Which Brand Of Dry Food Do You Recommend?

[Zombie Bait]

Hi guys, just wanting some advice on which dry food you would recommend for 2 large breed dogs?

We have a 6 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback desexed female (Sierra) and a 20 month old large crossbreed desexed male (Brembo, he is 35kgs).

We currently feed Sierra Iams Large Breed Puppy and Brembo Iams Naturals.

We previously had Brembo on Hills Large Breed puppy until he was 8 months old, then switched to Royal Canin Large breed puppy for a month, I wasnt impressed by it as he seemed to lose condition (but he loved it!)

We then tried Advance (he hated it) and then Iams large breed puppy which he liked and he looks good also! We then put him on adult Iams when he was 14 months old.

Reason I ask is that my vet has recommended that we go back to Hills Large breed puppy for both of them as he feels it is better for large growing dogs and that Iams makes puppies fat??

What do all you Large breed owners and breeders recommend?

I just want whats going to be best for them both.

Thanks in advance

[stormie]

The best thing for your dogs is what they do best on. As the saying goes, 'if it ain't broke, why fix it'. A food is only going to make them fat if they get too much of it. I would think Bremo doesn't need to be on a puppy diet now either.

Have a look at some of the grain free foods like Artemis and Orijen. There's a thread on Orijen actually and seems to be a lot of success with it, however it would be more expensive than Iams or Hills. Eagle Pack is another good dry food that comes in an Holistic range too.

But if they are doing well on what they are currently eating, I wouldn't worry about changing.

Edited August 9, 2008 by stormie

[LoremIpsum]

It's Orijen Large Puppy for me.

[Lab_Rat]

Hey Ridgie Lover, Im with stormie - feed them what they do well on and what youre happy with.

My girl was raised on RC for big breeds (cant remember what it was called), and although she did okay on it, she certainly went through a lot of it. She was getting other stuff with it as well but she was getting more than the recommended amount.

She is now on a WA made Lamb based dry food (for her allergies) with other meat and veg, and I feel she is doing much better on it.

If you think Sierra is doing Okay on the Iams, stick to it. Is she fat?? Does the Vet sell Hills???

Stormie - do you know whether Artemis or Orijen are available in WA? And is Artemis a new one? Ive not heard of it before.

RG

[stormie]

I'm pretty sure Artemis came to Aus just before Orijen did. Some varieties still have brown rice in them (which isn't really that bad, but just means its not grain free).

I believe petdeli deliver all over australia, but I can't seem to get their website working at the moment.

Natural Pet Store also deliver aus wide and they have Orijen

[Zombie Bait]

Sierra isnt fat at all, very nice and lean, well muscled etc

Brembo on the other hand puts on weight easily, when Sierra first came along he started back on puupyfood (Sierra used to eat out of his bowel so thought it easier to both have them on puupy food) and he put on 2kg in a month!

The reason the vet was so interested in what they are eating is cos Brembo got misdiagnosed as having the first signs of HD at his last vets (only recently changed vets) and they had recommended we put him on supplements. When my current vet (who specialiases in orthopedics) looked at the xrays he felt that Brembo had no signs of HD.

His reasoning behind Hills being better than Iams was that if we had small dogs he wouldnt of minded but that Hills was better for growing joints in bigger dogs.

Brembo is about the same size and shape of a fully grown female RR (but male!).

They also get the occasional bone and scraps (raw offcuts when I'm preparring dinner).

Just wanted to do the best by my babies.

Thanks for the replys so far

Vet sells Advance, but recommended Hills

Edited August 9, 2008 by Ridgie Lover

[howlingDog]

I have recently (8 months ago) changed my bitch onto Proplan. She loves it and she looks the best she ever has. They have a huge range including Chicken & Rice, Lamb & Rice, Sensitive (salmon based), large breed puppy, large breed adult, performance and the list goes on. Also know various other breeders who feed ProPlan as love the results.

[stormie]

I wouldn't think Hills large puppy would be any better for growth than the other large puppy vet formulas.

I'd keep bremo off the puppy food, the last thing you need is him gaining weight - excess calories in diets that can result in growth problems.

Might mean you have to feed them separately, but I think its worth it to ensure they're both eating diets correct for their growth stages.

[Zombie Bait]

All good, Brembo has been back on adult for last 4 months, is back to being trim and terrific!

When Sierra first came to us she was used to eaing from the same bowel as her littermates. Brembo had never been challenged for his food as he was an only dog so was a very slow eater and when Sierra stuck her head in his bowel he would just walk away! well he learnt fairly quickly and now challenges her for her food!

They both now start and finish at roughly the same time so not as big of a deal anymore.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Just Midol]

For big dogs I feed barf. Cheaper