Iams Large Breed puppy?

Question

Is it good for him? My vet told me to get it for him.....He is a 5mo old Boxer.

I cannot afford the more expensive brands.

Thank you

My boxer is a larger boxer....the vet thinks he will end up weighing about 90lbs this is why we have him on large breed.

Even though a Boxer is typically classified as medium he will be very large.

Answer 1

Everyone on the planet has their own view on dog food (and of course everyone else is wrong)

The reason for going to "large breed puppy" is to slow down the rate of development while still providing the other things that a puppy needs in it's diet. In the old days we simply took large and medium sized dogs off puppy food early and put them on an adult diet to slow down the rapid growth.

What you or I will never convince anyone of is that they can actually feed a dog to good, which is just as damaging to a dogs health as not feeding it good enough. (that autta' get a thumbs down or two) :((
But that is the reason for large breed foods.

edit:
Rose
Does this little gal look like she is being fed "crap"???
http://www.hunt101.com/img/338528.jpg
What about these two, they are sisters. Both at the Eukanuba National last year.
http://www.hunt101.com/img/424851.gif
What about this one
http://www.hunt101.com/img/455580.jpg
Dogs don't win at Eukanuba unless they are in perfect condition
All of are dog are on that "Purina crap" as you call it.
Perhaps it is you that doesn't know what you are talking about!!
Now I posted my proof that I know what I am talking about,,, where is yours??? Show me all those winning dogs that you have that don't eat "crap".

edit again:
Rose
I still don't see your proof.

Answer 2

Do pick a better brand of dog food.
I once consulted a vet who held a degree in nuitrition. He said that Large Breed Puppy chow is no more than adult dog food in a fancy wrapper, costing a lot more.
Read the nutritional part of the labels on the dog foods and you will find them to be the same.
Just make sure that the first ingredient on the label is meat, not corn.

Answer 3

Iams is no better than feeding him Ol' Roy. They just spend more on their advertising. You'll find that even shelling out more money for the expensive food that you will actually save money. When you are feeding a higher quality food you are actually going to be feeding your dog less because the food has more nutritional value and you will end up spending the same amount on food that you would buying cheap.

The reason your vet recommended Iams is that most likely he has one of those Iams or Science Diet displays set up in his office and he gets a financial kick back from the company that makes it for recommending it to customers. Most vets know very little about pet nutrition, it's not something that they spend very much time studying.

Answer 4

These people that are recommending Hills Science Diet, Iams/Eukanuba are ignorant and it pisses me off that they don't know what the hell they are talking about and recommending it. ALL Purina products are full of garbage also.

Those foods are crap foods, full of fillers, by-products, dyes, etc.

A very affordable GOOD food is Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul.

Please go to the link below and find a good, affordable food that is available in your area. They give you the ingredients, rating and why how they got that rating. Ratings are 1-6. 6 being the best, 1 is crap food. Good Luck.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

edit: Tom 1, I do know what I'm talking about. You probably feed your dog that crap food ... so be it. Some show breeders feed their dogs crap, some know better.

Answer 5

IAMS is not a good quality food. It contains way to many cheap fillers. Also Boxers are a large breed.
You should go with a good quality brand of food with more meat protein and no corn, wheat, soy. Some good choices: Canidae, Wellness, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, Innova, Premium Edge, Percise..just to name a few.
It is false economy to buy a food just because it is cheaper. It takes up to 3 times more of a low quality food for a dog to get proper nutrition then it does of a good quality food. Buying & feeding a quality food will save you money in the long run..you will be feeding less, your dog will be pooping less and your dog will be healthier. Dogs fed on the cheaper corn, wheat, soy filled foods are more prone to obesity, allergies, skin issues, ear infections and the like.

Answer 6

I haven't heard the best things about Iams, I switched my dog to a holistic dog food (which is only about $25 for a 20 lb bag)...I think it is if a protein is listed as the first ingredient, then generally it is a pretty good food. Just please don't buy the walmart brand or something cheap like that, even though your dog may like it, it has NO nutritional value.

Isn't it funny that we are generally more concerned about what we feed our pets than what we feed ourselves?

Answer 7

NO Iams is not good..neither is most brands out there..you should read the link below to find out what they really put in the food for dogs..some brands that say Meat by product mean , hair, feet , bones and feathers are mixed in the meat..also wheat , corn and all gluten's are very very bad for your dog..Look at the ingredients listed and make sure the first three say lamb, chicken , beef or fish, rice, vegetables .. If you want your dog to be really healthy pay a bit more for the good stuff..here are a few really good brands . Blue, Canidae,Flint river,Nutro..Blue and Nutro you can find at Petsmart and Petco.

Answer 8

I agree that Iams is not a good food. Iams has too many dogs to count that are test subjects. They surgically remove muscle from the dogs to test the muscle mass. The dogs are laying down in all the pictures videos, etc. It is very sad. I you can stomache the video of what they do look into the link at the bottom. The best affordable puppy food is Purina One Lamb and Rice. Lamb is easilly digested and has more protein than chicken. It also causes less gas and odor than most foods. If you compare ingredients in different fodds like Purina Puppy Chow and Purina One you will see the first ingredient in Purina One is meat vs Purina Puppy Chow with the first ingredient being corn. Dogs can not digest corn, it is just a filler, but rice and be digested. If you think about it rice makes sense because that is the first solid food human infants are fed. Very nutrious. They do have a large breed formula in Purina One Puppy. I stongly reccomend the Healthy Puppy Formula because it has lamb instead of chicken like their large breed food.

Answer 9

Canine nutrition is a topic I recommend you don't trust your vet on.

Vets don't get classes on the specific nutritional requirements of different animals. They get classes such as "Small Animal Surgery", not classes like "Canine Nutrition" or "Feline Nutrition".

Here are the required classes at a veterinary school:
http://courses.k-state.edu/catalog/undergraduate/vm/requirements.html

You'll see there are virtually no courses specific to a certain species or breed of animals.

Here's a good article from the "Wall Street Journal": http://www.4pawsu.com/vet_dogfood.htm

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Iams has very low quality foods. They is very little meat, the foods are all fillers, by-products, and low-quality grains.

A review of Iams Large Breed Puppy:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=145&cat=all

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If you are on a budget, Candiae and Chicken Soup brand are both quality foods that are very reasonably priced. (Comparable or maybe cheaper in price than Iams, depending on the store.)

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Here's here to choose a *QUALITY* dog food:

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don't digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of "by products" listed.

Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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There is no single food that is "best". For example, some dogs thrive on grain-free foods, while grain-free is too rich for other dogs. What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on. (I recommend feeding dry food instead of wet. It's healthier for the gums and teeth.)

Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf - http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen - http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness - http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Blue Buffalo - http://www.bluebuff.com/
* Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, etc.)

Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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"Big box" petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells "Solid Gold" and "Natural Balance" brands and Petsmart sells "Blue Buffallo", which are all quality foods, but most of the foods aren't.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren't good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
.

Answer 10

well it isnt good for him but it wont kill him. ur vet has doesnt know what he is talking about. vets r only required to take one course in animal nutrition in college. that is y they dont know. u should buy canidae, it is about 5 dollars more than iams for a large bag and it is a way better food than iams. stay away from brands like science diet, eukanuba, iams, purina, ol roy, alpo, kibbles and bits, members mark (at sams club), pedigree or pretty much anything else u see on tv or at walmart. brands like this spend more on advertising than they do on the food itself. that is y more people buy it cuz they see it on tv and it is readily available at the nearest grocery store. it is pure garbage