Three babies and a puppy later

Darling Golden Retriever puppies.     Photo: Elin Kile

 I used to be really active on the blog.. then I had a baby, then a new puppy, then another baby and then yet another baby! So needless to say I have been rather inactive here on the blog for the past five years. I hope this will change now, since I have some quite exciting plans for the near future. 

 In these times of Covid-19, a lot of people have gotten puppies, while at the same time puppy classes have been scarce. This I believe has left a lot of new dog owners and young dogs in desperate need fore some online help! This is where I come in. I figured that I will write a series of posts about the different basic things all dogs and their human should learn. Hope you guys will like it!

Puppy classes

Link as a puppy.

When I had Link I didn't attend any puppy classes. I figured I would train him at home and that he would be exposed to enough dogs through my job as a assistant at a veterinary clinic where many of the employees bring their dogs to work. He got along with everyone and everything so well, that I could not in my wildest imagination see that this would ever be a problem. But then disaster struck. He got ED, elbow dysplasia, at the tender age of 9 months. He was put on pain meds and kept from other dogs, not allowed to play nor go for longer than 10 minutes walks. He had surgery at 11 months of age and then a 2 month long period of inactivity before he begun more active rehabilitation.

Link, the Danish Swedish farm dog Sally and a mix breed dog named Snusan. Link was fine with dogs he knew or at least had had a chance to meet and check out.

After all that, he started being dog reactive and before long he literally lunged towards all dogs we met on walks. I got a lot of help from other dog people and I also participated in a course for dogs with dog reactivity/aggression. Things got better, but never good. Link was always good with other dogs when off leash, but walking him on leash always meant that I had to keep an eye on our surroundings to make sure we wouldn't come too close to other dogs. It wasn't always very pleasant.. So we most of the time tried to time our walks to when there are as few other dogs as possible out and about.

Off leash Link never had a problem with other dogs.

As you might understand, I am hoping to avoid this problem all together with Eddie. That is why we are now participating in a puppy class and also trying to attend the local retriever clubs training sessions on Tuesdays. We have also participated in a few field training sessions with the same club. So far everything is going really well, lets hope it continues like this! What is most important is working on keeping calm and focused around other dogs. Eddie is relatively good at both those things, but we have to continue working on it. Wish us good luck!

Eddie at a training session with the retriever club.

What's new?

Link on one of our walks near the cottage

Pretty much everything in my life has changed since I last posted something on the blog. I've been pregnant and given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I've gotten married. I've lost my best friend and best dog in the world, Link, and gotten a new dog, Eddie.
Since this is a "dog blog", I will not dwell on the first part, but focus on the latter, the dog part.

My beautiful Link

We lost Link during our vacation in Sweden this summer. Long story short; he was hit by a car and died instantly. This is now almost 3 months ago, and still not a day goes by that I don't miss him terribly. Just last night I dreamt that we were out doing field training with other retrievers and their owners. He did so well, he was happy and I was so proud of him. But alas, that will never happen again. He will never lie close to me again, never beg at the dinner table, never happily offer behavior during clicker sessions and never excitedly wag his tail while I pack dog training stuff in my bag to go out and train with him.

Me and Link

He was with me during the hardest parts of my pregnancy and was a saint when we brought our little daughter home from the hospital. He was my first baby, even though we weren't the same species. In my mind he was really my baby. I loved him more than what is possible to express with words. He was my best friend, my baby and my rock. I will never love an other dog like I loved him. Now he is gone. It is times like this I wish I believed in some kind of heaven. I would like the thought of him being somewhere nice, where I could run around and play and be happy. But he is just gone, and somehow I have to find a way to accept that.

Link and my daughter

To fill the void, but not in any way to replace Link, we started looking for a new golden retriever puppy. We found a breeder a couple of hours away from where my mom lives. She had a litter of golden puppies, and one male left for sale. We went to see them, and as always when just visiting a breeder "to have a look", we decided we wanted little Eddie. Or Dio as we thought we would call him at the time.

Me and Eddie the first time we met.

Eddie would not be old enough to leave his mom for another week, so we returned a week later to take him home to my mom's. It was when we were driving from the breeder that we decided that the name "Dio" was not right, he felt more like an Eddie.

Eddie the day we brought him home.

