Need help please!

MATTandRENEE · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:02 pm Post subject: Need help please!

Hi there i need advice on a lab diet, i havent bought the pup yet but i want to get everything ready for when i do and i need to get prices for everything too, i was told by my local vet that the best quality food for a lab is ROYAL CANIN apparently they have a sack specific for the lab in a 14k im sure she said it was £54 and yet i went down to my local pets at home store and spoke to the store manager and he said the best all arounder for the lab is WAINWRIGHTS think it was £34 so a big difference to royal canin, is it worth spending the extra or is there no benefits to royal canin?? thanx

_Mary_ · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:07 pm Post subject:

Bet the vet sells Royal Canin right? Shocked

, most will puch what they sell!.

Your best off keeping pup on what he was weaned onto by the breeder, breeders will normally give you a small supply to tide you over till you can obtain the same food, if you live near the breeder njo doubt s/he will be able to help with a supplier or tell you where to get it Smile

winemedineme69me · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:07 pm Post subject:

your vet gets a massive mark up on royal canin and whilst i dont doubt its quality the price is eyewatering, wainwrights is the same the store manager is just pushing his own line, first off you need to be feeding whatever your breeder has the pups on then its u pays your money and you takes your choice Wink

-Angela- · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:09 pm Post subject:

I think Wainrights is made by Pets at Home so that's probably why they've recommended it! Vets will often recommend food they sell too.

There are so many different pet foods and you'll get lots of different recommendations, just to confuse you. I've not fed either Wainrights or Royal Canin so not sure about either. I really don't get this "breed specific" food thing though.

I feed mine Naturediet (moist food) with some dry Arden Grange and am very happy with both. Other good foods seem to be James Wellbeloved, Burns, Skinners and others I've probably forgotten. Skinners is very popular on here.

One thing to look at is whether the food contains BHA/BHT as I do avoid those in the foods I feed mine. You'll find some foods such as Bakers contain additives that are best avoided and are likened to feeding a dog junk food. I wouldn't feed Pedigree either as I don't think it's very good quality.

MATTandRENEE · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:11 pm Post subject:

ok thanx for the advice

littlelab · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the forums Very Happy

You will find that the majority of vets will try and sell you Royal Canin or Hills, this is because they get a good 'kick back' on it, a friend of mine is a vet nurse and she said that the mark up on the food is enourmous so its a great revenue stream for them, so don;t be fooled and say thanks but no thanks, particularly as there are some brilliant foods on the market that are just as good if not better at half the cost.

In the 'old' days there were no breed specific or age specific foods, they have been created now for us the human consumer not our dogs and a great way to make some incredible profits for many dog food manufacturers.

My dogs years back thrived on good old fashioned tinned food and mixer and before that scraps from the table.

Its a minefield nowadays, with all us dog owners wanting to give the best to our dogs.

On the higher end of the dried food market (other than Royal Canin & Hills) you have foods such as Burns, Skinners, James Wellbeloved, lower down you have Wainwrights, Waggs etc.

You need to look at the Protein content, 24% is the max for a young pup, particularly a large breed.

I feed my Giant Breed pup, Burns High Energy, but I am switching her this month to Dr John's Platinum which is £11 for a 15KG sack compared to £40 for Burns, a big difference.

Jack on the other hand my Lab, was brought up on Butchers Tinned food and mixer and like they say in their adverts, he is as fit as Butchers dog Laughing

moemaemitch · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:25 pm Post subject:

Hiya, i feed my 8 month lab boy on iams large puppy i pay roughly £31.99 for 15kg off the internet delivered for free. Its cheaper than the well known pet supermarket and have seen it cheaper than that on internet but was out of stock lol.
My boy seems to be thriving on it.
Just a suggestion.
Good luck getting your puppy and on choosing the food which suits your pup and you the best.
Kirstie Honey & Maxwell

florisimo · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:33 pm Post subject: lab puppy food

Hello everyone I am interested to know what you all think about this: I have been researching hip/elbow dysplasia with regard to puppy diet and I have found quite a bit of evidence to suggest that giving puppy food (even large breed puppy food) can deliver way too much calcium / protein and fats.

Interestinly one breeder I know feeds lots of extra puppy milk and a puppy food with 1.4% calcium and he has a bitch with 2/2 elbows...

One study I found recommends only 22% protein 12% fat and .7% calcium. The reasons for this are that the bones grow too rapidly with the extra protein and fat, and that too much calcium can make the bones develop incorrectly.

I have found an adult maintenance food by Salters which gives roughly this analysis.

Any experience of this anyone?

Caroline and Miller

Moj · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:41 pm Post subject:

Hi,

Yeah, I read up on that too when my pup was a bit younger and I was getting a bit neurotic worrying about her hips. That's why so many people switch to adult food at around the 6 month mark rather than sticking with puppy food until 12 months.

To the original poster: my pup came to me on beta puppy and when she got to 7-8 months, I switched (gradually) to Arden Grange adult.

Feebarn · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:49 pm Post subject:

I also read a study that said the contrary when I was starting out with Hudson! It advocated 30% protein !!

You can find a study to say that apples are blue and grow underground if you search hard enough!

I took the slow growth approach with my boys and fed burns. Their blurb says slow well supported growth. I have two small healthy labs. Food or hereditay? Who knows!!!!