Food advice for 6 month old

[con]

Hi there!

New here, we brought home 6 month old Paco a week ago and a half ago now, he's our first dobie and we love him already! I'm looking for advice on nutrition. The lady we got him from had him on the Asda hero brand which is obviously bad quality... on reading lots of reviews I bought some bags of the purina pro plan large athletic puppy food and we've transitioned him onto it, he's taken to it well (solid stool etc). But then a dog trainer we're going to start working with said they wouldn't touch purina with a barge pole and recommended either raw or grain-free/cold pressed food. Then I started doing research into the mine field of nutrition - articles on vets only pushing brands like purina and royal canin because they're partnered with them, raw food (lots of good ops, lots bad), grain-free supposedly good but potential link to DCM? Some saying that puppy specific food is no good.. I'm quite lost as every new thing I read seems to contradict the last thing I read... what do you all feed your dobies/dobe puppies? Is purina pro plan terrible? I looked into some foods like Orijen but then some say it's too rich? We don't really want to do the raw diet but want to feed him the best we can that isn't raw. What about adding things like oils/yogurt?

To me he seems a little on the underweight side, he's 24 kg - but his coat is shiny and we're not sure as he's a rescue but judging by his build we think he's an American doberman and I know they're meant to run a little lighter than the europeans. The vet said they wouldn't be worried but should I be looking to up the feed a little? He's nearly fully transitioned onto pro plan and will be getting 500g of pro plan a day. I'm also confused on the cup measurements.. online it says a cup of dry dog food is 250g but on chewy.com it said one cup was 113g... so if he's getting 500g a day, am I feeding him 2 cups or 4.5? And if pro plan isn't ideal, I don't want to waste the couple of bags we have so should we let him work through those before switching or should we switch immediately/is it that bad? Finally, he was on 3 meals a day, the vet said to go straight to 2 meals a day so we've done that, but is it too quick at 6 months with him being a dobe? He seems to be fine on 2, but should I be going back to 3 a day, especially if we want him to gain a little weight?

Hoping someone can help me out, so much new information to take in but want to do the best we can by him! thanks so much in advance!!!

 

[Firestar Dobe]

I personally would not feed puppy food, an all life stages food is safer. Puppy food has an extremely high protein content. It can cause fast growth in the long bones and can lead to "Knuckling" in large breed dogs. The picture shows an example of knuckling.

I would also stay away from "grain free" foods, as they now believe it could be harmful to a Dobe's health, especially the heart. You may want to check out dogfoodadvisor.com. Depending on what is available in your area, you still should be able to find a really good food that works for your dog.
from Wisconsin! Paco is adorable!

 

[con]

I personally would not feed puppy food, an all life stages food is safer. Puppy food has an extremely high protein content. It can cause fast growth in the long bones and can lead to "Knuckling" in large breed dogs. The picture shows an example of knuckling.
View attachment 122917
I would also stay away from "grain free" foods, as they now believe it could be harmful to a Dobe's health, especially the heart. You may want to check out dogfoodadvisor.com. Depending on what is available in your area, you still should be able to find a really good food that works for your dog.
from Wisconsin! Paco is adorable!

Hi, thank you he's a cutie! Okay that's really good to know, thanks so much! Will have a look on there.

 

[Kaiser2016]

He's cute! What's his backstory? Did the previous owner also rescue him or was she the original owner? He looks fine to me, just a young puppy who will go through the awkward stages of growth before settling into his adult body.

Although many of us don't like Purina products, the new line of PPP seems to be working fine for some of the members on here. I believe @Oh Little Oji feeds this and maybe also @Ddski5? The cup measurements do seem confusing, but the bag directions are just guidelines. Does he seem hungry like he needs more? Although some Dobes love food and always act like they're starving so this may be hard to tell

6 months old? The Doberteens are right around the corner! Hopefully you are working on obedience so that he sees you as his leader.

 

[con]

He was sold to the previous owner, she then gave him to us as she couldn't afford to keep him due to losing job, which means if the owner before her got him from breeder we are his 4th home already. But he has a forever home in us! He does seem hungry and wants to eat everything off the floor, so that's making me think maybe he's not getting the nutrients he needs but as you say could just be that he's very food motivated. He's generally well behaved, has learned how to ring the bell when he wants to go outside (literally took him a day!) and we try to do things like make sure we are the first to leave/enter and he follows when we say to come in, waiting for release command for food etc so he knows we're in charge, although he does rather forcefully ask for attention and isn't so happy when he's ignored. He is, due to the fact that he's moved homes so much understandably nervous/still gaining confidence around dogs (he is friendly but will bark and lunge if one barks at him first) and has bad separation anxiety but we're working on it so hopefully he will get better and learn that we won't abandon him!