We had another 2 weeks left of the vacation when we got Eddie. We also had an 1800 km long drive to get home.. Considering that we had a 4 month old baby and a 2 months old puppy with us, it went really smooth! Both of them slept for most of the time, and when we stopped to feed the baby, we fed and played with the puppy.

Eddie's mother.

When we got to Norway, we stopped at the family cottage and stayed there for a couple of days. Here Eddie met my in-law's dog Scott. He is a Danish Swedish farm dog and he is 6 years old. He is the sweetest dog in the world, but he is too much of a push over for his own good. I believe he was relieved that Link had finally started to act like an adult, and here we bring home a new puppy! He was less than pleased, but like always he was very nice to the puppy and had more patience than he should've with all the puppy shenanigans.

Eddie when we were back from our vacation in Sweden.

So here we are. Marriage, baby and new dog. Lots of things to be happy about and thankful for. Don't take me wrong, I do appreciate the things I have. One thing is certain though, nothing and no one could ever replace Link.

Visiting the Huskies

Last Sunday, one week ago, Link, Mads and I went visiting my friend Monica, her family and all of their wonderful Siberian Huskies. One of their female dogs just had a litter of seven puppies. The mother's name is Lærke (pronounced [læ:rkɛ]) and she was very happy to have some visitors, not hesitant or nervous having us around her puppies at all. She really is a wonderful, trusting dog!

All of the seven puppies!

I'm not going to get any new dog any time soon, but I must admit one of the male puppies really caught my eye. He has very similar markings and colors as Varg, a dog from a previous litter with the same father, Birk. And I really like Varg a lot. He now lives with a coworker of mine, so I get to see him from time to time. I really like Siberian huskies that has those "wolf-like" markings. They don't look like all of the other "normal" Siberians out there.

Beautiful Varg!

But one thing is certain, if I do get a Siberian it's going to be one from Monica. She had two 3-4 months old puppies there when we visited, from litters earlier in the winter. And I must say: Siberian huskies that are as social and eager to learn as those two are hard to come by! Monica clearly does a good job when it comes to socializing the puppies. Far too many people breeding huskies only have them outside, with the result that they are more dog oriented than people oriented. These two pups clearly demonstrated that Siberians can be trained to do far more than pulling sleds!

Birka, a female pup that was visiting.

Arwen, a female pup that Monica kept from a previous litter.

Link's first Birthday!

Today is Links birthday! I can't believe he is already one year old. Time flies when you're having fun, and we have had a lot of fun together.

Of course, Link got a birthday present and a cake. The cake was simply some canned dog food with dog biscuits on, and below is a picture with Link and his gift. He really liked it :)

I've also made a video with some clips from Links first year. Hope your like it!

Below are pictures of Link during the past year.

Link 2 weeks old, first time we met.

Link 2 months old

Link 3 months old

Link 4 months old

Link 6 months

Link 8 months

Link 10 months

Link 1 year old.

The basics every puppy needs to learn

"Could I please have that thing you're holding in your hand?"

I started the training of Link from the first moment he entered my home. As a matter of fact all puppies are "trained" from the first moment they enter their new home, whether you intend to train it or not. It learns right away what it can and possibly cannot do, what you praise it for and what is rewarding in itself. Like all other animals the dog will do what is beneficial to itself. If for example, it finds and tears the trash bag open and eats the left over food that is inside. It has been rewarded for doing so in and of itself, it got something to eat. If on the other hand you have puppy-proofed the home before the puppy's arrival and all the food it gets comes through you, it gets a reward for keeping an eye on you, i.e. it gets food from you instead of finding food itself. It has learned that it is beneficial to keep an eye on you, which is what we want.

Link 9 weeks old, peeing outside.

