Large breed puppy food: When to switch & calcium levels?

What you need to focus on in a large breed puppy is the calcium/phosphorus levels. If those are not in balance they can get growth abnormalities in their joints. For growth in large breed puppies, a dog food must (on a dry matter basis) contain: 1.2 to 1.8% calcium 1.0 to 1.6% phosphorus Calcium-to-phosphorus ratio between 1:1 and 1.8:1 The protein and fat percent are not that important. My recommendation is to feed a commercial diet that abides by AAFCO standards (this will be on the label) and just make sure it is for large breed puppies. Don’t use nutritional supplements when feeding your large breed puppy any commercial diet as you will surely upset the balance of minerals. I was assuming you were talking about feeding large breed puppies. If you want information on feeding an adult large breed please ask your question again and be more specific. I hope this helps. Best wishes!

Hello, and thank you for your question! As a large breed dog, the ideal calcium to phosphorus ratio should be 1.1 to 1.3. So your current food is not ideal but it is definitely not too late to switch! Look for a puppy formula for large breed dogs. Good brands that have this formula include Science Diet, and Royal Canin. Keeping him on a large breed puppy formula until he is at least 1 year of age will help to prevent hip issues as he gets older. I hope this helps, and that Louie is happy and healthy!

Thanks for asking PetCoach!! Confusing is putting it mildly when trying to sort through good, scientific based information regarding nutrition for our pets. First of all, for large breed dogs, keep them on a good large breed puppy food until AT LEAST 12 months of age. For a German Shepherd, sometime between 12-15 months would be a good time to transition. (larger breeds do more growing for a longer period of time than small breeds, so need puppy food longer, which in a way seems counter-intuitive as they "age" faster than smaller breeds!) http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/04/when-your-baby-isnt-such-a-baby-anymore-when-to-switch-to-adult-foods/ As far as he Ca:P ratio, while still important, my recommendation would be to stick with something around 1.2:1. For large breed adult foods vs regular adult foods, the difference tends to be more geared towards long term skeletal and joint health; meaning in large breed adult foods you're more likely to find glucosamine/chondroitin supplementation built in, extra fatty Omegas, etc. I hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking PetCoach! https://www.petcoach.co/article/calcium-phosphorous-requirements-for-dogs/

Lifetime large breed dog food is formulated for all life stages, including puppies. Since he is already 60 pounds, you can begin to transition him to this diet at any time. Please switch diets gradually by mixing the old and new diets together for 5-7 days to ease the transition.

Large or giant breed puppies should be fed an appropriate large/giant breed puppy diet until about 18 months of age. The reason being that they develop slower than other breeds. Many do not stop growing until around 2 years of age. Most above average and premium brands have a diet for large breed puppies. Brands include Canidae, Orijen, Acana and Taste of the Wild. Choose the diet that is easy to buy, that Sarge will eat and will not cause stomach upset. Personally, I'm not a fan of the BB line. This is my own opinion based on personal experience and in no way reflects the opinion of either Petco or Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for your question. There is currently no research out there hat supports this claim. Lance should be on a good quality puppy food until he is about 1 year old- sounds like you have a nice food there (Hills Science Large Breed Puppy). That will do just fine until he is 1 year old. Puppies need lots of extra vitamins and minerals in their diets as well as extra calories to match the amount of energy they are expending on growth which a puppy food contains. I would not change his food to adult just yet. I hope this helps!

You can monitor his growth and weight and when he has reached maturity then you can switch him to an adult dog food. Probably between 12 and 16 months of age. Gradually switch him to the new food as diet change can cause gastric upset. Too much protein should not make him hyperactive.