Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Bird Dogs => Topic started by: Rick on February 03, 2011, 08:49:43 AM
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I'm feeding Nutro puppy food right now. I'll probably switch to Costco's Kirkland brand when I switch to adult food. Its made by Diamond and supposed to be good stuff.
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When I had the big dogs I fed kirkland ...I actually work for natural balance so that is what my pug eats ;) just read ingredients and stay away from corn soy and wheat and food dyes.....the rest is just sort of personal preference.
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I feed my Boxers Natural Balance, from puppy to adult
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Natural Balance venison formula.
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Blue Buffalo :tup:
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Eukanuba high performance. My uncle, who is a trainer, is a firm believer in it and the 30/20 ratio that it gives to working dogs. I have a black lab by the way.
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Taste of the Wild and Eagle Pack
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Best value in dog food is the diamond foods, my labs are doing well on them. I buy all my dog food from Del's as they will price match any other add and its just convenient for me.
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Natures Recipe has worked well for us for 13 yrs.
Tango on Large Breed Puppy for another few months.
Ellie does really well (for being over 13) on Adult Lamb and Rice.
Cleanup is not so bad, either.
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Science diet for my Choco lab. I do know a guy who's been breeding and training labs and other hunting dogs for years, and now is a field trials judge and travels all over the U.S.. He is in his early 60's and swears that the best dog feed is table scraps. He swears that every lab he's owned that was fed pure table scraps is active and lived between 14-16 years. The dogs he's had that were "dog food" fed died or became disabled between 10-13 years of age. Not sure what to make of that proclomation for sure, but he's been working with dogs for over 40 years. :dunno:
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I feed both my Lab and my cat "Black Gold" brand food. Tried Kirkland, but the increase in "Kennel logs" was amazing.
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Taste of the wild! All four flavors. Bison, Fowl, Lamb and Salmon. A bit pricey but the dogs are very healthy, lots of energy and good bowels and maintaining weight very well.
Just a note, we used to feed our Rottwieller IAMs, thought it was a great product. I was approached by a lady at a dog park and she asked what I was feeding our dog. She told me that IAMs has been linked to cancer???, thought the lady was crazy and ignored the comment. 6 months later, my 5 year old beautiful rottweiler was diagnosed with lymphomia and bone cancer. She died a month later. :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :'( :'(
Well, that was a hard lesson. So, I did all the research on foods, proteins, grain...yada yada yada. We settled on Taste of the Wild. Never considered the cost an issue. $46 per 25lb bag. Hey, if it keeps my dogs healthy its worth every penny. Every Vet check, the Doc tells me they are doing great and in perfect health. Cant ask for much more then that. Do your home work, understand what YOUR breed of dog needs and what is best for their health. Dont consider the cost only your buddies health.
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Dura Life hi pro. Dogs have done well on it!
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I used Nutro for the past 7.5 years, then switched to Kirkland from Costco after the price of the Nutro was going up every week. No problems and at 9 y/o my Golden Retriever still runs around like a puppy.
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I feed Breeders Choice Active Care. My old lab is 11.5 yrs old and has an awesome coat with good joints considering her age. She hunted hard this last year and did just fine.
http://www.breeders-choice.com/about/brands.htm (http://www.breeders-choice.com/about/brands.htm)
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Orijen or First Mate, expensive but she does great on either one. High protein, ingredients are right. Orijen tends to be a bit too high protein, and boy does it stink when she processes that stuff.
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http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/)
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Taste of the Wild, fowl flavor then bison. pretty healthy
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ol roy and table scraps :drool:
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I WILL NOT feed my dogs Alpo. I nearly lost both my Labs a few months ago to food poisoning from Alpo dog food. >:(
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,57226.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,57226.0.html)
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California natural its a grade 5 dog food, there are 6 grades of dog food
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Kirkland, from puppy into dog. We've been using it for a total of 15 months without a hitch.
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http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/)
Nice to know that Innova is still near the top of the dog food chain. :)
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Eukanuba Performance 30/20
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Orijen. My Springer has a great coat, solid stools and is doing great on it.
Stay away from foods with grains. That is what usually causes allergies.
I understand buying food that is in your budget, but you had best save that money for vet bills later.
