# What do you think about Purina Puppy Chow- LG Breed



## jeremy12095 (Apr 13, 2012)

:help:
I have been feeding all my animaly purnia brand products for as long as i can remember. I have a 3mo GSD Puppy and want to feed her properly. The vet told me that purina puppy chow was ok but i should get the large breed formula. So I purchased the Purina Puppy Chow- Lg Breed from petsmart. The vet did recommend science diet but thats what she sells in the office so I assume she gets a kick back.

My GSD puppy is just over 24 lbs @ 3 months old. I just have heard so many recommendations for other brands and some feed people food. I just want to get as much information as i can get before i make any more changes to her diet.


Thank you!


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I personally wouldn't feed this food, below are the ingredients, where's the meat? Do you mind sharing your food buget? I'm sure some can make better suggestions that will work with you & your pup 

Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), barley, dried beet pulp, animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, fish oil, calcium carbonate, dried yeast, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, DL-Methionine, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. 
P-4035


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## LaneyB (Feb 5, 2012)

I think that often vets don't have a good idea of what food to feed dogs. At least my vet doesn't, although I really like her in almost every other way. She also recommended Purina or Science Diet for our pets. 

I use the website www.dogfoodadvisor.com. I really love it. There are other similar websites.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Food can be a very polarizing topic and you will get opinoins from "thats fine" to those accusing you of animal abuse.

There are some good sticky notes on the board about feeding our puppy. The purina percentages are great but some of the ingredients are not what I would choose to feed either.

While I DO NOT agree with everything on this site, I do think there is some good information about ingredients to avoid and why in a bag of dog food.

The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

My own experience is that my GSD dogs did not do well with Purina. They didn't digest it as well as the Science Diet. My first shepherd used to throw it up. I've have had really good success with Science Diet and my vet recommends also. BTW she doesn't sell it. I asked why she recommended it and she says they have done incredible research on getting the proper nutrition for your dog. So even through it might not have all the real meat ingredients people are looking for, they are getting the proper nutrition for a decent price. I do switch it up every so often so they don't get bored and mix in a bag of Canine Royal. They absolutely love that one.


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## LindaDwyer (Apr 9, 2012)

I feed raw, homemade with no store bought fillers. Pups fed a raw diet don't seem to have the growth spurts that can lead to "growing pains", they grow at a more slow and natural pace. The benefits of the raw diet greatly outweigh the negative. As long as you are careful in handling the raw meat and keep it frozen until ready to use you will have no problems. you will have to add something like honest kitchen for the fruits and veggies and I also use "missing link" to take care of any vitamin or mineral they are not getting in the food. I also give one fish oil pill for that shinny healthy looking coat plus the fish oil is good for their heart
good luck


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

We tell our adopters to choose food based on this: Avoid corn, soy, wheat, and by-products.
Science Diet, for it's huge price tag, has little to no real meat at all in it.

If you have a Costco, Kirkland signature is a good price and good quality.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

IF you really like Purina and want to stay within the line I think this would be a better choice of puppy foods than what you are feeding.

Large Breed Formula - Products - Purina Pro Plan

That said, I had a conversation with my holistic vet about corn and other grains and she made a point about corn I had not considered. The overhwhelming majority of corn is genetically modified (GMO). [and they don't have to tell us about that; the only way to ensure you are not getting genetically modified corn is to eat/feed organic or buy local varieties from local small farmers)

Now what does that mean to us ? They modify these crops so they can spray them with roundup and they won't die. They update the roundup and we don't know what that stuff does in our / our dogs' systems. All kinds of concerns are arising about the extreme use of roundup in our environment.

Now corn itself is just another grain so if the dog has no issues with corn, no big deal . Same issue with soybeans in the US. [most are GMO]--so if you eat GMO corn, why should it bother you if the dog does?

In general, corn and wheat are more likely to cause allergy problems than other grains but a lot of food allergies are to various meat ingredients like chicken and beef.

Do look at the calories per cup though of any food. A 30lb bag of a more expensive food may have more actual calories than a 40lb bag of a cheaper food.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

The real question is which food is worse - puppy chow or science diet? They're both really bad foods. 

