Need advice from large breed dog owners

[Kim1013]

My family and I are getting a black mouth cur puppy at the beginning of July. They are considered large breed dogs and will weigh between 50 - 75+ lbs when full grown. I know that I need to feed him puppy food for large breed dogs. What brand of food would you recommend or did you feed your large dog and then when he is an adult what would you recommend feeding him? I want a food that is good for him w/o a lot of fillers but don't have a ton of money to spend either. Thanks.

[Merczilla]

Anything that's "cheap" has corn in it. lol I have to go to the feed store to get food for our dogs (4 Saint Bernards). I can't get any good foods at the grocery stores, Target, Walmart, etc. They just carry the corn filled foods. I've been on the hunt myself lately. Seems the largest bags are only 30-35 lbs anymore (oh where did the 50lb bags go?) and go for at least $50 each (in my area anyway). We go through at least a bag a week (and I supplement with homemade). I stick with lamb and brown rice formulas. Right now I'm using a Chicken Soup for the soul and am trying a Science Diet Natures Best. That's the yellow bag. All the white bag formulas have corn. Go figure.

I have to avoid beet pulp because it seems to make my dogs itch. I'd like to try either Evo or Innova but those go for $70+ a bag here and that's just too much. Your prices on things may be lower down there, but if you want a decent food, you'll end up having to spend around $50 or so a bag. With just one dog, that won't be too bad, really. Read ingredients. If corn is anywhere on the list (usually first) I put it back.

[daisydog215]

Talk to your vet, both about brand and wet/dry/both. We have a Rottweiler and a Coon Hound/American Bulldog mix (she is a smudge bigger than the Rotty). Vet recommended Purina Puppy Chow until they were 2 (should be full grown by then) and then a switch to Purina Dog Chow. Rotty is now 9 1/2 and has been on Purina Senior 7 since turning 7.

Our previous Rotty had UTI issues and had to be on a special Hills Prescription dry food I could purchase only from the vet.

[No1BeanCounter]

We had our lab on Purina puppy chow which our vet was happy with until he got Panosteitis, which affects fast growing large breed dogs (85lbs @ 8 mos!) The vet now suggests Science Diet large breed puppy formula. Either way, make sure you go w/ a large breed formula

[Kim1013]

I talked to my cousin last night and she's a vet tech and she said to be sure to put puppy on a large breed formula to keep up with his growth. Thank you for your advice.

[TsPlace]

My baby turns 8 this May. He's a large bone German Shepherd and weighs in at 109 pounds! We've had him since he was 6 weeks old. When he was a puppy we fed him large breed puppy food. We tried Iams, but it didn't sit well with him. German Shepherds are prone to have digestive sensitive issues, so we put him on Royal Canin for German Shepherds. Royal Canin makes several different kinds of for different breeds. Though it is more expensive, it is really healthy for him. He does love people food but the only kind he gets is possibly leftover veggies and chicken or turkey (all of which are very healthy for him and adds a little "flavor" to his food). He does not get any other people food at all! I can say he was trained through the treat method and no matter what type of treats we give him for being good or just because he still 100% loves him puppy Iams biscuits - he thinks he's still a baby!

[Jasmin71]

Our Boxer which is 85 lbs is on Candae, we had him first on Chicken soup,,,but when they changed the Stuff inside my Dozer started to act up. So we switched him to Candae..... very good Food.

[cspigner28]

My vet suggested Purina Puppy Chow for ours when he was a puppy (he's 5 now, and weighs 95lbs) We never had any problems with the puppy chow, and he LOVED it!!!

Now he favors Kibbles N Bits

[shashabell]

I would love to keep my dogs on Blue Buffalo but wow is that stuff expensive. I do get a bag from time to time though and mix it in with their Science Diet food.
I will tell you that if you buy the cheap dog food you will be throwing money out the window. Your dog will eat more because it doesn't give them the nutrition that they need and it goes right through them.

[meems]

I did nothing special for my golden..whatever was on sale.., she was 104 lbs & lived to be 14...I'm a believer of genetics playing the larger role...