Trying to find the best large breed puppy food can be a little overwhelming with so many brands of dog food on the market today. So, where do you start? Well here are a few tips that might help you make the best decision for your puppy.

Probably one of the the most important things a large breed puppy needs is protein. In fact, most studies on dog foods recommend that dogs in general should not have less than 26% protein.

Protein is the building block for everything. A dogs coat, hair, teeth, lungs, eyes, brain you name it, is dependent on protein for proper growth and development. So make sure you read the bag and make sure there is adequate and quality protein.

So what is a quality protein? Well probably the best protein sources are definitely meats. Things like chicken and catfish, for example, are quality protein sources.

When choosing a puppy food for large breed dogs, look for proteins in a meal form. For example chicken meal, etc. Most people don't know it but protein meal is much more nutritious than just plain protein. So why is that so?

Because meats in their natural state have water in them whereas meal (which is the meat minus the water) is concentrated protein which means far better nutrition for your puppy.. So make sure you use a food that has meal as the protein source.

Here's another helpful tip.......... check the ingredients on the bag of dog food and make sure it doesn't have the word, "by products" listed anywhere. These are cheap and quite honestly, disgusting ingredients that you wouldn't want to feed your puppy.

Finally, and this is the age old question, "Do you really need to feed puppy food?" Well the answer is, no not really, but only if the food you are feeding is a high quality dog food.

When choosing a high quality large breed puppy food, look for one that is for "puppies and adult dogs". Better yet one that says "all life stages dog food"

Hopefully, with these tips under your belt, you should be able to make an informed decision when it comes to choosing the right large breed puppy food.

According to Dr. Jane Bicks, product formulator for Life's Abundance dog food, really the only thing that a large breed puppy needs differently from a smaller puppy is less calories. So, most importantly, make sure you do not over feed your puppy, especially during it's first year of life.