Puppy Nutrition
Does your puppy need puppy food?
If you have paid attention to television advertising and other pet food marketing strategies you would be convinced that every pup has to have much more nutrition than can be found in the average adult dog food. But wait…why does every bag of regular food state very clearly that the food is quite sufficient in meeting every stage of a dog's life. Did you ever question that statement? Well, a few years ago I did. I was told by a not so educated salesperson that pups need "lots of extra stuff like calcium and things."
That encounter certainly did wonders for my faith in the average food salesperson's knowledge of nutrition. (Kent is not average.) I wrote the company and asked why they marketed and sold a puppy food when they claimed their regular food was good for all life stages. Again, no good answer. Since puppy food carries a larger profit margin I should have written to the company's accountant rather than the guy who owns the company.
Anyway, does a puppy need puppy food? The answer depends. First of all, as I have said, most good quality adult foods more than supply the needs of a growing pup. The real point to remember in feeding puppies is that they need more food per pound of body weight as their metabolism is higher than an adult, but they need it in about the same percents of nutrition as an adult. They do not need more protein than the average dog food has (about 22 - 25%) and they need about the same ratio of Calcium and Phosphorus. Most puppy foods have too much energy in them. All that extra protein and fat causes the pup to grow at a faster rate than they should. This condition is especially true and detrimental for large and giant breed dogs. There was a study done (I believe by Purina) that fed one group of littermates unrestricted puppy food and the other group restricted adult food. The puppy food pups had a higher incidence of hip dysphasia clinically and radiographically. So what is the point?
Here is my big line many of you have heard me say. Your dog has a genetic potential that you cannot change. If she is a great athlete it is your duty to see she reaches that potential. If she is genetically predisposed to hip dysphasia it is your duty to do everything you can do to minimize overfeeding and over nutrition as the puppy stage will aggravate many orthopedic problems. Why do we still over feed puppy food? Beats me…maybe it is because your vet told you to (OOPS!) or maybe a breeder you trust or some other dog person. There is now a knowledge that is permeating the pet food industry regarding the puppy food problem and there are two puppy foods that are formulated to help avoid the over nutrition problem. One is BEST BREED PUPPY DIET and the other is IAMS GIANT PUPPY FOOD. Why bother with puppy food, though, if a good adult dog food will do the job for less money?
In conclusion, if you feed a high quality adult dog food formulated for all life stages (and I hope you would not consider anything less than the highest quality) then there is never a need to feed puppy food. Wean the pups with a good maintenance diet. I have done it with all of my litters for the past several years and have great results. I think the average dog person has to get over the feeling that more is better. That there is an edge by giving that extra supplement and that big fat pups are healthy. Old ways die hard and slow.
Gary Cotton, D.V.M.