What the hell is the difference?!

[Driley62]

I don’t know about complete vs. regular but large breed puppy foods usually have a different protein percentage as well as different calories and calcium. This is supposed to help prevent joint problems especially as the dog gets older.

I gathered that from other research brands but when it came to this brand nothing seemingly stood out. I have no issue with switching her as she is arguably a large breed with labs being medium to large breed...shes gonna be big too daddy was a solid big stature pure lab at at staggering 120 fed all sorts of canned wild game and momma wasn't small herself at the upper end of average size at 77-78 pounds. But my next question with that is if there legit is one with stuff found in mothers milk and one without. When's the right time to switch off the one with mom's milk to the large breed?

I know I'm jumping down the rabbit hole in a way but now I'm curious because the brand says nothing about it.

 

[Poultry mum]

I have a 6 month gsd and she eats what the bull arab (7 yrs) and kelpie cross (4yrs) eats…. Drover its an Aussie brand and for working dogs but she’s developing perfectly

 

[CluckerFamily]

I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but check out dogfoodadvisor.com I considered switching to purina one in the past as I thought it would be an easier transition for my eldest dog(at the time she was like 6 or 7) with her sensitive stomach. That web site is amazing at breaking down and analyzing every major food. That said up until one dog in our house had to have a diet change to prescription food because of her breed(50 bladder stones removed and analyzed showed it was her breed not her diet but diet change will stop development of more stones). My whole house of dogs ate wholesomes sportmix. Midwest based company but where I buy it from is produced and packed in a new york facility(I'm from ny). Plus the shop owner I get it from closely monitors every exp date, recall everything that could possibly be an issue with every brand she carries.

The brand recently had a recall on the food that came from the Midwest plant. So other stores like tsc that sells it had to pull it from shelves where she didn't. She made sure every bag she had at the time was from ny then double checked the best by/exp date on her entire inventory of the brand/bags in question.

Nice website!

It is great to have someone that knows their dog supplies and wants the best for all dogs. Not many people find someone like this. We are fortunate to also have a small farm store that knows everything about animals and they hire staff that have worked with animals or worked/grew up on a farm. They are my first stop or call if the animals are unwell before the vet; like hot spots, ear infection, upset stomach. When I got the boys, the breeder also was feeding them Purina but they were having reactions to the food and the farm store owner directed me to certain foods that could help easy or eliminate hot spots, ear infections, and the runs. I now use Farmina. This brand also helped my parents dog when he was diagnosed to be diabetic, Farmina helped minimize his diabetes and he was able to live longer than the vet thought he would.

 

[Driley62]

Nice website!

It is great to have someone that knows their dog supplies and wants the best for all dogs. Not many people find someone like this. We are fortunate to also have a small farm store that knows everything about animals and they hire staff that have worked with animals or worked/grew up on a farm. They are my first stop or call if the animals are unwell before the vet; like hot spots, ear infection, upset stomach. When I got the boys, the breeder also was feeding them Purina but they were having reactions to the food and the farm store owner directed me to certain foods that could help easy or eliminate hot spots, ear infections, and the runs. I now use Farmina. This brand also helped my parents dog when he was diagnosed to be diabetic, Farmina helped minimize his diabetes and he was able to live longer than the vet thought he would.

That's awesome to hear! I ended up contacting my vet to get their take on it and they said either choice is sufficient considering her breed. I was concerned because after I had seen the large breed blend I immediately thought of wholesomes puppy food. It's good and has a good review like the rest of the brand but is not recommended for dogs that at adult size are greater than like 50 pounds of I remember correctly. Which lil Willow will be well over 50 pounds at adulthood. That was the main reason to my inquiry.

 

[Kittys Coop]

She's beautiful! Both of my Lab Mixes (one is 7, one is 4 months) had issues with Purina. Messed with their stomachs, gas, and diarrhea. The 7-year-old has been on Merrick and his problems are gone. He used to have accidents in the car before we switched him to Merrick almost a year ago and it definitely was the best choice for him. The puppy was on Purina at her shelter but she was having similar issues as he did so we switched her now and she's doing great. Just some food for thought

 

[Folly's place]

There's no one perfect diet for every dog! Some will be 'cast iron' and do well on almost any ingredient list, while others will have specific ingredient issues (those GI and allergy things).
There's lots of marketing going on out there, with companies making claims that just aren't relevant, or even untrue.
Pick one of those puppy diets, per your vet's recommendation, and see how things go.
How about some cute puppy photos?
Mary

 

[Driley62]

She's beautiful! Both of my Lab Mixes (one is 7, one is 4 months) had issues with Purina. Messed with their stomachs, gas, and diarrhea. The 7-year-old has been on Merrick and his problems are gone. He used to have accidents in the car before we switched him to Merrick almost a year ago and it definitely was the best choice for him. The puppy was on Purina at her shelter but she was having similar issues as he did so we switched her now and she's doing great. Just some food for thought

Thank you! So far the purina is agreeing with her but it'll only be a short lived thing til she reaches adulthood. My other dog has been on wholesomes for a few years now and it's definitely a better food.

 

[Ryebi]

As others have mentioned; Large breed likely has a different % of protein and calcium to phosphorus ratio as studies have found large breeds grow better on it with a reduction in bone/joint/muscle tear issues as they grow.

Kibble size is also likely a factor. Large breed pup has huge kibble pieces that younger puppies might struggle with. Basically, I'd wait and switch once you feel like your pup can eat the bigger pieces comfortably (they seem to help slow down eating though in bigger dogs which helps with digestion, in younger dogs they might choke on the bigger pieces or refuse to eat them altogether due to difficulty).

As for Purina Puppy Chow vs Puppy Chow Complete: It looks like the "Puppy Chow Complete" is not the full title and that the full name is actually "Puppy Chow Complete With Chicken & Rice" The difference is the flavor and kibble texture only. Regular Puppy Chow is Beef & Rice flavored with soft pieces. Both contain "Essential Nutrients LIKE found in mother's milk", they just advertise this differently. Basically, it's a marketing way of saying "This has DHA/Vitamins/Minerals suitable for a growing pup".

(Edit: Woop, just saw how old this was, the website for some reason put it at the top of my list to read, hahaha, sorry)

 

[DrakeMom]

I saw the title of this thread and just had to reply. I also saw this thread is from June but hopefully it'll still help someone

My rottie has been on Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy food ever since she was really young.

When we got a family dog(Boxer), my mom bought him Purina One. I tried to encourage her to switch to Diamond but some people don't like to listen... I took him to the vet for a round of puppy shots and asked the vet what she thought of his weight cause he was just so skinny and wasn't seeming to gain weight(which the fact the he had worms(bad breeder... I told you, mom...) didn't help). She said she feeds her dogs Diamond/Diamond Naturals and its especially good for puppies as helps them fill out really well and keep them at a healthy weight.

My Rottie is over a year old and I plan to keep feeding her the large breed puppy version till she's 2 years old which is when Rottis quit growing. Tbh, I do half the puppy food and half the Diamond Performance because she is highly active and for awhile wasn't gaining as much as she should.

They really love it and it doubled as treats when my girl was smoll. Also Diamond/Diamond Naturals dog food isn't in the unaffordable category sooo.... and if a vet feeds her dogs that....