gsd puppy care n food

Question
hi. just wanted to know if im doing right by giving my gsd puppy who is 7 weeks a commercial dog food named MERA DOG? coz i went through a site which was opposing this idea of givin a puppy commercial dog food since it shortens its lifespan n make it ill n eventually kills it. plz sort me out coz its my first ever pet. thanx a lot

Answer
The internet is filled with total nonsense about dog food and nutrition.  Much of the the discussion is dominated by people selling things and those outside the mainstream when it comes to human nutrition.  Canine nutrition is complex, but well known.  Dogs need a minimum of many different nutrients and some are harmful in excess.  As near as I can tell, the real problems are too much calcium, too much food leading to overweight, and too rich of a diet leading to large breed puppies growing faster than is best for their developing joints.  

I am unfamiliar with Mera Dog food.  Check their website or customer service number and find out the actual percent calcium.  It should be between 0.8 and 1.5 percent.  If so, it may be as good as anything.  There are 3 types of dog food, puppy chow, adult food, and all life stages.  I am not sure why, but adult foods are high in calcium.  That is fine for adults, they excrete the excess.  Puppy chow and the all life stages shouldn't have over the 1.5% making them acceptable for puppies.  Puppy chow is very rich in many nutrients for getting puppies off to a fast start.  Large breed puppies are better off switching to an all life stages food early, 4-5 months to slow growth.  

Over weight is seldom a problem with Shepherds.  They often refuse to eat more than they need, and sometimes not enough to keep their ribs hidden.  

Before the current form of the net existed, we were raising puppies for a large dog guide school that feeds Pro Plan, no better rated than Science, Iams, etc.  Once I started reading how awful it was, I started digging.  What I have learned is that many other service dog schools with all their resources to determine the best diet and the incentive to do so, are feeding back of the pack chows including Iams, Science Diet, and Pro Plan.  I have not been able to find any research backing up the claims of the premium chows or alternative diets.  I have challenged people on open forums to provide me with research backing the premium chows.  They don't seem to appreciate the importance of controlled testing.  Check the banner ads here.  You will find many ads leading to sites like the one leading to your question.  Who is paying for the ads and for the websites?  Somebody is making money on all that just like the commercial food producers are.  I see no reason to give great credibility to somebody that is making money off a sensationalized book.  

Much of this is involved with world view.  If controlled testing means little to you and you have a deep suspicion of corporations, then you need to look into alternative diets for your puppy.  If you are eating regular food from the supermarket and trust science, then continue to feed a commercial food.  Do you have friends that have dogs?  What do they feed and how long do their dogs live?  Remember, overfeeding shortens dogs lives.  

If you want to dig deeper, see http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/ and http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/articles2.html#nutrition