Like collars, beds and bowls, dog foods aren’t always one-size-fits-all. Large and giant breed dogs, especially when they are puppies, have specific nutritional requirements that should be taken into account when selecting a dog food.
Some pet parents make the mistaken assumption that feeding their large breed puppy extra food will help him grow as quickly and as much as possible, which is best for the puppy’s development. Despite the possibility of rapid growth in large and giant breed puppies, it isn’t good for the bones and joints. Additionally, extra body weight can put strain on a skeleton that is still developing. Overfed large breed puppies are more likely to suffer from bone and joint issues like hip dysplasia, osteochondritis dissecans (bone and cartilage inflammation), or panosteitis (a painful inflammation of the long bones in the legs).
Feed a complete and balanced puppy food to your large breed dog to encourage a steady, healthy growth rate. Ideally, you’ll want to feed a large breed puppy formula. According to studies, too many calories and the wrong kind of calcium can harm the skeleton’s development. Because adult size is primarily determined by genetics, feeding your large or giant breed pup for steady growth rather than maximum growth still allows him to reach his full (and large!) size. If done slowly to promote healthy bone development, it might simply take a little longer.
Large breed puppy foods differ from “regular” puppy foods in that they are lower in fat and calories, have a carefully balanced calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, and contain slightly lower levels of calcium and phosphorus. While feeding large breed puppies formula can help lessen their risk of developing bone and joint problems, it doesn’t completely eliminate it.
Energy, which is provided by food’s fat, carbohydrates, and protein and is measured in calories, is the most crucial “nutrient” that influences the rate of growth. It’s crucial to give your growing puppy enough calories to meet their energy needs, but not too many that they experience rapid growth. Avoiding overfeeding large and giant breed puppies is the main objective of their diet. Your puppy’s growth rate is slowed by limiting energy intake (calories), allowing joint cartilage and bones to form normally. Due to the fact that fat is the nutrient in food that contains the most calories per unit, large breed puppy foods contain less fat.
Calcium and phosphorus are two minerals that are crucial for strong bones. In fact, the skeleton contains 85% of the body’s phosphorus and up to 99 percent of its calcium, which together give the skeleton its strength and structural support. Calcium and phosphorus in the right amounts are beneficial, but more of either mineral is not better.
A large breed puppy’s skeleton can suffer damage from too much calcium during the rapid growth stage (3 to 5 months of age), which raises the risk for bone and joint issues. Puppies younger than 6 months old cannot regulate the amount of calcium absorbed from the intestines like adult dogs can. High levels of dietary calcium can result in excessive absorption and retention, which can cause problems with the bones and joints because calcium absorption during this period is directly related to the amount in food. There is no need to give a calcium supplement to your healthy puppy if it is eating a complete and balanced puppy food.
The interactions between calcium and phosphorus that can happen when formulating diets is one point that veterinary nutritionists and pet food manufacturers take into account. Foods high in calcium can bind phosphorus, which reduces the amount of phosphorus that is absorbed. Similarly, high dietary phosphorus levels can interfere with calcium absorption. Therefore, it’s crucial to think about their ratio once there is enough calcium and phosphorus present. Inadequate calcium-to-phosphorus ratios in dog foods can result in either mineral imbalances or skeletal issues. Because of this, large breed puppy foods typically have lower calcium content than regular puppy foods and a restricted calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.
The nutritional requirements of your large breed puppy are met by the specially formulated Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy. It has the ideal proportions of calcium and phosphorus for the development of bones and joints. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), an omega-3 fatty acid, is also present in Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy to support healthy brain and vision development. Your dog gets the energy and building blocks he requires for muscle growth, ideal body condition, and plenty of playtime from high-quality protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
Given that adult dogs’ life expectancies differ greatly depending on their breed and size, it is difficult to determine when a dog becomes a senior pet. At 5 or 6 years old, large and giant breed dogs are frequently regarded as seniors. One general guideline is to classify your dog as senior when he has lived through 25% of the expected lifespan for his breed.
While aging is not a disease in and of itself, it is linked to a number of diseases. Dogs age similarly to humans and undergo a number of changes, such as loss of vision or hearing, reduced energy needs, obesity, and even cognitive dysfunction (also known as dementia or senility). Arthritis, diabetes, dental issues, heart or kidney disease, and cancer are a few of the illnesses that are frequently observed in older dogs. Because the immune system deteriorates with age, your older dog may be more susceptible to infection and experience slower healing.
