What to feed my Leo pup Diet

Ok, here are some updated pics of Honey (and Snoop) We think daddy may have been a Husky because a lot of the boys are silver in colour and some of the pups (including Honey) have been curling their tails over their backs. What a nice mix

9wks old:

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Spooky eyes! [/IMG]

And with Snoop
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and here are some at 11wks taken today (sorry if I crash anyone, some of them are large pics): Hmm, her eyes seem to have gone from a spooky blue to a lovely aqua colour in these

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How, p'd off does Snoop look that I have woken him for yet more pics!! [/IMG]

While I am here... I'm a bit confused (nothing unusual there I hear you say ha ha ha). I've been advised differently by a few people now and I'm a bit stuck for what to do... do I keep Honey on puppy food for 12-18 months or change it when she is about 6mths old? I have been advised both ways and was going to speak to the vet next week when I take her for her second lot of jabs but thought I would ask fellow Leo owners too...

OMG Paula she is absolutely yummy. I could look at pics of her all day. I know I am biased but the Leo in her is just shinning through. She is going to dwarf poor Snoop in no time. She really is gorgeous. Not too sure about the feeding will check with my breeder but I am sure one of the experienced Leo owners will be along now to gush over beautiful Honey and give you some advice. Please please please keep the pics coming. I really need them!
Nic xx

I have more but couldnt post them all here... I will pm you with links to them all in a bit

i kept mine on puppy food till 18 months started weaning over to adult at 18 to 22 then on adult 22+
its upto you but for me 6 months is way to young you have to remember they don't get their full frame in size till at least 18 on average then still gain a lot between 18 to 24, mine are still gaining and hol is 2 in november.
the fact that you know she is a x could change the way and times to change her type of diet but i would treat her as a leo because the chances are the leo in her is going to be the bigger dog so if you feed her as if she is 100% leo your'll know she isn't lacking anything while growing to her adult size.
leo pups are silvery in colour in the puppy coat and the eyes are to die for before they change to brown.
the red in her coat will start to come through from around 5 months old, if she is a huskie x leo i hope you have strong arms to contend with the coat she will have...............lol

the pics are great and bergers right she will soon be bigger than snoop tob was equal to ben a full grown male boxer in height /weight by 5 months they gain around 1.5 to 2.5 kgs a week so they go up fast.

what great pics please keep them coming love to see other's dogs.

Thanks Leo, I will stick to what you advised I think...

Thanks also sjpurt - will definitely keep posting them.

its upto you, but if it was me thats how i would do it.
at least you know shes covered what ever size she does turn out to be when fully grown.
food type and intake is important to any pup but more so the giants to ensure they get what they need when they need it.

Stunnnnnnnnnnnning baby!

12-18 months has been decided by moi.

Thanks Gems

Hi pxxuk
Lovely photos

It is a good idea to change a large breed on to adult at 5 months. The reason being puppy food often causes pups to grow at a much faster rate increasing the chance of joint problems. By switching at 6 months your dog will grow at a slower, more natural, rate
I don't know what food you are feeding her on, but JWB recommend for large breeds
6 - 10 months Junior/performance
10 - 12 months Junior/performance
12 - 14 months Adult Maintainence
14 months onwards Adult Maintainance

Naturediet recommend changing to Adult at 20 - 24 weeks

(taken from their websites)


If you are feeding only kibble I'd advise not to feed puppy kibble beyond 4 months but feed a high premium kibble for young dogs giant/large breed.
I heard of a leo who was kept on puppy kibble for too long (on advice of a vet!!!!) and had severe hips problems at the age of 6 months, due to too high protein values in the puppy kibble, his bones consisted of too much cartilage caused by growing too fast. After 4 months the protein level should stay under 25%. (She changed vets )

Both my girls were fed kibble (not JWB) and/or naturediet large puppy - both were changed over between 4 - 6 months. They are now fed a solely raw diet. Both have extremely low hip scores, and neither of them have had trouble with pano (growing pains)

Hope you don't mind me voicing my concerns its only because I care.

No, of course not Leospride, I just dont know what to do for the best!! I obviously dont want her to have any problems with her health now or later in life...

Hi Pxxck
I have to agree with leospride on this, To keep any large breed on a high protien diet for so long is misleading information. I have owned leonbergers for 12 years and would never keep them on such a rich diet for so long. Hope this is of some help.

P.S. What a pretty puppy!!!

sorry but i find this directed purely at me and offensive.
i have 2 leo's although i have adviced on this thread i also stated it is up to you to do as you feel is best for honey.
i was a new owner only 3 1/2 yrs ago and was adviced to give a good quality giant breed food untill at least 18 months due to the growth rate, i would not advice any one any misleading info knowingly.

just for the record i did keep toby on giant breed puppy food untill 20 months as i have with holly tobys scores for hips and elbows are good enough to be stud by the club rules and hollys scores are to be done this month.diet is a factor but not the only thing that affects any hip/elbows results.

you could also add to the fact changing a giant breed diet too soon is not good for them as your interfering with the natural growth rate of the breed by reducing the intake they get.
hence growing at a slower rate than the breed would do given the right food for the correct phase of the dogs developmental needs.

at the end of the day i guess it depends on the type of leo you as a individual owner wants if you want the dogs to be its natural size or try to shapes its size as an adult.

i got the breed of dog because i liked the size of them (giant) and yes if you look around there isn't many as big as toby but i simply put that down to the fact we always provided him with the nutrients he needed to grow regardless of the phase he was at relating to his age.

as it states in your profile you are a member of the leo club wasn't it not so long ago that as a club we was trying to get the leo's back to the orignal size/height as they was becoming smaller due to some breeders trying to breed a leo for the show ring ( producing a more compact frame ) rather than to better the breed?

