# Feed Golden puppies Large Breed food or not?



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Should you feed Golden puppies large breed food, or not?


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

no, not for puppies or adults.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Personally I don't, as the types of food I like do not come in such distinctions.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

You should feed large breed puppy formula, but not adult. They really benefit from the extra nutrients in large breed puppy food because Goldens grow so fast and it helps in the develoment of their bones and joints. I plan on keeping Tucker on Pro Plan large breed puppy until he is a year old.


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

jwemt81 said:


> You should feed large breed puppy formula, but not adult. They really benefit from the extra nutrients in large breed puppy food because Goldens grow so fast and it helps in the development of their bones and joints. I plan on keeping Tucker on Pro Plan large breed puppy until he is a year old.


Lots of owners/breeders will tell you the exact opposite. no Large breed formula, they grow too fast & take them off puppy food at 12-16 weeks. some breeders start on an ALS formula to keep their growth rates steady.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

Nope! No need for Large Breed foods as Goldens in standard are not large breeds.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

I do not, and never have, fed large breed food. I do switch my puppies to Adult formula between 4-6 months of age. 
Golden Retrievers are not a large breed.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

we feed large breed puppy food. The calories are lower so they don't grow to big too fast. We use a Vet food and Cody is doign very well on it.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Why is it that I knew Goldens are not considered Large Breed? I wish I could find what I was reading way back when, but it escapes me.


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## buckeyegoldenmom (Oct 5, 2008)

MyCodyBoy said:


> we feed large breed puppy food. The calories are lower so they don't grow to big too fast. We use a Vet food and Cody is doign very well on it.


That is why I fed mine Innova large breed puppy for the first six months.

The large breed Innova has 367 cal per cup....compared to the Innova regular puppy with 454cal per cup.


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## Golden Leo (Dec 3, 2008)

I do, I think only in large & giant breed puppy food they have glucosamine sulfat and chondroitin, that is important for joints of large breed puppies as they grow very fast. And I think that they are large breed.
Oh, I just remembered, on entry forms for dog shows they are marked as large breed.


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

Kimm said:


> Why is it that I knew Goldens are not considered Large Breed? I wish I could find what I was reading way back when, but it escapes me.


check my post on your other poll. AKC acknowledges Labs as medium breeds (and their measurements & weight are higher than Goldens) but doesn't list a size for Goldies...


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I fed Oakly large breed dog food since bringing him home at 8 weeks on the breeders recommendation. She felt the adult dog food slowed growth with led to better joint development.


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

I used large breed puppy food for Tinkerbell. I had 5 different vets at 3 different clinics tell me that's what she should have. The vet we ended up staying with explained it this way... puppies should have the extra nutrients in puppy food, but since goldens and labs tend to grow so fast and are often prone to joint problems regular puppy food would cause them to grow too quickly. So it needs to be a large breed puppy food, which has the benefits of puppy food but slows down growth. And you keep them on it for 8-12 months depending on the growh of the dog. Then you switch to adult food which should not be large breed, because goldens are not a large breed. Unless you have a golden that is much larger than the breed standard.

It worked very well for us.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Dog food manufacturers are generally thinking of dogs 50-90 lbs or so when they make foods for "large breeds." Golden breed standard is, as I recall 65-75 pounds (or a little wider), right? So they fall right in the middle of that.

I'm sure the definition "large" will vary depending who you ask. They certainly take "large" sizes in collars and meds. And they certainly are _not_ anywhere near the largest size of dogs.

I think if you're going "small," "medium," and "large," Goldens are medium. But if you include "giant" as a category, then Goldens would be large. 

It's all semantics anyway. We know how much they should weigh, approximately, so if you're looking to choose a food based on it, choose the food indicated for dogs who will grow up to be around 70 lbs. Lots of people on here, though, will contend that some of the major manufacturers don't have the best formulas or that puppy food isn't really the best formulation of food for puppies.

I'm willing to bet there are healthy and wonderful dogs who ate large breed puppy food until they were 12 months (my Comet, for example), and some equally healthy who were switched to adult a lot earlier. There will also be some who eat raw and some who eat holistic. Find what works for your dog, and don't be afraid to feed high-quality regular foods like Iams if your pup is healthy on it. Glossy coats, clear eyes, and healthy weight don't lie.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Lots of varying opinions. I find it interesting that some say large breed food makes them grow too fast, and other say large breed food is designed to make them grow slower.


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