Basic Food: Our danes’ basic diet is their kibble. Once they pass five or six weeks of age, they are fed moistened kibble twice a day for the remainder of their lives.
Free Feeding: Free feeding means leaving dry kibble down at all times and letting the dogs decide for themselves when and how much to eat. We do not allow our puppy buyers to free fed for several reasons. Danes carry an abundance of water in their lips when they drink, and this can dribble out onto their dry food causing it to sour. Consumption of sour food can cause torsion. Also, if you free feed, you lose a valuable tool for keeping up with your dog’s health. Each dog will develop its own eating pattern. Some eat all of each meal; some eat all of one meal and part of the other; some skip every third or fourth meal. Any marked deviation from a particular dog’s eating pattern should sound an alarm. The dane should be observed for a while to insure that nothing is physically wrong.
Kibble Change: If you are feeding kibble and decide to change brands, you should never change brands of kibble suddenly, as a sudden change in kibble can result in the development of bloat and/or torsion. If you want to switch kibbles, do so over a three or four day period. First day, ¾ regular kibble and ¼ new brand of kibble; second day, ½ regular kibble and ½ new kibble; third day, ¼ regular kibble and ¾ new kibble; fourth day, all new brand of kibble.
Exercise in Relation to Mealtime: Your dane should never be exercised or bred for an hour to an hour and a half after his/her last meal.
Our Kibble Brands: We wean our pups on Lamb and Rice Adult Formula Neutro or Iams . It’s appropriately low in protein. We feed our pups Iams Lamb and Rice Adult kibble for their first six or eight months. After that we feed either Kirkland all flavors depending on dane or Vets choice health extention. For danes who tend to be chunky Lamb and rice. For danes who are energetic or who tend to be average to a little thin, we feed chic rice veg.
People Food: Now, for the rest of the story. We feed our danes snacks and supplements that include everything we eat except foods that cause a significant gas build up in people. Here are just a few examples of what we feed our danes: cooked meats, cooked eggs, cooked vegetables, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, salad, fruit, casseroles, popcorn, desserts, chocolate, cottage cheese, cereal, cookies, crackers, nuts, bacon grease, oils, candies, etc. If fed in moderation, they can eat all of the above plus foods like spaghetti and mac and cheese.
Bonus From Feeding People Food: Feeding our danes people food has provided many bonuses over the years. Each of our danes has their own favorite foods. Some prefer meats and cheeses; other like the high carb foods like mac & cheese or potato; one likes tossed salad; and some like sweets. Should a dane ever get seriously ill, chances are VERY GOOD that he/she will not readily eat kibble. That’s when we bring out the big guns like spaghetti with sauce, cheese, salt, etc. or ice cream or whatever foods the particular dane prefers. When a dane is really feeling ill or healing from surgery, he/she will often eat people food days before he/she will eat kibble. Also, we enjoy training and we like to bait our dogs. They seem to bait better for people food…big surprise!
Chewable Treats: Our danes are not allowed to have any rawhide; cow hooves; pig ears; etc. They are not allowed to chew chicken, turkey, lamb, or pork bones. The only bones permitted are beef shank and or knuckle bones because they do not splinter.
Moderation Is The Key To Feeding People Food: Adult danes weigh about the same as we do, so type of treats and/or supplements and the amount of the people food given is determined by their fitness level. If they are chubby, we lay off of the fattening stuff. If they are active and trim, they can have a moderate amount of anything on the list. We do not give our danes people food at every meal because they will stop eating their kibble. The kibble provides a healthy, well balanced base for them. We give our danes treats when we have left overs; if we’re having a birthday party; on special holidays; when a female dane has just had a litter; or when a dane is ill.
If we are working with an under weight dog, a seriously ill dog or a dog recouping from an illness or surgery, we feed people food as often as possible.
Will Chocolate Kill Dogs? I’ve heard but have not verified that only baker’s chocolate is dangerous for canines. I know from well over thirty years of experience that regular chocolate like chocolate ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate candy, chocolate cake, etc. in moderation will not hurt danes or poodles. Most of ours love it. Our pups get to lick Tootsie Rolls before they even taste kibble. An adult dane is the equivalent of an adult person, and a pup is the equivalent of a child. All of our danes eat chocolate for their entire lives.
