[HoundMusic]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good puppy food (or all life stages formula) for a four month old Beagle pup? Looking specifically for something that has moderate levels of calcium and lower levels of phosphorous.

Currently feeding one that is 1.58% calcium & 1.2% phos, and that is TOO HIGH for this pup. Intervertebral disc disease runs RAMPANT in this bloodline, and high phos/protein foods during growth, and afterwards, can be disastrous for this condition. I started him on this current brand a little over a week ago, and immediately noticed a very slight bunny hopping and rear leg “hitching” many of these hounds will develop with high protein feeds that cause super rapid growth spurts (which he just had).

I’ve had good luck growing such pups with raw when doing a higher meat:bone ratio – however, while two days of it did stop the hitching, I was noticing bouts of shivering that only stopped when switched back to dry food. I have absolutely no idea what was going on there – been feeding raw going on 15 yrs (on & off), and never saw anything like it, but I think raw is out of the question, at least for the time being.

Any suggestions welcome. I’ve had him on four different foods in 5-6 weeks and am ready to pull out my hair :/

[Susan W]

VeRUS
They have a variety of foods for all stages of a dog’s life AND every formula has freeze-dried live probiotics to help with digestions.
I have been feeding my dogs VeRUS for almost a year now & they have THRIVED on it. If you do a google search for VeRUS Pet Foods and go to their website, you’ll get a lot of great information on why the company was started and why they use the ingredients they use. Then you can fill out a contact form & they’ll email you to find out more about your new pup, then they’ll send you FREE samples! Nice samples! THEN, when you’ve figured out how wonderful this food is, you can go to PetFlow & if you order it on auto-delivery, I think you get a discount.
Warning – this food LOOKS like it’s expensive, but truly it isn’t. You don’t have to feed as much and your dog will use it more efficiently than foods with a lower price tag.
These people are very nice, very helpful, and they put out a great product.

[Susan W]

The VeRUS website also has nutritional info that is easy to find. If you have questions, just contact them – they reply quickly.

[pitlove]

Hi HoundMusic-

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like what you are looking for is a large breed puppy food? Only reason I say this is because LBP formulas have the restricted levels of calcium you are looking for because of the growth issues LBP’s are succeptable to.

If that is what you are looking for I can make some recommendations. Let me know.

[InkedMarie]

I think you need to email me a picture of this puppy!

[HoundMusic]

@ Susan W

Thanks so much for the Verus recommendation – it looks to be exactly along the lines of what I have been trying to find, at least ingredients wise! Will definitely have to look further into that one.

@ Pitluv

I always thought large breed foods might be the way to go for this problem, but I’m seeing evidence that what these dogs do best on is low to moderate phosphorous levels with higher amounts of calcium – the LB foods I’m seeing have decreased calcium to slow down growth, so IDK anymore if that would help 🙁 That’s why I’ve been so frustrated, here.

@ Inked Marie

You must be tempted to strangle me about now for always taking my sweet time about checking the forums *grin*

The pup in question is the blueticked hellion (a.k.a. Brady) in my avatar, with his breeder @ about 10-11 weeks 🙂 He’s 4 months now, and already making a fine start harassing the rabbits. If you can believe it, I only have one other pic of him giving me a dirty look after being taken home from the airport. Probably need some incentive to take more 😉

[Susan W]

HoundMusic – I’m so glad! I have been so pleased with this food and I love telling others about it! BTW – it comes vacuum-packed & it stays fresh-smelling all the way to the end of the bag!

[pitlove]

HoundMusic-

Ok! I understand now. Unfortunetly I believe that Ca and Phos go hand in hand. If the Ca is low the Phos will also be low. I do not believe (but could be wrong) that you can still achieve low Phos levels with calcium appropriate for a small/medium breeds needs for growth. Really sounds like a frustrating problem indeed! What does your vet think?

[InkedMarie]

LOL Chris, get off your butt & send me a pic! I will email you some pics right now; let me know if you get them

[HoundMusic]

Ok! I understand now. Unfortunetly I believe that Ca and Phos go hand in hand. If the Ca is low the Phos will also be low. I do not believe (but could be wrong) that you can still achieve low Phos levels with calcium appropriate for a small/medium breeds needs for growth. Really sounds like a frustrating problem indeed! What does your vet think?

No, you’re absolutely right – calcium & phosphorous tag along together, and while phos is always lower, if a food has high levels of calcium, it usually has elevated phos, as well. Moderate protein ones will naturally have lower phosphorous, though, so I was hoping to find something along those lines that would have less than the usual puppy formulations. Even talking about it makes me frustrated.

My Vet is absolutely useless. IVDD is epidemic in my breed, even worse in this bloodline, and by now I can recognize its symptoms just by picking a three month old puppy up beneath the front legs. Vet is brushing the hitching off as pano (probably thinks I’m hallucinating), but he’s not the one who’s had Beagles for over 22yrs. For now, I’ve decided to start him on a calcium supplement until I’ve switched foods, and see if that helps…

[HoundMusic]

LOL Chris, get off your butt & send me a pic! I will email you some pics right now; let me know if you get them

Pics received.

Your crew is GORGEOUS. I am partial to Boone, however 😉 Love his tuft of head fur – and he still appears to be a mischievous one. My neighbor’s daughter has a brindle retired racing greyhound, and I’ve always loved the color, but wow. It’s really so much more striking on a whippet, especially with the long coat. He looks like a fun pup, let me tell you.

Now you have to settle for a pic of one crotchety 13 week old Beagle who spent the entire day on a plane, only to land in my crappy neck of the woods after midnight, giving me his least unamused look.

[InkedMarie]

Got Brady’s pic & responded. When I saw O’Malley’s litter, they were a mix of long and smooth (short) hairs and quite a few brindles. I was hoping that the puppies the breeder thought would work for us would include at least one longhair & a brindle. Obviously, there wa because that’s what he is!

[pitlove]

That’s a great idea Hound Music. The calcium supplement could actually be the answer to the issue.

Is this a vet you’ve been seeing for a long time? If not or there is not much invested there maybe call around and switch to one that has a lot of experience with your breed.

[Author]

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