 

[Ddski5]

53lbs is not worrisome for a 6month old. His pictures look good and he still has a lot of growing to do.

My first Doberman came to me started on PPP salmon and rice. He did well on it until I found out that I could feed an All Life Stages dog food with better ingredients. He pooped very large piles 3-4 times a day, telling me he prob wasn’t absorbing a % of the food being ingested.

So I experimented with other brands and finally settled with FROMM and/or Victor. FROMM is more expensive than Victor, one of the reasons I just switched to Victor. But when it comes to a member of your family, what really matters here?? Raw food appears better for them but is it possible in your lifestyle?? You have to find a balance for you and your pup.

Best thing to do is to look on the dogfoodadvisor.com site and just start reading and digging around. If you do this, then you will learn some ins/outs of dog food and you will understand more what your pup needs and would benefit from.

I wanted something nutrient enriched with Taurine and L-carnitine and other things I researched and found out.

Do your reading and research and you will understand what you want and need a lot better.

Don’t hesitate to ask more questions if needed.

 

[Two Dobes]

WELCOME!!!! Paco is adorable, and I agree, he does not look underweight....they look gangley at 6 months sometimes
Look forward to seeing him mature!

 

[con]

53lbs is not worrisome for a 6month old. His pictures look good and he still has a lot of growing to do.

My first Doberman came to me started on PPP salmon and rice. He did well on it until I found out that I could feed an All Life Stages dog food with better ingredients. He pooped very large piles 3-4 times a day, telling me he prob wasn’t absorbing a % of the food being ingested.

So I experimented with other brands and finally settled with FROMM and/or Victor. FROMM is more expensive than Victor, one of the reasons I just switched to Victor. But when it comes to a member of your family, what really matters here?? Raw food appears better for them but is it possible in your lifestyle?? You have to find a balance for you and your pup.

Best thing to do is to look on the dogfoodadvisor.com site and just start reading and digging around. If you do this, then you will learn some ins/outs of dog food and you will understand more what your pup needs and would benefit from.

I wanted something nutrient enriched with Taurine and L-carnitine and other things I researched and found out.

Do your reading and research and you will understand what you want and need a lot better.

Don’t hesitate to ask more questions if needed.

Ah ok cool, will definitely do a bit more reading in that case and I think I probably will then opt for all life stages rather than puppy specific. Thank you!

 

[con]

WELCOME!!!! Paco is adorable, and I agree, he does not look underweight....they look gangley at 6 months sometimes
Look forward to seeing him mature!

thank you, so excited to be a part of the community and call myself a Doberman owner!

 

[Ddski5]

Ah ok cool, will definitely do a bit more reading in that case and I think I probably will then opt for all life stages rather than puppy specific. Thank you!

FROMM is an excellent dry kibble but can be pricey. With FROMM though, you need to buy puppy specific. A member here actually turned me on to their puppy food. He even contacted FROMM and asked a lot of questions and they recommended the blue bag.



Him and I both raised our pups on this and they turned out very well. After 12 months I switched mine to Victor Performance.

Regardless of my suggestions, many of our owners have raised their pups on other brands and theirs turned out well also. It just depends on what you feel comfortable with and what your pup can tolerate. Some pups can’t eat certain kibble without it upsetting their tummies. That’s where the PPP Salmon and rice works for them.

I would be careful and not get a puppy food high in protein though. Anything above 28%of protein is too high for me. There is some thought, and I tend to believe it with the research I have done- that feeding a young pup too much protein can cause pano. I have not seen any factual evidence but seems to be a commonality with high protein foods in pups.

Good luck.

 

[Ukesox]

Welcome from Norfolk U.K.
I understand your confusion with regards nutrition, before I got my latest Dobe pup I spent hours on the internet researching the pro’s & con’s & often ending up none the wiser on the subject.My conclusion was that providing its top quality, well balanced, fed according to specified recommendations & your pup gets on with it, then you’re most likely to be fine whether it’s regular kibble, grain free, cold pressed or raw.
If your pup is doing well on the Purina & youve got a load of it I’d stick with it for now & change later if you want but get yourself some kitchen scales so you can weigh out the 500gms. With regards how many feeds a day I‘d be asking Purina.
With everything else it sounds like you’re doing just fine

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Although many of us don't like Purina products, the new line of PPP seems to be working fine for some of the members on here. I believe @Oh Little Oji feeds this

Yes, Oji does better on Pro Plan than any of the other higher end foods we tried. I mean "does better" in that his stools are better. He still suffers from problems in that area though.

 

[con]

Thanks so much all! He seems to be doing fine on PPP for now, will probably look into changing it when we run out! Paco says thank you too)