She is 10 wks old and right now I am feeding her purina large breed puppy, she is growing like a weed, but does not seem to be gaining the weight she should. What type of food should I be feeding her and how much?
Here is a site that will show you which dog foods are the best and the worst. I suggest that you get any one of the dog foods that are top rated.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
Most of grocery store dog food formulas, like IAMS, Pedigree, Science Diet, Purina,and etc contain "meat and bone meal" which has been known to contain dead dogs and cats that were euthanized in animal shelters. Their bodies are picked up and bought by the truck load by "rendering plants" , that also pick up road kill, dead live stock, and etc. They are shredded, and boiled. They skim off the fat on the top of the "soup" and collected it and sell it to pet food companies as "animal fat", the rest of the animals' remains are crushed up, dried and sold to dog and cat food companies as meat and bone meal.
You can read more about it here.
http://earthislandprojects.org/eijournal/fall97/fe_fall97petfood.html
Here is an article where the owner of a rendering plant talks about it. He says that cremating the dead shelter animals would cause pollution, and that rendering them is good.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_12_26/ai_115041999
Here is further information on what you shouldn't see in the ingredients list in your dog's food.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
Top rated dog foods like Canidae contain good healthy ingredients.
Feed her more of it.
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pedigree puppy i brought my dogs up on pedigree and they now eat what ever you buy them
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Never feed a Great Dane puppy puppy food. Great Danes grow very fast and so they need low protein adult dog food. Feeding her puppy food could harm her.
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Purina is junk food for dogs. You should try Canidae chicken,lamb and fish. Its good for all life stages and has a great protein content!
Too much protein for a GD pup can hurt her!
Try this site for some more info
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
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Arden Grange do a good range. Or Royal Canin is a brand used by vets for weight gain xx
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james wellbeloved its great food for your great dane and has the feeding guidelines on the side for your dogs weight and breed and age but just remember if your dog is very active you will need to feed a little more than the guidelines say… goodluck
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STOP the large breed puppy food! You have a GIANT breed, not a large breed… two VERY different things!
Your Dane pup should be on adult food or an all life stages food. NO puppy food, and especially NO large breed puppy food! Yikes!
I always recommend raw, however, I know it is not always feasible for one reason or another. My suggestion for kibble would be: Canidae All Life Stages!
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Giant breed mom
Vet Tech for a vet who breeds/shows Danes
I would switch to a higher quality brand that can only be found at pet stores. Something like Nutro, Eagle, Innova, Evo, Solid Gold, Wellness, Canidae, etc. My puppy wasn't putting on very much weight on Science Diet Puppy, so I switched her to Canidae and now her coat looks fabulous and she put on a healthy amount of weight.
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Never feed a large breed dog such as a Great Dane puppy food of any kind, it makes them grow too fast for their frame and they end up with pano, hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. Feed her an adult dog food. And please don't feed petstore brand dog foods, they're nothing but corn and animal protein deemed unfit for human consumption. I suggest you switch to a raw diet, it won't hurt to research it, I feed every dog and puppy in my 20 run kennel a raw diet and I'm very pleased with it. If you must feed kibble a premium kibble isn't much better than a grocery store brand but at least it isn't full of grain (which could be considered toxic to dogs). She doesn't need to put on weight, she should be kept thin until she's a solid 2 years old so she doesn't have extra weight on her soft puppy bones/joints. I recommend you research a raw diet and feed it, if you have any questions about feeding a raw diet feel free to e-mail me, I'll be more than happy to help.
Protein has nothing to do with the super growth associated with puppy food. All of my puppies grow up on a raw diet of nearly 100% protein and grow at a normal rate and achieve a breed standard size. The only thing they eat that isn't meat are raw bones (which make up about 10% of their diet, and are okay to feed, cooked ones aren't), the rest is muscle meat, and organ meat. Dogs aren't meant to eat cooked meat (no animal but humans are), all dog food is cooked, even the 50 and 60 dollar bags of Merrick and Cali Gold and all of that other food that's supposed to be so much better than Purina…
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I'm a professional GSD breeder/trainer who has fed raw for 8 years and researched it for over a decade.
I would feed Solid Gold Wolf Cub. You definitely do not want to over-feed her! She will grow too fast and have bone and joint problems. Find a large or giant breed puppy food that is low in calories and calcium and supplement her joint growth and health with salmon oil and glucosamine and chondroitin. Check out the link below for good GD advice.
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http://www.greatdanelady.com/
Great Danes, and breeds that are similar in stature like Greyhounds and Catahoula Leopard Dogs, will always look a bit "lean." You don't want your puppy seeming "Chubby or Fat" as those are signs of not so healthy dogs. How do you know she is noting gaining the weight you think she "should" be gaining? Have you weighed her?
When in doubt, just call your vet, or even give the breeder a call who you go the dog from and ask them what they think. After all, someone who raises Danes for a living probably knows the breed and how they grow very well.
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Dad was veterinarian, family owned practice.
It is normal and healthy to be skinny while growing rapidly. If she is growing well, she is getting enough to eat. Over feeding her as a bigger hazard because it can lead to hip displasia and heart problems in big dogs as well as other problems in all dogs.
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Danes do tend to stay fairly gangly until they hit 2 or 3 but I would not be feeding her purina. Personally I think Purina is crap food, but that is just based on lots of personal research.
