dog food for german shepherd

Question
QUESTION: I have a 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd.  I have always fed her Royal Canine Dog food.  I am worried that she might develop hip dysplasia.  What would be the best dog food to feed her?

ANSWER: Unless you are seeing problems, with the Royal Canin, I would stick to it.  If you were going to switch, the large, successful programs I am familiar with, that can't afford hip dysplasia, are feeding common brands such as Pro Plan and Iams.  For any switch you make, stick to the same protein source.  

Hip dysplasia is largely genetic, but too much and too rich of a diet as a puppy increases the chances of it.  Likely you had no trouble keeping her lean as a puppy. I hope if you fed her a puppy chow, at least it was a large breed one.  While modern dog chows are carefully formulate to provide a good diet, puppy chows are optimized for fast growth.  Fast growth is the worst thing for developing joints.  

If her joints developed properly, you shouldn't ever see problems.  It is quite possible she already has hip dysplasia, but is masking the poor joint structure with muscle tone.  The dogs, that have problems later, had the bad hips all along, the symptoms showing up as the dog ages.  All 16 puppies I have raised were OFA good or better at a year old.  In the past, I knew people who kept dogs as pets, that the dog guide school rejected for bad hips.  Up until the dogs were 8-10 years old, some of them showed little problems.  If they lived the strenuous life as a dog guide, they would have had problems earlier.  The school has become much more stringent about keeping the dog lean and switching to adult chow at 4 months.  I hardly see any dogs rejected for hips any more, although breeding plays a big part in that.

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

QUESTION: Are there any supplements I should be giving her?  Yes, I did feed her Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy food.  She was fixed at six months.

Answer
You are paying a premium price for a highly rated chow.  I know dogs eating stuff like Pro Plan and Iams don't need supplements.  If fact, supplements will do them more harm than good, upsetting the careful balance of nutrients any decent chow should have.  

And thank you having her spayed. That makes life easier for everybody.