''as it states in your profile you are a member of the leo club wasn't it not so long ago that as a club we was trying to get the leo's back to the orignal size/height as they was becoming smaller due to some breeders trying to breed a leo for the show ring ( producing a more compact frame ) rather than to better the breed?''

First of all, how do you know people breeding smaller dogs had something to do with the food they had/was/are feeding. Unless you are prepared to ask everyone who's dog isn't as big as yours when they changed over to adult feeding, you won't know if that is the reason or not.
Both my girls are the correct height and weight for their ages, and one has proved herself in the show ring time and again. Both have very good hip scores, 2 - 1 and 2 -3 (not sure of the second figure off hand, without looking, but something like that)
I also asked advice, and a high ranking member of the leo club (of which I am also a member) agreed with what I have stated earlier. No one said you gave misleading information knowingly. However, I do find your statement - "at the end of the day i guess it depends on the type of leo you as a individual owner wants if you want the dogs to be its natural size or try to shapes its size as an adult." - an insult. Of course we want the dogs to be its natural size, why else would we own a large breed if we didn't want them to stay large, and which is why we wouldn't dream of giving them such a high protein diet for too long.
""you could also add to the fact changing a giant breed diet too soon is not good for them as your interfering with the natural growth rate of the breed by reducing the intake they get.hence growing at a slower rate than the breed would do given the right food for the correct phase of the dogs developmental needs.""
And where did this fact come from?

Umm, I didnt mean to cause confilct here.

For the record, I did ask the vets advice when she went for her check up. She also said that it was up to me. She pointed out that 10 years or so ago that there was no such thing as specialisist foods according to breed/age of dogs etc and that now there is, a lot of people do different things and can get conflicting advice. She said to follow the recommendations of the food brand which I choose and that is what I am doing. At the end of the day all I want is a healthy happy puppy... yes, I picked her because of the breed she is but I will love her just the same if she only turns out to be small too! She is also a X breed so she may not get to be too big anyway.

Thank you all for your advice

If you look at the size of dogs and bitches at shows you’ll see that they are getting smaller and more compact. Some dogs that you see look more like bitches than dogs and that can not be good for the breed. You say that your dogs meet the standard and that’s great but would they of meet the old standard before they changed like Toby would?
The kennel club changed the breed standard because of to many dogs/ bitches were not reaching the correct height for the breed standard. The club does not what the kennel club to take away the giant status from the Leo if it gets any smaller they will, that’s why the club wants bigger dogs/ bitches to get the old height standard back as reported in the club letter.
The scores of your dogs are good there’s no doubt about that but you can not say that it is just down to changing the food it’s a mixture of picking the right sire/ dame and the person who looks at the x-rays of your dogs as you know each person sees different things in what they score. With all shows it’s the judge’s opinion what counts and as you know some judges prefer certain lines/ breeders and don’t necessary follow the guide line of the breed standard, Toby and Holly have also proved themselves in the show ring as well but this is more of a side line for us they are pets first and fore most and always will be.
Not only did seek the advice of a high ranking member of the Leo club as you did I bought my dog Toby from one.

I would of thought that it’s basic science you the dogs will be lacking in a element of a diet and the subject will have a defiset in that so if it’s body needs more of it then and it’s not available when the body asks for it then it’s short in supply and so can not be used for the growth of the dog/ bitch. The protein contributes to muscles growth and overall size of the dogs.
I am not trying to insult any one this is just my points of view on diet for the leo.

http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/whylargepupfood.htm

High energy diets, like most puppy foods, can promote rapid growth in large breed puppies, which can play a role in the development of orthopedic diseases. the mistaken belief that rapid growth is desirable

http://www.newmanveterinary.com/lameness.html#Hip Dysplasia Discussion
once on this page, scroll about half way down, read definitions and causes hip dysplasia then click on large breed puppy diet.

I could find plenty of links about puppies/diets etc but have yet to come across one that says changeover best done at 18 - 24 months? I don't advocate any of the dog food products in these links, as I've said before I feed raw so its not an issue for me, and puppy will stay on puppy kibble with raw mixed in for no longer than 6 months.

I attended a show today, a nice BIG boy got BOB
I will agree with you partly that some of the dogs are not as big as they should be but who on earth told you that it was due to the diet or that those people changed over earlier than you did? How do you know that they too never changed over late? :?

The scores of your dogs are good there’s no doubt about that but you can not say that it is just down to changing the food it’s a mixture of picking the right sire/ dame and the person who looks at the x-rays of your dogs as you know each person sees different things in what they score.

Maybe the person scoring did look at the xrays cross eyed, who knows? Their parents hip scores were 3-6 & 4-4, and 5-4 & 3-3 so I lean towards the score of my bitches being spot on, whoever took them. And the fact that their parents were taken off puppy food earlier rather than later and exercise restricted like no stairs etc through the crucial growing stage where they have remained pets first and foremost.
And I have no intention of insulting anyone at all, we both have our own ideas on whats right and wrong, which is also why I chose my girls because of their champion father ;-) so we will just have to agree to disagree on this. I love these big dogs, the bigger the better as long as they are in proportion, healthy, fit and strong. Which is what I know I have