[Heather S]

I have a 14 week old puppy that I think is a Golden Ret/German Shepherd mix but am not sure since he was a rescue. So that means I think he is a large breed puppy – the online adult calculator says he will weigh 55 lbs when full grown.

He is having a lot of skin issues so I’m trying to switch him to a grain free food. He has been eating Wellness Large Breed Puppy and I would like to feed him the new Wellness TruFood Puppy but they don’t have a LBP formula. I did check the calcium/phosphorus ratio and it appears to be within the suggested limits so now I’m double checking to see what you guys think.

Also will 55 lbs actually count as a large breed. I see all kinds of definitions of what constitutes a large breed.

[zcRiley]

Large pups need lotsa protein and properly calculated bone growth in their 1st years. Don’t read too much into marketing labels of large or senior or weight loss, etc. Nothing beats high quality food n appropriate exercise. My pups are 80 lbs, but look medium. All muscle. I push Zignature Zssentials because I’ve seen the results from all the toxins it DOESN’T contain. And I’ve gone thru every food, Wellness, too.

[Pitlove]

Hi Heather-

How did you determine Wellness TruFood Puppy was safe for a large breed puppy? Have you looked at WellnessCORE Puppy? It is grain free and already determined safe for large breed puppies. I would certainly not follow the advice above to NOT read labels. That is silly. However, you do need to call the company and ask follow up questions to determine if a food meets the needs of your dog.

Here is a recommendation to a pet parent from Dr. Rebecca Remilliard DVM, ACVN for how to select a large breed puppy formula: “Having said that, most nutritionists would agree that about 1-1.5% calcium is not harmful and safe. Secondly you want to feed a lower fat or lowest kcal/cup ….. to help control the growth rate now and prevent obesity later. I would suggest you select the food with the lower kcal/cup (350-375 kcal/cup), lower fat and higher fiber, if the calcium is about the same on both products.”

[Heather S]

Hi thanks to you both for the responses 🙂

To determine if TruFood might be good for my puppy, I used the LBP food guidelines here on DogFoodAdvisor to determine if the Ca to Phos ratio was correct as well as the other suggestions in that article. My confusion comes from the fact that not all of the foods on the recommendation Editors Choice list here on DFA site for LBPs are specifically called LBP food. ALso, to the best of my knowledge the only Wellness LBP specific food has grains in it (Wellness complete LBP food) the wellness Core Puppy food is indeed grain free but does not claim to be specifically for LBPs although it is on the Editors Choice list as being appropriate for LBPs. There is a Large Breed Adult Core formula though.

Geez this whole food thing is hard and confusing.

[Pitlove]

Hi Heather-

Which values for calcium and phosphorus did you use when you input them into the calculator? If it was those on the bag, those will not give you an accurate idea of if the food is LBP safe or not since it is only the minimum amount of calcium and phosphorus in the food.

You are correct that a food can be safe for a LBP without being called a “large breed puppy food”. WellnessCORE Puppy and Nulo Puppy are examples of this. That is the part where an email or phone call to the company is called for to obtain the max levels of calcium and phosphorus to input into the calculator tool on this site.

[Heather S]

Great! Thanks PitLove. The Wellness website lists the MAX calcium and phosphorus levels for this food – not the MIN and those MAX numbers are what I input into the calculator.

I really appreciate your input and thoughts. This is my first official LBP. 🙂

[Pitlove]

Wonderful! I did not know that about Wellness. I do quite enjoy when companies provide their nutrient anaylsis for the general public. Makes it much easier for us large breed puppy lovers 🙂

I’m glad I could help and I hope he does very well on Wellness TruFood if that is the food you choose for him!

[Kathleen C]

This is not a large breed puppy, but I’d heard Wellness has pulled away from Diamond and may be coming back to its previous good quality, though not sure yet. I can’t seem to keep my dog from gaining weight on the Weruva kibble and was thinking about going back to the Wellness Core Reduced fat. Any thoughts on this? It’s about the only low fat dog food I felt safe in using. The Weruva has more fat, fewer calories and carbs, but still seems to keep my dog at least 1/2 lb over what I want him to weigh. The vet says he should be around 18-19 lb and I’m trying for 19. Half a pound on a small dog can seem like more.

[Christine W]

I was very careful,i picked Wellness for my Pugs,however,some of them had Canola oil in them.They loved the ones i feed them!

[Christine W]

Kathleen,i searched for weeks for a food for my 9 year old Pug to lose weight,the one i put her on,is Wellness Core,reduced fat.She is very picky and gobbled it right up.Out of all my searching,it has 5 stars,so i’ll see how she does with it.The others just didn’t sit well with me,had some bad ingredients,etc. I’m not thrilled with the white potatoes,but i’m learning how to rotate food from Mike. 🙂

[Kathleen C]

I used Wellness Core reduced fat for Jack for a long time and had no trouble with weight gain. Switched to Weruva when it was learned Wellness was using Diamond pet food company. I’ve now switched from Weruva to Annamaet lean and light grain free since Weruva was not grain free and that is the only thing I can figure is why I can’t get this dogs weight down again. He’s now right around 20 pounds and that I cannot allow to continue. Once you relax and accept the higher weight everything tends to explode weight wise with the Bully Breeds, and don’t let his looks fool you, Boston Terriers are Bully Breeds. They are half English Bull Dogs in just about every way.

[Christine W]

I have a 9 year old pug,she is 22 pounds,the vet wants her 20 or under,i started out with believe it or not SD perfect weight,she lost almost 2 pounds,but knew it was bad,switched to the Wellness Core,and she’s still looking for the SD.I limit her treats,etc. exercise,it’s very hard.

[Maria K]

I would transition from Wellness Large Breed Puppy.
I like:
– Wellness TruFood Puppy
– Zignature Zssential
– Wellness Core Puppy Formula
– Nulo Freestyle Puppy Salmon and Peas
– Nulo Medal Series Puppy Chicken and Sweet Potato
– Weruva
– Wellness Core Reduced Fat
It’s tricky with the Wellness brand because not all of their formulas are created equal as far as quality.
I have had great success with Annamaet’s Grain Free Lean Low Fat Formula.
I would definitely avoid Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight.

[Kathleen C]

I wrote in on June 30 about having trouble getting my dog to lose weight. Not a Large Breed Puppy, but still wanted some info on Wellness Core Reduced Fat and Annamaet Lean and Light. I was able to control my dogs weight with the Wellness but not with the Annamaet or the Weruva, which he was on for awhile. Annamaet has less protein and probably more carbs than Wellness and I would like to find out if Wellness is back to its better pre-Diamond reviews or if there have been any recalls lately. Also, does the higher protein less carbs of Wellness make that much difference? Remember that Wellness actually did give out their carb amounts when questioned about it and they were much lower than the Advisors guesses.

[Author]

Posts