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Hello folks,
I just got a paper from an experiment conducted in the Netherlands on giant breeds and the effect of protein on skeletal developement. They used Great Danes and low, med, high protein diets (they did not give the ingredients, so I do not know if these were corn/soy based, pure meat based, etc). Diets were formulated to meet US NRC standards.
The gist of the paper is that "protein intake...did not affect the occurence of disturbed skeletal development"...the authors further stated that "A causative role for dietary protein in disturbed enchondral ossification in dogs is unlikely."
This makes sense because the role of protein in the diet is NOT to build bones. Rather it is to build muscle, tissues, and then --if an excess is available-- it is stored as energy (fat). Again here is the effect of excess energy levels that could cause a problem. However, in pano it is probably more a result of calcium dosage, energy (fat...plus maybe some excess protein here), and genetics.
Now one more thing we all need to keep in mind. This study used 17 puppies over 25 weeks (about 6 months). This is indeed a small sample as compared to the collective knowledge of our group. Reading these postings it is clear that, collectively, we have hundreds of years experience over hundreds of dogs. The only problem is that we are not conducting experiments, but rather trying to raise and enjoy our dogs. For that reason, we will be relying on experiments (that will have a small sample) for guidance.
Keith, Soo, Dusty, and Romy
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