Excess protien can affect a Dane by 1) causing diarrhea, and packing on more weight than their growing bones can bear up under. This can obviously cause joint problems both as a pup and later in life too. And 2) the more actual meat in a food the higher the mineral levels go. Red meats in particular has high calcium and phosphorus levels.
This is where the protien percentages started getting blamed. It’s not splitting hairs though, because a higher protien food with low minerals is perfectly safe. As a rule of thumb, though, limit the protien levels to around 24%. Some dogs handle up to 28% just fine so long as the amount of calcium and phosphorus that causes bone and joint problems remains low enough.
A study by the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals in the Netherlands specifically tested the calcium absorption of Great Dane puppies, and found that pups fed a diet very high or very low in calcium absorbed excessive percentages of minerals, even after the dietary calcium and phosphorus was restricted later.
That makes minerals a deciding factor in the health of your Dane pup. If the puppy begins to absorb too much calcium, they will continue to absorb too much the rest of their lives. That is the term “malabsorbtion”, and it is strongly related to HOD, Panosteitis, and other growth problems.
A 0.9-1% calcium and 0.7-0.8% phosphorus is thought to be ideal, which can change. I don’t feed pups a food with more than 1.2% calcium/0.9% phosphorus because it is getting high enough above that to increase the risks. I’ve had a dog that developed nutritional HOD from a food supposedly designed for Danes, and it was horrible, so I don’t follow claims–I look at the nutritional analysis!! Especially if your pup is knuckled over, has splayed feet, or has family members with orthopedic problems already.
NEVER EVER SUPPLEMENT WITH VITAMINS OR MINERALS. That includes vitamin C. You’re asking for trouble, because growth disorders are vitamin and mineral based 9 times out of 10. There is some new evidence that supplementing vitamin D3 can lower the absorption of calcium, which might prove useful in future studies at reducing the effects of HOD, dysplasia and PANO but that isn’t known just yet. Things like probiotics after antibiotics do not provide minerals or vitamims, so they are not a problem. The same with digestive enzymes, or colostrum when needed.
AND NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TRY TO FORCE GROWTH IN A GREAT DANE. You will not get a bigger dog than the genes say he or she will become, but you do greatly increase the risk of deformity and even death. Don’t worry, you’ll still have the biggest dog on the block, that’s for sure.
When looking at a food bag, if you see grains, or meat by-products near the top of the list, realize the protien will most likely be from indigestible parts, making the protien listing inaccurate as far as the protien your puppy absorbs. Never feed a Dane a grocery store puppy food. Exceptions to the puppy food rule are natural/holistic foods like Eagle Pack, or Innova that have an acceptable ratio of minerals.
The first year of life is the most important for their life long health. Some skeletal problems won’t show up until they are older, like Wobbler’s disease or early onset arthritis, but they are often created in the puppy’s first year by too much or too little nutrients.
Lots of Danes have done well on both commercial and holistic/natural foods. I can’t list them all of course, but here are a few to consider if you’re shopping for a Dane food. My Kenai’s breeder uses Purina Pro Plan, as do lots of show breeders. Eagle Pack premium or holistic (good for allergy prone dogs), Innova large breed(the EVO food is far too high in protien for a normal puppy though good for dogs with pancreatic insufficiency), Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul, Canidae, and Blue are some good natural foods.
Sensitive tummies I am told, to better with fish based foods.The natural foods do cost more, but use less per serving, so it balances out fairly average. And the stools are smaller since more of the food is absorbed instead of passed through.
NOTE: if you wish to feed raw to your danes, than please please please, find a mentor who has successfully fed raw to Danes. I’m not ‘dissing the raw feeding crowd since I’ve done it myself, but you shouldn’t just give it try on your own since you’ve inadvertantly increased your beloved puppy’s risks of problems if you don’t get the nutrition right. The nutritional balance for giants is a tricky thing and they are not dogs to “experiment” on. Their growth and development is different than smaller breeds–no room for trial and error. So have an expert to rely upon!
