Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head. However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.

In rec.pets.dogs.breeds Ellen Worthington wrote:
Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head.

That is unfortunate because it alwo means your dog has a much higher risk
of being crippled by orthopedic disease. Its tough on the joints to carry
that extra structure. I'll bet the breeder didn't bother with cardiac
testing the sire and dam? OFA cerification to make sure neither had hip
displaysia, elbow displaysia or patellar luxation? Thyroid checks to make
sure both parents were thyroid normal before breeding? CERF certification
to check for eye disease before breeding?

However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

That kind of feeding very well might induce the extra growth. That kind
of induced growth is well known for causing OCD and other forms of joint
disease. The best bet for reducing your risks of crippling your dog is to
start feeding adult food now.

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Your vet is closer to correct. Your breeder is making some very
unfortunate choices.

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.

Science diet is what I would call an "acceptable" dog food but not one I
would choose to use. The large breed growth formula is designed to reduce
the risk of joint disease by not pushing excessive growth. There is no
shortage of opinion on what is acceptable dog food. The opinions are
based on various parts fact and philosophy. Philosophically I prefer a
higher quality dog food, one where the ingredients don't include protein
sources I suspect aren't used well in digestion - such as feathers. To do
this you will find it useful to learn to read ingredients.

http://www.washingtonsquareveterinar...ood_labels.htm
http://www.doberdogs.com/foodcht1.html
Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies, by Christine Zink

FWIW an example of what you can expect from a good breeder is
http://www.amrottclub.org/coe.htm


Diane Blackman

Puppy food (we recommend Science Diet,) should be discontinued between 6 mo
and 12 mo depending on the dog and the breed. Any longer than that and you
risk serious orthopedic problems in large dogs among other things. As the
dog ages the extra protein will seriously overwork the kidneys and lead to
failure.

If you are weighing the advice of your breeder against your vet, stick with
your vet. Your breeder is only interested in getting your pup to look huge.
Your vet is interested in its overall health and well being.

-Sharon

Ellen Worthington wrote:

Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head. However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.

Hi Ellen,

My friends are raising a Swiss Mountain puppy and are dealing with some
of the same questions. Make sure you stick with a puppy food for large
breeds, as they are formulated differently so such puppies don't grow
too fast and develop orthopedic problems. If you're concerned with what
your vet says, look up an animal nutritionist in your area and ask them.
Have fun with your puppy!! Pictures??

K

"Ellen Worthington" wrote in message
...
Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found
the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head. However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.

The advice I have heard about what to feed a puppy of a large breed is that
you should not feed puppy food for too long, because it will make the puppy
grow too fast and that will be bad for the joints. What i've heard is that
the smaller the dog the longer you can feed puppyfood, and vice versa.
I don't have a large dog (tervuren) but i still changed from puppy food to
normal dog food at 6 months. My dogs breeder said that the slower my dog
grows the better. He still got pretty big (less than half an inch from max
height) and has healthy joints. I think you should listen more to your vet
than to the breeder. After all the vet has to know something about dogs, the
breeder might know very little.

Rosa

"Ellen Worthington" wrote in message
...
Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found
the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head. However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.


let's see...
$700
bought from paper
bred for size and big head
breeder says to feed puppy food the entire life
science diet
pedigree


that's six red flags. troll or not? you decide...

-kelly

wrote in message ...

Philosophically I prefer a
higher quality dog food, one where the ingredients don't include protein
sources I suspect aren't used well in digestion - such as feathers.

Feathers???? Are you trying to indicate that Science Diet contains feathers?

Ellen Worthington wrote in message . 4...
Hello. I just bought a Rottweiler pup. He cost $700 US dollars. I found the
breeder from a local newspaper ad. The breeder said that he will be the
giant-boned type with an enormous head. However, he said that the best way
for the dog to achieve the size that he was bred for is to feed the dog
puppy food for his entire life because of the extra protein and amino
acids. Does this sound right?

I was always under the impression that puppy food is only for the first
year. My vet says the opposite. He said that I should stop the puppy food
when the dog is 6 months old. This sounds somewhat extreme too. I am so
confused!

Ellen

PS. I have him on Science Diet large breed growth. Is this a good choice?
The vet suggested it, but then again he sold it to me. The breeder
suggested Pedigree Puppy. The pup is 12 weeks old now.


Ellen,
Your breeder is "Lost in Space". Do not feed a puppy food to a
rotty for it's entire life, that would be a very poor choice. As a
large breed dog it should be fed a large breed food for the first
year, then switched to an adult food. The objective of a large breed
food is to reduce musculo skeletal problems that can be reduced by
proper feeding. There are two primary nutrients involved in this
issue. The first is overall calories to slow growth, thus a large
breed food should have fewer calories. This will not change the
eventual size of the dog. The second and often forgotten part of
solving problems with large breed dogs is keeping calcium intake
reduced. A lower calorie large breed food with high levels of calcium
will not fix a thing.
Switching to an adult food at 6 months is an old solution that
seemed reasonable at the time until we took time to think about it. In
fact moving to an adult food can often *increase* total calcium intake
- definitely NOT a good thing in the 2nd six months of the dogs life.
Even if the percentage of calcium is the same, the net calcium intake
is often increased with an adult food because the animal must ingest
slightly larger amounts of food to meet caloric need. Most adult foods
have lower calories per pound than puppy foods.
I've owned rotts for years and they are an amazing breed. My last
rott died a year this past summer at age 14. Until we get moved back
into a house again I have held off getting the next one.

In rec.pets.dogs.breeds Steve Crane wrote:
wrote in message ...

Philosophically I prefer a
higher quality dog food, one where the ingredients don't include protein
sources I suspect aren't used well in digestion - such as feathers.

Feathers???? Are you trying to indicate that Science Diet contains feathers?

Not at all. Although I can see why it might have been taken that way.

In rec.pets.dogs.breeds diddy wrote:
(Steve Crane) wrote in
m:

wrote in message
...

Philosophically I prefer a
higher quality dog food, one where the ingredients don't include
protein sources I suspect aren't used well in digestion - such as
feathers.

Feathers???? Are you trying to indicate that Science Diet contains
feathers?


This is a widely advertized PETA platform. Unfortunately, apparently even
Diane fell for this one. This dismays me as much as about anything ever
suggested on usenet. I thought she was better educated than this.

Diddy, perhaps instead of guessing what I "fell for" you
should do as Steve did and ASK. Then keep your cheap shots to yourself.

Feathers are used in animal feed.
http://www.afma.co.za/AFMA_Template/...2_1646,00.html
and as you can see there might well be grounds to argue that choosing
against it as a source of protein might be more a matter of philosophy
than substance. But since I admit to choosing against feathers purely as
a matter of phiolosophy I have not troubled to look into the more
substantive issues. I don't look for and remember foods that might have
it - I simply choose foods where the ingredient list is sufficiently
clear as to avoid it in significant quantities, at least if the list is
honest. I don't even know if feathers are still allowed in dog food,
specifically. But I can avoid that possiblity by choosing ingredients
that are simpler and more predictable. As I said, its a philosphical
choice.

But Steve, in the cheaper dog foods, We have a local dog food company
(Kings Mill) that uses sawdust as raw fiber. It makes Ol Roy look fabulous.

And what, exactly, is your scientifically based argument against it? Do
you have some sort of evidence that it is a problem? If not then what's
your gripe?

I've fed ken-l-ration and been satified with it as a food source. I claim
no science at all in my decision its not something I would feed today. I
guess I'm looking for soemthing beyond bare nutrition.

Diane Blackman