# Large Breed Formulas



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Ok, so in looking at different formulas of different product lines i have come to the conclusion that special "large breed formulas" are an absolute gimick. They tend to be $10-$14 bucks more for a large size bag, and it's pretty much the same exact thing. 
For those who use and recommend them: have you ever actually compared the ingredients and analysis? 
I actually had a customer get upset with me that we charged more for large breed after she compared the ingredients, and I had to explain that we charged more because our distributer charges more... and so on. 
Two words: rip off.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I have 3 dogs considered large breeds one 55 lbs. one 75 lbs. and trimming down haha:wink: also one 95 lbs. and I do not use large breed food! I use premium which they love but have not used large breed. I wonder though if people feel they need to because of the glucosimine/chondrotine in the mix. I just give them the pills from sams club and it works! But I did not fall inot that trap! But I do get the biggest bag of food haha!:biggrin:


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

wags said:


> I wonder though if people feel they need to because of the glucosimine/chondrotine in the mix.


There is not nearly enough glucosimine/chondrotine in dog food to be helpful at all. It is another marketing gimmick.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

RawFedDogs said:


> There is not nearly enough glucosimine/chondrotine in dog food to be helpful at all. It is another marketing gimmick.


You caught my drift! Exactly! :tongue:I think people see these words and think they should get this food because of these ingredients! :frown:Thats why I don't worry about this and buy it for the dogs from Sams club!:biggrin:


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## Phoenix087 (Aug 18, 2009)

For adult dogs i agree with you guys.... BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula. The levels of calcium in small/medium breed premium dry foods is much too high for large breed puppies... Large breed dogs grow considerably slower than their smaller cousins, and too much calcium can be more harmful than not enough.


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## EnglishBullTerriers (Sep 10, 2008)

Phoenix087 said:


> For adult dogs i agree with you guys.... BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula. The levels of calcium in small/medium breed premium dry foods is much too high for large breed puppies... Large breed dogs grow considerably slower than their smaller cousins, and too much calcium can be more harmful than not enough.


I am not so sure that I agree with you, I have had to go to the pet store and spend hours there (with the employees asking if I need any help! I refuse since they will only try to confuse me.) and I have looked over the calories, calcium and other ingredients on the list. I have a Mastiff mix as most of you know and I also have that female EBT that just had puppies and they both need a lot of the same things right now. I was litterally sitting on the floor at the store this last week with about 6 bags of dog food laying around me while I looked at the ingredients. They were all almost the exact same and what was different, wasn't enough to sweat over. I ended up getting the regular puppy formula and the adult formula to mix for Izzy. The adult formula is also for the Mastiff mix. Both foods had the same everything, but the puppy had a tiny bit more calories for Izzy, which is why I am mixing with the adult. Other then that, they are the same thing! Nothing was different.
BTW, I am feeding them Orejin now. The Wellness Core didn't have as much of what I needed for Izzy and I don't see any reason to buy more then one bag of food for the dogs that are on kibble.  Plus, Izzy gets the calcium in pills in her food every day. So that works out for me too. 
I do find that I supplement my dogs more when they are on kibble then Owen being on raw though. Oh well. Everything works itself out in the end I guess.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

Small bites, small breed, large breed, large breed puppy, adult, senior, and all life stages. The way i figure it is, feed the dog something. Geez, I don't see any choices for small people, big people, large boned people, etc. Too dang confusing. Besides, a chicken leg is a chicken leg, it don't make a dam who eats it.


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## EnglishBullTerriers (Sep 10, 2008)

Doc said:


> Small bites, small breed, large breed, large breed puppy, adult, senior, and all life stages. The way i figure it is, feed the dog something. Geez, I don't see any choices for small people, big people, large boned people, etc. Too dang confusing. Besides, a chicken leg is a chicken leg, it don't make a dam who eats it.


Hey now Doc,
Remember, you are on the kibble site now. Be nice! I know the benefits of raw, but I also know that I can't feed every dog that comes into my house raw cause that will break the bank the is already squeeling, if you know what I mean. I only look for the best in what I have to work with. If I get ahold of a ton of meat for cheap, dang straight I am going to feed that. Otherwise, I only have what is given to me and thats not much! You are welcome to go onto the raw site and yell at me for kibble feeding, but not on the kibble site. 
Keep it seperate and keep it nice! 
Got it?? :wink:


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Phoenix087 said:


> BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula.


