What type of food, how much and how often do you feed a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog?

Question

I have a 12 month old GSMD. I have been getting mixed reviews on the type of food (Puppy/Adult) and amounts of food to be giving him. I would appreciate any suggestions you have on Giant Breeds and their nutritional needs and cautions. Does anyone else have a GSMD and if so, what have you fed yours in the past and what results have you received? Thanks!

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Give him any large breed puppy food. Foods that are good are Iams, Purina and Science Diet. In fact Ole Roy isn't bad either. Science Diet has the most vitamins in it. More Vitamins the better and it doesn't have fillers in it.

Large dog breeds can be feed what is on the label of the particular dog food you buy. The label will tell you how many cups to feed your dog. It's best to usually break it up like if it says 1 cup a day then feed your dog 1/2 cup twice a day.

The better your dog food is, the less you will need to feed him and the more nutritional value it will hold.

Big thing with large breed dogs is you have to make sure they don't take in an excess of calcium. Studies have shown that excess calcuim is very fatal in large breeds. It causes a type of bone deficiency where the dog won't be able to move.

I have found through vet tech school that science diet is by far the best. It has the highest nutritional value for large breed puppies. You might pay more for the food but in the long run your puppy will stay fuller longer.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Any high quality food would be good for your dog. As far as feeding amounts, start with the suggestions on the back of the bag and adjust as needed.

Do a rib check to see if your dog needs more or less. You should be able to easily feel the ribs under a thin layer of fat, and your dog should have a visible "waist' when viewed from above. This means your dog is at ideal weight. If you can see more than the last rib or two, feed a little more. If you have a hard time feeling the ribs, and your dog doesn't have a visible "waist", cut back a little.

If you were to feed a raw diet, you'd start with 2-3% of your dog's weight and adjust up or down from there.

Your dog should have at least 2 meals, rather than one large one.

If you haven't already switched to an adult or all stages food, do so now. I don't recommend puppy food for any puppy. Why?

Explanation as to why puppy food is BAD for puppies, especially large breed pups: It contains WAY MORE protein than needed. It causes rapid growth, rapid growth then leads to future bone and joint problems. Feeding a high quality all stages food will promote a more desired slow growth, and thus lessen the chances of bone and joint problems later. Puppies should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

In my opinion "puppy" foods should only be fed to pregnant and lactating dogs who actually can use all that extra protein and calcium.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 5

It depends on the type of food the dog is eating. Higher quality kibbles can be fed in smaller amounts because there are less fillers (such as corn, wheat, etc) and they benefit more from less of the food. It also results in smaller poops. :)

You can also look into home cooking or the raw/barf diet for maximum health.