Puppy Food… A Marketing Gimmick?
Do you think that puppy food is a marketing gimmick? Do puppies really need a specialized food? Consider that, in the wild, a wolf pup goes straight onto the very same food the adults eat from the time they are weaned.
Of course, that wolf pup is eating raw meat, organs, and bones… a species appropriate diet. Not corn in a bag as some of the lower end dog foods are. My personal opinion is that if you’re feeding a high quality dog food (especially a grain-free diet) or raw feeding, it’s perfectly fine to put puppies straight onto an adult formula as it should already have enough protein and fat for them.
I found this article interesting: http://www.flint-river-dog.com/articles/…
What are your thoughts on the matter? Should puppies be fed puppy food, or is it just a marketing gimmick?
What about other specialized diets, such as breed specific diets or weight control diets? My opinion stands the same on those. I find most of these specialized formulas are entirely unnecessary.
Yeah. As long as the food says it’s appropriate for all life stages, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t see why people need to feed their dog’s senior food either. It’s lower in protein and has more grains in it so I just stick to adult food for my senior dog and I’ll supplement with glucosamine if he needs it.
I think the “puppy” food is just smaller bites and easier for them to eat and not choke on. If you read the back of most packages it has information for puppies as well as adult dogs and it’s just a matter of serving size. No need to get all worked up over it. If you don’t like the idea then just don’t buy it! lol
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lol…darlin’,people are gullible enough to pay extra for feed that has a pic of *their* breed on it!!!
There’s a sucker born every minute.
I don’t use “puppy” feed…useless expensive TOO RICH & packaged for the silly.
PEOPLE buy feed,dogs don’t.
When I get my puppy, he will be fed Innova for dogs. I have Innova for Cats and everyone should feed their animals a similar high quality food.
Puppies need a lot more calories and fat than adult dogs, which is the main component difference in puppy vs adult formulas. Kibble size is alo often smaller for puppies. Other than that…
Some of the better dog formulas (Canidae for instance) have an “all life stages” food, for which puppies just get a bigger portion.
I do agree most foods commercially available are full of crap like corn and should be avoided. That’s why my dog gets EVO.
Added: Well, I know my dog (a small breed) was just never into food, even as a puppy. So feeding her more (bigger portions) wasn’t really an option. I had to feed her something high in calories and fat so when she finally did eat (picky little thing) she got what she needed. And even now at her humongous size of 12 inches high and 15 pounds, I get her EVO kibble in the “small bites” because the “regular” size chunks are just too big. It’s hard enough to get her to eat as it is.
It matters for large breed puppies. If you know what to look for, than an adult food is fine, but you need to do some research. Too much calcium and/or overfeeding (or kibble with very high caloric content) can cause skeletal problems. Calcium content should be less than 1.5%, unfortunately it isn’t always listed on the bag. Acceptable levels are approximately 22%protein, 12% fat and about 375 calories per cup – which is what many premium large breed puppy foods contain. Protein levels are debatable, depends who you talk to.
Breed specific diets are definitly a gimmick. Most weight control diets replace meat with grain (although there are a couple of exceptions), and some varieties still have a very high calorie content.
Fish formulas usually have lower calorie contents with out being ‘weight control’. Again, you have to read the labels.
So to answer the question, yes to large breed puppy food for nutritional newbies and no to the rest.
I agree that dogs are carnivores. Commercial dog foods have been around for only about 60 years, not nearly long enough to cause evolutionary change.
The article by the great dane breeder said pretty much the same thing. As for calcium content, I will go with research done by top vets rather than a breeder. I’ll dig up some links later.
You are not raising a wild animal, you a raising a domesticated one. The difference is, dogs in the wild eat all kinds of garbage, they do not a have a long life cycle, they suffer from many ailments, and I can only imagine how nasty their poo is. Just like with humans, you can eat garbage all day long, but its not good for you.