Im sure I don't agree with you. Large breed puppies grow MUCH faster than small breeds. For example, Great Dane puppies (my breed) weigh 2 or 3 lbs at birth and can weigh 100 lbs at 9 months. Thats 50X birth weight in less than a year. No way a small breed puppy can come even close to that. Actually most knowledgable Dane owners don't feed puppy food to a puppy at all. They start them on adult food and feed it their whole life.

Again, large breed, small breed, puppy, adult, senior are all marketing gimmicks trying to convince you that you are feeding a food that is particularly formulated for your dog. Nothing could be further from the truth. The differences in all these foods nutritionwise are miniscule.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

EnglishBullTerriers said:


> Hey now Doc,
> Remember, you are on the kibble site now. Be nice! I know the benefits of raw, but I also know that I can't feed every dog that comes into my house raw cause that will break the bank the is already squeeling, if you know what I mean. I only look for the best in what I have to work with. If I get ahold of a ton of meat for cheap, dang straight I am going to feed that. Otherwise, I only have what is given to me and thats not much! You are welcome to go onto the raw site and yell at me for kibble feeding, but not on the kibble site.
> Keep it seperate and keep it nice!
> Got it?? :wink:


I wasn't sassing you hun, honest. :redface: I know better. I slip my dawgs some kibble at times and I use to feed Orijen until dem yankees from canada reniged on their breeders discount. I was buying (7) 30 pound bags at one time to feed my hongry dawgs and little yappers. I now use Natural balance Lamb Meal and rice - cheaper and good quality. Even got some Kirkland when times get bad.

But I gotta say - chicken backs at 23 cents a pound; turkey necks at 50 cents and chicken leg quarters at 48 cents makes feeding my pack afforable. Now dem pig spare ribs isa gonna cost me - 1.70 a pound so dem German shepherds ain't gettin many of dem. Ifn they did, den day wood want cold beer to drank wid em.

I will be nice cuz I understand Dog Economics 101 - the bowls is bigger den the pocket book.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Phoenix087 said:


> BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula.


Lies.:biggrin:


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## claybuster (Dec 18, 2008)

Phoenix087 said:


> For adult dogs i agree with you guys.... BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula. The *levels of calcium in small/medium breed premium dry foods is much too high for large breed puppies*... Large breed dogs grow considerably slower than their smaller cousins, and too much calcium can be more harmful than not enough.




It is not the calcium levels causing the problem. This implies the calcium levels are at fault because bone can grow faster than the rate of tissue.
The opposite is true, the levels of animal source proteins are too weak to supply adequate tissue growth to keep up with the rate of bone. The best thing for the dog is an abundance of animal source proteins to ensure tissue can keep up with bone.


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## Vivian (Aug 1, 2009)

*Large Breed Puppy*

Well I guess I am still not sure what to feed my new 11 week puppy.She has had diarrea for the last 2 and 1/2 weeks.2 vet visits and 2 vet calls. That is including today.She has been dewormed every 2 weeks since birth.The vet gave her today another round of metronidazole for another 7 days.and for the next 3 days something called Panacur.She did have a poo sample checked and nothing showed up in it .Breeder had her on large breed Eukanuba puppy and after she stopped having the runs I started giving her a 1/4 cup of Solid gold large breed puppy bison and as soon as she finished her first 7 days of her meds the next day ,last night up all night every hour again with the runs.I need to find a food.Gave here plain rice with a little chicken brooth in it and she would not touch it (strange she is a lab and I thought they ate EVERYTHING).I went through this same thing with my 3 year old lab.and found a food with duck and oatmeal but they changed it and am now in the middle of finding a new food for her.One good thing my 5 year old lab can eat anything.Any help would be great


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## GrrLAman (Oct 25, 2009)

*Calcium/Phosphorus ratio critical for large breed puppy food*



Phoenix087 said:


> For adult dogs i agree with you guys.... BUT with large breed puppies, they NEED a large breed formula. The levels of calcium in small/medium breed premium dry foods is much too high for large breed puppies... Large breed dogs grow considerably slower than their smaller cousins, and too much calcium can be more harmful than not enough.


Hey Everybody, 

I am getting a German Shepherd Puppy from a fantastic kennel in Feburary. After exhaustive research yesterday I came up with a truly great site...

Resource Library for Eukanuba Breeders - Growing Pains: Successfully Raising the Large Breed Puppy

Even though the site is Eukanuba the information is scholarly and very useful. Scroll down to the Calcium Phosphorus section, copy the middle numbers, and start looking for the percentages that were proven to work for large breed puppies. Key is not giving the dogs too much food (No open bowl policy) so that they grow too fast and thus get into bone troubles. They will hit their target weight just not as fast and althewhile having the best chance for avoiding HD, etc.

Great site, just joined tonight!

Grr


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