Protein

[EyyoEddie]

Before getting our CC puppy I read a lot about how you have to manage their calcium levels in food when they're young. And I currently have my 5 month old CC puppy on Blue buffalo Freedom.

My question is at what age is this not a concern anymore and I can start upping the protein amount in his food?

 

[Hiraeth]

Protein really isn't a concern at all, at any age. Calcium and phosphorous levels are, however. Calcium should be between 1-1.5% and phosphorous should be between .08-1%. I'd think you can stop worrying about it when he reaches maturity and his growth plates are closed (probably somewhere around 14-16 months in a CC).

That being said, Blue Buffalo is not a quality brand and has experienced numerous recalls in the past several years. If he's doing well on it then that's fine, but make sure to stay up to date on their recalls. You can buy a much higher quality kibble for the money you're spending on BB's marketing campaign, however.

 

[EyyoEddie]

Wow it definitely is early ha, what I meant was when can I stop being concerned about his calcium intake and start increasing his protein. (Seems all the foods with higher protein levels come with a higher calcium level too)

I've heard mix things about BB but it seems to be the best(at least that I recognize) in the pet stores around. Any other brands you can recommend, that I can keep an eye out for?

 

[EyyoEddie]

Just from a quick search I found a few different brands of wellness which seemed to get good reviews. And I saw Eukanuba which I've heard of but they only seem to have breed specific foods.

 

[Hiraeth]

I wouldn't worry about specific protein levels at all, at any age. Unless he is *extremely active*, like training IPO for hours a day, he doesn't need a high protein diet.

Eukanuba is also not a great food.

What you want in a quality kibble is a named meat meal as the first ingredient. You'll see many foods with 'chicken' or 'lamb' as the top ingredient, but you have to remember that the ingredients are weighed before cooking, therefore the chicken and lamb will lose a significant amount of water weight and drop well down on the ingredient list. Chicken meal, lamb meal, etc, are more dense and do not lose significant weight when cooked. You want to avoid anything that says by-products, or uses corn as an ingredient. I prefer to feed grain free, but many people feed grains and their dogs do just fine.

If you're okay with Diamond as a manufacturer (I'm not, but many people are), Taste of the Wild and 4Health are decent quality foods. Earthborn is a quality food (and what I feed). Fromm and Acana are also quality kibbles.

 

[EyyoEddie]

I feed him blue buffalo freedom, which is grain free and also claims no by-products, corn, soy or persertatives.
I don't remember the exactly calcium and phosphorous % but I remember they are in the range.

The first couple of ingredients are; deboned lamb, chicken meal, turkey meal, potatoes and peas.

But thanks for the help and input.

 

[Boxergirl]

Just FYI.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/new...-to-settle-lawsuits-by-pet-owners-020116.html

 

[EyyoEddie]

Just FYI.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/new...-to-settle-lawsuits-by-pet-owners-020116.html

O wow I will definitely be looking into something new, found a place that sells all the brands suggested.

 

[gilles]

protein percentage in food is not of a concern it could be anywhere between 25% to 35% and even higher. calcium/phosphorus ratio is what you need to watch.

 

[DennasMom]

FYI: Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Dog Food | Review and Rating

Freedom from BB gets a 3.5 star rating, which is "above average". And, as mentioned above, if your dog is doing fine on it, probably no reason to switch.

You can sign up for recall notifications (for all brands) at DogFoodAdvisor. I feed raw, but still track recalls, since we feed different treats and even some dry food as treats, too.

You can check all the foods at dogfoodadvisor for some insights into different ingredients.

If you go to BLUE Freedom Dry Dog Food Grain-Free Chicken Recipe, you can see their numbers... 1% for calcium and 0.7% for phosphorus, which are great numbers for the big dogs.

When we added some dry food to Denna's menu last year (during an extended vacation when she was boarding), we went with Acana. She did well on it, too.

And, as mentioned - you can relax the calcium concerns once the pup is done with most of their growing... I'd go with Hiraeth's 14-16 month range.