We just came back from the Banfield Pet Hospital at Petsmart.

The vet clearly loves her job and she was a super sweet lady. But she kept saying, "the huskies, being a large breed dog" need....this that and the other thing. She kept stressing how the puppies needed to be on a "large breed" puppy food.

???

I've always read that huskies were considered a medium-sized dog in the Dog Fancy world.

The pups are currently eating Taste of The Wild puppy food, which they seem to love and it has great ingredients.

I don't get it. ?

Please, try and find a new vet! Banfield is one of the worst veterinary chains out there! They are notorious for overvaccinating and overcharging. Every customer we have here that uses them is vaccinated for like 297908 different things (often double) than what they really "need."

Siberians are a medium breed dog. They are not large breed. Large breed "siberians" are either fat, horribly bred, or Malamutes.

Totally agree with Kristina! Banfield is horrible!

I had an " experience" with seeing the vet at our banfield running a register. That with some other shady things made me to where I will not go back there.

Kristina's right, sibes are a medium breed, NOT a large breed and they certainly do not need to be on a large breed food. I would also echo staying far away from Banfield. I wouldn't fault the vet for not knowing the breed as well as we do, they can't know everything about every breed...but Banfield's in general don't usually come with positive stories. Unless of course you talk to the many clueless people out their who just believe everything Banfield staff tell them.

Raven eats Diamond large breed puppy food. Its what the breeder recommended and our vet commented that its commonly used by breeders because its cheap. She suggested we switch to a premium food so she would eat less and poop less but didn't comment on it being large breed.

I read the feeding guidlines in the AKC New Puppy Handbook its says

"Large-breed puppies will weigh more than 50 pounds when full grown. It takes these big guys about 18 to 24 months to reach their adult size. If they grow too quickly, they can develop problems with their joints and bones. Reduced-calorie foods with less calcium help support the proper rate of growth in large-breed dogs.

It then goes on to say that small breed dogs are those that are under 20 lbs and need higher calorie foods.

Vet says she'll have a better idea at her 4 month checkup but it Raven is estimated to be about 50 pounds as an adult. So the large breed slower growth food seems the proper way to go.

I fed Kale a large breed puppy food because I knew he'd be over 50 Ibs, he's almost 60. Switched him over to all life stages when he was 8-9 months.

What I find funny is that with most people I bump into they think Sibes are the same size a Malamutes and comment that my boy is so small (even though he is at the upper end of the standard). Maybe the vet was making that kind of confusion, maybe not seeing enough Sibes and thinking they will get as big as Mals.

I would surely not put them on a large breed diet, first for not being a large breed and second because it could potentially cause growth and health issues. I would stick with what you are feeding them and find a new vet.

heres a good example for ya. the dog im petting is timberwolf/malamute and dog on the far right is a 7 month old bull mastiff. the husky in the middle is a year and a half old. huskies are deffinatly a medium breed dog. I feed mine blue buffalo puppy food and i think she looks and acts healthy and has a great coat. "just my 2 cents, im not an expert"

Oh yeah Zaria "husky in middle" weighs about 47 lbs. Sadie "left" around 33 lbs. Jackson "wolf" around 140 lbs or so

Holy moly that's a big dog!!!!

If I'm not mistaken, giant Malamute males can reach up to 140 lbs....I think. (I think someone posted here that they met a giant Malamute male at about 140 lbs).

I accidentally bought large breed food and used it for a few days before getting the other food. Stormy didn't seem to have a problem with it and I then donated it (30 lb bag) to the local Greyhound rescue. Stormy hit 55 lbs at 8 months. He isn't a giant height wise and he isn't overweight but I was concerned since my girls were that big full grown.

Is feeding large breed puppy food terrible? I bought a huge bag of Blue Buffalo Large Breed puppy food for my 9 week old ! I was already set on buying Blue because of the natural ingredients, but the Petsmart employee encouraged me to buy the large breed because it contained more protein. Is that completely wrong?! -___-

No matter what vet you go to (and we've had a good experience at the Banfield here, but I do read bad reviews for the other locations), make sure that YOU - as the dog owner - know everything there is to know about your breed. Your vet, no matter who they are, can't know everything about all breeds. I always educate myself on possible causes for symptoms and look up husky-specfic reasons prior to going to the vet. And always refuse their "prescription" food.

I know they're medium breed dogs.

The article only refered to large breeds versus small breeds and their nutritional needs.

Since Raven is already over 20 lbs, and is estimated to be about 50 lbs as an adult feeding a large breed puppy food makes more sense to me then feeding her a general puppy food, that may have too much of one thing and not enough of another, or one for small breed dogs.

Both the breeder and my vet recommended large breed puppy food.

Large breed puppy foods have less calories and lower proteins to ensure slower more regulated growth. Since the Siberian is a medium breed, it's not necessary and a regular high quality puppy food is fine.