Free Feeding: Free feeding means leaving dry kibble down at all times and letting the dogs decide for themselves when and how much to eat. We do not allow our puppy buyers to free fed for several reasons. Danes carry an abundance of water in their lips when they drink, and this can dribble out onto their dry food causing it to sour. Consumption of sour food can cause torsion. Also, if you free feed, you lose a valuable tool for keeping up with your dog’s health. Each dog will develop its own eating pattern. Some eat all of each meal; some eat all of one meal and part of the other; some skip every third or fourth meal. Any marked deviation from a particular dog’s eating pattern should sound an alarm. The dane should be observed for a while to insure that nothing is physically wrong.
Kibble Change: If you are feeding kibble and decide to change brands, you should never change brands of kibble suddenly, as a sudden change in kibble can result in the development of bloat and/or torsion. If you want to switch kibbles, do so over a three or four day period. First day, ¾ regular kibble and ¼ new brand of kibble; second day, ½ regular kibble and ½ new kibble; third day, ¼ regular kibble and ¾ new kibble; fourth day, all new brand of kibble.
Exercise in Relation to Mealtime: Your dane should never be exercised or bred for an hour to an hour and a half after his/her last meal.
Our Kibble Brands: We wean our pups on Lamb and Rice Adult Formula Neutro or Iams . It’s appropriately low in protein. We feed our pups Iams Lamb and Rice Adult kibble for their first six or eight months. After that we feed either Kirkland all flavors depending on dane or Vets choice health extention. For danes who tend to be chunky Lamb and rice. For danes who are energetic or who tend to be average to a little thin, we feed chic rice veg.
People Food: Now, for the rest of the story. We feed our danes snacks and supplements that include everything we eat except foods that cause a significant gas build up in people. Here are just a few examples of what we feed our danes: cooked meats, cooked eggs, cooked vegetables, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, salad, fruit, casseroles, popcorn, desserts, chocolate, cottage cheese, cereal, cookies, crackers, nuts, bacon grease, oils, candies, etc. If fed in moderation, they can eat all of the above plus foods like spaghetti and mac and cheese.
Bonus From Feeding People Food: Feeding our danes people food has provided many bonuses over the years. Each of our danes has their own favorite foods. Some prefer meats and cheeses; other like the high carb foods like mac & cheese or potato; one likes tossed salad; and some like sweets. Should a dane ever get seriously ill, chances are VERY GOOD that he/she will not readily eat kibble. That’s when we bring out the big guns like spaghetti with sauce, cheese, salt, etc. or ice cream or whatever foods the particular dane prefers. When a dane is really feeling ill or healing from surgery, he/she will often eat people food days before he/she will eat kibble. Also, we enjoy training and we like to bait our dogs. They seem to bait better for people food…big surprise!
Chewable Treats: Our danes are not allowed to have any rawhide; cow hooves; pig ears; etc. They are not allowed to chew chicken, turkey, lamb, or pork bones. The only bones permitted are beef shank and or knuckle bones because they do not splinter.
Moderation Is The Key To Feeding People Food: Adult danes weigh about the same as we do, so type of treats and/or supplements and the amount of the people food given is determined by their fitness level. If they are chubby, we lay off of the fattening stuff. If they are active and trim, they can have a moderate amount of anything on the list. We do not give our danes people food at every meal because they will stop eating their kibble. The kibble provides a healthy, well balanced base for them. We give our danes treats when we have left overs; if we’re having a birthday party; on special holidays; when a female dane has just had a litter; or when a dane is ill.
If we are working with an under weight dog, a seriously ill dog or a dog recouping from an illness or surgery, we feed people food as often as possible.
Will Chocolate Kill Dogs? I’ve heard but have not verified that only baker’s chocolate is dangerous for canines. I know from well over thirty years of experience that regular chocolate like chocolate ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate candy, chocolate cake, etc. in moderation will not hurt danes or poodles. Most of ours love it. Our pups get to lick Tootsie Rolls before they even taste kibble. An adult dane is the equivalent of an adult person, and a pup is the equivalent of a child. All of our danes eat chocolate for their entire lives.