 Same thing with potty training. Peeing is rewarding to the puppy, since it has to pee and relieving that need feels good. It will not stop peeing if you punish it for peeing inside, it will only get better at peeing in places you can't see. This, by the way, will not be in front of you when you take it outside to pee, so punishing the pup for peeing inside is only going to increase the time it takes to potty train it. Simply put, NEVER punish the pup for soiling inside.
But back to what to do instead of what not to do. To potty train the pup you just take it outside after eating, sleeping and playing. That means approximately once every 1-2 hours for a few weeks. It is a lot of work, and accidents will happen, but it is the quickest way to potty train a dog. When the pup does relieve itself outside, you praise and give the puppy a treat. You can also add a command, like "go potty" if you want, but it isn't necessary. As the pup grows and it starts to be able to control when and where it does its business, you can start increasing the time you wait to take it outside again. With Link I only had to go out every 1-2 hours the first 2 weeks, then every 3-4 hours. Accidents did happen, but now at 4,5 months of age, Link never soils inside, and hasn't done so for several weeks. So it worked and it worked fast and I never punished him or made a big deal about him soiling inside.

Link chewing on one of his toys.

 Then we have another issue that all puppies have to a greater or lesser extent. Chewing on things. Puppies chew because their teeth are growing out and that itches. They can also chew out of boredom or simply because they like it. Either way chewing will be rewarding in and of itself. You also have the case of dogs that learn that chewing on things will make their humans come chasing them, which is a lot more fun than humans that are just sitting still and watching TV. So chewing is fun, or can lead to fun things. It is not possible to make your pup stop chewing things, so the answer to the problem is simply giving the puppy lots of things he is allowed to chew on, and if necessary make the things that he isn't supposed to chew on taste badly. I bought a bitter spray and sprayed on thing that he wanted to chew on, that he wasn't allowed to chew on, like for example the legs of the dining room table and the sofa. Then I gave him dried pig's ears or chew toys instead of the things I didn't want him to chew on. The only thing I've ever been angry at him for chewing on is banana peals and plastic that he finds outside, both of which is potentially harmful to him. I only had to get angry a handful of times (raised voice and threatening body posture, no physical violence) and since then it has been enough that I say "a-ah" or "no", and he won't take it, or if he already has, he drops it. I have always rewarded him for dropping these things, so now when I say "a-ah", he comes running expecting a treat. Which is nice, cause I don't want him to be afraid of me when I say "a-ah", I only want him to stop what he is doing.

Link is very relaxed in his crate at work.

 Another thing that your dog will need to learn is to be able to be alone. Separation anxiety is not easily treated once it has become a problem, so it is better to be preventive. Start the first week you have the pup, not the first day maybe, the puppy must be given time to get acquainted with its new surroundings. But relatively soon you should start leaving the puppy while getting the mail or going out with the trash. If you let your pup sleep in an other room than the rest of the family, it will learn fairly quickly to be able to be alone, but I don't think that is nice to the puppy. It needs some reassuring during the first nights away from mom, so if you are not planning to have the puppy in the bedroom in the future, I suggest that you put a mattress on the floor by the pups bed and sleep there with it the first couple of nights. We had Link in our bed parts of the night the first 1-2 weeks, but he got too warm in the bed so he actually chose to sleep on the floor himself. I guess we were just really lucky... Anyway back to training the pup to be alone. Start increasing the time you are away from the puppy with only minutes at first. If the puppy gets anxious while you are away, reduce the time you are gone the next time or maybe even just walk outside of the door and back in again a couple of times before yet again increasing the time you are gone. The most important thing is to never make a fuss about going or coming back. If the dog knows that it will get a fantastic reward when you come back, it will wait for you by the door for however long you are gone and it will not be able to truly relax. What we want is a dog that feels relaxed about us leaving and who will sleep for most of the time we are gone. You can also give the dog something extra delicious just before you leave, since the dog will focus on the treat while you leave and eating makes the dog tired and relaxed so it will soon fall asleep. It that way, you leaving is a positive thing. Lastly it is also a good idea to make the dog mentally tired before leaving it, this does not mean physical exercise, which is likely to get the dog more alert rather than more relaxed, but mental exercise. You can train some basic obedience like "sit", "down", "heel" or "stay", or you can fill a toy with treats that the dog has to figure out how to get to. I've had Link with me to work since he was about 10 weeks old, and in the beginning I always made sure that all of his needs were taken care of, before leaving him in his crate. He was fed, had been outside to relieve himself and I had made him mentally tired. And so he slept during the time he was in the crate. He has only once or twice whined when in his crate and that has been when he has needed to go out to potty. Now I can even leave him in his crate without having to tire him out beforehand and he will almost always go straight to sleep. Being in the crate is now in his mind firmly connected to sleeping, so that is what he does. This is the connection you want the dog to have with you leaving too. When it comes to this I've been so lucky with Link, he has never shown any signs of being anxious about us leaving him.

