Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!! I am soooo glad I came across this website!! Anyhow, I have a black great dane puppy named Tank, and he is going to be 12 weeks tomorrow! I know I have to feed him lower protein, fat, and calcium dog food, but what kind. I have him on Canidae which is 24% protein, 14.5% fat, and 1.2% calcium. Is that okay? Some people are telling me to switch to a lower % of protein and fat like Eagle Pack Natural?? Is it necessary? I do not want him to get OCD or HOD!
Also, he is going through a real chewing stage and wants to constantly bite and chew on our hands, legs, fingers, etc!!! I tell him "NO" and give him a toy, but he still goes for our body parts!!!!!
Any suggestions??
Bryn

Canidae is a really decent food and as long as you are not feeding the puppy food and instead are feeding the adult food, there should not be too much of an issues.

With that said, I know some of the research I've done on dog foods pointed to Eagle Pack being desigend for great danes. To me that would make me want to choose that as my food originally and see how my pup did on it. Not all dogs even within a breed do perfectly on a food. You have to modify it to the individual. Yet, starting out with one that has a decent chance of working helps IMHO. Both are premium brands so really it's more a question of what can you get conveniently and what will your dog eat. If a dog doesn't like the food, there's little point to feeding it.

>>Also, he is going through a real chewing stage and wants to constantly bite and chew on our hands, legs, fingers, etc!!! I tell him "NO" and give him a toy, but he still goes for our body parts!!!!!
>>Any suggestions??

Nipping and exploring with the mouth are all puppy behaviors that are normal parts of growing up. How we humans manage it dictates how quickly they grow out of it. I have a rule in my house- all play stops the moment a tooth is put on human skin. I just stop playing, stand up and walk away. My dogs take the hint fast. Some dogs need more of a hint. Some people yell "ouch" as a correction to let the dog know when they did wrong. I'm not that precise in my timing so it's just easier to leave and come back later when the pup calms down. Get good chew toys and stuff to teeth on. Frozen kongs work great as well as Boodah velevet brand corn starch bones and other various things of that sort. Rawhide gives my dogs gas so I stay away from it, but if your dog can handle it, use it while supervising.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

There is no puppy food in Canidae. It's one food for ALL LIFE STAGES. The only other "type" of Canidae is Silver, which is low-calorie for weight control.
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Lesya & Sophie

A Dog Owner's Prayer

Author unknown
Thanks to Pattie Lawler
http://www.behaviour-problems.freeserve.co.uk/2/Poems/dogownerpray.htm