I'm about to get a new Border Collie puppy - I'm an experiened collie owner but foods change so much all the time and what was best practice a few years ago may not be best practice now.

Bit of background: I fed my girl on Royal Canin as 11 years ago this was supposed to be one of the better foods at the time.  However, I discovered she reacted to the maize in it and changed her to Burns. Pup two (now seven) was fed on Burns Lamb puppy food and this suited him well, though he struggled to maintain weight (he's still a skinny lad, so I'm not sure if it was not 'just him' rathe than the food).

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on feeding protein levels to young pups.  I don't want pup to grow too quick too soon but I have had so much conflicting advice from people on protein levels.  I thought I really liked the sound of the Millies Wolfheart 70/30 mix - 30% protein so similar to other high meat content products but not bonkers high like Orijen puppy at 38%.  Other puppy foods are coming in anything between 24% (Burns) with the majority hovering around 27-28% (Barking Heads, Simpsons Premium etc).

I have to say I prefer the idea of more meat, fewer carbs as they just seem better quality foods somehow.

I've read it's not the protein level but the volume of food that causes leggy puppy syndrome, and that if a puppy gets the same amount of calories a day they would be better off getting those calories from protein rather than carbs...but others say too much protein makes them grow too quickly and they'rebette roff on lower protein foods.

Any thoughts?

I fed my last two retrievers on Burns Lamb and rice and it does have a reputation for keeping the weight off dogs, however my two were spayed and I didn't want them to gain weight so it suited very well.
I currently have an 11 month old retriever pup who has been fed on Arden Grange almost since I've had her and is looking very good on it. She has developed well and didn't have much of a leggy spell and is slim and fit looking.
I know there is a lot of discussion about protein levels in food and I really wouldn't like to comment as I'm unsure too, however I do know that protein levels need to be lower for giant breeds.

My dogs have been fed a raw diet for years, wouldn't feed any of the main diets too many additives & preservatives

I won't use Burns.  If I want a dog to lose weight it gets less food.  I refuse to pay someone to be Slimming World for dogs.

I do like a high protein diet for dogs, simply because I think it is what they would naturally choose.  My Collies get the same as my Chihuahuas.

I'm using Applaws at the moment.

This is something I feel particularly strongly about.   More isn't necessarily better and RC is one I'd swerve for sure, unless I had a small breed dog who do tend to need a higher level of protein.   For me, with my Bassets, I think 26% protein is about the highest.    I bought one, my most recent buy in, who'd been reared on RC Junior which I think, is 32% protein.   I'd never rear my B.Puppies on anything like this level, and didn't.   It might have been going to happen with him as it's not unknown in the breed, but he was lame by around 8 months (we bought him at 4 months, and switched him to something with a lower protein level almost immediately).  I immediately went to Pano but after full front to back x-rays, turned out he had premature closure of the growth plates, ulna on both sides.   The lameness stopped, but he was left with too much turn out in the front, even for the breed!!!    Resulting in my plans to get back into the ring being aborted which was sad as he was/is otherwise a lovely boy.   Just not what I'd have been happy to show.

Again he may have been going to have this without the food, but again 32% protein is, for me, with the breed, way too high.   Again more isn't necessarily better.   Especially with the bigger breeds.    Slow and steady with growth is for me, always the best.

Add -    I have used Burns in the past, to good effect.   However I believe the company has now been sold - certainly it's not getting the good press it once did.    Mine are on Arden Grange, Sensitive - in addition to his growth problems, my Basset came to us with GIARDIA - my first experience with this - and his tummy has tended to be 'sensitive' ever since, even now he has negative fecals.

>my Basset came to us with GIARDIA - my first experience with this - and his tummy has tended to be 'sensitive' ever since, even now he has negative fecals.

Interesting.  My Border Collie came to me with Giardia too.   It took months to sort a food that he could tolerate.  Obviously, now, at almost 8 years, he is fine.  But it was an awful start for him.


Interesting.  My Border Collie came to me with Giardia too.   It took months to sort a food that he could tolerate.  Obviously, now, at almost 8 years, he is fine.  But it was an awful start for him.

As I said, given I knew, very well, the breeder - I was horrified.   He was 4 months when he came to us, having been run on as a show prospect.    We finally managed to get neg. fecals, but I read up on this, not having experienced Giardia before (and I hope never again!!) and gather that even with neg. facals, the protozoa that isn't killed off, can burrow into the gut, potentially able to recur should the animal suffer stress/illness?     Early days, he'd start the day producing a normal stool, which by the end of the day had gone to far from that!!   Rarely have I spent so much time focusing on stools LOL.   He must have come with this (despite his breeder denying any of it) because I'd had two on the property before, one we just lost from oral cancer (he was 12).  The other, who'd come to us before we lost our last Basset, at 9 weeks, and who was through puppy by the time my new Basset joined us, had absolutely no sign of this - and I had a fecal done on her stools to be sure!