large breed puppy nutrition

Question
I keep getting conflicting information on large breed puppy food. I have 5-1/2 mo. old Rhod. Ridgeback. I am using high quality food (orijen) for large breed puppy which has 42% proten, 16 fat, 1.3 calcium  - the first 4 ingreds. are meats, no grains, some salmon and whitefish and fruits and vegs. - i read somewhere on the internet that some people believe that is too much protein for a puppy.  Does it depend on the source? or is it really too much? Also some people say change to adult at 6 mos. some say 18-24 months???  Confused..  Thanks, Connie

Answer
Good morning, Connie.

I do understand your confusion!  

Earlier studies suggested that high protein diets contribute to rapid growth in large breed puppies.  Current studies show that it is the calcium and mineral content in a food that creates problems, not the protein levels.  Yes, information you receive on this issue will vary depending upon the source.

I am very comfortable feeding a large breed puppy high protein diets as long as they are designed for large breed puppies and contain proper calcium levels.  Orijen Large Breed is a fine choice for you.

As for when to change over to an adult food, there are a couple of things to consider with this.  Puppies are not able to regulate how much calcium they absorb so they tend to absorb large amounts, even if their body does not need that large amount.  At some point in their development they do begin to regulate the absorption.  Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be an exact time that ability kicks in.  Some studies suggest it happens around the time of sexual maturity, some suggest later.  Because of this, I don't typically suggest changing over to an adult food until sexual maturity has been reached and your pup as reached at least 80% of the expected adult height.

On the same subject, if your pup is altered prior to completion of growth, your pup's growth plates will likely close later than they would if the pup was altered after complete development is achieved.  Because of this, it is likely your pup would continue to grow, therefore, I would wait to change over to an adult food until skeletal growth has stopped completely.

I hope this has been of some help.  Please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Gail E. Vigneault