# ACANA Large Breed Puppy Food



## HiTideGoldens

We have fed Jack Acana since he was about 4 months old. We feed the Grasslands formulation and both our dogs have done well on it. Chloe has been on it since she was a puppy and has done well on it also. We never used the LBP food but Grasslands is an all life stages food so we were comfortable feeding it to them as puppies. I don't think they have to be on any one food forever, but there are a lot of good foods out there so you have a lot of options!


----------



## Sweet Girl

My dog is on Acana Senior - but it isn't grain-free. Are you sure Large Breed Puppy is grain-free?

If you are switching your dog, do it slowly by mixing the food in gradually bigger proportions over a week or two. Let your dog's system get used to it. That may take a while. 

I have to say, I've been happy with Acana. I mostly love that it's Made in Canada - and with Canadian-sourced chicken and fish (the formula I buy).


----------



## tippykayak

The Acana LBP has oats as its second ingredient, so it's not grain free, if that's what you're worried about. It also has rice. They also bump the fiber with chicory root, which sounds holistic but is actually just a dense source of inulin, which isn't as good (at least in research on people) as fiber from whole grains.

I'm not against Acana foods at all, but they do a lot of good _sounding_ stuff that may not be better, and may in some cases be not as good, as more "traditional" dog foods.


----------



## jenn4077

We have had Max (2 1/2 years old) on ACANA now for about 4 months, we tried him on numerous other food and all it gives him is really bad gas, the Acana apple and lamb is great, its made for sensitive stomachs and his gas problem is pretty much gone


----------



## Ranger

While I really like the Ranchlands and Grasslands grain-free varieties of Acana, my brother had a horrible experience with the Acana Large Breed puppy. I'm not saying it's a bad food; it simply didn't work for my brother's dog. He had the worst diarrhea from the time he was 3 months (when they adopted him) til he was 6 months. He was losing weight from lack of nutrition, they'd go to the vet every few weeks to run new tests, he had meds and ate a bland diet for most of his puppyhood...even when they tried to mix the kibble with the bland diet, he'd get the runs. Finally, I suggested maybe it was the food since the tests were all negative. They gave switched him to a different brand - cold turkey - and his poop firmed up within a day.

So, bad experience with the LBP formula but really happy with the Grasslands and Ranchlands.


----------



## Kobys Mom

Thanks everyone. I gave Koby a sample of the Large Breed Puppy kibble and he at it all up... he even picked out the pieces from the bowl mixed with his old kibble haha. I might try the Grasslands formula... seems most people have more luck with that. thanks again for the input!


----------



## AnimalLuver

Acana has a grain-free line that is seperate from the regular line. The grain-free formulas are Grasslands, Ranchlands, Pacifica, and Wild Prairie.

I emailed Acana to be sure the grain-free formulas were safe to feed my Great Dane pup (who's now 4.5mths old). I was told that out of the grain-free formulas, Acana Pacifica, and Wild Prairie are appropriate for young pups, while Grasslands and Ranchlands (especially Grasslands) should not be fed to growing pups because the Calcium/Phosphorus ratio is innappropriate for a growing pup (ratio should be 1.2:1 calcium/phosphorus, but Grasslands is 2:1.2 I think, and Ranchlands is 1.8:1.4...these are off the top of my head and may be slightly off).

The Acana large breed puppy formula is not grain free, but is appropriate for a large breed puppy if you're planning on feeding grain-inclusive kibble. By switching to grain free does not mean that he'll have to be on grain free for the rest of his life, but if grain free works for him, then you would want to stick to it. See what works for your pup, but watch the calcium/phosphorus ratios in non puppy formulas while your pooch is still growing.

I have both my 4yr old Retriever, and my 4.5mth old Great Dane on Acana/Orijen rotation, but for Gus (the Great Dane pup), I will not feed Acana Ranchlands, or Acana Grasslands due to the calcium/phosphorus ratio.

Good luck, I truly believe in Champion dog foods (makers of Orijen and Acana), and have seen my dogs strive on it


----------



## jenlaur

Riley is 2 now but when she was a pup she had stomach issues as well. We talked to the lady who owns the dog food store about it and she said to try Acana. Since her stools couldn't get any worse we put her on it immediately. First poop she had was firm. We never looked back. We stopped using it for a while as the store is far away and I got tired of the 50 minute drive to go get it. A store closer to us started selling it and they are back on it now. We went right to the adult food....she was probably 6 or 8 months old when we did.


----------



## john martin

Can my 2 month old eat the scan puppy large breed kibble? Im just worried that the kibble will be large for him. Im giving him Go Natural now.


----------



## Portia18

what are you feeding you dog? What is your suggestion for puppy food?


----------



## A1Malinois

jenn4077 said:


> We have had Max (2 1/2 years old) on ACANA now for about 4 months, we tried him on numerous other food and all it gives him is really bad gas, the Acana apple and lamb is great, its made for sensitive stomachs and his gas problem is pretty much gone


I second this. My dog has been on the Lamb/Apple formula for 4 months now and he is doing great. No bad gas, no large bulky poops and he gobbles the food right up (the, he eats anything anyways)


----------



## Portia18

What are you feeding your dog? What did you feed as a puppy?
Thanks


----------



## MikaTallulah

Portia18 said:


> What are you feeding your dog? What did you feed as a puppy?
> Thanks


Mine all eat FROMM's Chicken a la Veg. I used to feed Proplan but was burned by them.


----------



## A1Malinois

Portia18 said:


> What are you feeding your dog? What did you feed as a puppy?
> Thanks


I fed Nutro to mine as a pup as well as Orijen at about 6 months.


----------

