# GSD Food Advice?



## Witchy (May 21, 2017)

Hi, everyone!
My SO and I will be picking up our GSD in about three months and I couldn't be more excited....or nervous. I'm trying to gather as many things as I can before the puppy comes home, and I've hit a snag. I have no idea what to feed our puppy. I know we'll probably need a large breed food, but that's really all I know besides having some brands floating around in my head. I was thinking Merrick because my family has always fed it to their dogs with great results. The problem is that I know they've been bought out buy Purina and even though I've talked to them through email and over the phone, I'm still not sure I want to watch recall reports like a hawk. I was also considering Fromm, Acana, and Canidae. I'd love some advice! Thank you all!


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Since your puppy will be going through a big adjustment, I suggest you keep him on the same food the breeder is feeding him for the first month he is home with you. This will avoid any possible tummy upsets. Then if you may want to consider switching him. If you do so, do it slowly over a period of 1-3 weeks gradually increasing the amount of the new food. For the brand, I can recommend Solid Gold. Their large breed puppy chow is Wolfcub.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I was very happy with Fromm large breed puppy gold. there are some things to look for as a "sticky note" in the feeding your puppy section.


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## Witchy (May 21, 2017)

Mary Beth, we absolutely plan on keeping him on the breeders food for the first month or so. He'll be experiencing so many changes so I wouldn't want to add a change in food to that list. I should have been more specific, I just need ideas for once we switch him from the Purina. I've heard good things about the Fromm, NancyJ, plus our local pet store usually has a buy one get one sale on it. I've just always heard that Acana/Orijen was the best food out there...but it's a tad pricey.


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## Adirondackman (Apr 6, 2017)

We are about to transition our 14 week girl from Royal canin to Acana, vet doesn't agree yet they have bags of Royal Canin to the ceiling on the way out! I can read ingredients, pretty sure its a healthy move!


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## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

I know a golden retriever puppy that is on Fromm. The owners are very happy with it, and the puppy is very healthy. I would say to go with Fromm! It's not as expensive as some of the others, and it's still a REALLY good option.


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## NerdicEclipse (Feb 20, 2017)

Definitely transition the puppy slowly no matter what you go with. You can begin the transition on day one, just start very slow and with very small amounts of the new food. Even if it's on horrible food when you get it. That said, Minka eats Fromm large breed. It's high quality, well sourced and a small company. It can be pricey depending where you get it, but we get it through Chewy and it's perfectly reasonable. (40 something bucks for a 33lb bag - which right now lasts her about a month and a half.). She likes the taste, she's a great weight, her coat is stunning and her energy levels are perfect. There's far worse food that costs far more, and equal (or maybe even better?) food that costs the same or more. Definitely research like you're doing though. Read ingredients.

A huge price tag doesn't necessarily mean something is good but a low price tag more often than not means it's bad. Also avoid vet recommendations on word alone. Some vets know a lot about nutrition. Others not so much and they have a vested interest in you just taking their recommendation on face value. If they've got Royal Canin stacked to the ceiling chances are they're not too wise on nutrition.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Adirondackman said:


> We are about to transition our 14 week girl from Royal canin to Acana, vet doesn't agree yet they have bags of Royal Canin to the ceiling on the way out! I can read ingredients, pretty sure its a healthy move!


Adirondackman,
Royal Canin is manufactured by the MARS company.

Glad you are changing! Check out this thread about MARS: http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...s-pet-food-co-law-suit-depositions-scary.html 



Witchy: I'd go with Fromm's now that Merrick is a Purina product.
*: **http://frommfamily.com/products/gold/dog/dry/#heartland-gold-large-breed-puppy** Store Locator: *http://frommfamily.com/retailers/usa/#progress=2 



Fromm's is Family Owned, Family Run, & Family Manufactured. Most pet food companies are not.
*Fromm Family Foods is a fifth-generation family-owned and operated artisan pet food company. 
*Produced with a commitment to quality and consistency at Fromm's hands-on facility in Wisconsin. High-nutrient digestibility and utilization offers complete and balanced nutrition. 
*Third-party pathogenic bacteria testing is practiced on all production batches to ensure safety.


Moms


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I fed Fromm Gold LBP and was happy with it. I've fed Fromm Gold adult (not LB adult, just regular). I've fed Fromm's grain frees. My dog began having issues (bad batch of food?), so I switched to something else as he wouldn't eat it. That's a big thing as my dog likes ALL food for the most part.  I've fed Merrick and liked it fine. So sad it was sold. I've used Nature's Variety Instinct and liked it. I tried Dr. Tim's Kinesis. I've also fed Acana as an adult. I wasn't happy with the lentils/peas so eventually switched to feeding raw with some dehydrated base mix from Honest Kitchen.

Yeah, I was a worrier and kept thinking "maybe I need to try this particular 'possibly the best kibble ever' product' ".


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

The best is kind of relative. Acana is a good food but I preferred the Fromm and, for an adult, I am having great results and annual blood panels with Victor Hi Pro (a 30/20 food)

Look for the recall history though- make sure the calcium levels are appropriately low and the calcium phosphorus ratio is good (that link to the forum sticky)..low ash is also a sign of good food and sometimes you have to ask for that. Fromm is a leader in good manufacturing practices in the dog food industry from what I understand


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Here is a good site that weeds out a lot of the horrible companies for you. We use Acana, Orijen. Fromms for my cat since Acana does not make canned food. I like Fromms as a company and quality. I was never impressed with the over all ingredient content.

http://www.reviews.com/dog-food/

Here is a good video






As far as Vets talking about food ask them how many course they took on this in vet school. The answer is usually one semester and its taught by Hills. My vet who is a good friend tried to give me Royal crap one time and I threw it at him and asked him to read back the ingredients to me. Some vets do know what they are talking about if they did the research. Royal and Hills are a business for most vets.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

You will find that people have very different food preferences. I fed Nature's Logic (on that list) for awhile but was very unhappy with how it moved from one manufacturer to another and quality control issues.

One thing you will find is there are very few companies that actually do the manufacturing. Much dog food is private label........

There are so many different opinions out there on what works. Sometimes you have to look at what is working for YOUR DOG and then I do annual blood tests to confirm everything is ok.


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## Adirondackman (Apr 6, 2017)

Witchy said:


> Mary Beth, we absolutely plan on keeping him on the breeders food for the first month or so. He'll be experiencing so many changes so I wouldn't want to add a change in food to that list. I should have been more specific, I just need ideas for once we switch him from the Purina. I've heard good things about the Fromm, NancyJ, plus our local pet store usually has a buy one get one sale on it. I've just always heard that Acana/Orijen was the best food out there...but it's a tad pricey.


Perhaps because we live in Canada, here Acana is priced a fair bit cheaper than her previous Royal Canin diet,


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## Misfitfly (Jun 29, 2017)

Curious if you got your pup yet? I got mine on June 26th and immediately switched her to Orijen large breed puppy food. Personally, I was very impressed with the ingredients and the fact they use a biologically appropriate whole prey concept with only one supplement (Zinc). My pup is doing very well on this food she just turned 3 months old, she is happy, healthy, and beautiful.


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