Feeding My 3 Month Old Labs Acana Adult Food

by David Thomas
(Georgia, USA)

Would there be any problems feeding my 3 month old labs adult acana or orijen dog food. I keep going back and forth about what they need. High protein? Low calcium? Quality ingredients? Are the large breed puppy foods really that much different. I would think for a larger breed active puppy you would want the higher quality protein but lower calcium levels of an adult adult dog food to regulate their growth. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My Comment:

Hi David

It is so very easy to get confused about dog food and finding the best dog food. Just be aware that even if some claim to know the truth - it is just an opinion as nobody (including my self) know the 100% truth.

And it might not exists either as dogs are individuals. One brand of dog food works well in one dog but not in another.....

The main differences belongs to grain or no grain and the protein content.

Grain first.

Is grain natural food for dogs? Is it natural that a dog runs into the field and starts to eats the barley, corn or whatever grows there. Not really.

This is used as an argument as grain in dog food should be kept at a minimum or nothing at all. Grain contain energy mostly as carbohydrates and if you choose a dog food with out grain this should be replaced by something else.

Often, this would be protein (from meat or meat meals) and fat.

This replacement contain more calcium and phosphorous than grain. This is why grain based dog foods often have less calcium content compared to high protein dog foods.

The Acana dog food for large dogs puppies contain 1,2% and Orijen (puppy large dog) from 1,5-1,7%. So, its a bit more in Orijen (high protein) as you see.

When dogs grow the growth rate is important. Small dogs have a growth rate that is less steep compared to the giant breeds. In general dogs belonging to medium and giant breeds (adult weight more that 25kg/50 Lbs) is more phone to growth disturbances if the growth rate is to fast.

One factor deciding the growth rate is the calcium content and another is the energy intake.

Often you seek dog food containing max 1,5% calcium for these dogs and a max growth rate of 2 Lbs (one Kg) pr week (measured over a period of 3-4 weeks).

Now, I don't think anything can happen if the food contains 0,2% more calcium than the recommended value. At least not if the growth rate is within the max 2 Lbs (one kg) pr week.

But, this tells you what to look after.

If you like the high protein dog food (Orijen) you have to monitor the weight more closely. You might say that growing too fast will more easy provoke unwanted bone and joint abnormalities as the calcium content is slightly bigger than most recommend being the max value.

Acana is at the other end. Here you have calcium around 1,2% and therefore "more room for errors" (if growing too fast).

The Acana adult food for big dogs have the same calcium content. So, you might claim that you can feed the adult food to puppies. But why?

Both Acana and Orijen is high quality dog food. In my opinion they are both some of the best on the market. If you are choosing the one or the other is a personal choice.

I think you are well on your way of doing the best for you new dog choosing one of these two brands. I can't see any reason not to choose the food for puppies and use the food for adults.

Different dog food brands and commercial factors drive the need for new kinds of foods. Years ago we had dog food.

Then came dog food for puppies,adults and for old dogs.

Now, we have dog food for the small puppies, for the middle seize dogs bigger seized and the giant seized puppies.Junior dog food and adult dog food for all the different seizes dogs we have.

And the latest is the breed specific dog food - and their puppy related dog foods.

I have to admit to get suspicious of what is the benefits of all this or is it merely a way of selling more food. As we feel we are taking risks of harming our lovely dogs giving them "the wrong dog food" we often feel we have to buy the latest and "best dog food".

You can have, and should also have, an opinion about this.

On the other hand I am of the opinion that using proper dog food of a good quality (for example Acana or Orijen) and use the respective puppy foods is OK.

This is for me based on "dog health" and not so much on....lets call it "possible commercial hype"

I hope this could help you even if it turned to be long reply to you.

All the best

Per Schonbeck