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GREATDANELADY.COM Linda Arndt ~ Canine Nutritional Consultant Email:  |
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Blackwatch Large / Giant Breed Puppy Feed Program |
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A word about prevention of Developmental Bone Disease, start with my article on Large/Giant breed Puppy Growth For information on appropriate crates, toys, bedding, collars, shots, ear taping, vaccines, puppy health issues etc. Puppy Care Guidelines For Common Sense Training: The Ultimate Puppy Toolkit Blackwatch
Feed Program for Large/Giant Breed Puppies
This program is comprehensive and consists of 6 major components and this is it in summary form. Detailed info to follow below.
The Blackwatch Puppy Feed Program Every component to this feed program has an important job to do, and is an integral part of keeping a dog healthy and helping to prevent vaccine reactions and growth problems. Feeding Raw?? Can feed a raw (BARF) diet to a large breed puppy? Yes, but I do not promote raw diets on growing giant breeds because the nutrients and caloric intake are very difficult for a new pet owner to calculate, and they inevitably end up contacting me to try to "fix" their dogs growth problem. So, I do not recommend feeding a raw diet to giant puppies until they are past the 12 month old stage and then if one wants to go this route I suggest using some good options like a holistic kibble that has been developed to be used with raw meats. See my raw feed programs. I do have "raw" components to my Puppy Feed Program and suggest the use of probiotics, dietary and digestive which provide what is often missing in commercial kibbles. See below...... Basic Diet I have provided a list of better food and my criteria for selection, located at this website. But my preference is the Eagle Pack line of Natural/Holistic dog foods. I think the best food to use for your puppy is: Eagle Natural 23% protein
12% fat OR *Note - Eagle Holistic Fish and Oatmeal is not suitable for growing dogs! I do not ever recommend straight lamb rice diets for growth you need a multiple protein(meat) source in your foods. After 10 - 12 months of age you can switch to : Eagle Large/Giant Adult Formula 24% protein 14% fat Eagle Original 25%protein 15% fat Eagle Holistic Chicken 24% protein 14% fat It is not necessary to switch, but some dogs need more calories at this age to hold weight. To purchase Eagle Dog Foods:
TO PURCHASE EAGLE ONLINE Petpals will ship Eagle - California based, but
will ship anywhere in the US VIP-Pets will ship Eagle - California based, but
will ship anywhere in the US. The VIP phone number is 714-VIP-PETS
(714-847-7387). Waggin' Tails Pet Essentials has Eagle REQUIRED FEEDING - Dietary Enzymes Nzymes - A Dietary Enzyme in a chewable healthy pet treat or granular form. Nzymes put the "living component" back into a cooked, processed, stored dog food. Enzymes are heat sensitive and lost in processing/cooking of all commercial foods or making home cooked diets. As owners we must put dietary enzymes back into the diet, in order to maintain proper wellness and not deplete the body of this important resource. This can be done by the addition to your diet with a product called Nzymes, a chewable pet treat, or granular form which can be sprinkled on the food to replace what is lost. In other words, Nzymes provide the body with the right nutrients to allow the body to make the chemicals necessary to detoxify (clean out) the body and repair itself. Nzymes helps with the following:
Nzymes are from sprouts (food) so they do not conflict with diet or any medications. I have used the Nzymes for 20 years for my animals and I take the human product and have seen remarkable changes our health. By incorporating Nzymes into the diet, you are putting back the "living component" into the modern processed and cooked diets. This gives the body the tools it needs for repair and good health. Website to order : http://www.nzymes.com/ - 877- 816- 6500 - 8:00-6:00 PST REQUIRED FEEDING - Friendly bacteria/Digestive enzymes First Choice Naturals 4 in 1 Probiotics - This is a combination friendly yogurt like good bacteria, 4 digestive enzymes, vegetation and Vitamin C . It fills the "holes in every diet", processed or raw. First Choice Naturals 4 in 1 Probiotics contains:
