Food for a 5 week old rottweiler female.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jessica,

We just brought home a 5 week old rottweiler female home. The breeder had her on optistart from pro pett. Should we continue with that? Expense is not an issue. We can afford to feed her expensive dog food too. We are vegetarians and would not like to cook or handle meat by hand. Dog food with a meat in it is not an issue though. There are people here who can deliver home-cooked food too.

Regards,

Himanshu.

PS: We are in India. We used to feed, wheat chapattis, milk, eggs and Pedigree to our lab who died recently of old age. He had poor skin health all his life and developed joint disease later in life. Could it have been cause of food?

ANSWER: If the Optistart is a regular puppy chow, I would continue it to 4 months.  Otherwise I would slowly switch to a puppy chow.  I think Pro Plan and Pedigree are both available in India.  If you would feel better about it, if the regular Purina is available, it is mostly grain.  You have to feed a little more and have larger softer stools to clean up.  Dogs do just as well on it as on meat based foods.  

You should be feeding a puppy chow now. Switching to an adult chow for the
larger breeds at 4 months, slows growth and helps develop sturdier joints.

Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. You
should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them. Each dog is different.
Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its
food and exercise adjusted to its individual needs. Here is a link to a good
illustrated guide, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx

Dog nutrition is very complex, but well understood.  Most modern dog food are carefully formulated to give dogs the complete and balanced diet they need.  At the worst, so ritch that they promote excessive growth rates in large breed puppies.  It is difficult for a dog owner to do that.  His diet may have been part of your old dog's problems.  I wouldn't trust somebody else to fix home cooked food either.  Leave it to the professionals at a dog food company.  



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your answer. We do not have a problem with feeding a meat based dog food. Our girl is now 7 weeks old and is on curd and Optistart puppy food. I think it is made in Brazil even though the packing says something about Italy as well. Which is the best brand of puppy food that we can feed her now and when should we switch to adult food - at four months? Which brand of adult dog food should we choose then?

The people here delivering home-cooked food claim that they get a personal feeding plan drawn up by a vet first particular to each dog.

Answer
I have seen thousands of dogs doing very well on Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow or growth formula from being weaned at 4 weeks to 4 months.  They then switch to the adult formula.  It likely is no better or worse then Pedigree or other brands.  Keeping you dog lean is very important.  

No vet has nearly the resources to formulate and test diets the dog food companies do.  It may take years before problems from an incomplete or unbalanced diet show up, and thenit is too late for the dog.