Vanessa, I would consider changing her food. My old vet said purina 1 & beneful were GREAT choices. I went to the feed store and they helped me switch to a better kibble. Dogs don't do a good job with processing grains, so it really shouldn't be the bulk of their food. For innova I pay about $55 for a 30something lb bag. BUT he eats at least a cup less per day then when he was on the purina. His poop is also smaller.

I also feed raw at night, and he's gained about 5lbs of muscle in a number of months. I thought he was looking thin, so I took him to the vet for a weigh in, and was suprised he was up to 57 from 52/53. The raw chicken/lamb has helped his coat TREMENDOUSLY. I constantly get comments on how soft/clean looking he is.

No help with the heat stuff though, good luck

How much longer did the breeder say to wait?

As far as food and nutrition go, I hate to be bias, but I think that if you can't do a raw/natural diet, to at least get a kibble of good quality-Royal Canin is, from what I've heard, a good food. Right now I'm feeding my two adult dogs raw and my saint pup kibble with the occasional chicken leg quarter(she was having bowel issues when I did one meal raw and one kibble). Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Royal Canin is not what I consider a good food and is not a product I will feed to my dogs. It's considered a premium food which is on the same tier as science diet, pro plan, eukanuba, and other varieties of crap in a bag. That said however I've never heard of anyone having trouble breeding dogs with that stuff or having bitches go into heat late because of it.

If she was feeding ol roy, kibbles n bits, or some other lower than crap in a bag food I'd be the first one to say diet probably isn't helping but I see lots and lots of dogs in every day eating this stuff and breeding (some for the good, some for the bad) with little trouble.

As I mentioned before give it time. Later than average bitches happen... after all it is just an average.

 Quote: melissa thom

Royal Canin is not what I consider a good food ... It's considered a premium food which is on the same tier as ... other varieties of crap in a bag. ...

If she was feeding ... some other lower than crap in a bag food I'd be the first one to say diet probably isn't helping

A bit of perspective:
dogfoodanalysis.com rating, Number of kibbles, Percentile
6 Star Premium Dry Food 24 100%
5 Star Premium Dry Food  55 99%
4 Star Premium Dry Food  160 95%
3 Star Dry Dog Food  412 85%
2 Star Dry Dog Food  459 59%
1 Star Dry Dog Food  497 31%

Royal Cain is rated 2 star. If it's on the better side of 2 starts, it might make better than the average kibble, but over half the kibbles reviewed fall into the "crap in a bag" (as you put it) category. Many of the higher end kibbles are not available at your average chain stores, so it may well be the vet is not familiar with them, or doesn't think his average customer would go to the trouble to get them. Compared to other products the vet may be thinking of from PetSmart, Royal Canin isn't too bad, and gets the recommendation.

I'm not excusing the kibble, I'm excusing the vet's ignorance.

But I'd also be willing to guess the food is not directly responsible for the late heat. If all other signs show a healthy dog, then she's less sensitive to grain then some. There is a natural variation. Do you know the ages that her mother and grandmother went into first heat? Genetics can play a role here.

I also have a german shepherd she is two years old now but she still not had her first heat yet and i don't know whats her problem. She's healthy energetic and looks very normal the only problem is she's not yet had her first heat yet.

Hi Eric,

This is a super old thread. You may want to start a new one.

BTW welcome to the boards.

Melissa