Farmina protein percentage

[bmathers]

I really like what I read about Farmina. I'm looking at all the formulas, but would like to stick with grain free for now. I reached out to my breeder who has beed breeding for almost 50 years and she said she still highly recommends grain free because she has seen too many problems with grain inclusive foods. She didn't elaborate, but I totally trust her on this. Farmina's grain free puppy food has a protein percentage of 42%. Does that seem too high? I am feeding Fromm Heartland Gold grain free now and that is 26% protein. What do you all think?

[SunDance]

Unless you're engaging your dog in a good bit of really high activity, my opinion (based on experience) is that that is way too high.

Our Akitas were on a normal level protein food years ago but even that proved to be too much and I had to switch them to stop nocturnal incontinence caused by protein in their urine. I think the food I ended up with was about 24% protein. These were young adult dogs with good backyard exercise and walking...but nothing like agility. And Akitas don't fetch.

[Labradorks]

I'd do the regular food vs. puppy and use the ancestral grains formula. Farmina Natural & Delicious Chicken & Ancestral Low-Grain or the Fish & Orange one. That way, you can avoid the grains that people want to avoid (corn, wheat, soy, etc.) and also avoid the taurine issue. If you go to the FB page I mentioned, you can see a document where people are allowed to add the food their dogs were on plus their dog's test results. You're not allowed to fill out the form unless you have test results, so it's not a "I think my dog got sick when he was on this food" situation.

Interesting what your breeder says. The best breeders I know with excellent health and longevity (and do high level sports) feed either raw or grain-inclusive foods (or both). I have never met a breeder that recommended grain-free foods unless a particular dog requires it.

[bmathers]

I'd do the regular food vs. puppy and use the ancestral grains formula. Farmina Natural & Delicious Chicken & Ancestral Low-Grain or the Fish & Orange one. That way, you can avoid the grains that people want to avoid (corn, wheat, soy, etc.) and also avoid the taurine issue. If you go to the FB page I mentioned, you can see a document where people are allowed to add the food their dogs were on plus their dog's test results. You're not allowed to fill out the form unless you have test results, so it's not a "I think my dog got sick when he was on this food" situation.

Interesting what your breeder says. The best breeders I know with excellent health and longevity (and do high level sports) feed either raw or grain-inclusive foods (or both). I have never met a breeder that recommended grain-free foods unless a particular dog requires it.

How come you would go with the adult formula? Diggity is just shy of 6 months and the breeder said switch him at around 10 months. I did notice the adult formula is lower protein (30%.)

I joined that FB group last week and there are a lot of interesting posts. I downloaded the spreadsheet and you're right, Farmina comes out in a very positive light.

Thanks!

[bmathers]

Unless you're engaging your dog in a good bit of really high activity, my opinion (based on experience) is that that is way too high.

Our Akitas were on a normal level protein food years ago but even that proved to be too much and I had to switch them to stop nocturnal incontinence caused by protein in their urine. I think the food I ended up with was about 24% protein. These were young adult dogs with good backyard exercise and walking...but nothing like agility. And Akitas don't fetch.

Agreed!! Thanks!

[Labradorks]

How come you would go with the adult formula? Diggity is just shy of 6 months and the breeder said switch him at around 10 months. I did notice the adult formula is lower protein (30%.)

I joined that FB group last week and there are a lot of interesting posts. I downloaded the spreadsheet and you're right, Farmina comes out in a very positive light.

Thanks!

I've always fed ALS foods, not puppy foods, per my breeders'.

[bmathers]

I've always fed ALS foods, not puppy foods, per my breeders'.

Is there a benefit to that? You're not the first person I've heard who does that!

[Beth C]

I worry about the calcium/phosphorous ratio with non-large breed puppy kibbles. Thoughts?

[JenC]

You don't need "Large Breed", labs are technically medium sized dogs. Some one here going to know the correct C:Ph ratio, I always forget, but I'm thinking 1:1.1 is what Labs should have. We stick to Pro Plan, the calcium is correct on basically all varieties so you don't have to think about it.

I'd personally not feed a puppy grain free. If the grain free/heart correlations is true, you are feeding it to a young dog that is still growing. Not a risk I would be willing to take.

Most folks I am friends with who have labs, feed Pro Plan or Royal Canin. Growth is slow and correct. Dogs don't get gangly. No pano issues, no stool issues. I see more problems with people who think they are doing right by their dog by finding some fancy grain free foofy brand because they think it's healthier. But I spend time with show dogs and working hunting dogs and those folks don't have the growth and digestive issues. I want the same healthy, beautiful dogs my mentors have.

Just my 2 cents.

[Annette47]

Most folks I am friends with who have labs, feed Pro Plan or Royal Canin. Growth is slow and correct. Dogs don't get gangly. No pano issues, no stool issues. I see more problems with people who think they are doing right by their dog by finding some fancy grain free foofy brand because they think it's healthier. But I spend time with show dogs and working hunting dogs and those folks don't have the growth and digestive issues. I want the same healthy, beautiful dogs my mentors have.

Just my 2 cents.

Mine have all been raised on Pro-Plan, and I fed Royal Canin to Scully much of her adult life (she seemed to prefer the taste). Mulder was on it too until we determined he needed a non-chicken based food. My younger two are on Pro-Plan now, and Chloe is the only one on a “fancy grain free foofy” food but that’s mainly because she looks at food and gains weight and the formula we have her on is the only one with plenty of protein yet not too many calories - if we’d kept her on pro-plan she’d only be able to eat 1 cup a day and that seems cruel to a Lab. Pro-Plan is a good food!