Confused About Vet/Breeder Requirments

[tcmarkley]

Hey guys...I'm new to the boards but found it about a week before picking up my new chocolate lab.

Before picking her up today I was convinced Orijen Large Breed Puppy would be the best kibble for the new 8 week old pup. The breeder (who is also a vet) offers a guarantee but only if I continue to feed her Eukanuba Puppy Growth or Purina Pro Plan. She simply stated she has seen enough labs not do well on Orijen and that she doesn't think it does well with her dogs. Overall, she seems pretty health conscious. She also requires we maintain the supplement regimen of Missing Link and Glyco Flex.

What are everyone's thoughts?

[Jacksons Mom]

I would definitely NOT feed Eukanuba or Purina over Orijen... maybe Orijen doesn't do well with her dogs, but there's plenty of other high quality foods that probably will. I could be totally wrong, but do breeders get some kind of free stuff or benefits for feeding Purina, etc? Would you have to purchase the food from her?

[luvMyBRT]

I would have to agree. Eukanuba and Purina are some of the lowest quality kibbles you could feed. Maybe Orijen is too rich for some of her Labs, but there are far better grain free kibbles you could feed. Would she be okay with another higher quality kibble other than Orijen?

[luvMyBRT]

I got to thinking. I'm not too sure how many grain free large breed puppy foods there are....Orijen is the only one I know of right now. Still, there are many other kibbles out there that would be far superior to Eukanuba or Purina.

[SaltyDog]

The others have already told you about the food. I personally would not feed Eukanuba or Purina either. I'm not interested in my money back on a dog, I'm interested in her living a full eventful life :)

Now for the supplements.

First...Glycoflex is made with Glucosimine HCI NOT Glucosomine Sulfate. Glucosomine Sulfate is what you want. Everything else "masks" issues or has no proven effect to work such as MSM, Chondroitin Sulfate, Gluco HCI, Gluco ND.

Your new puppy has no issues with joints or arithritis at this time, so what you are doing is preventative maintenance. For that, my personal recomendation is CanEVA Elk Velvet Antler. CanEVA - Home

Second....Missing Link contains questionable ingredients such as rice bran, yeast, beef liver and dried fish solubles. It is reflective in the price.

A waaaaaaay better whole foods supplement would be Wholistic Canine Complete or Animal Essentials Herbal Multi-Vitamin.

Again, this is only my opinion

[DaneMama]

What is the health guarantee exactly? And you have to ask yourself, would you want another puppy from this breeder *if* there was any genetic problems with the first puppy?

Personally I would feed a better food than the crap they are suggesting. How is the breeder supposed to know what you feed exaclty? I know that lying is not the right thing to do but in this case, couldn't you just say that you will feed it and feed something else instead???

[rannmiller]

First...Glycoflex is made with Glucosimine HCI NOT Glucosomine Sulfate. Glucosomine Sulfate is what you want. Everything else "masks" issues or has no proven effect to work such as MSM, Chondroitin Sulfate, Gluco HCI, Gluco ND.

I would tend to agree with you but I take a supplement with glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, and MSM and it has really helped more than when i was just taking glucosamine and chondroitin. So I tend to believe that a combo of the three works best. *shrug* maybe that's just me though.

[QUOTE=SaltyDog;37574]Your new puppy has no issues with joints or arithritis at this time, so what you are doing is preventative maintenance. For that, my personal recomendation is CanEVA Elk Velvet Antler. CanEVA - Home

Chicken feet, or any regular hip/joint supplement will work just as well. Why the heck does this breeder need so many supplements to keep her puppies healthy if her precious Eukanuba works so well anyway? That's a question to ask her!

Second....Missing Link contains questionable ingredients such as rice bran, yeast, beef liver and dried fish solubles. It is reflective in the price.

What's wrong with beef liver and fish? I agree about the rest, like molasses, not being good though. I tried it on my dogs back in the day when they were still on kibble and all it did was make their stools huge.

I think you should try the Orijen large breed puppy, it worked really well for my friend's puppy and has worked really well for most dogs I've heard of who get put on it.

[MollyWoppy]

Personally I would feed a better food than the crap they are suggesting. How is the breeder supposed to know what you feed exaclty? I know that lying is not the right thing to do but in this case, couldn't you just say that you will feed it and feed something else instead???

Exactly what I would be inclined to do........

[harrkim120]

I could be totally wrong, but do breeders get some kind of free stuff or benefits for feeding Purina, etc?

Some do. We see people coming into Petsmart all the time with coupons for free bags or checks to be reimbursed on food from the companies. I had someone with a Rhodesian Ridgeback take one of my classes and their breeder made them sign a contract stating that they would only feed the puppy Eukanuba until he was six months old. Their breeder was getting ALL of their food for free from the company.

I know that lying is not the right thing to do but in this case, couldn't you just say that you will feed it and feed something else instead???

I also agree.

[CorgiPaws]

Before picking her up today I was convinced Orijen Large Breed Puppy would be the best kibble for the new 8 week old pup. The breeder (who is also a vet) offers a guarantee but only if I continue to feed her Eukanuba Puppy Growth or Purina Pro Plan.

Go with what you KNOW is best. Keep in mind that vets tend to be the WORST source of nutritional information. They don't get much training on it at all, and the training they DO get is from the big box dog food companies. To put it lightly, the breeder you went with simply does not have faith in her breeding program to have such a silly clause in the contract.

Overall, she seems pretty health conscious. She also requires we maintain the supplement regimen of Missing Link and Glyco Flex.

Being a vet, I imagine she would be... but there comes a point where you're not just conscious, you're going totally overboard with misinformation. I am not one bit surprised this breeder is a vet.

What are everyone's thoughts?

I would forget her stupid contract. What good is it anyway?? If the puppy gets sick do you really want a replacement? If he gets hip dysplasia do you really want to "return" him for your money back?? This is a breeder that I would definitely no go back to, because she clearly has no understanding of the basics of canine nutrition. Generally clauses like this in contracts are because breeders want to provide themselves several possible outlets to not have to hold the contract. I'd be interested to know what other terms are in the contract.




That being said, congratulations on the new puppy.