Large breed puppy food

[EJ & Dante]

At Dante's first vet visit at 8 weeks, the vet recommended we give him large breed puppy food (we feed him Fromm puppy gold).  Our breeder doesn't start them on the large breed, and he was supposed to be 40-50 lbs, so we kept him on the Puppy gold, which he loves.

Dante is from the the 4th breeding of the mom/dad.  Most of the dogs from the three prior litters ARE in the 40-50lb range, I think one "might" be 52 lbs. I felt comfortable keeping him on the regular food, and at his shot visit, the other vet from the practice felt that was fine.   However, Dante is now 3 months old and just hit 20 lbs, he is running bigger than his littermates. The biggest one after him is 17 lbs, down to 15 lbs.  He was the biggest at birth, but only by 1 oz.  I'm strongly suspecting he will exceed the 50 lbs, perhaps be in the 60 lbs range.  If this is the case, should I switch his food?  It's just odd that NONE of the puppies from the prior 3 litters were his size at his age, and all are remarkably in the same weight range.

thoughts?

EJ & Dante

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The ingredients are the same, but the order of those ingredients further down the list are slightly different; ingredients are listed in the order of most to least, so there would be a small difference in flavor. The protein & carb percentages differ slightly. The interesting thing is that she prefers the food with less fat; it's the opposite with most dogs. 

There's no harm in keeping her on the large breed formula. 

[Dr Karen Hoving]

Thanks.

I have a silly question-as humans have days they aren't as hungry. But after Bella wouldn't eat the pink food, I bought the large breed blue bag again as I explained. She's gotten kinda fussy-in a weird way.The cats /and Bella wake me up about he same time every day for breakfast, and then Bella does her "run in the garden." 

Of late she doesn't want to eat. She just goes out...and waits. After a few hours the bowl is empty. She seems healthy. Is up to date on shots, poop is perfect, has lots of puppy friends. Still a bit hyper for my taste (BUT she is still on puppy-time @ less than 8 months old).

Is this just typical of all dogs? My standards had a free feeding plan- bowl filled up every few days. They only ate when hungry-but Bella I fear would eat the entire bag if it exploded on the floor so I'm still feeding her 3x a day.

Sure I'm just being a nervous nelly. The sheepdog part is So different than the standard poodle. She is different than goldendoodles also. I met with the denver doodle group and most were goldendoodles. A breeder came with 3 adult females- 2 Sheepdogs 1 Parti Standard poodle (GORGEOUS). She had 3 males that are the same. When I was around them I realized Bella acts more like the sheep dogs than the standard poodle(I got my last standard at 6 months -but she was SO calm). 

Thanks for everything Karen- my daughter thinks I'm crazy bc I research about food and behavior. But I always have tried to give all my dogs/cats the best (preferably organic-if affordable)food. BY PRODUCTS NOT ALLOWED!

But my standard still died of Cancer-so who knows if it helped. My vet said it wasn't nec the food- so many factors. And she was 13...

Namaste.

Doodle hugs and licks to all,

Karen and Bella

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am not a fan of free-feeding for many reasons, and we've had many discussions about that topic here in TFG. But if "the bowl is empty after a few hours", basically you are free-feeding. Any time food is left in the bowl for any length of time so that the dog has the opportunity to "graze", eating it a mouthful at a time at her leisure is basically free-feeding. 

(I have to say that leaving food in a bowl for days is just a really, really bad idea. Glad you're not doing that with Bella. Among other things, foods preserved naturally will get stale, the fats will get rancid, and it's basically a party for storage mites, lol.) 

At mealtime, put the food in the bowl, keep all distractions to a minimum (no calling out to other family members from room to room, nobody coming in and out of the room, etc) and sit down nearby to keep her company, perhaps having a small snack of your own. Give her 10 minutes to finish her meal, and then put the food away and do not offer food again until the next scheduled mealtime. 

At 8 months, Bella no longer needs three feedings per day. Typically, puppies are switched to 2 feedings per day around four months. Losing interest in their food is one sign that they are ready to give up the middle feeding. 

Bella's growth has also slowed down, as it always does when pups get closer to maturity, so her appetite may have decreased. 

[Dr Karen Hoving]

OMG thank you that makes SO much sense!

She normally wakes me up at the crack (I assumed it was the time change). SO I assume I read the bag and divide the amount they suggest in 2. Morning /AM. 

It's lovely to have you to check in with. I never would have thought of that. When she went in for spay (6 mo) her vet was saying to continue w./3 feedings but as we ALL know Vets know ZIP about nutrition!

Karen and bella

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, just divide the recommended feeding amount by two and give her half for breakfast and half for dinner. :)