If you are using the First Choice Naturals 4 in 1 Probiotics (listed above) do not use any additional Vitamin C supplementation. REQUIRED FEEDING Liquid Health Level 5000 - Joint Supplementation If you are looking for a high quality glucosamine joint support product, I have used it with great success on my dogs and my elderly dogs respond well to joint nutritional supplementation. The amount of glucosamine in better dog foods is minimal, helpful nonetheless, but minimal, so a good joint supplement is ideal especially for any age or breed. I start my dogs during growth stages and continue throughout their adult life. With the large/giant breeds their joints have added stressed, so any thing that can help support them as they age is a positive thing in my opinion. For more complete information and ordering go to this website: Liquid Health Level 5000 Growth Patterns - if you have written me specifically about uneven growth patterns or othhopedic disease - HOD, PANO....additional MSM is helpful and the source I recommend is the Vita-Flex MSM - the best price is through First Choice Naturals at 800-937-1104 RECOMMENDED - Meats I use Eagle Holistic canned dog foods for variety (beef, chicken, liver, lamb, duck and fish).I mix a couple of tablespoons of canned meat with tepid temperature water and make a gravy. No grocery store brands they are full of preservatives and 4D meats (dead, diseased dying and disabled) and they give the dogs stinky gas. Homemade veggie soups work well for variety too. The reason I suggest the use of a good canned dog food with kibble, rather than straight meat for growing puppies, is so you don’t disrupt the calcium and phosphorus ratio of the diet during growth period. NO additional rice or chicken rice combinations you make up at home, they are very unbalanced and can cause growth problems. Commercial chicken /rice canned foods are balanced and not a problem. RECOMMENDED- Whole FoodsI think it is important to incorporate some real foods into you dogs diet on a daily basis. Not only is this done for nutritional purposes, but because the dog gets bored eating the same thing day in, day out!! This is a list of recommended foods: yogurt, fruits and veggies, not necessarily in large amounts, a little is better than none. Berries melons, apples, banana, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, squash, sweet potato, green beans, zucchini, garlic. NO raw onions, spinach, grapes some say no garlic They love frozen berries and melon balls. Pulverized fresh veggies are best for digestion. OR
THIS OPTION
RECOMMENDED- Using Real Fresh Meat - Fruits and Veggies - and NO WORK! I am excited to tell you about a product that you will like, it is an easy way to provide some real meat, (turkey or chicken) and fruits and veggies. This product is freeze dried and all you have to do is reconstitute it then incorporate into to your dog's diet. It is not cost prohibitive for breeders with multiple dogs because a 10 lbs container makes 43lbs of fresh food. It is the answer to a prayer for us busy dog owners! The food dehydration process takes place so the ingredient are still considered raw yet done at a temperature to kill any pathogenic bacteria. Enzymatic activity in dehydrated foods is simply suspended until the food is rehydrated. The Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw dog food is available in two no grain formulas: FORCE (21% protein - 14% fat) - Chicken, Flaxseed, Potatoes, Celery, Cabbage, Sweet Potatoes, Zucchini, Green Beans, Apples, Honey, Alfalfa, Kelp,Yogurt, Bananas, Papayas, Basil and Rosemary. EMBARK 29% protein - 16% fat - Turkey, Flaxseed, Potatoes, Celery, Spinach, Carrots, Coconut, Apples, Kelp, Eggs, Sesame Seeds, Bananas, Cranberries, Rosemary. The Honest Kitchen dog food, like the Eagle Holistic line of kibble and canned food is endorsed in the Whole Dog Journal. To order call 858-483-5995 ~ www.thehonestkitchen.com Note: Since you are using this top dress your dog's food and not as the whole diet, you can use either one of these even for Great Dane puppies. Just use in reasonable amounts so you are not adding too many calories during growth stages. HOW I MIX MY DOG FOOD
Honest Kitchen dog food is organic freeze-dried meat, fruit and veggies. USE
TEPID TEMPERATURE WATER ON YOUR KIBBLE, IF IT IS TOO HOT IT WILL DESTROY
THE INTEGRITY OF THE NUTRIENTS AND YOGURT LIKE CULTURES ON THE FOOD.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ADDITIONS Oxy-Drops are a safe liquid to be used with with your kibble and raw meat. It will kill pathogens: bacteria, fungus and virus. When feeding raw meat it is particularly important to use Oxy-Drops to help prevent problems with the pathogens in raw foods. Oxy- Drops will not kill the good bacteria of the gut and helps to encourage the growth of friendly bacteria. I believe Oxy-Drops is very important in helping to prevent bloat and systemic fungus infections. It can be use diluted (1 cup of distilled water + 1 teaspoon of Oxy-Drops) for a solution to clean out ears, eyes, to spray on skin or use as a colonic. It is very beneficial in systemic yeast infections as well. 1 drop per 20 lbs of body weight, added to some water (it must be diluted), stir into dog food. To order: contact Stan at Nzymes.com 877-816-6500 OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER Crop or Not to Crop Ears?Read this: Does My Vet Understand Nutrition?
