Old Shepherd

Old Shepherd is a large dog breed. During the care of large dogs, owners inevitably encounter some issues, such as what nutrients the Old Shepherd needs daily and whether the Old Shepherd needs calcium supplements?

Many large and giant dog owners feed adult dog food to large and giant dog puppies in order to restrain the fast growth of puppies and prevent dogs from consuming excessive calcium and energy. However, the calcium content in adult dog food is generally about 1.1%, which is still too high for large breed puppies. The ideal food for large breed puppies contains normal energy levels and lower calcium content. Currently, well-known puppy foods on the market fit this requirement.

Excess calcium in dogs can cause orthopedic diseases such as hip dysplasia and osteochondritis dissecans. Among these, hip dysplasia is the most typical developmental bone disease.

If you observe dogs suffering from hip dysplasia, those that have taken calcium powder develop symptoms earlier and more severely. Calcium can promote bone growth but cannot promote muscles to grow rapidly at the same pace. Therefore, when bones grow quickly but muscles lag behind, the femoral head is pulled out of the joint socket, causing structural changes to the hip joint.  

So, if owners use reputable, nutritionally balanced puppy foods such as Royal Canin A3 and Purina, there is no need to add large amounts of calcium supplements separately. This avoids wasting money and causing unnecessary suffering for the dog.  

The best food for the Old Shepherd is commercial dog food. If dog food cannot be provided and homemade food is fed, ensure balanced nutrition. Animal offal  (Note: Do not feed pig liver long-term to avoid poisoning), meat, cornmeal, fish (Note: fish bones may get stuck, best to pick bones out ), carrots, etc., can all be part of the Old Shepherd's diet, cooked with almost no salt and fed after cooking. When feeding young Old Shepherd puppies, mix with a little warm water.