Originally Posted by
Abulafia
Biased? No; that's not—if I may—what 'biased' means. Advising individuals to pick their breeder carefully and then follow that breeder's recommendations for feeding (and training, and long-term care, and everything) is not an indication of bias. It is an indication of common sense.
As noted by Tanya, Vets spend very little time studying food or diet (ditto most M.D.s, for what it is worth). Most Vets are fairly broadly trained to care for at least two different species (dogs and cats, typically), which then involves all breeds and mixes and mutts, at all ages, and all aspects of health. This does not leave much time or space for nutritional studies.
Also, the reason we have been saying "trust your breeder" is because individual lines grow better on individual foods. The food my breeder uses grows her puppies and dogs well. Other breeders use other foods that work best for their lines. Breeders know their lines—Vets do not. The cannot. It is not their job to know "Oh, Hoku came from X breeder, so she'll do best on X food, and this is how she looks when she's healthy, but Brandy came from Y breeder, so she'll do best on Y food and this is how she looks when she's healthy" (maybe ten lbs lighter or heavier). Vets can't do that! That's not their job.
Hoku comes from very stout conformation lines. At one Vet trip, when she was about four months old, the Vet (at new one we'd not seen before) started freaking out on us about her weight. Like, really freaking out (though she never asked what we fed, or how much). I kept saying "this is her line," and finally opened up my laptop, brought up the breeder's web page, and said "here." The Vet then said "Oh. Ok. Well, this is right for her line."
When Hoku was getting a bit portly, I contacted... the breeder. I told her her weight, showed her a photo, told her what we were feeding. The breeder suggested feeding less, so we did. Because we trust the breeder. (And Hoku has slimmed down well, is about 8 bs lighter than her mother, which is what we wanted.)
I don't know why you'd expect people here to comment on your own breeder's recommendation for food or supplements, or why we'd take the time to Google such. Your breeder is not mine. I trust my breeder for my dog's feeding recommendations. That's all we have been saying. Pick a good breeder, and then trust them.