# South African Boerboel Puppy Food Recommendation



## akatrk (Oct 18, 2009)

I am getting a Boerboel puppy in the next couple of weeks and needed a few dry kibble recommendations to feed her. The breeder uses Nutro Max but I am not a particular fan of Nutro (no offense to any users of Nutro).

After reading some of the posts, I am confused if I should be giving her a high protein kibble (Orijen, Innova EVO, Blue Wilderness, TOTW, etc.) or just stick to a kibble with less protein and calcium for large breed puppies (Innova, Wellness, Blue Buffallo, etc.).


----------



## dobesgalore (Oct 21, 2009)

I am not familiar with the breed, but we feed our Aussie puppy Chicken Soup for the puppy lovers soul. It has no corn, wheat, soy or by-products. Its a holistic food. We have been real happy with it.


----------



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

If your pup can handle the higher protein foods, I would definitely recommend sticking with the grain-free ones. If you're worried about having a large breed formula, Orijen has one and is one of the best foods on the market. 

And don't worry about offending anyone for not liking Nutro, I think we all agree with you on that one! Just make sure to do a really slow transition for your puppy since going from that garbage to Orijen is a BIG change, so you don't want any digestic upset.


----------



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Have you looked into the Natura brand products, like Innova large breed puppy? Or even wellness has great foods! This is also very good although I do agree with rannmiller about orijen! Just a great food!:smile:
And Nutro just one to avoid alltogether!


----------



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

if youre going with high protein, make sure thats its formulated for puppies, orijen makes a puppy food but innova evo does not, though you can try feeding him regular innova puppy and then switch to evo once he's full grown. 
best of luck


----------



## jeserf (Oct 20, 2009)

I have a mastiff mix (and lots of people ask if she's a boerbol!). She was in Innova large breed and did horribly on it - very sick. Other than her current issues, she's done best on california naturals - same company, far fewer ingredients and her tummy adjusted to it instantly.


----------



## t0nnn (Apr 1, 2009)

jeserf said:


> I have a mastiff mix (and lots of people ask if she's a boerbol!). She was in Innova large breed and did horribly on it - very sick. Other than her current issues, she's done best on california naturals - same company, far fewer ingredients and her tummy adjusted to it instantly.


^^ Same thing for us...

We have an italian mastiff and she did ok on Innova Puppy at first, but after about 2 months she started getting diarrhea. We put her on Cal. Natural chicken and rice and she did good on that, then put her on Horizon Legacy which she does great on, which is a high protein, grainless kibble.


----------



## akatrk (Oct 18, 2009)

Ok, forgive my ignorance but that is why I am asking so I don't make a mistake. I have read on other websites that a large breed puppy shouldn't have so much protein. Is this true? I read the ingredients on Orijen and I am very impressed. I'm just concerned if this is too much.


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

akatrk said:


> Ok, forgive my ignorance but that is why I am asking so I don't make a mistake. I have read on other websites that a large breed puppy shouldn't have so much protein. Is this true? I read the ingredients on Orijen and I am very impressed. I'm just concerned if this is too much.


There is much speculation and debate over this issue. In past times things like HOD and OCD were thought to be caused by high %'s of protein in dog foods or simple overnutrition only. They have not been proven wrong, but there may be multiple reasons for these disease to appear in large breed dogs...such as vaccinations, genetics, stress, over exercising too young, etc.

This food is a great food as far as kibbles go. There is more protein in this kibble than in a raw diet...40% vs 20% respectively by composition. In this light I wouldn't worry about your puppy eating this food. We have successfully raised a Great Dane puppy on raw without issue, and since your new puppy is a giant breed they should be pretty darn similar!

ETA: Grain free foods are SUPER rich. They can make some dogs very sick because they cannot handle it...keep an eye on their stool to make sure things are going well.


----------



## sganow (Apr 16, 2009)

We use Nature's Variety and our dogs have done very well on it. Nature's Variety foods are for all life stages. We started out with the Prairie versions because they are more appropriate for puppies. Later we mixed in some Instinct from time to time for some additional variety and protein.


----------



## RedRoxBoerboels (Dec 8, 2008)

We feed our Boerboels Solid Gold and Orijen.

We just delivered 4 Puppies ( they are 10 weeks now). Some are on the Solid Gold Large Breed Puppy and some are on the Orijen Large Breed Puppy.



```
www.redroxboerboels.com
```
If you look on our website you will see old information on our food, haven't had time to update yet

Regards
Carl


----------



## akatrk (Oct 18, 2009)

RedRoxBoerboels said:


> We feed our Boerboels Solid Gold and Orijen.
> 
> We just delivered 4 Puppies ( they are 10 weeks now). Some are on the Solid Gold Large Breed Puppy and some are on the Orijen Large Breed Puppy.


If you dont mind me asking, why the split?


----------



## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I use Acana Wild Prairie for my giant malamute. It has 33% protein and the makers are Champion Pet Foods. I too was concerned about too much protein. I was also looking at Innova Evo, but the protein was too high for me. I chose Acana food because of the ingredients and the quality. Plus, it has great levels of Glucosamine and Chondroitin. Personally, it's something all giant breeds should have. Don't know when you should put your pup on Glucosamine and Chondroitin though. Maybe he's too young. I started when he was a year old!


----------



## midatlanticboerboels (Nov 17, 2009)

For dry food I would suggest Taste of the Wild (salmon). If you can feed RAW thats the best option.

Gille
Mid Atlantic Boerboels


----------



## GermanSheperdlover (Nov 15, 2009)

All these foods are pretty good. I feed my GS puppy Orijem large bred puppy, California Natural puppy, Horizon Legacy puppy and Innova large bred puppy. Yes, I feed them all together with a small amount of a good brand of powdered Vitamins. He has firm stools and looks and acts like a puppy should.:wink:


----------



## RedRoxBoerboels (Dec 8, 2008)

akatrk said:


> If you dont mind me asking, why the split?


Sorry for the late reply.

Since food recalls a few years back we have been in the process of finding the right food that fits both our Boerboels. We abandoned Canidae after their formula switch. Our male started having yellow diarhea from that.
We started feeding Timberwolf after a few bags we had a batch with the fish flavor which the dogs wouldn't touch. When we returned the bag to the store we heard that this was the 5th return for that flavor within a week. All different type dogs that stopped eating.

Then we switched to Taste of the Wild. That worked fine until I ran into this forum and read that they do not guarantee that their supplier of fish ingredient doesn't add the "poisonous" preservative. 

Solid Gold was our next food of choice because it is easily available for many puppy buyers. We are now in the process of switching over to 100% Orijen since we believe this to be the better food that works really well for both our 130lb dogs.

The split for the puppies is because at 8 weeks they went to new homes and some owners liked feeding the Solid Gold which is available at more stores and some other owners liked the Orijen route.

We just provide recommendations for the brands that we like


----------



## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

akatrk said:


> Ok, forgive my ignorance but that is why I am asking so I don't make a mistake. I have read on other websites that a large breed puppy shouldn't have so much protein. Is this true? I read the ingredients on Orijen and I am very impressed. I'm just concerned if this is too much.


the previous thinking was the high protein would cause too fast of growth. It is now believed that Protein levels can be high, as long as the Calcium Levels are Below 1.5% and the Phosphorus levels are Below .09-1.0% 
Orijen Large Breed Puppy formula falls into this category.


----------

