Is vegetarian dog food safe for my new Labrador puppy?

Royal Canin makes a commercial vegetarian diet that I think is the best option since it is balanced. Otherwise you would need to have a veterinary nutritionist formulate a balanced diet, which can be difficult when you are eliminating meat. This website has nutritionists on staff and can help formulate a diet: they use their own vitamin supplement to balance the diets and are based in the United States but I believe they will ship internationally. Www.balanceIT.com

It's not the best choice for a dog as dogs are natural carnivores but if you do decide to feed him vegetarian food chose a good quality ready made diet (kibbles) such as Benevo or Yarrah for example.

No, I never recommend vegetarian diets for dogs. Being a vegetarian is a human construct, and should not be forced on a dog. Given a choice between eating meat or veggies, a dog will chose meat every time. You should give Patch a puppy formulated food. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this helps!

That should be OK for one bag. If possible after this bag I would go back to a puppy food for another month or two months depending on how large your puppy is. Some labs will continue to grow for 12 to 18 months of age others plateau around 10 to 12 months. If there's any doubt if your puppy us on the growing stage you can ask your veterinarian.

Making a homemade diet (especially a diet for a puppy) requires very careful balance between nutrients and supplementing with specific vitamins and minerals. There are a few companies that employ veterinary nutritionists to help formulate balanced diets. The most commonly used one is called Balance It ( https://secure.balanceit.com/ ). They will be able to help you choose ingredients and create a balanced recipe specifically for Sakshi. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Labs have a tendency to grow too fast, and as they get older to get fat. Therefore I like to use Nutro large breed puppy dry, then switch to adult large breed, and weight management later in life if needed. I like Nutro because it’s a complete diet and lower in calorie than most of the other dog foods. Dogs like it and there are several different Nutro varieties for you to choose from. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Arjun.

Thank you for using Petcoach (now Boop). Large breed puppy formula’s are formulated specifically for the slower growth of large breed dogs. Large breeds can develop orthopedic diseases such as hypertrophic osteodystrophy and panosteitis related to caloric intake, fat and protein. Large breed dog food have been developed to provide optimum nutrition while reducing the risk of these disorders. I would definitely recommend keeping Charlie on a large breed puppy formula. Parina pro plan is a great choice. Here is a bit more information. On large breed puppy formula. https://www.iams.com/pet-health/puppy-care/why-large-breed-puppy-formulas-are-different http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2017/02/confused-about-what-to-feed-your-large-breed-puppy-new-rules-may-help/