Cross Breeds

How old should my german shepherd puppy be before I feed him large breed puppy food?

My german shepherd puppy is 10 weeks old and I have been feeding him regular puppy food. My breeder said I should wait a certain amount of time before I feed him large breed puppy food because of something that has to do with how fast it makes them grow & it's now good for them??? Has anyone heard of this or do you know if I should start feeding him large breed puppy food yet? Thank You

Public Comments

1. I've never heard of waiting to feed large breed puppy food. Mine has been on that since we brought him home and he's quite large.
2. I don't fall for the myth/advertising=lie of "puppy" food. I start my pups on regular adult feed.
3. he is a large breed of dog I would have imagined that the breeder would be feeding him that as it is specially formulated to deal with large breed puppy's My breeder mentor didn't tell me anything about waiting a certain time before i gave my doberman puppy's large breed high quality puppy food you should ask your vet!
4. I've never been concerned with 'large breed' food. What's more important is what's actually in the food....the ingredients, the protein/fat content, etc. If you feed a well balanced puppy food with lamb or chicken as the main ingredient, that's free of corn and wheat products, animal by-products, etc., you really don't need to worry about large breed vs. small breed. That's more advertising gimmick than anything. In any case, shepherds growth slows down substantially after 6 months, and it's usually about this time that I switch them to an adult food. Look for a protein content of 25-30 percent and fat content no more than 18%,, along with the ingredient criteria listed above.
5. I have always went by when your puppy starts getting fat off of the puppy food, it is time to switch over to adult food. Puppy food has a higher fat content to help them grow throughout their puppy hood. You can slowly transition your puppy into adult food so that he does not get the runs.
6. feed him large breed from day one he is born a large breed dog
7. Quite frankly, I wouldn't wait. Personally I wouldn't even bother with large breed puppy food as even large breed puppy food can cause rapid growth in large breed puppies (although it is certainly much better for them than regular puppy food). For german shepherds and other large breed puppies I prefer to start them off on a god all life-stages or adult food (I use Canidae, but there are others) right from the beginning. My GSD puppy was on Chicken soup for the puppy lover's soul (I believe) while he was in rescue, and as soon as we adopted him at 14 weeks we switched him over (gradual transition, the foster mom sent us home with part of a bag of the chicken soup) to Canidae. I was very happy with his growth rate and he has matured into a sound, healthy adult dog.