Purina pro plan sport

I have been shopping for a new puppy and noticed most of the breeders are promoting purina pro plan.  ( saying that is what the pups are started on and what they recommend). 

Is this food that good, or are they getting money to promote/sponsored?

There are actually two Purina's out there. (talk about confusing) Nestle Purina (Pro Plan) which is widely available thru Petco, etc. Then there is Land O Lakes Purina marketed as their "Exclusive" brand with much more limited distribution, typically feed stores handling Land O Lakes-Purina horse and other animal feeds.

I have no issue with Pro Plan but feel the Exclusive Land O Lakes product is significantly superior.

https://projectupland.com/bird-hunting-dogs/how-do-we-navigate-the-sport-dog-food-market-the-consumer-conundrum/

Regardless of the star rating, if you read the ingredient content and descriptions, it sounds pretty objective to me.

I shared my research with someone in the food industry along with my vets opinion and was able to make my own decision. 

re dog food advisor ratings. Beware. It is not objective.  I have read several dog food lables with various ratings by dog food advisor and dog food advisor lacks consitent objective ratings. 
I do suspect that the web site owner does not favor Purina for one thing Purina is owned by Nestle.  Nestle is a large conglomerate and has a reputation for ruthless business practices going back many decades.  If someone wishes to not buy Purina for this reason this could be a respectable action. However objectively Pro Plan does not deserve the low rating and reviews from dog food advisor.  Many people on this thread including myself have seen firsthand the health benefits of using Pro Plan.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/american-natural-premium-dog-food/

Company headquarters are located in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

American Natural Premium pet foods are co-packed for the company by Fromm which has several USDA-inspected pet food manufacturing plants in Wisconsin.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-pro-plan-sport/

Purina Pro Plan is quality food but both of my bird dogs (EP & ES) were not good eaters on it.  I thought they were just picky eaters, unfortunately I had them on the wrong food for years.  It wasn't that big a deal during the offseason but during the hunting season I was always mixing stuff in trying to get them to eat to keep their energy up and some weight on them   I switched to Orijen two hunting seasons ago and they gobbled it down like they were eating a piece of meat dropped on the floor.  They kept their weight on, and no more hunting diarrhea that they had on the Purina.   Orijen is pretty pricey for year round feeding so I switch to Acana for most of the year and the dogs eat it well too.  Acana is around $60 for 25lbs and Purina Pro Plan is $50 for 37.5 lbs.   However, because of the higher calorie content you feed less food.  I feed 1/2 cup less food a day with the Acana vs Purina so when you factor that in the price between they're similar.  

I feed Pro Plan Sport Performance during hunting season and Active during off season.  Purina investment in R&D and resultant product results have far more to do with their prominence in the performance dog world then fact they are great sponsors and ambassadors to our sports.  

Yes they are heavy sponsors of dog sporting/training events and thats how it got recommended to me.  My breeder recommended to me as well.  When I switched to another food there was a noticeable change in energy level and hair character and I have tried several others of various quality.  Some others are of higher or equal quality but for the money purina pro sport is the best value. I just bought 3-50 pound bags cuz of a good sale price at fleet farm.

fyi to answer your question Musky My guess is that the breeder isnt profiting directly from purina by promoting but the various organizations the breeder belongs to are sponsored/supported in part by purina

I have a 5 yr old yellow lab and all I have ever fed her is Pro Plan. Started with the puppy formula until she was 6 mos old and then switched over to the adult. She has done really well on it. When I got her I also had a GSP that was on a different food. When I tried the lab on that food she got loose stools, so I did some research and switched to the Pro Plan line. Cleared it right up. Just like one of the others mentioned my lab eats other things- rabbit poop- like it is going out of style. I have a standing order with the vet for an antibiotic, but that is a whole other story......

Mapper  

That's what they were feeding the pups when I got my last GSP.  I fed her that until she was an adult and switched to Iams, which I've been feeding my adult dogs for many years.

Hands down the best dog food I have ever used.   I had a younger dog that just didn't seem to have the energy she should have.  I was on a pheasant hunting online forum and asked about food.  About 90% of those guys said go with Pro Plan Sport.  Within 2 weeks, the difference was incredible.  Yes Purina is a big sponsor of Pheasants Forever, but I'll never buy another dog food.