These things are the things I believe that all dogs need to learn to be able to function in any normal home, i.e. (1)coming to you for things it wants instead of finding things itself, (2)only doing its business outside, (3)only chewing on things that are allowed and (4)being able to be alone in its crate or in your home. If your dog can do these things it will be a dream dog to have in your home, if it cannot do these things it can become a nightmare. If there is one more thing I'd like to add it is that you should have fun with the puppy, the relationship you establish with the dog now will last for the rest of the dog's life!

Starting training early - Target training, Dummy and Eye contact

Link is now 11 weeks old and I've begun teaching him the basics. We are working on targeting (palm of the hand, target stick and a paw target) and eye contact at the moment. I've also started introducing a dummy, since he is a retriever.

Eye contact ( or maybe camera lens contact..)

The eye contact training we've been doing for maybe 5 days. He has really caught on quickly, and will now look at us more often than at the thing he wants (treat or toy). 

Link touching the palm of my hand with his nose.

 When it comes to touching the hand target and targetstick with his nose, Link does the right thing ~95% of the time. The paw target (I use a mouse pad) on the other hand, where he is supposed to put at least one front paw on the target seems to be harder for him to understand. He has made progress, but he often lies down on the target instead of just touching it with his paws.

Link touching the target stick.

We've only just begun with the dummy, I play with it a bit, he grabs it with his mouth and I click. He drops it and gets a treat. We've only had one session so far, but I will start to wait with the click until he holds the dummy in his mouth for an increasing amount of time. After this behavior is reliable  I will start saying "tack" ("thanks" in Swedish, my word for "drop it") and then give him a treat. This will later progress into him not dropping the dummy unless I say "tack", but we have a long way to go before we manage that.

Puppy reunion

The pups and their mom seemed happy to see each other again.

Last Sunday, six of the puppies from Link's litter met to play and socialize together. It was wonderful to see how they interacted with each other and their mom, and to see how much they've all grown since last we saw them.

I think the puppies were really happy to see each other again, finally other dogs that want to play as much as they themselves want to!

 Link was not the largest puppy now, but not the smallest either. I think he is developing just perfectly (although I might not be impartial...).

An interest in chewing on twigs sticking out of the snow seems to be a family trait. Here you can also tell the large variety in color on the pups. Link is the darkest one (to the left) and Tiril (right next to him) is the lightest one.

 "Uncle Rocky", the miniature Schnauzer that often visited the puppies when they were still living with the breeder also came to the reunion.

I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the puppies. They've grow quite a lot since last he saw them.

First week with my puppy

I present to you, the worlds cutest and most wonderful puppy, Link!

One week ago, I brought my puppy home and on Tuesday he will be 10 weeks old. It feels like he has been here much longer, in a way it feels like he has always been here. I've had this week off from work, to get Link settled in. We've already done tons of stuff, but I've tried to limit the new experiences to one a day, so not to stress the puppy. Of course, the first couple of days everything is new. This is probably why Link slept relatively little the first two-three days. He slept maybe 30-45 minutes at a time, now he sleeps 1-2 hours at a time, sometimes longer. He has been able to sleep the whole night since the third night here. So far he has only peed inside two times. So far so good :)

Link sitting on command.

Link has already learned so much! He knows sit, down, and come, and he is learning stay. He is really well behaved when we meet new people, sits down when they approach and greets them calmly and with a wagging tail. So far he has not had any frightening experiences. This is also due to the fact that nothing seems to scare him. We live rather close to an airport so several times a day airplanes fly over us at low altitude, something that Link seems more fascinated by than scared. He just sits down and look at the airplanes, if he cares about them at all. We've also met many different kind of dogs, small dogs like the neighbor's Bichon Havanais puppy Daisy and large dogs like the two Bernese Mountaindogs down the street. Some of these meetings have resulted in play others with the older dog just not being very interested and Link trying to get them to play. I can tell that he really is on a puppy license, the older dogs let him get away with almost everything.

First time we met Daisy.

