can anyone who is an owner or breeder of large breeds give me their opinions on the benefits of large breed puppy food. I currently feed my 4 month old labrador puppy on Jwb puppy performance but keep thinking maybe i should find a good large breed puppy food. Round here they only seem to stock eukanuba(sp) large breed so i would have to order and am not sure what to do. Obviousley large breed food is a fairly recent thing i think so is it really necessary?

How is your pup doing on JWB?  If pup is doing ok I wouldn.t change the food.  In any case a lab would not count as a large dog but as a medium dog.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

IMO large breed puppy food is just a marketing ploy and could potentially do more harm than good, stick with what he is on if he is happy on it :)

Is a labrador considered to be a large breed though?

I always assumed that the large breed foods were for Great Danes, IW's and the like ...but I could very well be wrong :D

I always thought that too but I was recommended by burns to put my Setter on large breed puppy food.

Iams class Labs as large breed dogs, so do Purina.

Christine, Spain

Cheers Christine :)

Personally I never feed Large Breed foods at all (well not any more).  I think that potentially they can do more harm than good and that a good food doesn't need to have Large Breed versions normally.  JMHO though.

I have never fed any of my dogs on a large breed diet - I prefer instead to change them over to an adult food at an earlier age.

The sister to our English setter who is owned by friends of us developed OCD when only
6mths old she had been on JWB. We asked our Trophy agent if they could recommended a food that might prevent any problems They recommended their Trophy  Large breed food ,It contains GLUCOSAMINE &CHONDROITIN  good for joints and cartilage also with a lower protein 21%  to date we have had no problems with our dog and she loves the food. JO 

ah well now i am even more confused as my vet said if i fed him on normal puppy food to leave him on it for longer as he was going to be big? I had thought that large breed food probably wasnt necessary but am just wanting to do my absoloute best to not damage his hips I am still lifting the big elephant in and out of the car even though he only sits on the floor in the front. I dont want to cause any problems to his hips. I saw a poster in the vet clinic today about extra mobility food for dogs over a year who could be prone to mobility problems which has in it the things mentioned in jo english post.

ooh forgot to say that he is doing fine on jwb he has a lovely coat and plenty of energy. He poos loads but it is how it should be so dont think there is a problem just concerned about hips in the future

If you are concerned about possible hip problems the best thing you can do is to encourage slow but steady growth and keep him on the lean side rather than loads of puppy fat!  I know it's nice to see a happy bouncing rolly polly puppy but think of all the strain on their little bones.

I have my 6 month old Shepherd pup on Burns canine extra as she had a tendancy to be too skinny on puppy diet.  I plan to move her onto a plain adult diet in the next month or so.  She gets a supplement on Chonodroitin and Glucosamine (as I give it to my older GSD) and I take them both swimming at the local doggy pool.

There's nothing I can do to prevent hip problems completely but I am doing all I can to give both my dogs a good chance.  I have heard / read a  lot about LB puppy foods and while they seem to be a good idea in theory I think that they can encourage the wrong type of growth and sometimes too quickly.  I know that my little girl will probably take longer to fill out and reach a good adult size than a lot of other dogs (my boy did and we followed the same ideas with him) but I'd rather it be a bit later than too much too fast.

i thought the idea behind large breed puppy foods was so they didnjt grow to quickly? I am doing my best to keep max at a nice weight no extra food etc. I am off to see a nutritionalist right now so will let you know how i get on

My vet strongly recommended large breed puppy food for my lab puppy. He believes, from research, that the low calcium content of these foods is very important in avoiding joint problems in larger dogs. Anyway, I fed it until 7 months and then changed over to Burns Chicken and Rice, which is still relatively low in calcium at 1.1%.

have just been to see the nutritionalist at our local big pet/farm store and he told me that max will be fine on jwb puppy performance and said he looked in excellent condition and that he wasnt a firm believer in the benefits of large breed food and thought it was mostly gimmicky?

We have looked into this a lot since molly's sister developed Ocd and have taken advice from not just the nutritionalist at Trophy but have spoken to our vets whose wife is a university trained nutritionalist. And we believe that by feeding her Trophy large breed instead of a puppy food is the best option. The protein level is low and together with the added G&C is ideal. OUR setter is of Working Stock (1 YEAR OLD ) and is kept on the lean side she plays with a full grown red setter and he cant keep up with her when they race across Our local field, as for the food being a gimmick it may just be progress after years of
Non investment by large commercial food companies suddenly they are realising some people care what their dog eats  - Jo