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You can't feed a Great Dane just any dog food. If you do, chances are you're headed for trouble. As a giant breed dog, Great Danes have unique needs and if you don't provide the correct diet and the correct portions, your vet bills are likely to be a good deal more than the money you might save by feeding supermarket brand garbage. Here are a few tips to think about if there's a hungry Dane in your life. Don't ever feed puppy food - even when your Dane is a puppy. Great Dane puppy food has to be an adult formula. Puppy formulas are much higher in protein and support rapid growth. You don't want that - you want your Dane to grow slow and stay slim. This is so important - too many Dane lovers allow their animals to grow quickly which can cause all kinds of medical problems later on. Humans get 18 years to reach 150 pounds. Your Great Dane gets a little over 2! Great Dane dog food needs to be no higher than 23% for protein and between 10 to 14% for fat. There are numerous brands that your Dane will thrive on, but only quality. You need to check the ingredients. And again let me stress, none of the dog food you buy in a supermarket will be good for your Dane. The garbage supermarkets carry are all grain based and although they'll have protein, it isn't good protein. Feeding a Great Dane means providing a quality meal. You need to shop online or go to a local pet food specialty store. Look for a formula that contains real meat. If you see by products listed, it's garbage. The first ingredients listed shouldn't be grain or soy - it needs to be meat or meat meal. Many Dane owners feed a raw food diet and swear they have the healthiest animals. Even if you're interested in feeding raw, it might be an idea to stick to a processed food diet for the first year because it's so important to get the ratio of ingredients right. Such rapid growth means this is a crucial time for a well balanced diet. If you do decide your Great Dane dog food is going to be raw, I've found the best way to structure the menu is based on ground up raw meaty chicken bones. Use necks, backs and breasts if you can. Using this as a base, you can then add different ingredients such as vegetable, offal and appropriate supplements to make sure your Dane is getting everything he needs. I've written several articles about this which you can see on my website. Some Danes like "a prey" diet which means chicken carcasses. It's more convenient because you don't have to grind everything up but you still need to find a way to get the other ingredients into them. I don't use this diet often because my Danes eat it so quickly they end up throwing up! I grind the bones up and add about 15% vegetables and 10% offal. I also sprinkle kelp in pretty much daily. If you're feeding your Dane raw, you should be giving him 2 to 3% of his body weight. However, you need to watch this because each animal is different. If you can't see his ribs at all, you're feeding too much. Better to keep a Great Dane slim. Feeding a Great Dane properly is probably the single most important thing you can do to ensure the health of your animal and provide this giant breed with the nutrients and energy it needs to enjoy a full quality of life. If you want more specific information you can find it at my website. Feeding a Great Dane isn't as simple as feeding other breeds. A giant dog has unique needs. Great Dane dog food has to be quality stuff. But as long as you provide quality ingredients, keep the protein levels below 23% and the fat content between 10 and 14%, you're doing everything you can to support a healthy life for your Dane.
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Kavar Peters has been feeding Great Danes for over ten years. He writes about Great Danes and great dane dog food at about-great-danes.com
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