I have traditionally fed my large dogs a dedicated large/giant breed kibble. But having decided to feed my current Belgian Malinois mix (2 yo, 80lbs) a small kibble, I have found some ALS foods that I can feed her. She gets plenty of exercise; she is not overweight, but does have a very thin layer of fat around her trunk.
Comparing the nutriets of the ALS version, to the same company’s large breed kibble, I have a few questions.
Let’s look at Canidae ALS Multi-Protein, which is what I’m feeding her now, and compare that to Canidae Large Breed
I see that having a lower fat content would be good for large dogs, so they don’t just get fat. I get that part. But my question is, since the feeding instructions call for only 3 cups/day of the ALS all breeds, whereas the Large Breed kibble calls for 3 5/8 cups/day, I would actually be putting more fat into her diet by giving her the large breed kibble, wouldn’t I?
I am a history major, not a math major, so perhaps my way of calculating this isn’t right. If not, feel free to correct me.
A more general concern I have, is that can I assume that Canidae’s ALS kibble is simply more nutritionally dense, and that 3 cups a day of that would give the same amount of other nutrients as she’d be getting with 3 5/8 cups a day of the large breed formula?
I did call Canidae this morning, and their calcium & protein numbers were both higher with their ALS kibble (than for their Large Breed kibble), so I guess it shows that more nutrition is packed into each ALS kibble.
If you want to look at my numbers, you can go to the Canidae site yourself. Their site is not as user friendly as other dog food sites. They don’t have a specific page for each kibble they sell, but they do give you the nutritional information if you go here, and then enter two foods you want in Product 1 and Product 2 fields. FWIW, Canidae also calls their Large Breed kibble an All Life Stages kibble, so to look at both foods I gave you above, you'd have to choose Canidae All Life Stages in the first field for both, and then select the Multi-Protein and Large Breed, Turkey options, respectively, in the second field.
Finally, I'm not picking on anyone here. I used Canidae b/c I am feeding their Multiprotein ALS kibble to my dog currently. But I have seen this same phenomenon with Purina ProPlan also--their large breed formula has less fat as a percentage, but would have me feed more cups/day than their Sport version, which is a higher protein-fat content food.
Please feel free to share your thoughts if you think I am barking up the wrong tree here, or if it just doesn't matter anyways, or whatever....
Comparing the nutriets of the ALS version, to the same company’s large breed kibble, I have a few questions.
Let’s look at Canidae ALS Multi-Protein, which is what I’m feeding her now, and compare that to Canidae Large Breed
Canidae Large Breed | Canidae ALSMulti-Protein |
Fat 13% min | Fat 14.5% min |
3 5/8 cups/day for 75 lbs | 3 cups/day for 75 lbs |
FAT: 3.625*13= 47.125 | FAT: 3*14.5=43.5 |
I see that having a lower fat content would be good for large dogs, so they don’t just get fat. I get that part. But my question is, since the feeding instructions call for only 3 cups/day of the ALS all breeds, whereas the Large Breed kibble calls for 3 5/8 cups/day, I would actually be putting more fat into her diet by giving her the large breed kibble, wouldn’t I?
I am a history major, not a math major, so perhaps my way of calculating this isn’t right. If not, feel free to correct me.
A more general concern I have, is that can I assume that Canidae’s ALS kibble is simply more nutritionally dense, and that 3 cups a day of that would give the same amount of other nutrients as she’d be getting with 3 5/8 cups a day of the large breed formula?
I did call Canidae this morning, and their calcium & protein numbers were both higher with their ALS kibble (than for their Large Breed kibble), so I guess it shows that more nutrition is packed into each ALS kibble.
If you want to look at my numbers, you can go to the Canidae site yourself. Their site is not as user friendly as other dog food sites. They don’t have a specific page for each kibble they sell, but they do give you the nutritional information if you go here, and then enter two foods you want in Product 1 and Product 2 fields. FWIW, Canidae also calls their Large Breed kibble an All Life Stages kibble, so to look at both foods I gave you above, you'd have to choose Canidae All Life Stages in the first field for both, and then select the Multi-Protein and Large Breed, Turkey options, respectively, in the second field.
Finally, I'm not picking on anyone here. I used Canidae b/c I am feeding their Multiprotein ALS kibble to my dog currently. But I have seen this same phenomenon with Purina ProPlan also--their large breed formula has less fat as a percentage, but would have me feed more cups/day than their Sport version, which is a higher protein-fat content food.
Please feel free to share your thoughts if you think I am barking up the wrong tree here, or if it just doesn't matter anyways, or whatever....