Cross Breeds

Help with food for my large breed puppy?

I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rotwieler cross 6 month old puppy. The vets will only recommend Science Plan large breed puppy food but both a sheep dog trainer and the kennels think that 29% is too high for protein content. We've told the vet this and they are still convinced the food is the best dry food we can feed him. Who is correct?

Public Comments

1. i would say feed him what he likes when my bull mastiff was a puppy i fed him bakers complete puppy then the adult when he was old enough and he is huge and very healthy so feed him what he likes best
2. That is far too high for him. He shouldn't have any more than 22-24% protein and 12-14% fat. Science Diet is a crappy food anyway. Put him on a good quality dog food - read the label - the first ingredient should be meat. Any food that lists corn as the first ingredient is not good, corn is just a filler, the dog doesn't digest it.
3. Obviously the vet will recommend it - it's the one the practice sells isn't it? And very expensive it is too. Everyone will recommend different foods to you, it's really what suits you and what suits your dog.As long as you go for a well known brand, not one of the really cheap foods and it suits your dog, you won't go far wrong. I feed mine on ordinary mixer & raw tripe, but since it's so stinky I don't expect everyone to do the same! Just remember to make any food change gradual or you'll end up with a pup with Dire Rear!
4. Why do the trainers think it's too much? I've always fed my pups Hill's Science Diet for large breed and I have strong, smart, healthy pups. I have full blooded American Bulldogs that are 100-120 pounds full grown.
5. Well both are correct but you are the dog owner and you have to buy the food. I personally don't like Science Plan or Iams food at all I too think it's to high in protein. I really prefer NUTRO large breed dog foods. I have been feeding this to all my dogs and pups for years and they are doing very, very well on it. Really it's up to you the owner to feed your dog what you want and what you can afford to feed it. But I do recomend that whatever you feed it that it be for a large breed pup then when he gets older Large breed adult. Oh and by the way any pup who will be 60 pounds or more at adulthood should be on a large breed food.
6. The thing about Science plan that vets don't tell you is that it was developed and is sponsored by vets, therefore they recommend it for financial gain which is why most vets will only recommend it!!! There are much better foods available, personally I feed my dogs Nutro Choice as it is a well balanced, highly nutritional food. My dogs are fit,healthy and happy with good skin and shiny coats..
7. most vets recommend and really push science diet,have you noticed also that most vets sell science diet in their waiting rooms as well,probably why the vet is insisting you to feed this type of food,the vet may or may not get a percentage of the sale of science diet,i always wondered this,i have not found this brand to be any better than any other high end expensive type of dog food,a puppy does have more protein needs than an adult though,to help support rapid growth and muscles,protien is good for growing puppies
8. The protein levels do seem a little high, he does need a good quality puppy food as he has a lot of growing to do but some owners find that a high protein diet makes their dogs difficult to manage. (Some find the opposite...!) Plenty of people raise big breed pups without using Science Diet. Unless theres a medical reason to do so? Did your vet explain why they think its needed?
9. dont have that kinda breed sorry
10. Well, the vet knows what is right most of the time. Who did you buy the dog from? What did they feed them? If your dog has a sensitive stomach, or any other symtom like that use a vet food. If it doesn't, I suggest using Iams or Nutro. My Siberian Husky has a sensitive stomach so we give him Eukanuba Vetinary Diets for puppies. Our grown Labrador eats Nutro for large breed adult. Hope this helps!
11. i have a great dane cross, so he`s quite big.he was under weight when i got him a 8 weeks so i gave him pedigree chum puppy until he was 18months old. he never had any problems with it.
12. Hi, You will most problem find most vet recommend hills science plan. The protein content in the food is high because he is a large breed puppy. he needs to be fed a high protein food as a puppy up until about 12-18 months. If this is not done you have a lot of problems later on in life. The people that you have spoken to are right slightly. if this diet was fed to a small puppy it would be too much. You do not have any thing to worry about. After all the hills science plan has been fully tested and licensed and if it caused problems they wound not be able to sell it! if you are still worried you could change your feed. I use Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Maxi Jr, for my puppy and have no problems and i have used this so many times and recommend it to all my client and they love it! so its up to you from now but the protein content is right for your puppies, age, breed and size.
13. hi try working dog food it worked on my dog and is only £10 for a big sack it is like muesli it is called vitalin. but it is also up to your dog try some things out if he likes one stick to it sometimes big name foods r not always the best.
14. Well, I have to tell you both are correct. If the vet recommends it and it works for your puppy then feed it. And the sheep dog trainer and the kennels are right saying that it does have a lot of protein in it. Basically thats all pupppy food and adult large breed formulas are. A higher protein content. A long time ago they didn't use to even have puppy food or large breed foods. And it was recommended to feed whatever the adults were eating to the puppy. Now with more options you can feel better that you puppy or adult dog is getting the nutrition it needs. (and puppies do need that extra protein in their diets for energy and growth) But keep an eye on your puppys or adult dogs weight, as with more protein in food they can get fat if they don't burn off all those extra calories.
15. It's a nightmare trying to get the best food for any dog. I have two high energy dogs and I used to feed them Eukanuba but this has been bought out by pedigree i think - anyway it is not such a good food now so I have changed to Oscars. They have a web site and the address is www.oscars.co.uk. The puppy food has 20% protein which I would say was about right. Hope this helps.
16. I have a 4 month old female ROTWEILLER puppy. (and her dad) I did the whole BETA puppy thing with him but feed her on JAMES WELLBELOVED (Complete food) A fibre content of 3.5% and above was recommended by the breeder and shes thriving. Id watch the texture & regularity or her poo.
17. i used to work in a pet shop we used to sell a lot of beta as you can get it in stages.ie beta puppy,beta junior. beta adult theres even a sensitive. i have 2 German shepherds they used to have it as puppy's they will eat anything now they have a chicken and rice now as one is old and its better for him. go with what you want to feed your dog hills is expensive and the vets do sell it.we used to sell hills as well but beta is more reasonable.good luck
18. Science Diet is a crappy food..as is Pedigree, IAMS/Eukanuba, Purina..they are all loaded with cheap fillers & by products. Look for a good quality foods such as Canidae, Chicken Soup, Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova, Blue Buffalo to name a few.
19. All vets say science plan is the best but this is not true.They say this because they sell it and want you to buy your petfood from them. Go to a pet superstore and look at all the makes of dry dog food. Choose 1 that has meat or poultry as it's main ingredient. Reject anything with cereals,corn,cornmeal or maize as the main ingredient as these are worthless fillers.