# Is Evo Premium Dog Food okay for puppies?



## xenanono (Sep 12, 2009)

I'm currently feeding my 1 year 3 month Papillons Evo at the moment, I also have another puppy that is 15 weeks old now and he is currently eating that also. I was recommended Evo by a friend and because of its high protein and it's grain free. I was at a small pet store yesterday, and I was looking to buy a new bag of Evo and a worker came by and ask if we needed help and I mention that I was feeding this to my dogs.

She automatically freaked out and said that young puppies should not be fed Evo, as they are high in proteins and that my dog would be obese and overgrow due to the protein. But another associate had told me prior being at this store that it's fine for puppies to eat this as long as they consume enough water to break down the protein. I also read online that most puppies do fine eating regular high quality dog food. I'm really confused right now and I do not really want to switch my 15 weeks puppys food, he loves his food and he's just eating just the recommended amount. It doesn't really seem like he's overgrowing. 

I also heard that Puppy formulated food is for business marketing purposes, I don't know if that is true. Should my 15 week puppy continue eating Evo or swtich to a puppy formulated food?


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## Wynpyp (Sep 19, 2008)

Innova EVO is *not* recommended for puppies. Innova has a puppy food that is good from what I understand. I don't think puppy food is for marketing purposes. You can get kibble that is All Life Stages though, if you want to feed your dogs and puppy the same food.


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## stella0719 (Sep 9, 2009)

I fed my pup Orijen puppy from 4 1/2(thats when i adopted her) months to about 7 months, and while talking to the manager of the little boutique store I get her food from, she said I could switch to Orijen adult no problem. We talked a little about why "puppy" food was somewhat of a marketing tool. If a particular company stopped selling "puppy" food, they would loose that part of the market altogether, hence they keep making it. The difference between Orijen puppy and adult was next to nothing. It is a high protein no grain just like the Innova EVO. I would not worry about it. My dog is definitely not overweight, in fact everyone compliments on how fit and healthy she looks. Some people say she is a lil underweight cause you can see where her waist goes in, but thats only cause there used to looking at there fat, human fed food pups. haha...Good luck, if your store sells Orijen puppy, you can give that a try, they have 2$ sample bags. Here is a pic of my lil girl, she is almost 2 years now.


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## xenanono (Sep 12, 2009)

My question is why exactly is Evo not recommended for puppy then, since there are people who say its not recommended and some said it's fine. I was looking for an answer of why it is so bad for puppies to eat Evo and not eat puppy food during their puppy stage of life.


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## Ayanla (Jun 11, 2009)

From what I understand (and this is just based on my own research), the high protein is really more of a concern for larger breeds who genuinely can grow at a rate that is detrimental to their bone health. I know there is also a potential kidney issue with the phosphorous levels.

Both of my small breed pups eat Evo and Innova lists Evo as an all stages food. Keep in mind that I have no dietary knowledge at all beyond my own limited research. Just because I feel comfortable feeding it to my pups and they're doing very well on it, does not mean it's a-ok.


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## stella0719 (Sep 9, 2009)

hmmm, well like you will probably find out with some research, and having some people answer your questions on here, I found no hard evidence that feeding a puppy high protein food was bad for them, and no one I talked to said not to do it. They are dogs after all, and you "could" be feeding your dog ALOT worse food, but you are feeding your pup some of the best food available. If your dog "magically" gets fat and overweight I would be surprised, you could always put them on a diet if it happens.


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

A-ok! If you have a pup with liver/kidney/pancreas disease, your vet may recommend a lower protein diet, but otherwise too much protein isn't an issue. There doesn't seem to be a reason to switch, but if you're concerned, Innova makes a regular puppy formula (not EVO).


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

The issue with EVO and puppies is not really the protein. It's the issue of too much calcium and phosphorus which makes the bones grow too fast in puppies. For small breed puppies, it's not so much of an issue as a large dog. I feed my Papillon (9.5 months old) Orijen which is high protein and grainless too. She's been on it for a bit over a month and she's doing fine. 

EVO has higher calcium and phosphorus than Orijen though but I don't think there's any concern because Paps are not big dogs. If you're really concerned and still want to feed grainless/high protein go with Orijen, Orijen also makes a puppy food that's high protein and grainless even though the adult food will do fine as well.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

For a papillon I wouldn't worry about it. I put Hadley on it at 7 months because she wouldn't gain weight. I chose Evo over Orijen because it was more affordable personally. I can't pay $70 for a bag, but $50 is okay. :/


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

jesirose said:


> For a papillon I wouldn't worry about it. I put Hadley on it at 7 months because she wouldn't gain weight. I chose Evo over Orijen because it was more affordable personally. I can't pay $70 for a bag, but $50 is okay. :/


I'm using Orijen because I like the ingredients more and I'm in Canada and here Orijen is actually cheaper than EVO. EVO is about $23 for 5.5 lbs I believe and Orijen is around $20 for the fish and $18 for regular 5 lbs.


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## xenanono (Sep 12, 2009)

Don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of research and that's why I end up choosing Evo as my dogs food. When I originally adopted my older puppy, she was on a Science Diet and I always wonder why she would never eat her food and I went on and search for higher quality food and found Evo. Since dogs are carnivores, I assumed that they need to be on a meat base dog food that is closer to the natural diet. The price of the dog food is not an issue, as for I want my dog to have the best quality food out there. 



stella0719 said:


> hmmm, well like you will probably find out with some research, and having some people answer your questions on here, I found no hard evidence that feeding a puppy high protein food was bad for them, and no one I talked to said not to do it. They are dogs after all, and you "could" be feeding your dog ALOT worse food, but you are feeding your pup some of the best food available. If your dog "magically" gets fat and overweight I would be surprised, you could always put them on a diet if it happens.


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