Looking for dietary recommendations

hi! I have been struggling to find a food to feed my new dobie puppy. He came to me from the breeder on a raw diet, which I think is great, but really not something I want to continue long term for a number of reasons.
I started him on Nutrisource large breed puppy, which he seems to be doing well on, but read a lot of good things about Wellness. I ordered a bag of Wellness large breed puppy off Chewy, but after receiving it and reading the ingredients I noticed that peas was listed as the 3rd ingredient. I have read that legumes, peas, and potatoes may be the culprit with the whole grain free/DCM debate. Could they still be an issue in a food that is NOT grain free? Wellness comes highly rated on pet food advisor, but wanted to hear your opinions!

 

Hi and a warm to DCF from the UK!

First off, I’d like to mention that the Large breed food is NOT a good choice for your puppy. Large breed foods are too high in protein and for larger dogs. Dobermanns are a medium size breed and don’t need large breed food. You will do better to switch to a good all life stages food. Find a good 4-5 star rated kibble that is not grain free.
Pet food companies have created this idea in people’s heads that dogs suddenly need a different food when they go from a puppy to an adult or an adult to a senior. As long as the food is high quality and supplies adequate amounts of protein, fat and key nutrients, it’s good for life.
Hopefully you’ll get lots of suggestions from other members on the board. Being in the UK our brands are very different, so I’m unsure of a good grain free rated food.

I’ve currently pulled away from my girl eating grain free kibble and from today we will feed her premade complete raw. Personally I feel that they look very simple to feed. Store the packs in your freezer and switch to fridge when needed, allowing time to defrost. When fully defrosted they are good for 3 days in the bottom of the fridge. If it’s something you’re not interested in, that’s fine! But finding a good quality kibble that satisfies your dogs needs, is getting harder and harder. That’s why I ended up doing the switch.

 

Peas being the 3rd ingredient is not good, not good at all! I would suggest reading some articles and making an educated decision on what you believe is best. I’m sure many people have switched to foods that contain grain, that do not include peas, lentils or legumes, or at least not in the top 10 ingredients.
Even though carbs are present in grain-free food they can be higher in non grain-free. The problem lies in the quantity. Today’s kibbles contain as much as four times the carbohydrate content historically found in the canine ancestral diet.
So, look for dog foods rich in meat-based protein and lower in carbs.

 

We also feed premade raw, but to find a good kibble, check dog food advisor.com. I have been reading up on Acana and Orijen since it used to be recommended so much, but the bad news with them is their copper content - not good for Dobermans who can have issues with liver disease related to the storage of copper. I did find one brand, but it may be Canadian, it had amazing ingredients in the top 11 or 12 ingredients and I was looking at it for treats. It’s called Valens and I posted a thread here. It was a really great price too. I ended up going with Ziwipeak which is a single ingredient kibble because I feel it’s more inline with the rest of his diet and now use that as treats.