Look for Eagle Pak Holistics Giant breed puppy and if you cannot find that look for a food that does not have higher than 24% protein. I cannot remember what the fat percentage you need to look for is but keep an eye out on the protein percent.
I have some neighbors who breed danes and have for years and this is what they feed.
If you cannot find a giant puppy food look at adult foods with 24% or so protein but also look into a joint supplement like NUPRO. The reason you do not want them eating too high a protein amount is because they grow upwords to quickly. They wind up more rickety I guess for lack of a better way of explaining it.
Also, check with your vet if your vet says any puppy food other than a giant dog food then call someone else. Vets aren't required to have a lot of learning in the nutrition area and Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet and Purina all give huge amounts of money into vet school so some vets can be biased but with out understanding that they are being so.
Good Luck!
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large breed puppy food is what is recommended for great danes. the weight problem might be due to worms and/or her amount of activity. try adding a calorie increase paste.
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I hope you listen to Vet Tech as she is pretty much the only one that knows what she is talking about.
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The vet that I live with that has a Great Dane puppy, and has always had Great Danes, feeds Iams Large Breed (or Giant breed?) PUPPY food. DO keep your pup on puppy food. Just make sure she is eating enough of it. Purina isn't the best, but our other Great Dane eats Adult Large Breed purina. Double check with your own vet because he/she will know your puppy's needs personally.
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dane owner
''purina large breed puppy'''
YUCK!!
Check out this website for lots of info on the Danes
http://www.greatdanelady.com
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I would stay away from Puppy food and Purina. That food is crap. I would recommend something like Canidae all life stages or Innova. Don't get the puppy food though.
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I feed our dog cooked liver & giizzards-carrots- pea and broccoli and rice vet said he looks great oh and cooked dried beans do to all the recalls I want a healthy dog.When we first got him he weighed 68 lbs and the vet said feed him as much as he wants until he's full now at 110 he only eats once a day…
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Canidae ALS.
Giant breeds need adult or all life stages food.
ADD: Oops, just realized I copied Vet Tech (who is actually a vet tech), she has giant breeds, so listen to her. She's our resident expert on this forum.
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Danes should never be fed puppy food and certainly not large breed since they are a giant breed. Feeding a food which is too high in protein can throw your dog into HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy). Please google this read about HOD as it is a horribly painful disease which can disfigure and disable a Dane. In some cases the poor puppy has to be put down.
Danes should be kept lean (where you can see the last rib). They grow at an amazing rate and only really fill out beginning at about the age of two.
Recommended foods include Canidae ALS which has been mentioned. I personally have not had any luck with Eagle.
They should be fed twice a day and never free fed.
Good luck with your puppy.
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Great Dane breeder and exhibitor for over 20 years.
Try a raw diet. http://www.bigdogsporch.com is a forum that you can ask any questions you might have about your dogs nutrition.
Heres a few sites about raw diets: http://www.rawlearning.com, http://www.rawmeatybones.com( this is a vets site, dvm tom lonsdale) and http://www.rawfed.com/myths
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Owner of three raw fed dogs
Here is a site that will show you which dog foods are the best and the worst. I suggest that you get any one of the dog foods that are top rated.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
Most of grocery store dog food formulas, like IAMS, Pedigree, Science Diet, Purina,and etc contain "meat and bone meal" which has been known to contain dead dogs and cats that were euthanized in animal shelters. Their bodies are picked up and bought by the truck load by "rendering plants" , that also pick up road kill, dead live stock, and etc. They are shredded, and boiled. They skim off the fat on the top of the "soup" and collected it and sell it to pet food companies as "animal fat", the rest of the animals' remains are crushed up, dried and sold to dog and cat food companies as meat and bone meal.
You can read more about it here.
http://earthislandprojects.org/eijournal/fall97/fe_fall97petfood.html
Here is an article where the owner of a rendering plant talks about it. He says that cremating the dead shelter animals would cause pollution, and that rendering them is good.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_12_26/ai_115041999
Here is further information on what you shouldn't see in the ingredients list in your dog's food.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
Top rated dog foods like Canidae contain good healthy ingredients.
References :
Vet Tech is an owner of GIANT breed dogs, if I were to take ANYONE'S advice, out of this entire selection of answers, it would be hers.
Canidae All Life Stages is an excellent choice. You should follow the directions on the back of the bag for age and weight for your dog.
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Do not EVER feed a dane puppy any kind of puppy food (large breed or not). If you continue this way, you risk causing severe nutritional orthopedic issues. You need to get your pup on a high quality food ASAP. Some good choices would be:
Eagle Pack Natural
Chicken Soup for the dog lover's soul
Canidea
Innova
Nothing from a grocery store or Walmart is a good food. This includes Science Diet , Iams, and Eukenuba. Dane pups will stay very lean until after a year. They'll start to fill out a bit, then wham! growth spurt and she's looking starved again. It all evens itself out in time.
The low quality food you're using isn't being digested properly, and so she's not getting the most out of it. If you feed a better food, you'll feed less quantity, and the piles in the yard will be smaller (this will matter a lot once she grows a little more – trust me).
Check out http://www.greatdanelady.com for lots more info on dane pup nutrition, issues, etc.
Good luck!
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