Crop Or Natural Ears? If you have a puppy and intend to have have it cropped, make sure
you read these articles. Vaccines There are several articles and photos of vaccine reactions at this website. You need to know how to prevent vaccine reactions, because vaccine reactions in some breeds will kill your dog in a slow agonizing death known as Immuine Mediated Response, which is always misdiagnoised as HOD. So, here is info: Prevention of Vaccine Reactions The AAHA recommended schedule for vaccination Dr. Jean Dodd's Vaccine Protocals Special Alert - Antibiotic Reactions in Great Danes and Other Breeds. Sulfonamide Antibiotics
Another commonly used, potentially troublesome antibiotics is Cephalexin (Keflex, Cefa-Tabs). This can also produces the same symptoms as HOD (fever,swollen/hot joints, immobility, anorexia) even in adult dogs. I will use Chephalexin, but with a watchful eye and if the dog starts acting lethargic and achy, we stop the antibiotic, since they are sensitive to it. Call the vet for an alternative antibiotic and make sure you are using a good Probiotic product to keep the digestive tract functioning properly. I will not use Sulfonamides drugs on my dogs. A reaction can happen from 24 hours - 2 weeks of being on an antibiotic. If there is a reaction, my vet recommends Dexamethsone/Azium and discontinue use or antibiotic. * Research references on Sulfonamides Fleas - Heartworm People ask me what I use for these problems. I use Interceptor as a heartworm preventative and for flea and tick problems I use a topical product- either Advantage, Advantix or Frontline products. I do rotate a different one each year. Because these are not systemic products, I feel a bit better about using them and because the dogs/cats and my self are also on Nzymes, which detoxifies the body, I am comfortable with using these products. Heart Disease If you have a breed (Danes, Dobes, Boxers etc.) that are prone to cardiomyopathy or other heart diseases, you may want to start supplementing these nutrients to your dogs diet as the start to grow - 12 weeks is what was recommended to me.These are nutritional substances from food sources and do not conflict with medications or each other and are good to use for heart disease.
2) Two amino Acids are critical to strengthen the heart -
Taurine and L-Carnitine Taurine doses 100 mgs daily At 12 months of age you can switch to the adult feed program at this website.
AMOUNTS
TO FEED LARGE/GIANT PUPPIES
This chart is base the assumption that a dog may be crated or less active during the day while the owner is at work. Use this guideline to help prevent growth diseases. The most sensitive time for growth problems is from 3-6 months of age. Giants (Danes,Newfies, Pyers, Irish Wolfhounds etc.), fed low - mid range to start with - this is a guide- then increase, but I have found it is pretty accurate. Note: Large breeds (Labs, Boxers, Collies, Goldens, Shepherds, Dobes, Rotties etc.), should be fed the low end amounts on chart up to 5 months, then at 5 months and up they tend to hold around 5-7 cups of food, unlike the giant breeds - so hold in this range of 5-7 cups -increase or decrease according to activity levels. You want them well covered, but with the last rib showing slightly. 2 months 2-4 cups per day - (divided into 3 meals daily)
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