Lab puppy food

Question
You stated in your post not to feed a dog "performance" food if it is under 2 years of age.  What is performance food?  

We pick up our lab puppy this week (she'll be 9 weeks old), and the breeder is feeding her an adult food (Natural Balance Duck & Potato).  Is this okay to keep feeding her an adult formula? Should we switch to a puppy food?  

Also, I wanted to feed her some homemade dog food as well since we have access to a lot of cheap organic meat (my husband's parents have their own cows).  Is it safe to do so, and how much should I feed her of homemade food?

Answer
Perhaps it was somebody else that mentioned the performance food.  It is a special food meant for hard working dogs.  I am not sure if it is more than marketing hype designed to separate you from more of your money.  As long as it has less than 1.5% calcium by analysis, it might be OK for a puppy.  

Continuing what the breeder is feeding at least for a while, usually is the best policy.  Again, avoid a food with excess calcium.  Puppy chows are formulated for fast growth which can put a strain on developing joints.  The dog guide school we raise puppies for has far more information to base feeding decisions on than anybody else.  They feed puppy chow to 4 months and then switch to adult food.  There is also good backing for weaning large breed puppies on adult chow.  Both from weaning and from 4 months are much better than the whole first year.  There may not be much difference between them.  Since your puppy will already be on adult food, leave well enough alone.  

Dog nutrition is well known, but complex and exacting.  I mentioned excess calcium.  Meat is low in calcium.  You would need to determine how much was was in the meat and in what else the dog was eating and add the right amount in an available form.  The same is true of some vitamins and fat.  Understand, many people do feed home made diets and claim good results.  However, many of the problems from improper diets take a long time to show up and may do irreversible damage before showing any symptoms.  Talk to your vet.  I would strongly urge you to stick to the safety of a commercial for at least the first year.