Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Romanos
Emilie - I think you might be somewhat off target.... And it is not the money that drives this. Puppy and senior dry foods are only a a few dollars dearer than the equivallent adult food.... I firmly believe in food approved by AAFCO that is designed for puppies.
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I can no longer hold my tongue. Michael is it your job as the moderator to voice your opinion on every post that you disagree with? I thought this forum was for everyone to voice their opinion and you are squishing that desire.
I didn't know what AAFCO is and this is what their website states:
The term AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. A basic goal of AAFCO is to provide a mechanism for developing and implementing uniform and equitable laws, regulations, standards and enforcement policies for regulating the manufacture, distribution and sale of animal feeds; resulting in safe, effective, and useful feeds.
They seem to be a governing agency to watchdog over what goes into feed. I don't see research on each breed to say what should be consumed for a puppy until how long. This is similar to the FDA for humans. It would be like saying that the RDA minimums is what humans should consume instead of realizing people are different and most need more than the minimums.
What I value is the breeders knowledge who SEE what happens when puppy food is used too long or problems with the content. I value the opinion of the breeder in Utah on this forum and suggest the originator of this thread do a search on feed or read the thread "what do you feed your dog" to see the variety of opinions on this forum that there is normally.
My brother disagrees with your statement that NZ Mastiffs are fed puppy food until they are 16 -18 months, instead they feed fresh meat diet like England. He raised three Mastiffs (one that lived to 13!!) and states that no one in their right mind would feed puppy food that long. This action causes over development too quick, promotes obesity and inferior bone density. Your statement of 16-18 months puppy food would put you on a Mastiff breeder group list in the US and UK to not ever sell you a Mastiff. Which basically confirms that we go by the breeders not some agency that verifies the content of dog food.
Merrie