Hi everyone. I was reading another thread and there were some people that were saying that it doesn't matter if you feed your puppy LB puppy food or regular puppy food. I thought that with a Lab yo should feed the LB?? I'm a little confused now?? When I get my puppy in April I was planning to try and switch her over to Eagle Pack Holistic LB Puppy food, is that ok?? Thanks for the help!

A lot of people argue that a lab isn't a large breed dog, which is why they say a lab doesn't need a large breed dog food. I have mixed feelings on the subject since one of my labs falls within the breed standard at 64 pounds yet the other is 80 pounds (both female).

If it were me I would do exactly what you are planning to do right now.
No reason to put unneeded stress on the joints etc.

So then what exactly is considered a large breed? Weight wise, I mean.

I was under the impression it was over 60 lbs at adult weight.

I would use LB puppy food if I were you...I did with my puppy. I believe on the bags we used to get, it said LB is for dogs that would be 50 or 55lbs+ at their adult size.

A lot of people argue that a lab isn't a large breed dog, which is why they say a lab doesn't need a large breed dog food. I have mixed feelings on the subject since one of my labs falls within the breed standard at 64 pounds yet the other is 80 pounds (both female).

I agree...I personally don't consider a Labrador a "large breed" dog. The Breed Standard describes him as a "medium sized" dog with males weighing 65-80 lbs and females weighing 55-70 lbs.

I too thought over 50+ pounds. From my posts yesterday I'm still confused. I check all the ingredients in both LB puppy & LB adult and they seem the same. The thing I did find that was different was the amount of glucosomine (sp) & chlodrotine (sp) are lower in regular puppy & adult food verses LB puppy & LB adult. Shelby had arthritis in her hips which I notice in the 1st winter we had her at 5 yrs. old and for the next 5 yrs. of her life I made sure her LB food had both those in it. Then once 7 yrs. old her LB senior food had it in it too. So, I do really think labs and bigger dogs really need extra of that for their joints. Hope this helps.

I should have qualified my earlier post by saying that as long as you are helping your dog to maintain a healthy weight, I doubt there is anything inherently wrong with feeding a large breed dog food. Both of my dogs are fed a large breed food.

Thanks for the replies. I was just curious. I think I will just do what I had planned (put her on LB puppy food). Thanks again!:)

Hi everyone. I was reading another thread and there were some people that were saying that it doesn't matter if you feed your puppy LB puppy food or regular puppy food. I thought that with a Lab yo should feed the LB?? I'm a little confused now?? When I get my puppy in April I was planning to try and switch her over to Eagle Pack Holistic LB Puppy food, is that ok?? Thanks for the help!

The Eagle Pack Large Breed Puppy food is perfectly fine to feed to your puppy. :)

I also feed Eagle Pack and my dogs do great on it! :) Good Luck with your new puppy!

I dont buy a food just becuase my dog falls in the weight range given on the bag. I do however use large breed puppy food becuase they have more controlled caloric levels and appropriate calcium/phosphorus ratios. Labs are prone to hip/joint problems and whether or not they are a large breed, they do need to grow slowly instead of packing on the weight quickly to stress growing joints/bones.

I would go ahead and use the eagle pack lb holistic food. it is an awesome food and i have heard great things about it from clients are the clinic i work at.

There's one assumption that is incorrect, and it's a common one. Labs are not fed a large breed food because they are a large breed dog. It has nothing to do with their size, it has everything to do with the fact that they share similar growth problems with large breed dogs (and as a result benefit from the same nutritional regimens).

The reason it is recommended is because most owners are not diligent enough to read the label on the bag of food. Lab puppies, like large breed puppies, can develop severe problems when on a diet containing too much calcium. Large breed dog foods have a limited source of calcium - an appropriate level. Now other foods do this as well, but you have to check the label. Since most of the public isn't this diligent, it's just easier to recommend a food that takes care of that for them. Most will recommend calcium between .8% - 1.5%, but it also depends on the amount of calories in the food since calcium is measured on a dry-matter basis.