It's amazing how so many vets recommend these type of foods. It's like recommending people to eat mcdonalds every day. It makes zero sense - kick backs or not.


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## jeremy12095 (Apr 13, 2012)

I honestly didnt even know, my family has used purina for basically every cat and dog we've ever had. I was doing some google search on the best food and i found a million different opinions. Some of those food rateing websites are outdated and reviews are from years ago, when some food companies may have changed their ingredients. I just want my puppy to grow up healthy, i used purina on my other dog who lived to be 15 years old. We had her since 6 or 8 weeks i honestly cant remember, but we used purina puppy chow for a year, then dog chow, then senior food and she was always a healthy dog.... So i honestly dont know, im not a good cook so that home-made stuff would be really bad for the puppy. The only thing we do in our house is hit the cook button on the microwave. Gotta love those lean cuizines.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Jeremy, finding the right kibble can cause alot of grief for pet owners. You're right, there are so many opinions and it gets confusing.

It's all about finding something that your dog does well on. Nice coat, no itchies, firm poop, no odor and clear eyes.


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## jehiel (May 2, 2012)

How about Pedigree? Is this a good type of dog food for puppy? "sigh" it is really hard to decide...


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

You need to educate yourself about what is good and bad in a dog food. Compare the ingredients of the foods you look at to the Purina/Science Diet. You will see that Pedigree is just as bad. As someone has already mentioned you should try Costco's Kirkland brand or Tractor Supply's 4Health brand. If you're willing to dish out more money check out brands like Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Fromm, Solid Gold, etc.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I feed my girl alternately with Blue Buffalo and raw foods. She is healthy as an ox! xD

Also- Avoid Ol' Roy


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

Is it true that Kirkland signature at Costco is recalled? I read that a lot of dogs are getting sick and some have died because of salmollena. It wa a recent article written in early April. I wanted to feed it to my dogs but now I'm not so sure


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## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

My opinion, if it's not broke, no need to fix it. If your dogs are doing good on whatever you are feeding them....why change it?

I don't feed my dogs food with corn in it. Why not? B/c when I did, my dogs have big, huge, stinky piles of poop. They have gas. There are dog foods out there for around the same price as Purina....that doesn't have corn in it. In the case of all 3 of my GSD's....no corn equals smaller poos.

But some dogs do very well on corn.


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## jeremy12095 (Apr 13, 2012)

Ive seen on the news that a brand of dog food has been recalled, i dont remember which one it was. It was about a week ago! I have never heard of anything bad of purina, I mean like the other poster said if it aint broke dont fix it. OR LWEAO ( leave well enough alone).

Thank you everyone for your advise, I figure i've used purina brand products on all of my animals and they all have been healthy so i will just stick with it for my puppy. I did switch to the large breed purina puppy chow.


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## jeremy12095 (Apr 13, 2012)

*Fresh from the groomer! TY Petsmart!*


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## DKHarris (Jan 10, 2012)

Here is a site I found that I found to be easy to understand.
Basic Feeding Guide for Dogs, How much should I feed my dog?

At the end every dog is different but some good info and insight here.


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

If you're a Costco member, the Kirkland brand dog food is very high quality; maybe not as good as Blue Buffalo, but if you look at the ingredients it's much better than most brands you'll see at a grocery store.


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## rooandtree (May 13, 2012)

when i got my newest memeber a few months ago and he was 10 weeks old i spent days and hours reasearching whcih food to put him on.I also am a volunteer at a rescue so i also asked everyones opinion including vets and breeders not to mention all the online info.I came up with what some others have said on here for the high quality great ingredeint food Costco Kirkland is the best bang for your buck.A 40 pound bag is under $30 and its all real ingredients real chicken,rice and veggies.I switched and now even my oldest dog at the age of 9 has a shiney coat and less shedding.Costco kirland brand is really Diamond brand dog food...yes it was recalled for fear of salemonla but it has been fixed.And thats the other thing i love..its made here in USA..all the ingredeints are..unlike alot of other cheap brands who import things from china...which is why it was recalled..they care about our pets and took every precaution and its regulated..unlike the other china crap dog food. My dogs never got sick nor did any at the rescue.i was surprised and shocked to learn how many people use it and i didnt believe it could be such good dog food until i tried it myself


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