puppy chow

Question
Dear Mr.Reisinger,   I live in Mexico with my lovable,yellow lab(four months old).In her e-mails from the States my mother claims that vets discourage larger breeds from eating puppy chow because it supposedly makes dogs grow too fast and puts strain on their bone structures.

The vet down here recommended feeding my dog the puppy chow until he's one year old,and I KNOW that American nutritional "experts" tend to grossly exaggerate health risks and then recant their Chicken Little stories after they've been disproven.However,IS there a consensus that it's bad to feed yellow labs puppy chow once they've reached three months of age?        Just Wondering,Bruce Zimmer  

Answer
Bruce,
The amjor consensus in the US is to feed Labs a Large breed Puppy food until they are about 18 months of age, this is because they need aditional nutrients for growth, your mother may have mixed up the information. feeding an adult formulated or general formulation of puppy food to a young large breed deprives them of the nutritional needs for proper bone growth. The nutritional needs of large breeds are different then small or medium breeds. improper nutrition leads to muscle and skeletal disorders. in large breeds like the labrador.
Thaks for your question
Tim