I believe it is very important to socialize your dog from an early age, but take care not to expose your puppy to diseases it might not yet have gotten its vaccines for. In Norway most people get their dogs vaccinated every year (or every three years depending on the vaccine their using and what diseases their dog is exposed to). So I feel safe to let my puppy meet and play with the dogs on our street. And I know for certain that the two dogs we've met on several occasions, Daisy (the Bichon Havanais puppy) and Scott (Mads' family's Danish Swedish Farm Dog) have all of their vaccinations.

"Uncle" Scott showing Link that you can trick the humans into giving treats by sitting down in front of them ;)

 I've brought Link to work last Thursday to get him used to being there and sleeping there. He will come with me to work the days that Mads can't be home with him, starting Monday. It went really well when we were there on Thursday, I sat with him until he was about to fall asleep and then left him. He didn't make any noise, not even when he woke up and I wasn't there. If things continue to be this easy, Link is the least difficult puppy in history! I can't believe my luck, that it was Link that became our dog.

5 weeks old Golden Retriever puppies

The puppies are now allowed outside to explore a bit after feeding. Here is one of the male puppies (Mr Grey).

Just thought I'd come with a small update.. The puppies have now become 5 weeks old and we have decided to get one of the male pups. There are five male pups in this litter. Whichever one will be ours, his name will be Link, like the main character in the game Zelda. We've been visiting the pups 1-2 times a week since they were 2 weeks old, which has given us plenty of opportunity to get to know the individual pups as well as the mother and I feel safe to say that whichever pup will be ours we will be happy with it. The litter is very even, both in size and temperament. None of the small differences there are between the individuals are problematic in a way that would make me say that I wouldn't want that puppy.

The color of the puppies in this litter varies from almost white (female puppy in front, Miss Pink) to dark golden (male in the back, Mr Purple).

The pups have already met people of different ages and seem to be very friendly, trusting and inquisitive towards people. None of them lag behind when allowed into new spaces or show any fear when introduced to new things. They all seem to have a healthy dose of self esteem.

"No kisses!" My boyfriend and one of the male pups (Mr Blue) cuddling.

I've checked the puppies teeth, ears, paws and bellies without them even fighting it a little, they are fine with everything (even though, being puppies, they don't have the longest patience) and they all appear healthy to me.

Even though I don't know if he will be ours, I must admit that the pup with the green collar is one of my favorite puppies in the litter. Here he is wagging his tail so fast while greeting Mads that the tail is just a blur.

This post became very technical... What I really should say is that I can't wait to get my puppy home! I've bought everything the pup could ever need (and then some) and I've already started puppy proofing our home. I don't think I've ever been so excited about anything! I'm getting my own dog! Just three more weeks to go...

Me and the last of the five male pups in the litter (Mr Light Blue).

Grain-free dog food?

So I read some more about different dog foods and came across Orijen dog food. Since I would prefer to feed my dog a grain free dog food, I decided to properly check out this alternative. In the table below I compare Hill's Science Plan VetEssentials Puppy Large Breed, Eukanuba Lamb & Rice Puppy All Breed (both containing grains but not wheat), to Orijen Puppy Large, a dog food that doesn't contain any grains. The reason why I chose to compare Orijen to Hill's and Eukanuba is that I already compared those two and in that comparison Hill's came out the winner. [link]

	Hill's	Orijen	Eukanuba
Protein	27.8 %	38 %	28%
Fat	15.6 %	16 %	16%
Carbohydrate(NFE)	37.6 %	25 %	n/a
Fibre(crude)	5.2 %	3 %	2%
Moisture	7.5 %	10%	n/a
Calcium	1 %	1.5-1.7 %	1.2%
Phosphorus	0.8 %	1.2-1.4 %	0.9%
Sodium	0.5 %	0.4%	n/a
Potassium	0.8 %	0.77 %	n/a
Omega ratio	4.2:1	2.6:1	5:1
Omega-3 fatty acids	0.71 %	1 %	0.4%
Omega-6 fatty acids	2.99 %	2.6 %	2.0%
DHA	0.17 %	0.60 %	0.10%
Vitamin A	20000 IU/kg	16000 IU/kg	15000 IU7kg
Vitamin D	1175 IU/kg	1000 IU/kg	750 IU/kg
Vitamin E	668 mg/kg	400 IU/kg	200 mg/kg
Vitamin C	90 mg/kg	55 mg/kg	n/a
Beta-carotene	1.5 mg/kg	0.44 mg/kg	1 mg/kg

