Calcium For Puppies

[jakeyjangels]

My sister has a 9 week old puppy- Bulldog breed.

As I feed a totally RAW diet to my two, which I could explain the many benefits, she has gradually started puppy on a RAW diet. *BARF patties & chicken necks &

wing tips

Yesterday she took her puppy to the vet (for vaccination) & was told that calcium from bones is the hardest form of calcium for a puppy to absorb

so therefore needed some dry puppy food in her diet (Advance) for the calcium source in her diet. * until 6 months old

Would really appreciate comments on this advice as I thought feeding about 60% raw meaty bone in the diet was the perfect source of calcium for a puppy.

Thank you

* Edits

Edited July 14, 2012 by jakeyjangels

[twodoggies2001]

I took my mini schnauzer boy to the vet when I first got him at 8 weeks for a general going over and asked the question of calcium, as I also feed raw. At that stage he was only eating chicken necks and the vet did suggest either puppy kibble or added calcium powder. As he has now progressed to a bigger selection of raw meaty bones, he doesn't get the calcium powder any more. He gets a small handful of the puppy kibble with his lunch, only because I want to use it up rather than throwing it out.

[Bullbreedlover]

If your sister is concerned about the health and growth of her "Bulldog" breed then I certainly would be feeding a dry food kibble for a large breed puppy. And Advance in my opinion is not suitable. You must have a good fat protein balance. And as calcium is included in the food you shouldnt need to supplement with calcium. That doesnt mean to say you have to stick with dry food and nothing else. You can introduce many other foods such as sardines, tuna, chicken, vegetables etc.

The dry food available these days is a full supplemented meal.

I never feed bones to my dogs and never recommend it.

Be very careful feeding any raw mince as there is a huge risk of bacteria in the mince.

But that is just my opinion.

[jakeyjangels]

If your sister is concerned about the health and growth of her "Bulldog" breed then I certainly would be feeding a dry food kibble for a large breed puppy. And Advance in my opinion is not suitable. You must have a good fat protein balance. And as calcium is included in the food you shouldnt need to supplement with calcium. That doesnt mean to say you have to stick with dry food and nothing else. You can introduce many other foods such as sardines, tuna, chicken, vegetables etc.

The dry food available these days is a full supplemented meal.

I never feed bones to my dogs and never recommend it.

Be very careful feeding any raw mince as there is a huge risk of bacteria in the mince.

But that is just my opinion.

Thank you for your reply Bullbreedlover.

Can I ask what brand of dry food you would recommend other than Advance & why don't you feed or recommend bones?

Her puppy is a Miniature Australian Bulldog - expected weight on maturity 20kgs.

[SwaY]

Her puppy is a Miniature Australian Bulldog - expected weight on maturity 20kgs.

There is no such breed, it is a cross bred.

I don't feed calcium nor puppy food to growing babies.

[minyvlz]

I wouldn't be taking feeding advice from a vet. I feed prey model so bones only make up 10% of the diet. I do not feed dry or commercial foods. BARF and kibble to me has way too much veggies and bones.

[Bullbreedlover]

If your sister is concerned about the health and growth of her "Bulldog" breed then I certainly would be feeding a dry food kibble for a large breed puppy. And Advance in my opinion is not suitable. You must have a good fat protein balance. And as calcium is included in the food you shouldnt need to supplement with calcium. That doesnt mean to say you have to stick with dry food and nothing else. You can introduce many other foods such as sardines, tuna, chicken, vegetables etc.

The dry food available these days is a full supplemented meal.

I never feed bones to my dogs and never recommend it.

Be very careful feeding any raw mince as there is a huge risk of bacteria in the mince.

But that is just my opinion.

Thank you for your reply Bullbreedlover.

Can I ask what brand of dry food you would recommend other than Advance & why don't you feed or recommend bones?

Her puppy is a Miniature Australian Bulldog - expected weight on maturity 20kgs.

A miniture Australian Bulldog.(Australasian Bandog is the name to use. Havent heard of minitures in the breed) Shudder to think how much they are worth.

I feed Proplan Large breed puppy for my babies and Adult kibble when they are about 9 months. Although if the weight of this puppy is only going to be around 20 kilos then it is up to your sister to decide whether to swap foods or not.

