preferred food choices

Question
I have always feed my shepherds royal canin german shepherd dry food, now with a new shepherd puppy the coastal german shepherd rescue suggested canidade for full breeds, what is recommended? Is there something better? All my shepherds have been over 2 before the puppy.

Answer
As far as I know there are no real studies comparing how how dogs do on various chows available to the general public.  Much of what you read is based on speculation about the ingredients and marketing hype.  I do know the service dogs schools have done extensive studies on chow, and most of them are feeding Iams or other common brands of chow with great results.  If you have had past good experience with the Royal Canin, and want to continue to use it, I see no reason not to.  Making an early switch to adult chow, 4 months, slows growth giving th edog more time to develop sturdy joints.  Usually it is no problem keeping a young Shepherd lean.