Orijen has a best omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, 2.6:1 instead of 4.2:1/5:1. There is more protein in the Orijen dog food, than in the one from Hill's and Eukanuba. Theories that too much protein in the growing dog's diet would be detrimental has not been clinically proven. What has been shown though is that it is bad for growing dogs of large breeds to have too much calcium and phosphorus in their diet. This can cause too rapid growth of their skeleton and in the end lead to joint problems and other skeletal disorders. According to one article I've found the optimal level of calcium in a growing large breed dog's diet is 0.75-0.95% by weight, and the levels of phosphorus is 0.62-0.72%. In another one I found the values to be 0.80% calcium and 0.67% phosphorus. According to both of these all three puppy foods I've looked at have too much of these minerals, but Hill's is the better alternative.

Orijen also has less vitamins than Hill's puppy food, but more than the Eukanuba puppy food does. It has been theorized that too little of vitamin A, D and E could cause skeletal problems too, while too much of vitamin C can give the same result. So while the vitamin C levels might be better in the Orijen, the higher levels of the other vitamins in the Hill's food still makes it the better choice.

Nutrition is a complex science, and it is not to be taken lightly. The puppy in the video below suffers from hypertrophic osteodystrophy, a skeletal disorder that can be caused by less than optimal quality of the food fed to the dog. If there is one thing you should spend money on for your dog's health, it is a good dog food.

Just to be clear, the puppy foods mentioned in this post has nothing to do with the puppy in the video. The video is merely meant as an illustration of how important good nutrition is.

Female or male dog, that is the question..

Some of the puppies from the litter I'm getting a puppy from.

 Initially I was getting a female dog, or at least that was the plan. But the other day, when we visited the breeder, she asked if we didn't want a male instead. So now I have to decide. Do I want a male or female dog?

 A male dog is bigger, needs a larger cage/space/bed and eats more, i.e. it is more expensive. A female will come in heat 1-3 times a year (usually, some bitches come in heat more often), then there is the risk of pseudopregnancy and possible pyometra. A male dog is more or less in heat all year round though and is more likely to be aggressive towards other dogs. A female dog is more likely to be moody. A female dog is however easier to train, but will be more unstable and less reliable because of the heat. A male dog might initially demand more in terms of training, but once it has learned it is stable and reliable (unless there is a bitch that is in heat nearby). And before someone says that many of these problems would be avoided by spaying or neutering, let me stop you right there. Spaying and neutering dogs is illegal in Norway, unless it is for medical reasons. We don't have the problem of a lot of unwanted dogs that live in shelters. We don't have shelters at all basically, so there is no social reason to spay or neuter either.

Mother dog with her pups.

 Anyway, back to the question. Do I want a female or male dog? Well as of now, I don't know. There are so many advantages and drawbacks to both sexes.. And I know I've been overly negative in this post. I've focused on the negative sides more than the positive ones. But there's a simple explanation for that; what makes both sexes good is what makes a dog good, they have the same positive sides. What differs is their drawbacks. Well, one good reason to get a male dog is that I can bring it to work all year round, and bring it to the in-laws too (they have a male dog), without risking disturbing the other dogs with a bitch in heat. But the question still stands: Do I want a male or female dog?

Finding the right dog food for my dog

I'm getting my puppy in six weeks, so I've started investigating what kind of dog food I'm going to feed it. Since I'm getting a Golden Retriever, a breed that quite commonly suffers from skin conditions that sometimes could be caused by food allergies, I only want to feed my dog top quality dog food. As I am also a physiologist and very interested in paleo food ("stone age food"), I know a thing or two about "natural food", in other words what we (and dogs) were adapted to eating over the course of evolution. This does not include cereals at all really, but among the dog foods sold at veterinarians, all contain some type of cereal. The one cereal most commonly the cause of allergies in dogs is wheat, which is why it is not among the ingredients of low allergen dog foods. So wheat is one of the things I's like to avoid.
The second thing that is really important (if you ask me), is the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. In humans the optimal ratio is somewhere between, 4:1 (that is four times as much omega-6 fatty acids compared to omega-3) and 1:4 (that is four times as much omega-3 fatty acids compared to omega-6). What is known is that we need more omega-3 than omega-6, and that the metabolites of omega-3 reduces inflammation in the body while the metabolites of omega-6 increases the general inflammation of the body. There is no real reason to think that dogs are not similar to us in this respect, so I will look for a food with the most optimal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
The third important thing is that I don't want there to be too much carbohydrate in the food. Golden Retrievers have a tendency to easily get overweight, and a food rich in carbohydrates, especially sugar, will only increase the risk of this happening. 

