Feeding my Rottie Purina Puppy Chow is this right?

[BLem23]

I have been feeding my puppy (5mo) Purina Puppy Chow. Is this a food that will make him grow too fast or should I definitely check into something more like Science Diet Large Breed Formula? I want the best for my little boy and would appreciate any help anyone could offer. Thanks, Brian

[Nosferatu]

My male, Mac, is eight months old now and when we got him from the breeder he was on Puppy Chow. I stayed with the food for a while but found that he pooped a lot and that they were very runny. I did some research and chose Iams Large Breed puppy for him which I used until he was seven and a half months old. The package says you can use it until a year but Mac now weighs 105 pounds (no fat, he is just a big dog) so I felt he didn't need any more puppy food. He is now on the Iams Large Breed Adult.

When I switched foods I noticed a definite difference in his stools, less and firmer. His gas is also less frequent and usually less pungent (except for pizza nights when the dogs get the crusts). The most noticeable change is in his coat which is much shinier now.

The guy at the feed store compared Puppy Chow to eating MacDonald's every day - it won't kill you but it is not the healthiest diet.

[judy v]

I have attended several seminars dealing with nutrition. One vet said, "As a rule of thumb, you generally get what you pay for." Most of us in this area won't buy what we find at the super market. I've had good luck with several of the primium brands. Use the search function and see what other people have to say.

[Fing]

By no means am I an expert but I have been doing extensive research on this very subject. Essentially your best source of info is going to be the internet. Goto Northernlight.com and try typing "dog nutrition" or "nutritional needs dogs" etc etc. Try that and read stuff from sites that aren't sponsored by pet food companies. Pretty interesting reading. Most of the sites are against the large food companies and promote making your own food.

Now, if you do want to buy your food I would suggest either getting it from a company that promotes all human grade ingredients or from a company that has the least amount of ingredients on the label as long as the meat comes first. (please do some of this research on the web before doing these comparisons so that you'll better understand) If you plan on going with a store bought brand stick with a good brand name with a specific meat listed as the first ingredient. ie lamb, beef, chicken. A meal is ok too ie. lamb meal, beef meal...you get the picture. Try to stay away from by-products and foods with a grain listed as the first ingredient...corn, corn gluten meal etc etc.

Another thing to look out for, if you are really concerned for your Rott's health, are chemical preservatives. Stay away from BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin. These are either known or suspected carcinogens and mutagens. In other words real bad for you both.

The higher end foods with the more meat may cost a bit more but will actually cost around the same as a cheap brand of food in the long run. The premium brand's nutrients and calories are more digestable and useable than the econo brand so it actually takes less food to get the same effect with a premium brand. For a while I HAD to feed cheapo brand food because of budget constraints. I fed my Newt about 8-12 cups a day!!!!!!!! He still didn't gain any weight other than what would be normal for his growth over that period of time. Do you know how hard it is to get a dog to eat that much!!! When he was still eating his regular 6 or so cups he was losing weight at an alarming rate until I managed to get him to eat more. Ended up buying more bags of the stuff too so I ended up paying about the same amount of money!!!


eh.....enough of my babble....do your own research and make an educated decision. Good luck and I hope you find a food suited to your dog's and your needs!


Fing

BTW, Depending on who you believe and what expert you quote, a Rotti should be considered a pup up until anywhere from 1 to two years. I personally subscribe to the "treat em as a puppy til they're two" group. I feed according to what the dog's needs are. If I see a weight problem or something that leads me to believe he has a nutrient deficiency or overage I'll adjust accordingly.

[This message has been edited by Fing (edited November 09, 1999).]

[Killfactor]

I personally have fed my dogs "premium"(this does not include Iams, science diet or euk. in my books) puppy food til they are about 4mo, and at an Ideal weight, then switch to a premium adult food from then on, as someone said, adjust accordingly 4mo is a general rule. My biggest thing would be when picking food is that it has no preservatives and the word Corn does not appear on the label, also meat should be the first word.

[laurlitt]

I agree with judy v... it might be best to stay away from supermarket dog foods. The cost is better, but the quality is not. You will also find that at a pet store you can talk to someone who knows about the products and help you find the one that is best for your dog/puppy. From my experience with various dog foods, the best quality food leaves the least amount of mess in my backyard!!!

[Vingaard]

I did like Killfactor, I had Loki on a premium puppy food until he was 6months and then switched to adult forumal...

You said you had him on purina puppy chow? Have you looked in to purina pro plan? they have good formulas for both pups and adults as well as a rice and lamb for dogs with more sensitive tummies.

btw, pro plan is what I feed mine.

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price@bayou.com
Sir Loki Chancellor Zoro

[New Rottie Owner]

I was wondering why everyone seems to be feeding their dogs puppy food for such a short period of time. My vets have always said at least a year of puppy food.

[Jay]

Killfactor - I am wondering why you will not accept corn as an ingredient in pet food ?

[Nancy Estes]

At one time it was thought that puppies needed very high amounts of protein for growth, especially large, fast growing breeds. The current research suggests that accelerating the growth process through diet can actually be harmful. This is similar to the old idea that dogs needed calcium supplementation; then it was found that calcium supplementation (without a proven medical need for it) actually could cause the problems it was supposed to prevent. So, many premium foods have been re-formulated. Slower, steadier growth is healthier than rapid growth in medium to large breed dogs. So you do not want a high protein diet for rapidly growth. This is why many people now take puppies off puppy food at a younger age & switch to a moderate protein adult/maintenance food. However, all that said - it will all depend on which food you use and your individual puppy and how it utilizes the food. If your puppy is very active, tends to be underweight or not hold a healthy weight easily, you're better off sticking the a quallity puppy food. If your puppy has a tendency to put on weight easily, isn't particularly active and fairly slow growing - you should switch to an adult/maintenance diet. In other words - generalities - no hard and fast, in every case, rules.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[Killfactor]

Corn is a cheap filler, there are much more digestable forms of protein, not to be gross, but this kinda made sense to me, if you have ever ate corn and seen your waste, usually you will find whole kernels left, not real scientific, but it lends me to believe what I have read about corn in dog food, now.... finding food without corn is another trick, there are only a handfull that I know of, luckily they are all sold in my area.

[Vingaard]

Jay,

Aside from what killfactor stated about corn.
Many dogs have allergies to corn and corn products. With the growing number of dogs that show these allergies, it's simply good to remove the cause of them.

For example, I live in Louisian and it gets incredibly hot down here in the summer. Loki suffered with "hot spots" for most of the summer untill i took him off corn.. and voila, it was a miracle.. within a couple weeks the hot spots vanished and he hasn't had one since. and that was during the summer.

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price@bayou.com
Sir Loki Chancellor Zoro

[This message has been edited by Vingaard (edited November 25, 1999).]

[Jay]

Thanks for the reply, the reason I asked is that it is very hard to find a dog food, that doesn't use some form of corn, as an ingredient. But they do not all use the corn in the same form nor for the same reason, all foods that have corn are not corn based or use as a primary filler, in the right form corn can actually be a good source of protien, it is definitely not toxic or something to be avoided at all cost. I am not defending corn based foods or saying that certain forms used strictly as a filler is correct, but the fact the word corn is in a label does not make the particular food bad for your dog. It is more important on the formed used and for what purpose, it definitely should not be the base. There have been reports of corn and other ingredients in dog food that have caused allergic reaction in certain dogs, this have never been my experience personally, I have had problems with my dogs not doing well with a particular food and switched to a different food with some common ingredients and the problem ceased.