Our Bulldogs are never fed bones nor rawhide as I have heard of too many heart breaks from losing dogs which have choked and died on the fore mentioned items. Even my Bullmastiffs are never fed bones.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Bullbreedlover

[Bullbreedlover]

I wouldn't be taking feeding advice from a vet. I feed prey model so bones only make up 10% of the diet. I do not feed dry or commercial foods. BARF and kibble to me has way too much veggies and bones.

So please explain your prey model diet for your dogs and what breed are they?

[jakeyjangels]

Her puppy is a Miniature Australian Bulldog - expected weight on maturity 20kgs.

There is no such breed, it is a cross bred.

I don't feed calcium nor puppy food to growing babies.

Could you please explain SwaY what you do feed to growing babies? And is calcium from bones the hardest/wrong form of calcium for puppies?

Thanks

[jakeyjangels]

I wouldn't be taking feeding advice from a vet. I feed prey model so bones only make up 10% of the diet. I do not feed dry or commercial foods. BARF and kibble to me has way too much veggies and bones.

Agree re taking advice from vet! But have to disagree re BARF ! Thanks for your reply

[jakeyjangels]

If your sister is concerned about the health and growth of her "Bulldog" breed then I certainly would be feeding a dry food kibble for a large breed puppy. And Advance in my opinion is not suitable. You must have a good fat protein balance. And as calcium is included in the food you shouldnt need to supplement with calcium. That doesnt mean to say you have to stick with dry food and nothing else. You can introduce many other foods such as sardines, tuna, chicken, vegetables etc.

The dry food available these days is a full supplemented meal.

I never feed bones to my dogs and never recommend it.

Be very careful feeding any raw mince as there is a huge risk of bacteria in the mince.

But that is just my opinion.

Thank you for your reply Bullbreedlover.

Can I ask what brand of dry food you would recommend other than Advance & why don't you feed or recommend bones?

Her puppy is a Miniature Australian Bulldog - expected weight on maturity 20kgs.

A miniture Australian Bulldog.(Australasian Bandog is the name to use. Havent heard of minitures in the breed) Shudder to think how much they are worth.

I feed Proplan Large breed puppy for my babies and Adult kibble when they are about 9 months. Although if the weight of this puppy is only going to be around 20 kilos then it is up to your sister to decide whether to swap foods or not.

Our Bulldogs are never fed bones nor rawhide as I have heard of too many heart breaks from losing dogs which have choked and died on the fore mentioned items. Even my Bullmastiffs are never fed bones.

Understand the breed isn't purebred and only mentioned the puppies breed to indicate size. That is the breed name the puppies are sold as. Hope I didn't insult you or your purebred breed. (Happy to pm you the breeders website my sister purchased from for you to have a look ). You are right to shudder re the price! Even though I have never had an issue with feeding bones with my 2 Labs, I understand your reasoning for not feeding them. I am just after a valid explanation regarding puppies unable to consume calcium from bones. Thanks

[espinay2]

gee I wonder where the vet got his info from - a pet food company perhaps? Maybe the one that makes the brand he sells?

Raw meaty bones are what the dog is DESIGNED to eat. I wonder how all those canids in the wild or fending for themselves survived all those milennia eating those inappropriate bones to provide their calcuim requirements.

Personally I would take the experience of mother nature in designing a system to convert its natural food over a scientist employed by a pet food company to manufacture a substitute any day. Not like they have a vested interest in telling you only their special scientific formula is the most appropriate to feed a dog is there.....

(yes that was sarcasm - I am so over pet food companies creating a self serving culture of fear and paralysis to 'do as they say' by convincing people that you need a science degree to feed a dog!....rant over)

Yes, I feed a raw diet and yes bones provide an adequeate saurce of calcium for growing pups. I also agree with Sway that you do NOT supplement with additional calcium (whether you feed raw meaty bones or commercial) which is a fast way to cause problems in growing dogs.

More info on raw diets and what we do on my website here: feeding our dogs

[espinay2]

For those who still can't get past the 'science' though - here it is from the industry itself: http://www.petfoodin..._News/7586.html

Edited July 14, 2012 by espinay2

[Mason_Gibbs]

Each dog does best on the food which suits it best. In my mind raw is best but my dogs do best on their RC Hypoallergenic, due to allergies i cant feed them a broad enough range of things and the pup cant seem to digest raw food so its easier to give both biscuits

[SparkyTansy]

I agree with espinay, and also with MG. sometimes it just isn't possible to feed an appropriate raw diet because of certain restrictions.