Out of the dog food brands we sell where I work, only two have puppy food that doesn't contain wheat, so I will start by comparing them. The first one is Eukanuba Lamb and Rice Puppy All Breed.

 Ingredients: Dried Chicken and Turkey, lamb (>14%), rice (>14%), maize, sorghum, dried whole egg, fish meal, dried beet pulp (>2.5%), animal fat, chicken digest, brewer's dried yeast, fish oil, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, fructooligosaccharides (0.15%), calcium carbonate, marigold extract.

The second one is Hill's Science Plan VetEssentials Puppy Large Breed.

Ingredients: Maize, poultry meat meal (chicken min. 30%), animal fat, digest, maize gluten meal, dried beet pulp, cellulose, fish oil, salt, vegetable oil, potassium chloride.

	Hill's	Eukanuba

Protein	27.8 %	28 %
Fat	15.6 %	16 %
Carbohydrate(NFE)	37.6 %	n/a
Fibre(crude)	5.2 %	2 %
Moisture	7.5 %	n/a
Calcium	1 %	1.2 %
Phosphorus	0.8 %	0.9 %
Sodium	0.5 %	n/a
Potassium	0.8 %	n/a
Omega ratio	4,2:1	5:1
Omega-3 fatty acids	0.71 %	0.4 %
Omega-6 fatty acids	2.99 %	2.00 %
DHA	0.17 %	0.10 %
Vitamin A	20000 IU/kg	15000 IU/kg
Vitamin D	1175 IU/kg	750 IU/kg
Vitamin E	668 mg/kg	200 mg/kg
Vitamin C	90 mg/kg	n/a
Beta-carotene	1.5 mg/kg	1 mg/kg

 Now, just so that it's said, it does say on the package of the Eukanuba Lamb and Rice Puppy All Breed that dogs with an adult weight of more than 25 kg are recommended to eat their normal puppy food for large breeds. So that can explain why there are less vitamins and more calcium and phosphorus in their puppy food than in the one from Hill's. I do think they should stop labeling it "all breed" though, since it clearly is only meant to be fed to small and medium sized breeds, and the recommendation to use the other puppy food is only written in very small letters on the package. It should also be said that when it comes to vitamins and minerals, more is not always better. The dog should have just the right amount of these, in balanced proportions.

Still, all that being said, it is not even a hard choice for me. The puppy food from Hill's is the far better choice in all respects, for my dog. First of all, it is made especially to meet the needs of pups of large breeds. This means, to the best of my knowledge, that the levels of vitamins and minerals are optimized for the larger breeds. It also doesn't contain any extra added sugar, like the Eukanuba food (fructooligosaccharides is a long and complicated word, but still means sugar). It has the best (even if not optimal) omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (4,2:1 compared to 5:1 in Eukanuba), although I will probably still add extra fish oil to the food to increase the omega-3 portion. If you do this, make sure that the there isn't any vitamins added to the fish oil, since the food already has all the vitamins the dog needs and as I already mentioned, more is not better. Some vitamins can actually be poisonous in large amounts. All of these factors put together makes me certain that Hill's Science Plan VetEssentials Puppy Large Breed is the food I will choose for my dog.

Remember, it is not only humans that are what they eat, so are dogs. It is important to find a food that keeps your dog as healthy as possible, and which is specially made for your type of dog. Ask your veterinarian for advice if you are uncertain of what to look for in a dog food and what your dog needs. No two dogs are exactly alike, you have to find the food that works for you and your dog.

Sources:
http://www.eukanuba.com/en-UK/product/puppy-all-breeds-rich-in-lamb-rice.jspx
http://www.hillsproducts.com/General.aspx/en-GB/SP/vetessentials-puppy-large-breed/original/bag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#The_omega.E2.88.926_to_omega.E2.88.923_ratio