# chicken sensitivity, breeder vs vet



## caroline5690 (Dec 19, 2017)

Hi there, 

I have a 18 week old golden at home, an absolute joy. He came to us on Purina Pro Plan Lamb & Rice and breeder advised NOT to feed food with chicken if we ever switch brands, as many dogs (including goldens) have a sensitivity to it. 

When we went to the vet, the vet recommended we start him on a "Large Breed Puppy" food. We have been having a very hard time finding a LBP without chicken. Our vet recommended that we test out the PPP LBP since he has been doing well on the other PPP. We just started introducing very small amounts into his food, combined with his old food. 

What are folks thoughts on chicken for goldens? Is it safe to test it out for him and okay to go against the breeder's advice? I guess I'm feeling guilty about that but also want to be feeding the absolute best for him, knowing that he is going to be very large and wanting him to get all of the nutrients possible. He was 42 pounds at his 16 week visit! 

Thanks in advance for thoughts and suggestions!


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

You can at least try the chicken PPP LBP! If your pup is sensitive to chicken, you'll know. There are lots of Goldens that are sensitive to chicken, but it is by no means a majority percentage. If I had to guess, I would say it's probably actually a very low percentage when you look at the breed as a whole. I have no idea why your breeder would tell you to avoid chicken unless the dog's parents have a chicken sensitivity. I do agree with your vet on feeding a large breed puppy food because from brands like Purina and Royal Canin, LBP foods have been specifically (and scientifically) formulated for the needs of large breeds. Large breeds have much higher calcium needs among other nutritional differences compared to smaller breeds. LBP foods take into account that slower growth is better for large bones. 

I completely trust my breeder's opinion, but that is partly because she has a background in science, and I know she thinks about things in a very analytical way. I don't want to offend anyone, but sometimes I think breeders (even very very good ones) get caught up in things they hear and old wives tales that have no base in actual science.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Its true that there are a lot of dogs who don't tolerate chicken. My Piper doesn't do well with poultry containing products. With that being said, many dogs do fine. Has your breeder noted poultry intolerances in their dogs?

42 lbs is pretty big at 16 weeks! Is he overweight or just big? You want your puppy to be about a 4 on the chart below. If he's getting well rounded, you may want to back off on the amount of food he's getting. 

If you are switching, I would do it slowly. The food bags all say to transition over 5 days -1 week. I would do it more like over 2+ weeks. If you notice that poops get softer and stay soft (they may soften a bit when you are transitioning), or your dog starts regurgitating food, or getting diarrhea or vomiting, it may be the food. 

Ultimately, you can feed your dog anything (unless its mandated in your contract from your breeder), so its perfectly reasonable to try a different food. I'm a fan of PPP myself (my dog gets the PPP Sensitive skin/stomach Lamb & Rice formula) and I really like it. I used to feed Fromm Gold LBP, but my dog didn't tolerate it (duck and chicken). However, if you do notice that poultry isn't working well, I do know that Fromm Heartland Gold LBP does not have poultry containing products. 

Hope that helps!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My boy didn't do well on chicken, he eats the PPP SSS salmon and does great on it. I only give him Salmon treats too.


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## caroline5690 (Dec 19, 2017)

Piper_the_goldenpuppy said:


> Its true that there are a lot of dogs who don't tolerate chicken. My Piper doesn't do well with poultry containing products. With that being said, many dogs do fine. Has your breeder noted poultry intolerances in their dogs?
> 
> 42 lbs is pretty big at 16 weeks! Is he overweight or just big? You want your puppy to be about a 4 on the chart below. If he's getting well rounded, you may want to back off on the amount of food he's getting.
> 
> ...



Thanks so much! The vet didn't say anything about him being overweight or concerned at all with this size. Our breeder thought he would be the biggest of the litter, he doesn't appear overweight, he is just big! We are planning on transitioning the food very very slowly!


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## caroline5690 (Dec 19, 2017)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> My boy didn't do well on chicken, he eats the PPP SSS salmon and does great on it. I only give him Salmon treats too.



Thanks so much! How did you know your boy didn't tolerate? I am keeping an eye on stool and for scratching, as breeder mentioned it could be a skin sensitivity.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Getting two dogs to mate and produce puppies doesn't make one a nutritionist. Just sayin'.
That said, if your breeder is knowingly producing dogs with food sensitivity, I have a problem with that.
The vast majority of dogs, including Goldens, are not sensitive to chicken. However, they may just plain do better on another protein source, such as salmon.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

caroline5690 said:


> Thanks so much! How did you know your boy didn't tolerate? I am keeping an eye on stool and for scratching, as breeder mentioned it could be a skin sensitivity.


He was having all kinds of stomach problems.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Did your breeder have any scientific evidence to back up her assertion that many Goldens are chicken sensitive? Peer-reviewed studies?


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Sweet Girl said:


> Did your breeder have any scientific evidence to back up her assertion that many Goldens are chicken sensitive? Peer-reviewed studies?


That just made my nerdy heart sing!


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## MitchP (Oct 29, 2017)

And lots of humans have peanut allergies....doesn't stop me from eating way too many Reeses Peanut Butter Cups


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

Actually Beef and Lamb are higher on the allergen list then Chicken. As of around 2015 or so the top 3 were Beef, Lanb then chicken in reported allergen cases.


Chicken often gets incorrectly tagged as the culprit If there is any chicken listed and if fresh chicken is list as the first ingredient (which it never can be in a finished product) vets will certainly say your dog has a chicken issue. Honestly the breeder has enough knowledge to be dangerous in this instance (dangerous meaning to give out incorrect information).


Also, allergies and sensitivities are actually developed over time months and years by being exposed to the same things in the highest concentrations. So not impossible but highly unlikely at 18 weeks your pup has allergies.


And it is most important to be on a large breed puppy formula as you need a controlled growth rate as to not grow to fast for the joints. Do not do a grain free food as it is normally an all life stage food, which by definition it is a small breed puppy food (read the AAFCO lable on the back to make sure it doesnt say all life stage or adult or maintenance but actually Growth.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

caroline5690 said:


> Thanks so much! The vet didn't say anything about him being overweight or concerned at all with this size. Our breeder thought he would be the biggest of the litter, he doesn't appear overweight, he is just big! We are planning on transitioning the food very very slowly!



Your dog may not be overweight as in fat, but if hes growing to fast because hes not on a large breed puppy food he can potentially have hip and joint issues for growing to fast. The deal in a nut shell about LBP food and regular puppy is is the Calcium/Phosphorus ratio. And normal puppy or adult food can and likely have up to a 2:1 cal/phos ratio and that is way to much. LBP food will have a ratio of no more hen 1.4:1 as phosphorus inhibits calcium absorption so that is why LBP food is important for puppies that will end up over 50lbs as an adult dog.


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