# Is orijen large puppy food too high in protein for puppies?



## dkdeadly

Hey i have a German Shepard female who is 13 weeks old and i feed her orijen large puppy food twice a day and in between some raw food or yogurt.I was told by my breeder that orijen large puppy food is a little high in protein for my puppies age.He recommended to switch to royal canin German Shepherd 24 food for now and then when she is about 7 months go to orijen large dog food.From what i read orijen and royal canin differentiate in quality by a lot therefore i dont know what to do.


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## PaddyD

All I can say is that it was too rich for my GSD. Wait and see what others say.


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## Angela

My personal opinion, no it's not. But I feed raw and if I was going to feed commercial processed dog food it would be one of the grain frees like orijen. I used to feed Evo before I went raw, although I wouldn't feed it now since they got bought out. 

I've never fed Royal Canin but after looking at their ingrediant list for the GSD puppy formula they lost me because of these: rice, oatmeal, brown rice, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten meal

Nope not feeding my dogs all those grains. I also don't see anything that says their meats are human grade although I could have missed it.


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## sagelfn

I fed my pup Orijen LBP, now feed the adult.

With LB pups you need to be careful of calcium not protein. Here's a good read on protein The Dog Food Project - Is too much protein harmful?


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## dkdeadly

I have similar concern about the ingredient that they use in Royal Canin however i heard that feeding high protein to little puppies is not good therefore i don't know which is worse.



Angela said:


> My personal opinion, no it's not. But I feed raw and if I was going to feed commercial processed dog food it would be one of the grain frees like orijen. I used to feed Evo before I went raw, although I wouldn't feed it now since they got bought out.
> 
> I've never fed Royal Canin but after looking at their ingrediant list for the GSD puppy formula they lost me because of these: rice, oatmeal, brown rice, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten meal
> 
> Nope not feeding my dogs all those grains. I also don't see anything that says their meats are human grade although I could have missed it.


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## Angela

This is my first pup since I went raw, my other dogs were already adults when we switched. But she is now almost 6 months and has been on raw since I brought her home at 2 months. She is doing excellent. Maybe someone who has more long term experience feeding puppies raw will post? I will say this though, what did weaned puppies being raised by their mothers eat before commercial dog food? The little ones ate the regurgitated food from their pack, which would have been raw meat and bones and organs, until they transitioned to solid meat and bones and organs.


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## Lucy Dog

If your pup likes it, has nice firm stools, and a nice coat... It's fine.

Protein isn't the issue with puppies, it's calcium that's the issue.


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## Samba

No it is not too high in protein. Pups need proten as they grow. It is a myth about high protein and puppies in a way. It is not the protein that is the problem but inappropriate calcium and phosphorus levels. The level of these minerals is Orjen LBP is okay for growing pups.

There are other high protein foods where the calcium and phos are not appropriate.


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## jaggirl47

My pup has grown up on Orijen though we started on the adult formula. I didn't mess with the LBP. The adult food has almost exactly the same nutritional formulation. My pup has had nice, slow growth, great fur and coat, shiny eyes. The protien has not caused a single issue.


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## neiltus

I went through the thoughts where I wanted to feed orijen lbp to my recent pup because I view it as one of the best foods. I have a senior on their senior formula that does wonderfully...

However, I moved her slowly to the orijen. She was on nature's variety prairie chicken and raw at 1 cup of kibble and 2 oz of raw (nv chicken). 

I felt she did better with the NV. Problem was not the stools, it was her energy (totally subjective) and enthusiasm for the food. 

Since that run, I have been feeding her NV LBP kibble at 1 cup a day and she gets about 5 ounces of raw (at 3 months), she is really into her food and the LBP is producing good firm poos...


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## sable123

dkdeadly said:


> Hey i have a German Shepard female who is 13 weeks old and i feed her orijen large puppy food twice a day and in between some raw food or yogurt.I was told by my breeder that orijen large puppy food is a little high in protein for my puppies age.He recommended to switch to royal canin German Shepherd 24 food for now and then when she is about 7 months go to orijen large dog food.From what i read orijen and royal canin differentiate in quality by a lot therefore i dont know what to do.


Many professionals feel that feeding such high levels of meal-based protein to dogs from cradle to grave is an untested hypothesis, Truth be told it is.

Apart from being a rip-off, I can't get comfortable with the fact the company really has very little experience in making pet food but does a great job holding itself out as an expert. It really is a consumer products company.

The fact is no dog needs that much protein and a wild canine would never consume so many grams of protein per day.


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## s14roller

If the concern is that Orijen LBP has too much protein, regardless of if it's good or bad, why not just switch for peace of mind to be sure? A few months later, the dog will be on adult food anyway. 

I use Wellness LBP and it's been great. I also wanted to buy Orijen at first until I read the protein comment in puppies as well. True or not, why even take the time to wonder? I can wait until my pup is older, then go to Orijen if I want.


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## neiltus

i should add that there is one thing that bugs me about orijen...the 'pet food of the year' certified by the glycemic research institute in DC. Google glycemic research institute.

They do Glycemic testing in humans. What gives them the authority to say a pet food is 'food of the year'. Nothing to do with vets, just glycemic testing. No audits on the choices or testing. Generally this just turns me off. When I read their website, what I get is that the 'pet food of the year' is the one with the lowest glycemic index...ie, most protein.

Where does orijen source its protein from...another thing I don't care for.

But bashing aside, I do feed it to a senior dog. Only because she does not do well on wellness or prairie


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## dkdeadly

So if orijen is not so good from what i hear then what is the best dry food to give to our German Shepard puppies?


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## Tbarrios333

I feed raw, which is pretty high in protein lol. 
With my first puppy, I did try to feed Orijen, but it was wayyyyy too rich for her. Despite Orijen being quality kibble, the main complaint is its richness. A lot of pups get pudding poo.


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## sagelfn

Orijen 

"the best" is not the same for everyone. For my dog Orijen is the best. For others it may be TOTW, California Naturals, or Purina Pro Plan.


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## sagelfn

With Orijen you have to be very careful about over feeding. Many people do and then the pup gets loose stools.


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## Tbarrios333

dkdeadly said:


> So if orijen is not so good from what i hear then what is the best dry food to give to our German Shepard puppies?


There are a few that I would feed:
Wellness, Natural Balance L.I.D. (My favorite), Solid Gold, Orijen, Taste of the Wild (for when your dog is older), and Blue Buffalo are the main choices for me.

Look into a raw diet as well, that's as good as it gets.


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## dkdeadly

I been feeding her orijen large puppy food since i got her at 8 weeks and her stools are solid however maybe once a weak they are a little loose but not much and i give her yogurt every other day and beef.


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## Chicagocanine

I've not heard about protein levels being a problem in puppies? I know too much calcium can be but not heard of protein.


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## jaggirl47

dkdeadly said:


> So if orijen is not so good from what i hear then what is the best dry food to give to our German Shepard puppies?


 
Orijen works wonderfully for my pup.


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## LissG

I haven't tried Orijen. I'm getting my GSD puppy tonight. It was highly recommended to me by a woman in a pet food store that I feed the puppy Fromm for large breed puppies, then switch to Orijen when the pup is older. I have a thread going about Fromm and so far no one really has anything bad to say about it...just a thought? Since I'm getting my little one tonight I'll let you know how he likes it .


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