Feeding your Caucasian Ovcharka
CO's are a slow maturing breed, they reach full maturity at 3-5 years (females mature quickly than males).
In order to avoid future problems with joints and ligaments, it's best not to overfeed your growing CO, keep it lean and avoid foods that are high in fat and protein.
You want to grow your CO puppy slow and evenly, which can help prevent many of the orthopedic problems.
Don't free choice feed (i.e. leave food out at all times). At the bottom of this page, I will place two body condition charts, that can help you determine if your CO is in a good shape.
As explained on: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/do_i_need_to_use_a_puppy_food.htm
some of the large/giant puppy breed formulas on the market are very problematic in the sense that they often have too high levels of fat, protein and calcium/or sometimes too low levels of calcium.
All of which can cause uneven growth patterns.
If you are going to feed commercial dog food, I personally always recommend the grain free foods where it says that they are "suitable for all life stages".
One can start their puppy on it right away and skip the puppy dog food all together.
Look for foods that have calcium to phosphorus ratio between 1.1 : 1.4 -1.
Protein levels should be between 23-26%, Fat between 12%-16% and Calcium between 1.2% - 1.5%
Calories per cup should be moderate: 350 - 400 cal
Avoid foods containing wheat, corn, soy, preservatives and by-products.
If you chose to feed raw or home cooked, you have to make sure these diets are balanced and that all of your dog’s nutritional needs are met.
Here are two articles with great tips on on how to correctly feed your dog either raw or home cooked meals:
http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade2.html
http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade3.html
Food aggression is very common in CO's and just LGD breeds in general. Simple and safe training exercises can prevent this problem from ever developing.
Here is an example of how to safely prevent resource guarding: http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resource-guarding/
And then here are the two body condition charts:
