Bulldogs World

I had a lab puppy years ago (ahhhh those days! LOVED them)  anyway, we kept her on a HIGH QUALITY Puppy Food, due to the ratio's for a fast growing puppy.

There is a reason for puppy food, I'm not sure about the 'large breed' significance though.

I know someone will  speak up real fast here.... that is along as ya send pictures of the baby :) we LOVE pictures :) :)

And I dont have all the specifics--other people will post with more exact details.  But I know what works for us, (Kippah is almost 7 months old) we were told to get off the puppy food, it is too much protien.  I have her on Lamb and brown rice food, NO wheat NO corn.  and the protien goal is about 23% to aim for. You will find that puppy has alot more protien.  The reason they told you large breed is that it is a little better on the growth of the joints.  Its important that they dont grow too fast, they wont have the strength to support their dense body.

Changing food you will want to do it gradually, We mixed and slowly made the mix stronger over the course of 2 weeks.  They can get loose bowels, or gas. Stick to it, they will get used to it.  Get some canned pumpkin, a spoon full of that will firm up everything quickly. We have tons of pumpkin on had, great GO TO fix!--and once you open a can you may not need all of it, toss the left overs into an ice cube tray, freeze, pop out and bag, then you have it quick to grab and thaw.  Kippah LOVES pumpkin!

We used to switch from puppy food to adult formula at 4 months of age for our puppies.  Now I just wean them to an ALS formula (all life stages), so there's no switching--they just stay on the same food.    I have used Pro Plan Chicken ALS (not the shredded formula) for almost 30 years (pre-Bulldogs, too) without problems though I have tried the other formulas and several other brands including grain free and even raw diets because I wanted to make sure they got what was best for them.  When there proved to be no improved benefit, I switched back. 

Some puppies develop allergies or digestive upsets necessitating switching foods to find something that works for the dog. I have never fed it, but I understand that Science Diet is not highly regarded.  When you decide what you might want to switch to, make it a gradual transition to avoid digestive upset (mine have iron stomachs and never had a problem switching, but some do).

Good luck and have fun with your puppy.

we do the grain free salmon/sweet potato.  They have it under different names at different stores, but it is grain free salmon.  The two of ours that are on it are doing great.  One word of advice, try to put off the rabies shot for a few months, a lot of us have had pups that get demodex (mange) shortly after the shot, mainly because of the stress of teething etc and doing the shot on top of that can lower their immune systems and they break out with mites.  We usually wait until 7 or 8 months to do it and so far we've only had one puppy that got it (he had a rabies shot at 16 weeks).  Congratulations, there is nothing like a bulldog puppy!

and only 14 lbs.  Is that right?  I'm guessing this is a bulldog puppy.  How much are you feeding him and how often.  Science Diet is not a great food.  I know alot of breeders that feed the Kirkland brand dogfood and have great luck with it, you do want to switch him to adult food.  Food is really alot of trial and error.  What works for one could be disasterous for another.  Typically you won't see problems like allergies in young puppies. 

He sounds very tiny for 12 wks.  My puppies at 7 weeks were from 13 - 17 lbs and Kohl at 16 wks was 35 lbs. If you can feel his ribs and backbone then he is under weight.

Your little guy sounds a lot like mine at that age.  He's about 50lbs now at 10 months and his mom was about 60lbs so we figure we're right on track. Size can variey a lot depending on the parents.  Ours had smaller parents so we aren't expecting him to become a 90lb giant.  We started Sampson on a large breed food but ended up switching to a 'normal' or medium breed food.  From our research (aka reading and compairing labels) the large breed food has less protein then the same amount of medium breed food and the small breed has the most.  Everyone I've spoken with has told me they had to try a few foods and I've heard of a bulldog on just about every brand at this point.  It's just trial and error to find the one right for him.  Sampson is currently going through a stage where some days he won't eat much at all and other days he'll eat every kibble he can find; puppies are like kids that way I guess.  Ask you vet to how to determine if he's at a good weight and what sort of eating habits could be trouble.  We weight him on a regular basis (just get on the scale first the grab him and subtract your weight), if he's still gaining you're likely in a good place. 

We did have a bit of a problem with kibble size with one food when he was really little because he doesn't actually chew his food he just eats it whole.  Just give him a few kibbles, if he snarfles them down then your good :D