# Canidae Pure Foundations Puppy Formula



## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

Hello,

I have been researching for days now for the perfect dog food. I know that it doesn't exist, but would like something perfect for an American German Shepherd. He is only 19 days old now and will be getting him at the end of May. I have bought everything needed for him. I went with Canidae Pure Puppy since they got away from Diamond. But now I am reading it may be to high in Calcium levels. I would like a better alternative. The store will take my bag back and I will get a better food. Would it be better to get the Pure Foundations non puppy food? Or would something like Victor or Nutro be better?

Thank you
Nick


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

All I would recommend is that you don't buy a big bag of whatever you chose. No matter how "good" the food is it may not agree with your puppy's tummy. GSDs have notoriously sensitive tummies. Our Ranger was on Iams puppy food when we were raising him for the Seeing Eye (they required it.) He did fine on Iams but when he was dropped from their program we went looking for a better food. We went through several expensive foods and all made him sick. We finally ended up with Canidae ASL. It isn't as high quality as some of the other foods we gave him but it agrees with his tummy. We have noticed that his fur is much softer and shinier on the Canidae than it was on the Iams (no particular shock there.)


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## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

Thanks for the fast reply. I have heard that about GSD. I have always had Mals, so this is new to me. My brother had problems with Blue Wilderness and his GSD. I just wanted to see if people stayed away from the puppy blends for certain reasons and if there was a better option. Maybe Ill do Canidae ALS for him also as 8 weeks old. Thank you again for the response.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Barrett2016 said:


> Thanks for the fast reply. I have heard that about GSD. I have always had Mals, so this is new to me. My brother had problems with Blue Wilderness and his GSD. I just wanted to see if people stayed away from the puppy blends for certain reasons and if there was a better option. Maybe Ill do Canidae ALS for him also as 8 weeks old. Thank you again for the response.


I wish I could have answered your question but I did want to offer some advice based on my experience. Hopefully someone else can offer some advice specifically about puppy food. I think Canidae ASL (all stages life) is fine for puppies but I am by no means an expert on dog foods. I know there are others on here that would be able to provide better advice.


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## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

Well I hope that they will chime in and help out!


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## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

Anyone?


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## Jilly-Bean (Apr 24, 2016)

Hi, I'm new to the forum and a recent new fur mom to a Shepard puppy. I used dog food advisor to do some research. I have read through a lot of research that Orijen food seems to be pretty popular for GSD. It's also top rated with a five star rating. I put my guy on what the breeder had him on. She was using Blue Buffalo Life Protection Puppy and my hubby went out and bought Blue Buffalo Wilderness Larger Breed puppy food which after about a week we can tell it's not agreeing with him, so today I'm going to buy the Life Protection formula he was originally on. I do know whatever food you choose needs to be specific for "large breed" puppy. I wish I could be of more help. Best of luck to you!


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Hi Barrett!
I think you'd be better off with a food containing higher quality ingredients like Fromm. Family owned company and manufacturing plant.
It is regarded highly by a great number of people on this blog. 
*FROMM’S: **http://frommfamily.com/products/gold/dog/dry/#heartland-gold-large-breed-puppy** Store Locator: *Find a store that carries Fromm 

These are others with higher quality ingredients:
*ACANA: **http://acana.com/our-foods/heritage/puppy-large-breed/*Store Locator | Acana
*ORIJEN *(Orijen can give some dogs loose stool b/c of the high meat quantity)*: **http://www.orijen.ca/products/dog-food/dry-dog-food/puppy-large/** Store Locator: *Where to Buy | Orijen
*NATURE’S VARIETY: **http://www.instinctpetfood.com/product/instinct-raw-boost-grain-free-kibble-large-breed-puppy-food-chicken*Store locator: Find A Store | Nature's Variety


Always transition with small amounts of new food mixed with old, taking a week or two to change. If stool get loose, go back to previous amount fed (where stool was solid) and hold at that amount for a few days until his gut gets use to it. Then increase again. This is called "bowel tolerance".


We will be expecting lots of pictures of your new Fur Baby!

Moms


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## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

I looked into Fromm. They dont have a large breed puppy choice. What about Nutro large breed puppy?


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Barrett2016 said:


> I looked into Fromm. They dont have a large breed puppy choice. What about Nutro large breed puppy?


Kibble does not *need* to be "Large Breed Puppy"......you just need to check the cal/phos rates. Some breeder's/people do not feed their puppies "Puppy Food" at all!

Nutro ingredients are not high quality.
Statement listed a few years ago in Petfoodindustry.com: "Jim Eastin, supplier quality assurance scientist for Nutro Company, presented a seminar titled:
“The Importance of Rendered Ingredients in Pet Foods” at the October 26, 2011 Pet Food Industry symposium. He referred to poultry by-products as "value-added ingredients" and described rendering as "environmentally responsible" by converting by-products into ingredients Nutro uses in its pet food products."

Fromm has 2 LBP as do the other companies I listed.
*Heartland Gold Large Breed Puppy*: Fromm Gold Life-stage and Lifestyle Dry Recipes - Fromm Family Foods
*Large Breed Puppy Gold*: Fromm Gold Life-stage and Lifestyle Dry Recipes - Fromm Family Foods 

Moms


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

We use Canidae Grain Free Foundation for all our puppies! We have been using it for over a year now and not a single litter has had a problem with it. Perfect stools and the puppies love it! We are extremely pleased with it. Before Foundations came out, we had trouble finding a puppy food that all puppies did well on.


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## Barrett2016 (Apr 20, 2016)

I went with wellness core for large breed puppies. It was a tad higher but from the ingredient list, I'd eat it!


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