Help from wiser feeding gurus required!

My giant breed Puppy will be fed on complete food for the first 8-9 months (following the breeders instructions).
I have heard about giving Puppies Green Lipped Mussle extract as a supplement to help them grow healthy joints.
Has anybody ever done this?

Is there anything in it that would interfere with the "balanced" died the puppy will get from the complete food?

My breed is prone to get "wonky" legs, out turned toes etc pretty easily (I would say over half of the dogs I see have not got straight legs!) if the feeding is not correct so I'm very wary on possibly giving the pup something that might greate problems.
Also as the puppy will not be living with me I can not keep constant eye on her legs (like I did with my previous one, who has lovely straight legs by the way :) )
I do not care if it will not make any difference but having seen how good this product is for a dog that already has joint problems(same breed) I feel if this product might help I should be giving it when the puppy is growing up.

Also, any tips on growing a giant puppy are more than welcome (here or PM's if you are vary on telling how you do it in the open forum)!!

very as to why you would have a puppy for yourself then not have it living with you, and putting its total care in the hands of someone else. I thought legs, joints etc were as much to do with exercise as well as feeding, but I could well be wrong. yet, how can you supervise exercise, feeding, anything really if you don't do it yourself?

plus gentics as well:rolleyes: been here and tick of the kist with a dog i bred and kept,

she was on a very good complete diet not over excerise,rom parents that had good hip results and she came back as 52 out of the avage 9

I believe the OP is importing the puppy so presumably it will be with the breeder/foster family for 9 months or so until it can come into the UK hence why they will not be on hand to supervise the puppy.

if that the case what i have done with my swedish liver fcr is wait untill he a year old instead of bring the dog over  that the age of 10 months wait another 2 month and have all the test for the breed before it comes into the uk.
which i have done with phoenix he got hip A eyes clear elows and patella free,

what another two months incase here is a problem.

I'm thinking of getting the puppys hips checked before she travels to UK.
The age the result is official is 18 months for Leos, I do not think I will wait that long to get her home!
I know people who get xrays taken at 6-7 months and the results then have not changed drastically by the time the dog gets to 18 months( my previous dog included).
Puppy that has had good hips at that age has had good hips at the official one too.
Some hips have got better especially if it has been looseness the puppy has had.
So it would give me an idea of what to expect at 18 months, if I get this done.

Yes, I'm importing the puppy to UK...
So unfortunately for me to get a dog with the bloodlines I want, I have to import her from elsewhere.
I would love to bring her up myself but it is not possible due the importing regulations...
The Puppy will be on the hands of my mum so I do trust her :rolleyes: and know that the pups wellbeing and care is as much of importance for my mum as it is to me!
The breeder is on hand as well to check on the development of the puppy and if my mum has any problems.

I do know the importance of excercise too just trying to learn and listen what people think, I know there seem to be as many opinions as there is breeders....

"Yes, I'm importing the puppy to UK..."

How excited you must be :)

You are welcome to name the breed Noora as it may be relevant to your question

Are you talking about leonbergers Noora?

>My breed is prone to get "wonky" legs, out turned toes etc pretty easily<

wonky legs?  out turned toes?

Yes I am talking about Leos...
But other large breeds can have the same problem too.
I think it is probably due them growing so quickly and being heavy for softer developing bones...
I have the slight memory of reading from somewhere, one of the bones in the wrist growing quicker than the other or something like that, causing the leg to turn.
Can't remember where I have heard/read that so it might not be correct info at all!
I have tried googling info but can not come up with anything!

To be honest I do not know the reason this happens but do know and have seen it being corrected by changing the diet of the puppy.

Yes leos can grow very quick which is why a good diet is important from the beginning. They can appear to have big knuckles, which with correct diet and exercise isn't too much of a problem and I find they 'grow' into these as they get bigger :) The only dogs I've seen that have 'wonky' legs as you put it ;) are the ones, after further enquiry, were on a high protein puppy food for too long. 6 months is the maximum I would feed puppy food, moving onto junior or even adult. All too often people want their leos to grow up too fast, things take time to develop and good things come to those that wait ;)
12 months is a good time to do hip/elbow scores, and with eye testing  (usually done first, less expensive) on a yearly basis.
Have replied to your pm, and I hope things go really well for you and your new puppy :)

Any damage to the growth plates can cause the bone to grow deformed, more in one place than the other.  As we know pups like to play and a heavy clumsy pup can get into all sorts of scrapes, and of course exercising on hard surfaces like walking too much on pavements can also cause problems.

What is being discussed is the stance of the front legs (toes pointing out or in) and straightness of the bone, which you can imagine in a giant breed can be very quickly affected if at any stage the rearing or feeding is incorrect, causing permanent deviation from the ideal. 

I see lots of such bitsas, which when they have had a poor start in life with probably breeders who do not know enough about nutrition and rearing.

Think about it a pup in my medium size breed (20kg adult bitch) can reach 10kg by 3 months old, having been born at around 12 ounces, that is a lot of growing for both the skeletal and muscular system.

Pups are at one stage gaining over 2 pounds a week in weight and growth.