Puppy Food Confusion! Fromm...Large Breed? Grain Free?

[Meeps83]

I like the idea of staying with the breeders suggestion, although here's my story;
my breeder recommended Sportmix Wholesomes chicken and rice, so I went to the feed store and picked up a 30lb bag prior to Rocky coming home, afterwards my veterinarian said he should be on puppy food, so I went to the store and got Iams puppy food, now I had 28lbs of Sportmix to give away to friends, everything went well but I continued to see that some folks here liked Fromm, so when Rocky hit 6 months I decided to switch over, being careful to blend 2/3 old to 1/3 new for a couple weeks, then 50-50 and eventually being at 100% Fromm, at that time Rocky got soft stools and had to go out 2-3 times a night, after 3 nights of this I went and bought more Iams puppy food, every thing straighten out immediately.
So IMHO; buy small bags to start with, check with your vet ahead of time, watch how your pup is eating and reacting to what you decided to feed.
And explain to me why Fromm large breed puppy has a small kibble, unless you enjoy picking up dog food off the floor.
Best of luck to you and your pup.

Just because the dog is big doesn't mean they like large kibble.

[jertom]

Just because the dog is big doesn't mean they like large kibble.

ah, o.k..
Rocky is probably just too messy.

[jertom]

Wendy,
just re-read your post;
I have always heard the only reason to go grain-free is if your dog is having a problem with grain. Many here have had experience along these lines.
Large breed puppy food? Again the only thing I've heard is the size of the kibble, not any difference in the food, and that's not always the case, see my earlier post.
I think when you have a 60lb. 6 month old baby, it becomes a macho thing, us guys like to stand in the store and say "yea that's what I need". LARGE BREED!

[OHfemail]

We're feeding Gabby, 3 years old, the Fromm Large Breed Adult Gold. It's also a small kibble. We've switched back and forth between Fromm foods, just for variety. While they've all been fine for her, this is the one that meets her needs for protein, fat, and calories, as Berna stated in her post. Plus, she's a yellow girl, so duck and salmon/salmon oil seem to keep her coat shiny. Those ingredients are in the Fromm that we're feeding.

I do know that if you're feeding a higher quality kibble, you'll have to be cautious to not over-feed. Besides the obvious weight watching, too much could result in runny poops.

[jertom]

We're feeding Gabby, 3 years old, the Fromm Large Breed Adult Gold. It's also a small kibble. We've switched back and forth between Fromm foods, just for variety. While they've all been fine for her, this is the one that meets her needs for protein, fat, and calories, as Berna stated in her post. Plus, she's a yellow girl, so duck and salmon/salmon oil seem to keep her coat shiny. Those ingredients are in the Fromm that we're feeding.

I do know that if you're feeding a higher quality kibble, you'll have to be cautious to not over-feed. Besides the obvious weight watching, too much could result in runny poops.

I'm not questioning that Fromm is good dog food, my problems are quotes like "higher quality", what is that based on? J
Just for comparison I pulled up the nutrient analysis for your large breed gold versus Eukanuba large breed adult and found them to be almost identical.
I'd also like to say I'm not using either one right now.
Where do you get your information?

[OHfemail]

I'm no expert on dog food, but I've based my 'higher quality' declaration on a couple of areas of concern. First would be the order of ingredients in the kibble, and how useable those ingredients are for my girl (digestion, protein, waste by-products, etc.). This also translates into less waste coming out of Gabby - never a bad thing, since I'm the primary pooper scooper! Next would be the company reputation and background - recall history comes into play here. Better quality food doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, and I'm unwilling to spend what some will on a bag of food. Fromm Gold fits nicely for us, regarding price.

A good place to go for dog food comparisons is Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor. It's been helpful in enabling me to make good choice comparisons. Some dogs do well on Fromm, some do better on other kibbles. The bottom line for me, is that I'm always going to start with the ingredient list/order, and company reputation.

[jertom]

I'm no expert on dog food, but I've based my 'higher quality' declaration on a couple of areas of concern. First would be the order of ingredients in the kibble, and how useable those ingredients are for my girl (digestion, protein, waste by-products, etc.). This also translates into less waste coming out of Gabby - never a bad thing, since I'm the primary pooper scooper! Next would be the company reputation and background - recall history comes into play here. Better quality food doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, and I'm unwilling to spend what some will on a bag of food. Fromm Gold fits nicely for us, regarding price.

A good place to go for dog food comparisons is Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor. It's been helpful in enabling me to make good choice comparisons. Some dogs do well on Fromm, some do better on other kibbles. The bottom line for me, is that I'm always going to start with the ingredient list/order, and company reputation.

just found an old 6 page thread titled "what do you feed", some of it is interesting, hope Wendy finds it, is she still with us?
came across info that the dog food advisor is a people dentist, guess that qualifies him to do dog food reviews, kinda, maybe.............

[OHfemail]

"just found an old 6 page thread titled "what do you feed", some of it is interesting, hope Wendy finds it, is she still with us?
came across info that the dog food advisor is a people dentist, guess that qualifies him to do dog food reviews, kinda, maybe............"

I've done my research, found what works for Gabby, and offered that to Wendy.

[wendy]

Yes, I'm still here. Just read your helpful posts.....Thanks so much for the info! I found that older thread, too, jertom. (Thanks!) I saw that the Dog Food Advisor author was a human dentist - not a vet or some kind of nutritional specialist as I had originally thought. I don't give the Dog Food Advisor as much credibility as I once did, although I would hope the dentist did a good deal of investigating and research before publishing his results and opinions. I'm so glad I have everyone here in the forum to let me know what works and doesn't work for their Lab kids!

[Snowshoe]

The Dog Food Project - Grading kibble - easily?

This is the site I prefer for learning how to make my own decisions on what food might be good for my dog. It's more about teaching how to read labels and understand them. It does give information on what ingredients do have an industry specified definition and which don't.