. So be careful with that!