What do you think is the best dog food for a large breed?

If you want to feed your dog kibble, I was extremely pleased with Solid Gold wolf king because it suited my Dobermann & overall I liked the ingredients.

However, in my opinion the optimum diet for a carnivore is a raw meat & bones diet. This would be meat such as chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, ox & organs such as liver & heart, supplemented with bones.

My Dobermanns eat raw chicken carcasses & gnaw on hard beef marrow bones, with chunk of raw meat on them. Raw bones are fantastic as keeping a dog's teeth clean & are nature’s toothbrush.

If your dog appears to be slightly thin, then increase the amount of food she is given & find a food with a higher pure meat content, which is low in unnecessary bulking ingredients which have little or no nutritional value to the dog.

One final point, if you cannot put weight on your GSD b*tch, she may have an overactive thyroid, which does cause weight loss.

Hi there, There usually isn't a whole lot of different between normal puppy food and large breed puppy food. Having compared the two there is absolutely no reason why you couldn't feed large breed dog food to your Samoyed. It has slightly higher calcium content and everything else is basically the same! So, as long as the actual size of the kibble is ok then he will be fine!

Brand of food is probably not the problem, what is the formula that you are using?

The two most common problems that we run into is that every now and then we find a dog that doesn't metabolize lamb properly and doesn't retain weight as a result, the other problem is that every now and then we find a dog that doesn't metabolize chicken properly and suffers from a loose stool as a result.

The reason for saying all that is because most of the time when a dog isn't doing well on a particular feed, the solution is to just change the protein source. Changing to the fanciest food on the planet won't solve the problem if the protein source is the same.

Surprisingly, Kirklands (COSTCO) is rated A+ by Poodle breeders (standards)...and poodles have a high danger of Stomach Torsion, so if the food is rated A+, it has very little filler in it! Purina, IAMS, Pedigree, Alpo, etc. are all stuffed with fillers...and they are not good foods. Most dogs will stop eating when they are full. Fill the dog bowl, let the dog do as it wishes...it may overeat at first (if it has not been getting enough food) but this will stop in a short time. NO table scraps, only uncooked bones (any kind of bone, as long as it is uncooked, even chicken bones are fine!) And in fact, once or twice a week, give the dog a uncooked chicken leg or thigh...cleans their teeth. Uncooked bones do not splinter. And, even cooked beef ribs CAN splinter!!!!

a RAW/BARF diet is always best, next best would be a grain free dog food. The first response has most of the best kinds. Taste of the Wild is probably the cheapest of the good dog foods. You can find a store by searching on the Taste of the Wild website.

Ditto with mine. I feed raw, but that's only because I've done research on it. Feeding raw is definitely not something to just jump into! lol

Active large breed dogs need more protein than what's usually in pet kibble. Look for a grain-free kibble that is made for active dogs. There are many brands to choose from, but Orijen, Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance LID (Limited Ingredient Diet) and Blue Buffalo are just to name a few. Buy a pack of chicken backs or fatty necks from the supermarket (if they sell them--they're dirt cheap) and give one or two to her raw every day. Just make sure you wash them in the sink thoroughly. Human-grade meats are generally quite safe to feed raw to dogs. Never had so much as a tummy ache or diarrhea with my GSD since feeding raw.

I have a big, healthy Rottweiler. I feed her Royal Canin....the best hands down. Also, you could try mixing in a little puppy food for the extra protien, but not too much unless your dog is SUPER active; it'll get fat.

Here are the reviews of just about every dog food there is. They are rated from 1 star to 6 stars. 6 being the best.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Wellness large breed, Canidae, or Innova large breed.

Look for a good quality food, preferably a grain free one such as EVO, Taste of the Wild, Orijen, Back to Basics, Canidae Before Grain, Wellness CORE just to nmae a few.

If you go for a grain inclusive food look for one that doesn't contain corn, wheat, soy, by products, animal digest animal fat, beet pulp or sugars...some good choices to try..Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul,Canidae ALS, Wellness Super5 Mix,Solid Gold,Innova, Merrick, Fromm just to name a few.