Excess protien can affect a Dane by 1) causing diarrhea, and packing on more weight than their growing bones can bear up under. This can obviously cause joint problems both as a pup and later in life too. And 2) the more actual meat in a food the higher the mineral levels go. Red meats in particular has high calcium and phosphorus levels.
This is where the protien percentages started getting blamed. It’s not splitting hairs though, because a higher protien food with low minerals is perfectly safe. As a rule of thumb, though, limit the protien levels to around 24%. Some dogs handle up to 28% just fine so long as the amount of calcium and phosphorus that causes bone and joint problems remains low enough.
A study by the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals in the Netherlands specifically tested the calcium absorption of Great Dane puppies, and found that pups fed a diet very high or very low in calcium absorbed excessive percentages of minerals, even after the dietary calcium and phosphorus was restricted later.
That makes minerals a deciding factor in the health of your Dane pup. If the puppy begins to absorb too much calcium, they will continue to absorb too much the rest of their lives. That is the term “malabsorbtion”, and it is strongly related to HOD, Panosteitis, and other growth problems.
A 0.9-1% calcium and 0.7-0.8% phosphorus is thought to be ideal, which can change. I don’t feed pups a food with more than 1.2% calcium/0.9% phosphorus because it is getting high enough above that to increase the risks. I’ve had a dog that developed nutritional HOD from a food supposedly designed for Danes, and it was horrible, so I don’t follow claims–I look at the nutritional analysis!! Especially if your pup is knuckled over, has splayed feet, or has family members with orthopedic problems already.
NEVER EVER SUPPLEMENT WITH VITAMINS OR MINERALS. That includes vitamin C. You’re asking for trouble, because growth disorders are vitamin and mineral based 9 times out of 10. There is some new evidence that supplementing vitamin D3 can lower the absorption of calcium, which might prove useful in future studies at reducing the effects of HOD, dysplasia and PANO but that isn’t known just yet. Things like probiotics after antibiotics do not provide minerals or vitamims, so they are not a problem. The same with digestive enzymes, or colostrum when needed.
AND NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TRY TO FORCE GROWTH IN A GREAT DANE. You will not get a bigger dog than the genes say he or she will become, but you do greatly increase the risk of deformity and even death. Don’t worry, you’ll still have the biggest dog on the block, that’s for sure.
When looking at a food bag, if you see grains, or meat by-products near the top of the list, realize the protien will most likely be from indigestible parts, making the protien listing inaccurate as far as the protien your puppy absorbs. Never feed a Dane a grocery store puppy food. Exceptions to the puppy food rule are natural/holistic foods like Eagle Pack, or Innova that have an acceptable ratio of minerals.
The first year of life is the most important for their life long health. Some skeletal problems won’t show up until they are older, like Wobbler’s disease or early onset arthritis, but they are often created in the puppy’s first year by too much or too little nutrients.
Lots of Danes have done well on both commercial and holistic/natural foods. I can’t list them all of course, but here are a few to consider if you’re shopping for a Dane food. My Kenai’s breeder uses Purina Pro Plan, as do lots of show breeders. Eagle Pack premium or holistic (good for allergy prone dogs), Innova large breed(the EVO food is far too high in protien for a normal puppy though good for dogs with pancreatic insufficiency), Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul, Canidae, and Blue are some good natural foods.
Sensitive tummies I am told, to better with fish based foods.The natural foods do cost more, but use less per serving, so it balances out fairly average. And the stools are smaller since more of the food is absorbed instead of passed through.
NOTE: if you wish to feed raw to your danes, than please please please, find a mentor who has successfully fed raw to Danes. I’m not ‘dissing the raw feeding crowd since I’ve done it myself, but you shouldn’t just give it try on your own since you’ve inadvertantly increased your beloved puppy’s risks of problems if you don’t get the nutrition right. The nutritional balance for giants is a tricky thing and they are not dogs to “experiment” on. Their growth and development is different than smaller breeds–no room for trial and error. So have an expert to rely upon!
