# Suggestions for a wheat free, large breed puppy food?



## ChasingLuna (May 18, 2015)

Our puppy Luna had some pretty persistent diarrhea when we first brought her home, and after trying a few things that our vet recommended (probiotics, pumpkin, etc) and a fecal test that came back clean, we're pretty sure she has a wheat allergy that's causing her problems. She was eating Science Diet large breed puppy when we first got her, and the vet recommended switching her to Hill's Ideal Balance puppy food (wheat free, but contains rice and barley.) Her digestive problems went away almost immediately after that, but we also started noticing that she's been putting on weight a lot slower than she used to be, and she always seems like she's still hungry after a meal. Since she's a mix, we don't know what her exact ideal weight is at this point, but our vet agrees that she's a bit skinny for her frame. She's worried that since Ideal Balance isn't a large breed formula that Luna isn't getting all that she needs nutrient wise from her food. 

I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions as to whether or not puppies even NEED puppy food as opposed to a good quality adult food, but this particular vet seems to think that large breeds need to be on puppy food for close to a year if at all possible. She didn't have any specific recommendations for a large breed, wheat free puppy food, and just suggested feeding her a bit more of her current food until she can be transitioned onto adult food.... which just... seems a bit weird to me, I guess. Do any of you guys have any suggestions?


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## CDR Shep Mama (Mar 14, 2015)

We feed Commander Blue Buffalo Freedom Chicken Recipe Large Breed Puppy.
It's wheat free and he loves it; when we switched him to it from another Blue Buffalo food we didn't notice any weight loss or hunger issues (which he was having with the first food he was eating).

I'm no food option expert though, hopefully you'll get some more responses with better advice, good luck!!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

You want a puppy to slowly gain weight. To fast and to much is not always good.


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## ChasingLuna (May 18, 2015)

llombardo said:


> You want a puppy to slowly gain weight. To fast and to much is not always good.


Well, she's only been gaining maybe 3/4 of a pound a week for the last couple weeks, which seems TOO slow to me. I'm definitely not an expert though, so anyone who knows more is welcome to enlighten me. Before switching her food she was gaining about 2 - 2.5 pounds a week, even though she was having persistent diarrhea, so the sudden decrease in weight gain just seems odd to me, as well as fact that she acts like she's still hungry after meals.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My pup stayed the same weight for a couple weeks at a time more then a few times. They get taller, fill out, get taller. You don't want lots of weight on those developing hips. Do you have a picture of her?


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## FOKAI_808 (Mar 30, 2015)

I am feeding Orijen LBP and has been doing great. Acana is also good as there both made by Champion. but I heard great things from Taste of the Wild, Merrick, Fromm.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

I am a huge advocate of Canine Caviar for dogs with allergies or even suspected allergies.. 

Titan has many and we use the adult formulas for him.. Open Meadow and Free Spirit. Their other foods do not have wheat in them either if you figure out that it is indeed a wheat allergy.. which I would look into food allergy testing if you are seriously thinking that's what it is. 

Here is the link to their puppy food:

http://www.caninecaviar.com/product/grain-free-puppy/

They are not sold at any stores, at least in my area, so we order off of chewy.com. 

If you are not interested in that one.. We did ise Fromm for a little bit and Titan (the pickest eater on the planet) loved it and his coat did well.. we switched because we found that all their foods have at least one of his allergens in it.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Many vets don't study nutrition very much beyond what is given to them by Hill's in vet school, so I always take vet's nutritional advice with a large grain of salt unless they have pursued further education in nutrition after their original schooling. After talking to several nutritionists, it seems that the general consensus is that puppy food is largely unnecessary and was started mainly for the consumers who seemed to think a puppy should grow quickly. But you want slow growth. I would recommend a good quality adult or all life stages food and adjust the amount as needed to keep a body condition on the slender side of ideal as the puppy grows.

Some good brands depending on your price range are Orijen/Acana, Merrick, Fromm, Earthborn Holistics, Horizon Legacy, Go!, Nature's Variety, Canidae, and Farmina. I would be careful of Blue Buffalo as they seem to currently have some issues ensuring quality ingredients from their suppliers.


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## gsdheeler (Apr 12, 2010)

I would not feed Hills, not a good food in my mind. My dogs do well on Fromm. I also feed some raw.


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