So we have been doing a lot of research and testing quality Rottweiler Dog Food for our Rottweilers over the last few years. Before we would recommend two different brands of food for Adult Rottweilers and Rottweiler puppies. As with any successful breeding program you have to do what is best for your breeding stock so you are able to produce healthy rottweiler puppies for your clients. This was the main reason we were recommending these two different Rottweiler Dog Food brands. We normally buy in bulk for our adult rottweilers and a few bags of the puppy brand each time we had a litter.
While we breed for health and temperament we know some of our lines are slow to mature. On record our smallest “runt female” is now 85 pounds and is not even full grown yet. One of our smallest males is about 90 pounds but that litter was bred for a smaller size so they could be manageable service dogs. We got to looking around and seeing what everyone else was producing as far as size goes, which made us ask ourselves some questions. Don’t get me wrong size is not everything by a long shot, we just had to know are we doing everything we can for the health of the puppy and our clients.
Our adult rottweilers are currently being fed a blend of Wellness and Diamond Naturals. While our puppies are being fed Nutri-Source and Diamond Naturals Large Breed for our puppies, for the most part we have been happy with this combo. So far, every one of our dogs / offspring is happy and healthy eating this Rottweiler Dog Food combo. We just had to know is this the best we could afford for our rottweilers so we went to the drawing board of Rottweiler Dog Food once again and became overwhelmed once again. This time was different though, different because we had a good foundation that we did not HAVE to change our Rottweiler Dog Food.
This time we were looking IF we did change our Rottweiler Dog Food what would we like to see. Not just in a food but in the growth and heath of all our rottweilers (owned and produced). We also wanted to see if we could move everyone over to one brand. No more buying different brands for different life-stages. Sure the Rottweiler Dog Food formula might be different but a brand that was so close in the Rottweiler Dog Food formula our puppies would not get upset going from puppy to adult food.
We discovered this was possible when we brought in Azra vom Bistrica Berg this last December. We noticed when she first got here she ate the VICTOR SELECT Multi-Pro Maintenance without issues. No one told us what she was eating before and honestly we never thought to ask, that was until we notice she took to the Rottweiler Dog Food just fine in every way. So we asked her former owner and while is was the VICTOR SELECT brand is was a different formula.
So for the past month or so we have been going over all the different dry kibble Rottweiler Dog Food and what is best for the Rottweiler as a breed, both puppy and adult. We have found several places that recommend Crude Protein for AT LEAST 30% and everyone of these write ups recommended dry kibble food of 33% to 38%. King Rottweilers is recommending a lower protein of 23% to 26%. We also noticed that the Crude fat did not really change too much 16% – 18%, which is pretty standard for all quality dry food. Now the final factor that came into play, how much to feed?
How much to feed really depends on your Rottweilers age and life-style.
Puppies – If you are NOT free feeding (which I do NOT recommend for my clients) it is best to feed them 4 times a day. I used to recommend 2 times a day with your training treats as the 3rd, not any more. Unless you are going to a training class (do not feed your puppy within 4 hours of a training class) feed them 3 times a day and the fourth meal will be your treats. If you are not actively training
If you are not actively training every day then go ahead and feed 4 times. I now recommend 1 part water to 3 parts food. Just enough water to make it easier to go down, but still crunchy. Set the food down for 20 minutes and let them eat as much as they want in 20 minutes, start off with 1/2 cup. If they do not eat all of the (now wet) food throw it out, keep it fresh at every feeding.
Adults – Now here is a tricky part. If you have a 130 pound lap dog like my Rambo he needs about 2200 calories a day. If you are training ACTIVELY with lots of running (schutzhund, agility, protection) then your Rottweiler could need up to 3500 calories a day. Quality Dog Food will have a calorie per cup or a “ME” on the packaging OR on their website. It will most likely look like this: Calorie Content (calculated):ME 3909 kcal/kg; 475 kcal/cup. You are worried about the kcal/cup. Formula: Calories per day / kcal(cup) = Number of cups per DAY Now take the Cups per day / Number of feedings.
Need some help or unsure of what how much dog food your Rottweiler needs?
Head over to Dog Food Advisor and use their tools like the Dog Food Calculator. Still, need more help, feel free to contact us.
In short layman terms King Rottweilers will be switching all of our Adult Rottweilers, Rottweiler Puppies and any Rottweiler Offspring to the brand that is best for them.
Great now I have to re-write the Great Food debate in the puppy packet.
