Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 66
  1. #21
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    753
    Thanked: 607
    LOL, Stella came in on Beneful (a rescue, she survived the experience). Anthony comes from a very good breeder who is a vet and we followed her instructions until we switched him to Fromm's and now they're both on it and thriving. For all of our other dogs they were on Purina Pro Plan and did very well. I would not mess with the likes of Windycanyon, Annette47, listen to your breeder!!!!!:-)

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Doreen Davis For This Useful Post:

    Kellie (11-28-2016), windycanyon (07-20-2016)

  3. #22
    Best Friend Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    517
    Thanked: 103
    First off let me say I am not anti- dog breeder, the ones I've met appear to be sincere and caring people, but apparently the opposite is not always true.
    Any questions on this thread are met with the same mantra " trust your breeder" or "do what your breeder says".
    Slightly bias don't you think?
    Veterinarians don't know anything about dog food! Eight yrs. of college and a practice seeing dogs at all stages of life gives them no insight here?
    Some vets like Rocco's, have a nutritionist on staff that will analyze and give you a written report on any dog food or supplement you request.
    I have left here by name the food recommended by my breeder for puppies, thinking some would google it and see what they think,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I left the name of a supplement recommended by my breeder, again thinking I'd get an opinion,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I hope the OP found some useful info..

  4. #23
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Eastern Ontario Canada
    Posts
    3,336
    Thanked: 2070
    actually veterinary schools spend VERY little time on food so no, a general vet that did no extra studies or research on food won't know more about general nutrition. Few vets have a nutritionist on hand (at least around here that's quite rare) that has done studies in nutrition.

    Generally when people say trust the breeder it goes with "assuming you did the homework and selected a reputable educated responsible breeder". because these breeders have kept and raised MANY of their puppies. They want healthy long lived dogs so their interest is in feeding what works best for their dogs (not as many people tell me "the cheapest because they have more dogs to feed). Having raised puppy and puppy on foods they know how they grow on that food (and many have tried different ones and can compare, or saw how other puppies they bred did on other foods).

    But obviously if it's "just another breeder" who is educated and knowledgable, then you probably don't want to talk to them about it no.
    Last edited by Tanya; 07-20-2016 at 01:41 PM.

  5. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Tanya For This Useful Post:

    Abulafia (07-20-2016), Annette47 (07-20-2016), windycanyon (07-20-2016)

  6. #24
    Real Retriever Archie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Niagara
    Posts
    409
    Thanked: 444
    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    First off let me say I am not anti- dog breeder, the ones I've met appear to be sincere and caring people, but apparently the opposite is not always true.
    Any questions on this thread are met with the same mantra " trust your breeder" or "do what your breeder says".
    Slightly bias don't you think?
    Veterinarians don't know anything about dog food! Eight yrs. of college and a practice seeing dogs at all stages of life gives them no insight here?
    Some vets like Rocco's, have a nutritionist on staff that will analyze and give you a written report on any dog food or supplement you request.
    I have left here by name the food recommended by my breeder for puppies, thinking some would google it and see what they think,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I left the name of a supplement recommended by my breeder, again thinking I'd get an opinion,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I hope the OP found some useful info..
    I think the idea is encouraging people to pick a great, responsible breeder. If your breeder doesn't know his/her lines well enough to pick a food that works, you may want to think about what other issues there are.

    Bottom line, if you've picked a breeder worth their salt, you've picked a breeder whose food choice you can trust.
    Laura, Archie & Quinn
    Hidden Content

  7. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Archie For This Useful Post:

    Abulafia (07-20-2016), Annette47 (07-20-2016), EmmaJo11 (07-22-2016), windycanyon (07-20-2016)