In order to maintain health, lower risk of disease, and aid in disease management in senior dogs, nutrition can be a very effective tool. It can be difficult to choose the right dog food for an older dog, though. Your dog’s general health should come first when selecting a food for an older dog. There is no need to switch to a different brand of pet food if your senior dog is healthy, in good physical condition (that is, not too heavy or thin), and eating a high-quality adult food. However, dietary changes may be beneficial if your older dog exhibits symptoms of aging-related changes or one of the common diseases.
The daily energy requirements of many senior and geriatric dogs decrease, which can be slight to moderate. Older dogs are frequently fed a lower-calorie diet to help prevent obesity.
Due to higher protein turnover and lower protein production, senior and geriatric dogs need more protein than puppies and young adults do. Many senior dog foods contain highly digestible protein sources to preserve lean body mass, prevent age-related protein reserve losses, improve older dogs’ stress tolerance, and lessen the burden on the kidneys in canines with kidney disease.
A food with more soluble or insoluble fiber may be helpful for older dogs because they may be more prone to constipation. Dried beet pulp, dried kelp, inulin, oatmeal, potato fiber, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tomato pomace, and whole-grain brown rice are a few examples of ingredients in dog food that are good sources of fiber.
One in five dogs over one year old in the US appear to have osteoarthritis, also known as arthritis. Additionally, larger dog breeds are more susceptible to joint issues because they must support more weight. All large and giant breed dogs should eat food that contains ingredients to support joint health. Omega-3 fatty acids, preferably from fish oil, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate can support joints and reduce joint inflammation.
Antioxidant-rich diets may be beneficial for older dogs who exhibit age-related behavioral changes. Vitamin E supplement, wheat germ meal (a source of vitamin E), beta carotene, and ascorbic acid (a source of vitamin C) are a few examples of antioxidant ingredients in dog food.
Be sure to speak with your veterinarian if you have any concerns about what and how much to feed.
Large breed puppy foods are different
Large breed puppy foods differ from “regular” puppy foods in that they are lower in fat and calories, have a carefully balanced calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, and contain slightly lower levels of calcium and phosphorus. While feeding large breed puppies formula can help lessen their risk of developing bone and joint problems, it doesn’t completely eliminate it.
Energy, which is provided by food’s fat, carbohydrates, and protein and is measured in calories, is the most crucial “nutrient” that influences the rate of growth. It’s crucial to give your growing puppy enough calories to meet their energy needs, but not too many that they experience rapid growth. Avoiding overfeeding large and giant breed puppies is the main objective of their diet. Your puppy’s growth rate is slowed by limiting energy intake (calories), allowing joint cartilage and bones to form normally. Due to the fact that fat is the nutrient in food that contains the most calories per unit, large breed puppy foods contain less fat.
Calcium and phosphorus are two minerals that are crucial for strong bones. In fact, the skeleton contains 85% of the body’s phosphorus and up to 99 percent of its calcium, which together give the skeleton its strength and structural support. Calcium and phosphorus in the right amounts are beneficial, but more of either mineral is not better.
A large breed puppy’s skeleton can suffer damage from too much calcium during the rapid growth stage (3 to 5 months of age), which raises the risk for bone and joint issues. Puppies younger than 6 months old cannot regulate the amount of calcium absorbed from the intestines like adult dogs can. High levels of dietary calcium can result in excessive absorption and retention, which can cause problems with the bones and joints because calcium absorption during this period is directly related to the amount in food. There is no need to give a calcium supplement to your healthy puppy if it is eating a complete and balanced puppy food.
The interactions between calcium and phosphorus that can happen when formulating diets is one point that veterinary nutritionists and pet food manufacturers take into account. Foods high in calcium can bind phosphorus, which reduces the amount of phosphorus that is absorbed. Similarly, high dietary phosphorus levels can interfere with calcium absorption. Therefore, it’s crucial to think about their ratio once there is enough calcium and phosphorus present. Inadequate calcium-to-phosphorus ratios in dog foods can result in either mineral imbalances or skeletal issues. Because of this, large breed puppy foods typically have lower calcium content than regular puppy foods and a restricted calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.
