over the years I have heard different things with respect to feeding a pregnant bitch lrg breed vs small breed puppy. Any information/insight would be appreciated. TIA

All I can tell you is you can ask "food" questions of 30 different breeders, and get 30 different answers. My answer is not to feed large or small breed anything. I feed Pro Plan Puppy Chicken And Rice(Original, not large breed) until 4 months, then switch to Adult.

Same here...I don't change mom's food until she whelps if I need to I will switch earlier, but not usually necessary.

I do the same and use Pro Plan but I don't think it would hurt the puppy to eat the Large Breed Puppy kibble. I think if your young dog is prone to getting pano or orthopedic problems, it will do so on either regular puppy kibble or large breed puppy formula. That's been my experience so anyway.

Thanks for the info so far!!! Just want to ensure its clear I am speaking about the bitch, not the puppies. Thanks again, definitely great info

I think they are consumer gimmicks. My toy dogs and my Labs all get the same food. The only thing I have found to be helpful is that the small dog food has smaller kibble.

You might want to check the bags. The large breed puppy used to specifically say to not use on pregnant bitch. I switch to performance food.

Exactly what I was going to say. LB puppy food is NOT for pregnant bitches. I use performance food also. I did have one bitch that didn't tolerate chicken and it seems that all performance foods are chicken based, so I fed her lamb based puppy food (ProPlan), regular not the LB.

I do not feed my prego bitches puppy food. I feed a high quality adult food only.
I feed my litters smal breed puppy, a holistic brand.
I prefer the higher fat/protein ratio.
After 8 weeks I feed regular puppy food, never use large breed at all.
I do not feel labradors are a "large breed" dog.

I am just throwing it out there as someone said "ask 30 people, get 30 answers. My repro vet, who also breeds and shows Springer Spaniels, recommended puppy food for my bitch beginning at 5 weeks into her pregnancy and to begin weaning her off of it when I begin to introduce the litter to solid food (mush). I feed Solid Gold, which (I think and have read) is a good food to begin with.

I feed my lactating bitches Eukanuba small breed puppy food, it is their highest protein/fat food. I found my bitches maintained their weight, had ample milk production, and didn't need to eat a ton of food to do so ( less poop too ). the puppies get eukanuba regular or lg breed puppy food.