Puppy food? Commercial scam?
I have been reading more and more answers to questions about feeding puppies that say not to feed puppy food. One said something along the lines of "puppy food is just a commercial scam"
Is this true? If not, where does this notion come from?
Any breeders: what are your thoughts?
I'm a little bit confused, enlighten me?
What information is there to support or disprove this?
Update:Again, I am not asking for my dogs. And anyway, in my experience, vets are not always the best for nutrition advice. They usually push science diet and other expensive crap foods. but thanks anyway.
Comments
For many breeds, large breeds in particular, puppy chow is not only unnecessary, it is downright dangerous. It is designed to promote rapid growth which can cause joint and bone problems in later life. I first learned this in a breed forum many years ago. Major breeders discussing why they did not recommend feeding a puppy chow to their puppy buyers. I have also read a great deal about dog nutrition.
ADD: Children, Veterinarians do NOT study animal nutrition. Very few of them do anything but listen to the sales reps. Why else would they sell Science Diet? I have only known a very few Vets who had bothered to take the additional training necessary.
A Doberman should NEVER eat puppy food, only adult food. Puppy food makes them grow too quickly, you end up with this huge puppy body on legs, muscles and joints that are meant to hold a puppy. You have seen those Dobermans that look gangly and spindly.. Eating puppy food. Way too much protein for a Doberman puppy. Pedigree food is NEVER good for any dog, especially a Doberman. A dog with high energy, isn't going to get the nutrition it needs from a garbage dog food. Iams, Eukanuba, all those supposed big name dogfoods are garbage, Purina isn't a good food for Dobermans ... Stick with the good natural foods, lower protein 21-25% and a decent fat level 14-16% Check out Wellness, it is a great food, good quality ingredients, nice healthy food and they eat less because it is a quality dogfood. Iams, Eukanuba, Hills, Science Diet, Pro-Plan, and Purina are NOT preservative free, ALL contain ethoxyquin. (Ethoxy was developed by Monsanto as a rubber hardener and insecticide). It is believed to cause liver and kidney dis-ease, cancer, immune dis-ease, skin problems, birth deformities, and thyroid problems. And be aware of food containing BHA and BHT avoid at all costs.
There used to be one kind of dog food, the maintenance diet of today. Puppies had to eat a LOT of it to get enough calories and nutrition for their rapid growth. Highly active dogs either had to eat more of it, too, or get supplemented to meet their needs. Older dogs got too much protein from it. Overweight dogs had to eat less of it. It really didn't fit all phases of a dog's life nor all activity levels.
When Purina made Puppy Food widely available (and well advertised), it was an immediate success. Other brands became popular, too. Then of course, came active dog diets, low calorie diets, senior dog diets and yes, the maintenance diets. Next came the Large breed diets and the Small breed diets.
I think low calorie diet dog foods are a waste of time. It is easier to simply feed a dog less food. I think diets for highly active dogs are a good idea, the maintenance diet is what most adult dogs eat, senior diets are a good idea, and so are puppy foods. It has been discovered, however, that puppies don't need puppy food for as long as we once believed they did. They give the pup a good start and then between 4 and 6 months of age, the pup goes to a maintenance diet. I'm not sure how I feel about special foods for large or small dogs. I'd have to read the ingredients panels and compare them to puppy foods and maintenance diets.
Veterinarians still suggest puppy food for young puppies and most, if not all, of them have studied nutrition. Keep in mind that I have never formally studied canine nutrition *and neither have the people selling pet food in stores.*
If in doubt or confused, if you want the best information on this, ask a vet, or someone who REALLY has studied canine nutrition, if you can find one (I've never met one).
Puppy chow is part of the same science that puts an abundance of affordable meat on our tables. Scientists have determined exactly what different young animals need for the maximum possible growth rates. This allows hogs, steers, chickens, etc. to go to market earlier and after eating less food and less expensive food.
I think most of us are conflicted by wanting our puppies to stay cute and little, and to get big fast. The one thing we are sure of is that we want sturdy, healthy dogs. The fast growth along with any over weight, puts too much strain on large breed puppies' developing joints. As better breeders caught on to puppy chow leading to joint problems, they started switching to all life stages foods. To protect the higher margins on puppy chow, the food companies develop large breed puppy chow. Some of them are still too rich for puppies. Others are a rip off, being an ALS food except for the label and price. So most puppy chows do provide extra value if fast growth is important to you, except for the large breed ones. When it comes to all dog foods, hype is much more common than facts. The food companies will say anything to sell the higher margined products. Do you think P&G or Wal*Mart makes good money on the Iams sold there? Making and selling Orijen is much more profitable.
Ask your veterinarian....
Puppy foods have different concentrations of nutrients, including fat and protein (higher levels) directly related to your puppy's early growing stages.
Adult dog food has less fat and protein, targeted for their ages.
Senior dog food has even less protein, sodium and other nutrients. As pets age many start having trouble with their kidneys, liver, heart, etc and higher concentrations of protein or sodium as in adult or puppy foods could complicate and make worse those health issues.
True, vets push product for sales.
dogs are carnivores and the sig link you can find a few articles with full details about this and why dog food in general is bad. after a puppy has weened you can start them on actual meat. cut up small and as raw as possible. If you want to feed them grain and veggies, get a rabbit!
We are huge dog people in my family. Absolutely the best. It's practically more full time than our jobs. Puppy food is absolutely just fine and you SHOULD feed your dog it.
It is not a scam, just make sure you get quality food.
One thing you can do though, is instead of bones give your dogs heads of lettuce. For some reason they love it.
I think puppy food is fine for puppies.