The large breed puppy’s nutritional requirements are met by the Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy Lamb & Rice Formula. It has the ideal proportions of calcium and phosphorus for the development of bones and joints. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), an omega-3 fatty acid, is also present in Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy to support healthy brain and vision development. Your dog gets the energy and building blocks they need for muscle growth, ideal body condition, and plenty of playtime from high-quality protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
The physiological details can be a little overwhelming, but I’ll sum it up this way: Dogs aren’t supposed to be that big (dogs that mate naturally tend to produce offspring that weigh between 40 and 45 pounds). Breeding for larger size forces them to grow at an unnaturally fast rate, which exceeds the skeletal system’s normal maturation threshold. Developmental orthopedic diseases are the result. Avoiding overfeeding, especially when it comes to calories, is the primary objective when it comes to feeding large breed puppies. We can moderately reduce the puppy’s caloric intake to slow its rate of growth. They take a little longer to get there, but they still grow as big as they would have otherwise. This type of feeding results in slimmer puppies, which reduces the weight that their developing frames must support. Since fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient category in food, large breed puppy foods with lower fat content achieve these results while allowing for some calorie restriction in the diet. Standard puppy foods frequently contain between 10% and 25% fat, whereas foods made specifically for large breed puppies typically have a fat content of between 8% and 12% on a dry matter basis. Of course, if a dog eats too much of the food, the advantages of fat and calorie restriction can be completely undone. Large breed puppies should almost always be fed several measured meals throughout the day instead of being given free reign to choose what they want to eat. The risk of DOD in these dogs is also increased by eating foods with a high calcium to phosphorus ratio and getting too much calcium in their diets. As a result, manufacturers tend to keep the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in large breed puppy foods within fairly strict bounds. Large breed puppy foods typically contain less calcium than “regular” puppy foods. Although veterinary nutritionists disagree on the precise amounts of these nutrients that should be consumed, the following suggestions are generally accepted.
Receive weekly emails with helpful pet health advice, articles, and insights from our veterinarian community.
Offering the right amount of the right diet is crucial, even though feeding a large breed puppy food does not completely eliminate a dog’s risk for DOD (genetics also plays a significant role).
I bring up large breed puppy foods whenever I have an appointment with a large or giant breed puppy. Large-breed puppies are more likely to develop developmental orthopedic diseases (DOD), such as osteochondritis dissecans and hip and elbow dysplasia. (I make my somewhat arbitrary distinction between medium and large dogs using an adult weight of 55 pounds.) A significant risk factor for DOD is nutrition, or more specifically, overnutrition.
Read these statements very carefully to ensure you don’t miss the subtle but important distinction between “except for” and “including”!
So what are these new recommendations? Basically, the calcium range for puppies of large and giant breeds is now narrower. This is because their growing bones are more sensitive to an excess or deficiency of calcium (a Great Dane will undoubtedly have much larger leg bones than a Chihuahua by the time they are adults!). Look for puppy foods that state they have this more constrained range of particular nutrients if you have a dog that you anticipate will weigh close to or more than 70 pounds as an adult. AAFCO chose 70 lbs. as the threshold for designating a “large breed dog,” but some would contend that 50 lbs. is a more conservative threshold.
Every year, nutritional recommendations for pet foods are published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). These recommendations previously included two main categories of diets: those made specifically for adult dogs and those made for growing puppies of all sizes and pregnant and lactating dogs. Those marked “all life stages” satisfy the requirements of both developing and mature animals, though they may not always be the best option for all mature animals because they contain extra nutrients for developing animals that mature animals don’t require. All foods labeled as complete and balanced must meet AAFCO minimums and maximums (or at least they’re supposed to; businesses without strict quality control standards may not since AAFCO does not actually test the foods), despite the fact that pet foods are not tested or regulated by AAFCO (pet foods are regulated at the state level). Visit our blog post on pet food labels to find out more about the requirements for pet food labeling.
Previously, calcium requirements for diets for puppies of all sizes were the same. As a result, some diets for large breed puppies were dangerously high in calcium, and there was no simple way to determine whether the diet was suitable for large breeds (because businesses could label them however they wanted to) AAFCO regulations now demand that pet foods that are categorized as “growth” state whether they have met specific requirements just for large- and giant-breed puppies (i). e. , dogs’ mature adult weight is anticipated to be greater than 70 lbs.
AAFCO has provided a buffer where manufacturers will have up to 2 years to comply with these new guidelines because this necessitates redesigning companies’ labels and perhaps reformulating their diets. Be on the lookout to make sure you’re choosing the best diet for your pet, as many pet food companies have already started using these claims.
FAQ
Do you really need large breed dog food?
Large and giant breed dogs may be more prone to joint issues, so they may benefit from a large dog food. Ingredients that may support joint health are frequently found in large breed diets, such as omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil or glucosamine from certain meat and poultry ingredients.
Do large breed puppies have to eat large breed puppy food?
SIZE OF THE BREED While small puppy breeds can benefit from large breed-specific formulas, large breed puppies will require a large breed puppy formula. Nevertheless, the food needs to be balanced for the growing puppies regardless of the breed or size of the puppy. provides them with all the nutrients they need.