Holistic Select Large Breed Puppy Food (Lamb & Oatmeal) - OK?

[forza]

Hello everyone,

I have a ten week old bully named Gertrude who is now somewhere around eight to ten pounds. We have been feeding her a little over 1/2 cup of Holistic Select Large Breed Puppy Food (Lamb & Oatmeal) 3x per day and she seems to be doing great on it (no diarrhea, normal stools, not too gassy). I am wondering if it is a mistake to give her this food, however, because after reading reviews of it, I've only seen people mentioning that it worked wonders for their mastiffs and great danes. While our dog will certainly fit within the adult size weight of the Holistic Select food, I don't want to create any joint or other problems as a result of feeding her a food that isn't appropriate.

I've read great things about the Fromm foods on this forum and am willing to switch to that. But if Gerts seems to be OK with the food she's on now, should I just let it be? My wife and I were also wondering if she's getting enough to eat with the ~1 3/4 cups she's getting daily now, as we can sometimes notice her rib cage. The vet told us she looks great at her 9-week visit, so...

Excuse the newb questions, and thanks for any help. In return, I offer pics!

 

[2BullyMama]

OMG --- she is adorable... love that face!!! all great questions.... I woul dbe concerned about feeding grains, but at her age it may not matter. going to tag some members with more puppy and food knowledge than me.

thansk for sharing those awesome pictures

 

[Davidh]

What an adorable sweetie!!! The food you are feeding her is a good food, and if she is doing well on it, I would not change her. Feed her that until about 7 months of age, then switch her to adult food. Right now the 1/2 cup should be fine. You can increase the amount slowly as she grows. I like feeding a pup a little more food than needed because they need the extra nutrition to develop, but not so much as to make them obese. You can tell if you are feeding too much, as their poop will get soft, if it does, then just back off the amount just a little until it firms up again. She is a doll, and I am looking forward in watching her grow.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi, I'm not familiar with that brand of food, we feed our guys Fromms Beef Frittata because my female Blossom is allergic to chicken, salmon, grains and corn. I would be careful with ingredients like chicken, grains, corn and fillers, as a lot of bullies are sensitive to these things. When my two guys were puppies, we fed them 1 cup of kibble 3 times per day, until they were 7 months old, and then we switched to adult food and reduced their kibble to 1 cup twice a day. Puppies need the extra calories, nutrients, and vitamins from a puppy food formula, for their rapid growth and development, and also the extra feeding. You can tell if you're feeding too much by the poop, if she is going too often, or if her poop seems runny or like soft serve then you could try cutting back a little, or if she seems to be gaining too much weight. You should be able to feel her ribs but not see them, and when you look at her from above, she should have a well defined waist.

 

[bullmama]

She is sooooo cute! Look at that face!

I, personally, will give my 2 cents on this food. It doesn't seem like a bad food, but I don't like how they are advertising it as "Lamb and Oatmeal" when it has two different portions of rice as the 2nd and 3rd ingredients. To me, it should be called "Lamb and Rice"! Ingredients are listed by weight, and the oatmeal is not listed until the 6th ingredient, which tells me that likely this food has 3 times or more rice in it than oats. The ingredients up to the fat is what the food is mostly made of, everything beyond the fat is minimal portions included: Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground White Rice, Chicken Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols)

With that being said, it is above average food, just not something I would ever feed.

 

[nycbullymama]

First, I have to say that she's a total cutie!!! Man, I love puppies..lol

Regarding the food- It's not a bad formula, not the best- but not terrible either. Since she's doing good on it, there's no reason to change it.

Like you, I also used a large breed puppy formula after hearing that there may be benefits (I include Bullies in the large breed group as they generally way over 50lbs) and it certainly can't hurt.
But, I fed him 3 cups per day until he was 6 months old. Looking back, I will say it was too much.

As long as your pup is putting on weight, and the vet says she's healthy, I wouldn't change anything for now. But like [MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION] said, you can slowly increase her food as she gets bigger.

 

[forza]

Thanks so much for the great info, everyone. A visit to my local feed store revealed that they have the entire Fromm line of foods and I think we'll switch. Puppy gold formula (pink bag) until about 7-8 mos.? or the large breed puppy (blue bag)?

Also, Gertie's first bath!