[espinay2]

Whether someone decides to feed a raw diet or not in THEIR situation is not the issue here.

It is about a vet telling someone that bones are an inappropriate form of CALCIUM for a puppy and that a puppy NEEDS commercial food to provide CALCIUM.

Which is pure bunkum and spin and not even supported by the science.

Even the pet food companies use bone as a source of calcium in their foods!!

Edited July 14, 2012 by espinay2

[minyvlz]

So please explain your prey model diet for your dogs and what breed are they?

Pretty sure there is just one prey model diet. Doesn't matter what breeds they are, all dogs are the same species and have the same alimentary system.

Agree re taking advice from vet! But have to disagree re BARF ! Thanks for your reply

Perhaps you can explain why you disagree? Not trying to pick anything, just interested in hearing what people have to say :)

gee I wonder where the vet got his info from - a pet food company perhaps? Maybe the one that makes the brand he sells?

Raw meaty bones are what the dog is DESIGNED to eat. I wonder how all those canids in the wild or fending for themselves survived all those milennia eating those inappropriate bones to provide their calcuim requirements.

Personally I would take the experience of mother nature in designing a system to convert its natural food over a scientist employed by a pet food company to manufacture a substitute any day. Not like they have a vested interest in telling you only their special scientific formula is the most appropriate to feed a dog is there.....

(yes that was sarcasm - I am so over pet food companies creating a self serving culture of fear and paralysis to 'do as they say' by convincing people that you need a science degree to feed a dog!....rant over)

Yes, I feed a raw diet and yes bones provide an adequeate saurce of calcium for growing pups. I also agree with Sway that you do NOT supplement with additional calcium (whether you feed raw meaty bones or commercial) which is a fast way to cause problems in growing dogs.

More info on raw diets and what we do on my website here: feeding our dogs

Agree with this.

[Sandra777]

The first and most obvious answer is feed what is on the breeder's diet sheet. One would HOPE they know something about their own "breed".

Dog this size I wouldn't class as 'large' or needing to be feed large breed food.

I have Staffords, they're a touch lighter at maturity although many do make 20kg.

Mine don't get puppy food at all - unless someone wins some :laugh:

They get adult dry food from the first, I use Bonnie Working, other brands are fine too. Never seen much difference in the dogs when using Bonnie as opposed to some more expensive brands. If I only had one dog, personally I would use Nutro. My pups get bones from when I start weaning (4-5 weeks, depends on the litter) starting with chicken necks but quickly progressing to wings and more 'bony' bones.

They get raw meat as a basis of their diet their whole life, always supplemented by bones 3-4 times a week, chicken carcasses, lamb offcuts etc. Sardines, tinned mackeral (can't get fresh reliably), eggs with shell, a bit of table scraps (never much here), even the odd bit of milk.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Sandra777

[jakeyjangels]

gee I wonder where the vet got his info from - a pet food company perhaps? Maybe the one that makes the brand he sells?

Raw meaty bones are what the dog is DESIGNED to eat. I wonder how all those canids in the wild or fending for themselves survived all those milennia eating those inappropriate bones to provide their calcuim requirements.

Personally I would take the experience of mother nature in designing a system to convert its natural food over a scientist employed by a pet food company to manufacture a substitute any day. Not like they have a vested interest in telling you only their special scientific formula is the most appropriate to feed a dog is there.....

(yes that was sarcasm - I am so over pet food companies creating a self serving culture of fear and paralysis to 'do as they say' by convincing people that you need a science degree to feed a dog!....rant over)

Yes, I feed a raw diet and yes bones provide an adequeate saurce of calcium for growing pups. I also agree with Sway that you do NOT supplement with additional calcium (whether you feed raw meaty bones or commercial) which is a fast way to cause problems in growing dogs.

More info on raw diets and what we do on my website here: feeding our dogs

Thank you for your replies & your link espinay. I will forward your link to my sister.

[newfsie]

We do not add calcium to our dogs diets as puppies and do not feed puppy food...And our dogs do get lots of large bones, we feed mainly RAW, except when traveling we feed Blackhawk.

I am not to keen on chicken in general as chickens get fed too much crap where they are raised, unless they are organic free range. I think that is why my dog is allergic to chicken, it is not the actual chicken at all, but the feed