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Need help with food! PLEASE

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  • Need help with food! PLEASE

    I am getting different advice from every direction. My friend who has a Great Dane said feed my 4 mo/old great dane Purina Large Breed Adult dog food. My vet says NO! She needs puppy food for the calcium/phosphorous ratio for her fast growing joints. Then I see something about Purina not being good for Great Danes on here?! I'm so frustrated and confused. Bella is currently eating Purina Focus, Large Breed Puppy Food, with 28% Protein. If this is bad, please tell me why and what you suggest. This is my first great dane and I don't want to screw up.

    Thanks!

  • #2
    Welcome! Check out the kibble section of the forums. Lots of good info. NO puppy food for danes. Vets are not familiar with the needs of each breed. You may want to check into finding a vet familiar with danes. Danes are also not a large breed, they are a giant breed so large breed food really isn't meant for them either. There are a lot of good foods out there. Many people feed Taste of the Wild. Canidae is good as well. I feed this to my two and have so for years. They have always done great on it. Like I said, check out the kibble section. Happy reading and good luck
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    • #3
      Purina Focus has "giant breed" dog food. Is that OK? I have about a months worth of puppy food left...should I finish it, or is it that bad for them to have puppy food that I should take her off it immediately? I guess I'm just frustrated. I have changed this poor girls dog food so much in just the month I've had her because the breeder tells me one thing, the vet another, and a fellow dane owner even something else! I looked up Taste of the Wild...and it has 36% protein? isn't that high....I thought it should be below 30%.
      Last edited by PrisonNurse; 05-15-2013, 06:51 PM.

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      • #4
        Try to keep the protein under 23% for grain inclusive kibble and under 28% for true grain free kibble. The calcium should be 1.5% and under and the phosphorus should be 1% or under. Regular puppy food is TOO HIGH in calcium and phosphorus for giant breeds and will cause them to grow TOO FAST resulting in bone problems--most vets don't know this.
        Tracy
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        Echo -- run free, Sweetie! Jan 9, 2007 - April 24, 2014 Lost to osteosarcoma at 7 years, 3 months. RIP.

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        • #5
          A lot of people here feed Taste of the Wild. It's grain free. I believe even their puppy food is acceptable for Dane pups. I had mine at the vet for a round of shots today, and while I know the head vet at the clinic knows her way around giant breeds, I don't think the one we saw today does. I got the "OMG you're going to kill your pup because he's not on large breed puppy food!" lecture today. I just let it go in one ear and out the other, nodded a lot and smiled.
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          • #6
            I too am confused. My 4 month old dane was diagnosed with HOD last week. Much better this week, but I'm worried she will relapse. She currently eating iams large breed puppy food which has 26% protein, but I recently read dane pups should have no more than 23% protein to avoid bone problems. Ill check out the kibble section- thanks!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Salrn View Post
              I too am confused. My 4 month old dane was diagnosed with HOD last week. Much better this week, but I'm worried she will relapse. She currently eating iams large breed puppy food which has 26% protein, but I recently read dane pups should have no more than 23% protein to avoid bone problems. Ill check out the kibble section- thanks!
              Iams is a very low quality commercial food, the ingredients are sub-par and the nutrition balance is off for a giant breed puppy. I'm not from the US so can't recommend a better food unless I know what you have available to you, but I would recommend getting in contact with a Dane savvy vet. This site is really good for kibble reviews: You can see all the Iams reviews - http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/?s=iams
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              • #8
                first dane puppy

                I'm feeding Wellness. The protein is 26%, calcium is 1.4% and phosphorus is .90%. Any concerns with the food? It is all too overwhelming to choose the best for my little girl. Just trying to do the best for her. Buddha is 8 weeks.

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                • #9
                  I agree! This has become quite frustrating! I have done some research. I really like what I am seeing with Blue Buffalo. But that has 26% protein. So they can have higher protein if it's grain free? That doesn't make sense. While I am leaning towards Blue Buffalo, the other food I have been looking at is Canidae. Than on the "great dane lady"'s website she suggests Precise Holistic Puppy Food, or precise Foundation. I keep seeing people suggesting Taste of the Wild, but when I look that one up online it is VERY high in protein....30%+! So again....HUUUHHH? Any thoughts on Blue Buffalo? Precise? Canidae? lol This will be the 3rd time changing her food since I got her, so I really want to get it right this time! Thanks!

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                  • #10
                    The protein in TOTW or other grain free foods comes from meat, not plants. The body processes it differently. I have raised 2 pups on TOTW and had no problems with them. Do a search and you will see numerous people have said the same.

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                    • #11
                      Totw comes in much lower protein. Just look at the nutritional info for all the different varieties. I know at least one is 25 or 26% protein.

                      Typos by Motorola.
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                      • #12
                        What TOTW do you feed? Again, I am not seeing one that below 30%? Has anyone tried Blue Buffalo? Or Precise Holistic Puppy, or Precise Foundation? How about Canidae? those are all the foods I am bouncing between and just don't know which one to chose from!

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by PrisonNurse View Post
                          What TOTW do you feed? Again, I am not seeing one that below 30%? Has anyone tried Blue Buffalo? Or Precise Holistic Puppy, or Precise Foundation? How about Canidae? those are all the foods I am bouncing between and just don't know which one to chose from!
                          Any of the TOTW are ok to feed.

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                          • #14
                            I've fed Rupert all the flavors of TOTW since he was about 4 months old. He never had a problem on it. I have recently switched to a different grain free food (4 health) and all of my dogs are doing great on it.
                            ~ Lisa & Rupert

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                            • #15
                              Ok. I was really leaning towards feeding her the Blue Buffalo Freedom (grain free), or the Precise Holistic Giant Breed Puppy food, because those two really fit the protein, calcium, and phosphate levels. However, everyone keeps telling me TOTW...even those their levels seem higher than what I'm being told to feed her. But you guys seem to really know what your talking about, and have had good luck with feeding your Danes TOTW from puppyhood on (Bella is 4 months)...so I guess TOTW it is!

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