I have been hearing that you have to be careful with the calcium levels in foods for growing large breed puppies...I thought calcium is needed for strong healthy bones...just like humans...I would think a lack of it would actually do more harm than good. Also...how would one know if his dog was fed too much calcium as a puppy? Would the dog actually look different physically? How much Calcium is too much??? I am confused!!! Thanks!

It's a complicated issue. What they do know is that puppies do not tolerate excess calcium like adult dogs can. Too little (generally less than .6% in dry dog food) causes problems and too much leads to problems like hip dysplasia. The major issue is how much is too much? Some say anything up to 2.5% is okay, but many believe it should be around 1.0%. I believe it was a university in Calgary Canada that did a study that showed a statistically significant increase in developmental joint disorders in dogs fed a diet high in calcium (2.7% or higher). The cohort with the lowest incidence of disorders were those fed a diet with calcium between .8% and 1.0%.

Ok....What about the protein content? I would think that excess protein would also be a bad thing. Would he start to develop hip problems at a young age? Doesn't genetics play a part in hip displasia too?

My vet said 1.2% cal level is what we should be looking for in a puppy food. Large breed puppy tends to be at 1.0- 1.2..at least the ones I looked at. Regular puppy tends to be a bit higher and until large breed puppy came out..most larger breed dogs were fed adult food. Or were only feed puppy food for the few months and then went right to adult.

Bear is now 5 1/2 mths old and weighs 66 lbs and is on Diamond lamb and rice ( adult) he's been on it since he was 10 weeks old. The first 2 weeks he was here we had to finish up his Iams puppy (yuck) and wanted to change over slowly. The vet said that changing him to adult at 10 wks is not a problem and he's been very happy with his growth thus far.

I would've put on the Diamond large breed puppy but at the time it wasn't available here locally..I'd have to go well over an hour away just for dog food. Our local TSC has really expanded thier Diamond line and they are having a hard time keeping it on the shelves.!

Doesn't genetics play a part in hip displasia too? From everything I have read, yes.

Transmission or Cause:
Hip dysplasia is a legacy disease, passed through the genes. Chances are that a loose-hipped dog that mates with another loose-hipped dog will give birth to a dysplastic puppy. It would seem, then, that the solution would be simple: to reduce the incidence of the disease markedly, refrain from breeding two dysplastic dogs. But the difficulty in preventing, as well as treating, hip dysplasia is that not all dogs with hip dysplasia will show signs of the disease. Thus, many seemingly normal dogs are bred together, keeping hip dysplasia within in the gene pool.

Environmental factors also play a role in hip dysplasia. For example, it is well known that obesity is a risk factor for the development of arthritis. In addition, dog food that has been over-supplemented with extra proteins, vitamins and minerals to make puppies grow faster can create orthopedic problems in extremely large breeds of dogs that may lead to hip dysplasia and arthritis.

http://www.workingdogs.com/vchipdysplasia.htm

It's a complicated issue. What they do know is that puppies do not tolerate excess calcium like adult dogs can. Too little (generally less than .6% in dry dog food) causes problems and too much leads to problems like hip dysplasia. The major issue is how much is too much? Some say anything up to 2.5% is okay, but many believe it should be around 1.0%. I believe it was a university in Calgary Canada that did a study that showed a statistically significant increase in developmental joint disorders in dogs fed a diet high in calcium (2.7% or higher). The cohort with the lowest incidence of disorders were those fed a diet with calcium between .8% and 1.0%.


You wouldn't happen to know how much calcium is in chicken soup for the puppy do you ?

Thanks!

- Rob

robrich22, you could try calling the company.

and for anyone who is interested, i called natural balance some time ago and asked the calcium question...
natural balance organic formula is 1.3% calcium and their ultra premium formula is 1.6%

robrich22, you could try calling the company.

and for anyone who is interested, i called natural balance some time ago and asked the calcium question...
natural balance organic formula is 1.3% calcium and their ultra premium formula is 1.6%

I just contacted them and they said The Chicken Soup Puppy Formula has 1.8% calcium.

Ok....What about the protein content? I would think that excess protein would also be a bad thing. Would he start to develop hip problems at a young age? Doesn't genetics play a part in hip displasia too?

Protein does not play a role in growth rates. They used to think this was the case, but it turns out to be false.

Genetics plays a large part in hip dysplasia. As much as they've studied it, they still don't know how much is related to nutrition, how much is related to genetics, and how much is related to the environment. The genes have to be there, but that alone doesn't cause hip dysplasia.

robrich22, glad you got your answer...I didn't know how much it had.