Pet foods for companion animals: III. The feeding of growing dogs of largebreeds.

Actually the number of pet foods for growing dogs is increasing, so that th e choice is becoming more and more difficult. The specific feeding of puppi es of large and giant breeds is documented in many studies. The aim of the present paper is to summarise the main studies related to skeletal disorder s in the growing dog in order to avoid feeding errors by the practitioner. The requirements of the growing dogs are reviewed along with the developmen t of the main orthopaedic diseases. Then the nutrients to be taken into con sideration in the feeding of the growing dogs are discussed. Finally a comp arison between different pet foods for growing dog shows a largely variable composition. Practical applications are made to compare the nutrient suppl ies from different foods to dogs of medium and large breeds.