Best food for a large breed dog that's not quite a puppy anymore?
November 25, 2013 3:43 PM   Subscribe

My husband and I are adding another dog to our family. Yay! He's a rescued coonhound/great dane mix, about 18 months old. We couldn't be more excited to bring this awkward, gangly guy into our home. But what should we feed him?

Our current pup, Wrigley, will be getting a dog-sibling in a week, when we pick up this guy from his foster home. The rescue says they had no idea he was going to be so tall as a pup, until he just kept growing taller and taller. He wasn't started on large breed food, but they switched him as soon as they realized.

He's spent quite a bit of time in a kennel environment, which was very stressful to him, and everyone agrees that he's underweight. He's been in a better foster environment for the past several months, but he hasn't gained as much weight as they would have liked.

We're still waiting to hear from the foster on what food he's been eating, but we know from the rescue that it is of the large breed puppy variety. We do plan to buy some of his current food and transition him to whatever his ultimate diet should consist of. Our other dog eats a better quality grain-free kibble, and does well on it. (Kirkland Nature's Domain, so not top-of-the-line, but better than average). The rescue is recommending he stay on a large-breed puppy diet because he's underweight. Is that the right call?

What's the difference between a large breed puppy chow and the grain-free dog food we feed our current dog? Is there any way to get these pups on the same diet? Wrigley may have had a weight issue in the past--the shelter we adopted her from called her overweight, but we've never seen it and neither has our vet.

We do plan to ask our vet these questions, but we're kind of in between vets. Our old vet was the "push-Science-Diet" variety but was great otherwise. I'm not sure how much help the new vet will be on this issue yet. Hoping you all may have some suggestions in the meantime.
posted by terilou to Pets & Animals (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
The rescue is recommending he stay on a large-breed puppy diet because he's underweight.

That's a little weird, because one of the purposes of large-breed puppy food is to be lower calorie to retard growth. From PetMD:

--
In general, foods designed for large breed puppies have a fat content of between 8% and 12% on a dry matter basis while standard puppy foods often contain between 10% and 25% fat. Of course, the benefits of fat and calorie restriction can be completely undone if a dog eats too much of the food. Large breed puppies should almost invariably be fed several measured meals throughout the day rather than being allowed to eat free choice.

Getting too much calcium in the diet and eating foods with a high calcium to phosphorus ratio also increases the risk of DOD in these dogs. Therefore, large breed puppy foods typically contain less calcium than do “regular” puppy foods and the manufacturers keep the ratio of calcium and phosphorus within fairly narrow limits. Veterinary nutritionists don’t agree as to what the exact levels of these nutrients should be, but the following recommendations are fairly typical.
--

Your other dog food probably doesn't have the same macronutrient or mineral ratios. Once your puppy is an adult you may be able to feed the same food.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:09 PM on November 25, 2013


I have had Danes for many years. You Do Not Want to have this guy on puppy food at this point. Ideally, he should have been transitioned to a more adult formula by the time he was about 4 months or so. He will probably do well on the Kirkland food...I used California Natural for years with good results. The thing about the pup food is that it encourages growth in ways that may not be optimum for a large breed. Best to go ahead and feed an 'adult' formula...if he balks (which I doubt), you can get some canned food, and throw a spoonful in each time you feed..
posted by PlantGoddess at 5:14 PM on November 25, 2013


I, also, have a dane and agree with PlantGoddess and Lyn Never.
Also you can go to 'danesonline.com' and enter the forums. They have many breeders with champions who give advice and have given a lot of advice especially regarding feeding.
Puppy food has too much protein for a dane which can cause bone problems during growth.
You need to keep the protein count to about 23 or less if feeding commercial foods.
posted by donaken at 5:32 PM on November 25, 2013


We had this exact problem with our rescue dog (the incomparable Dodger) and it turned out he wasn't gaining weight because he just doesn't digest grains well.

We put him on the Costco brand grain free dog food and he's put on a great amount of healthy weight and muscle and we switched our other two dogs to the food as well and they seem to love it.

It's also (for grain free dog food) REALLY cheap!
posted by Saminal at 5:54 PM on November 25, 2013


Best answer: At 18 months, his bone structure is likely developed to the point where a large-breed puppy food's benefits (slow growth) have past. Grain-free dog foods tend to be higher in calories, so that sounds like the ticket for your new family member.
posted by cecic at 7:53 PM on November 25, 2013


PS - Your new baby is beautiful!
posted by cecic at 9:35 PM on November 25, 2013


Dawwww so CUTE!
We have a 60lb adult dog and did a lot of research and transitioning until we found what we thought was best for our girl. Ultimately we settled on the Solid Gold line of food. Expensive, but she eats just two cups a day, which I've always thought was significantly less quantity than the cheap crap with lots of fillers (so maybe cost-wise it comes out a bit in the wash?). She likes the Wolf King. They have a half dozen varieties or so, and we switch out every couple of bags for variety, but she seems to prefer the Wolf King. FWIW!
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 11:56 PM on November 25, 2013


Best answer: Oh. My. God. It's like the world's tallest Beagle. It's crazy. I hope you're prepared for training out counter surfing.

Back on topic, head over to dogfoodadvisor.com and find a good brand. Don't worry about the labeling/marketing about "large breed" stuff. It doesn't mean anything; just marketing.

If you're already feeding Kirkland (which I understand is good), no worries. Just feed him more. If he eats like a Beagle, you'll have no troubles packing on some weight.

Don't forget to exercise him!

Also, make sure to post plenty of questions and pictures. I own Beagles and would love to know what owning a giant Beagle would be like.
posted by jms18 at 1:48 AM on November 26, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks, everyone.

You all basically confirmed my suspicions that the window for any benefits that may have been bestowed by a "large breed puppy chow" has closed. We've checked out dogfoodadvisor.com in the past and are confident that the Costco brand of dog food we're using is a solid option in general. It sounds like it should be a good option for the new dog as well. We'll be weaning him off his current food and onto the Kirkland Nature's Domain.

Our first dog is a Beagle mix, so we're well prepared for the many years of sniffs, counter surfing, and rabbit chasing. Not to mention the quintessential never ending I'm-so-sad-why-aren't-you-feeding-me-NOW gaze of wistful longing and adoration. Must be something wrong with me; I'm just a sucker for brown eyes and floppy ears.

If we don't come up with a name for him, we may have to ask another question soon. :)
posted by terilou at 11:03 PM on November 30, 2013


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