  8. #25
    Senior Dog Abulafia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    1,111
    Thanked: 685
    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    First off let me say I am not anti- dog breeder, the ones I've met appear to be sincere and caring people, but apparently the opposite is not always true.
    Any questions on this thread are met with the same mantra " trust your breeder" or "do what your breeder says".
    Slightly bias don't you think?
    Veterinarians don't know anything about dog food! Eight yrs. of college and a practice seeing dogs at all stages of life gives them no insight here?
    Some vets like Rocco's, have a nutritionist on staff that will analyze and give you a written report on any dog food or supplement you request.
    I have left here by name the food recommended by my breeder for puppies, thinking some would google it and see what they think,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I left the name of a supplement recommended by my breeder, again thinking I'd get an opinion,
    Nope, same mantra though.
    I hope the OP found some useful info..
    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.
    Hidden Content Hokule'a ("Hoku") / b. 06.08.15

  9. #26
    Best Friend Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    517
    Thanked: 103
    Quote Originally Posted by Abulafia View Post
    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.
    Did you even read the original post?
    He was asking for a food recommendation,
    Taking two hundred woods to say "ask you breeder" isn't much help.

  10. #27
    Senior Dog Shelley's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    1,226
    Thanked: 1739
    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    Did you even read the original post?
    He was asking for a food recommendation,
    Taking two hundred woods to say "ask you breeder" isn't much help.
    Since the OP hasn't commented on this thread after the first post, perhaps they took our excellent advice to feed what the breeder of their puppy is feeding for at least 8 months to a year. So many people with the same good advice, perhaps we are on to something :-) LOL

  11. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Shelley For This Useful Post:

    Abulafia (07-20-2016), Annette47 (07-20-2016), windycanyon (07-20-2016)

  12. #28
    Best Friend Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    517
    Thanked: 103
    Quote Originally Posted by Shelley View Post
    Since the OP hasn't commented on this thread after the first post, perhaps they took our excellent advice to feed what the breeder of their puppy is feeding for at least 8 months to a year. So many people with the same good advice, perhaps we are on to something :-) LOL
    Or he got disgusted and gave up. LOL

  13. #29
    Best Friend Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    517
    Thanked: 103
    Mark, personally I feed Orijen, Acana has a large following also.
    Here's a site to start with:dog food advisor - Bing

    There's other good sites also.
    Though there's nothing wrong with some grain beware of those that use it as filler just to make more profit.

  14. #30
    Senior Dog dxboon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    867
    Thanked: 824
    Actually, I think many of us responsibly addressed the OP's question. Would it have been more helpful, knowing nothing about the OP's puppy and its situation, for each of us to have thrown out brands we all think are "the best?" The best for WHAT exactly? Which factors do people feel comprise "the best" food? It likely varies based on your experience with dogs, with Labs in particular, and what your endgame is with your current dog(s).

    Where a dog comes from informs a lot about what may or may not work with the individual. Is it a city shelter rescue that may have poor gut flora, having been fed whatever food has been donated to the shelter that week? Is it a puppy from a breeder that is producing pets for sale and doesn't do health testing or compete with their dogs, so is less concerned about supporting overall health and structure for the breed? Is the puppy from a breeder with many years of experience with their particular pedigrees, and they are breeding for health (meaning they do all recommended testing for Labs) and purpose, so are very concerned about choosing food and feeding for proper nutrition and structure?

    If people are getting puppies from "breeders" that treat their puppies more as commodities to be sold as pets to whomever has the cash; no muss, no fuss, then yeah, maybe that person isn't that great of a resource, so maybe you are better off (or no worse off, at least) listening to a vet, or googling your heart out, or religiously poring over Dog Food Advisor or Whole Pet Journal reviews. However, if someone (hopefully the OP) has taken the time to find a truly reputable breeder, then it makes more sense IMO to address any early nutritional questions to their breeder AND at least thoughtfully consider their advice first.

    There are well-known Labrador breeder/exhibitors who are also veterinarians with extremely successful breeding/show programs. They would be the first to tell you that the average veterinarian (and they are licensed vets, so have been through vet school, and do continuing education) catering to the general pet population, is NOT a specialist in canine nutrition generally, or Labrador nutrition specifically. Puppy buyers shirking breeder advice about feeding, age appropriate exercise, training, and a multitude of other issues, then having problems with their puppies/dogs is something that is discussed regularly when breeders/exhibitors get together.

  15. The Following User Says Thank You to dxboon For This Useful Post:

    Abulafia (07-20-2016)

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •