Re: should i cut out the wet food???

[TheRookie]

@Mike D’Abruzzo 361 wrote:

Hi Jeremy,

Welcome aboard and thanks for the compliments. Just wanted to add can’t stress how bad pedigree is for a growing German Shepherd puppy. In all honesty I wouldnt feed it if someone gave it to me for free. Now is the time that mostly will determine the health of your dogs hips and even if the ears will stand properly. The last time I heard I believe at least 40% of german Shepherds end up with hip dysplasia. This is mostly determined by the early development.

Some key factors:

1. Overweight puppies will be much more prone to later joint problems (this is a big one!) keep your puppy as tone as possible – tucked tummy!!

2. Correct calcium/phosphorus ratio (be sure the label of any food you choose says approved for ALL LIFE STAGES (just not puppy, maintanance, etc..)

3. Throw away the bad food! I am not bending the truth – when I say it isnt far off from poisoning your puppy at such an important stage. there are lots of good websites out there that will educate you on good dog food – but pedigree is BOTTOM of the barrel and you will see long term developmental problems I assure you.

I am telling you this out od honest concern – and you will see the difference when you interview people with older german shepherds that have fed their dog bad food compared to good food. You will see the difference in the health, coat, joints, and even temperamant (bad food not good for brain either). Compare to someone eating McDonalds everyday to someone eating healthy. It is criminal what junk the highly marketed profit driven dog food companies are putting in their bags. It is decietful and unfair to the customers that trust their commercials etc..

thanks mike. my wife and i have already gotten our money’s worth from your site, and ive only been on for less than a week.

anyway, i searched at Petco for about an hour reading and comparing dog foods. they dont carry either one of the foods that chris mentioned. i ended up choosing Natural Choice large breed puppy. ingredients are lamb meal, ground rice, rice flour, rice bran, pea protein, lamb, poultry fat, dried plain beet pulp, soybean oil, sunflower oil, egg product, fish oil, dry kelp and then a bunch of vitamins.

sound good?

the dogs seem to like the Natural Choice more than they did the Pedigree. They ate it much quicker.

i was also looking at Royal Canin large breed puppy, and Royal Canin german shepherd food. i chose the Natural Choice over Royal Canin because i figured the lamb would be better than the chicken that Royal Canin has.

Thanks,
Jeremy

OH, and this is off topic, but did you make a video where you had a GSD in a van with the door open and you went to take a leak in the woods and had someone attack you, then the dog was in pursuit and hit the attacker HARD! i found the vid on youtube but i cant find it again. it was an awesome video because the dog was amazing. he got a whole mouthful when he chomped down. If that’s your vid, lemme know how to find it again. Thanks…..