Dr. Doug. Question

I know you asked Dr. Doug, who I greatly respect, and you will receive lots of opinions, but here is mine. Any food should be AAFCO approved for the stage of life your dog is in. The first 5 ingredients listed on the bag is the bulk of the food. Dogs are omnivorous, that is, they naturally will eat food of plant and animal origin. For safety, choose a manufacturer that uses USA sourced ingredients and manufactures the product in the USA, and also one that has not been plagued by recalls.

I'm wondering how my dog lived perfectly healthy and happy on table scraps and whatever for 17 years. if grain free is no more expensive go for it if you wish. but I wouldn't pay extra for something labeled or sold as "Gourmet".
bumpy

#1. The goal is to restrict caloric intake to slow growth rate. Studies have found that for breeds prone to get hip dysplasia a restricted caloric intake reduces the incidence rate of cHD. One way is to feed adult food another is to feed less puppy food; you want the pups to be thin not plump. I forget what age we switch our pups to adult food.

I suspect the grain free hype stems from a higher rate of grain allergies in breeds now because of higher rates of inbreeding and passing on of the genes responsible for these allergies.

Unless your dog has a specific sensitivity or allergy to a specific grain, grain-free is just advertising hype. Can your dog do well on a grain-free diet - sure. Can your dog do well on dog chow - sure.

I'm not a fan of Blue Buffalo - any of their foods. Not because they are necessarily bad foods, because their advertising is misleading or just false in many cases. They keep trying to tell the public that byproducts and some other ingredients are "poor" while actually they can provide essential nutrients that are not available in muscle meat. It is true that byproducts could contain useless ingredients (beaks, feathers, hooves, hair), but better grades of food use mon-human grade ingredients that do provide important essential nutrition. That does NOT make Blue Buffalo a better food.

You can push too much protein in growing puppies, especially large/giant breeds. I do believe that most brands formulated for large/giant breed puppies provide the appropriate nutrition when fed appropriately.

I have no problem with Purina Pro Plan large breed puppy food.

Sometimes breeders get an idea from their experiences or from limited exchange with other breeders. The ideas or opinions are not necessarily wrong or bad, but are often based on a limited set of facts. To make good judgements it's best to evaluate all the evidence available, rank it according to reliability, then make your decision. Evidence based problem solving.

Thank you all that took the time to read and/or respond to my post. I was having a tough time wrapping my head around all this information. The isles at the pet store practically have platypus dog food,(kidding).
We grew up feeding table scraps to our dogs. I think that a quality human diet would work for dogs. I personally eat a lot of whole grains,it's a good source of energy and protein.
I think I will introduce my pup to adult Purina Pro Plan. I supplement with fish oil capsules, coconut oil, and pumpkin puree.
Again, thanks! Hope to see you on the road!

I can't speak to the actual statistic's regarding feeding grain free food's, natural food's, more expensive brand's of food compared to "ol Roy" or "Skippy" dog food BUT I rationalize it this way....with us always having more than one rescue(we have 4 at this time) and Vet bill's the way they are(No offense Dr. Doug) I figure it can't hurt to feed a "so called" quality food in hopes that it does benefit a dog's life or life span? I'm sure there must be studies regarding illness'es in Pet's in relationship to what they are eating as a diet? and since illness equates to Cost(Vet cost), it seems there should be some data one way or another?

As you can see, those are questions.....just thinking out loud.

I'm sure there are valid studies showing complete diets lead to longer, healthier lives, and I can tell you from my personal professional experience that is what I've seen.

The next question is "What is a quality food?" My point is don't believe the advertising hype saying that one food is obviously better because is has XXX ingredient or doesn't have YYY ingredient. Also, don't rely on your google search or website advisors as the final authority. The websites often have an axe to grind, preconceived perceptions or opinions or gain advertising $$ from something they promote.

If you want really good information, talk to a veterinary nutritionist, your veterinarian, your friends who have had good experiences with ... food.

I seldom recommend one food or one brand. I've found the best quality food is the one your dog/cat will eat, have normal BMs, and are healthy when eating it. That isn't the same food for every animal.