Looks like most are feeding their hunting partners pretty well!!
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I will give my rundown here...I do rep for a dog food company but I am also poor and when I had big dogs I had to be a bit frugal.
Avoid corn soy wheat those 3 ingredients in any form are simply cheap fillers used to boost protein when in gluten form and just filler the rest of the time....now for the fun part
Diamond makes dog food for their own lines again read the bag they have some that are free of corn soy wheat.....Diamond makes Dels for life line, also no corn soy or wheat....they also make chicken soup for the soul...and kirkland.
I have compared these labels side by side and basically kirkland is almost identical to chicken soup for the soul for about 15-20 less per bag depending on where you buy it. Nutro is made by waltham now (I believe) and they make pedigree as well and are owned by m&m mars ;) Purina is another major manufacturer most dog food is made by only 3 or 4 companies. Some of the smaller companies like natural balance, and blue buffalo or orijen have their own small plants or hire out to small plants. Our company sources almost all of our ingredients in the US venison, duck, and lamb coming from new zealand....also one ingredient that is used in pet feed and people food that is only made in China is Taurine that all comes from the same place and its a plant in China so your energy drink and my dog food both get their taurine from the same place. Some companies use human grade meats and ingredients others dont...internet and labels are your friends.
and at the end its what your dog does well on that matters the most, the best diet in the world wont do crap if your dog wont eat it ;)
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Feed my dog Acana cannot believe how nice her coat is and she is a high energy dog I train all the time and she doesn't even have to eat very much....its expensive but she doesn't eat as much food either.
best stuff i've fed her
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Mine only gets EVO. Its grain free free and you can get it in all red meat, all white meat and a few others. I like it cause there is no fillers and I can vary his meals depending on his activity for the day.
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Growing up we always gave the dogs purina and when I got my first dog (black lab) I fed him purina. once i tried to give him the cheap Del's dog food and he ate it for 2 days and then wouldn't touch it. So it was back to purina. I'm not that big of a concern of the health benefits and what not seeing as he'll just go outside and eat horse and cow manure.
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Our 7 year old lab can only eat Iams or will get sick. Our other two labs eat Costco's kirkland brand and love it, they have tons of energy and have realy great shinny hair coats.
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EVO and Orijen for last 7-8 years, other "natural" foods before that (lamb & rice etc).
My little aussie died a week ago. She quit eating a couple months ago, but I started hand-feeding her rare steak and she bounced back up and lived with joy for another 2 months. She never ate kibble after she started the meat. She was only 10. Had a big growth in her belly that was probably cancer.
During that time I started feeding our older aussie (11 1/2) the same rare meat. He has got more bounce, his hair is smoother and he has less general old-dog-stink and less squirts. We started him on the grain-free years ago because of hot spots & skin problems.
I figure that with 7 bone roasts at $2.50-$3/lb at freddys, it compares with buying evo or orijen at $2/lb., richer food, no vegetable or yeast fillers and comes with a free bone. this has got me thinking about getting a bigger butchering board/table and getting 15 lb cryovac bags or 60 lb boxes of meat wholesale.
or even a 1/4 cow. Roughly the same price per calorie, better food, just takes a little more prep time than scooping a bag of kibble.
Wish I knew then what I know now, and had fed them like that their whole lives. Would have saved on vet bills for sure, and she might still be with us.
Got a new aussie puppy a couple days ago. I just couldn't stand it not having a dog riding shotgun. Been feeding her rare meat and raw bones since day one, with a little bit of Evo for snacks. Hoping she winds up healthier and better developed for it.
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Man, I have been lucky. My lab and my shorthair/springer cross have thrived on multiple foods through the years... always nice solid stools and the dogs have been incredibly healthy. 12-20$ a bag food... Lots of kirkland fed, but many other brands from Old Roy and others....
Does kirkland have a puppy food?? I am gonna need it in a week....
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I actually changed dog food after reading this earlier. I went to Taste of the Wild. From what I have read it's supposed to be pretty good for the dog. My dog loves it but man is he farting a lot now! Bad enough to make the eyes water and the nose hairs curl. Sure hope he gets used to it soon.
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Ha, mine eats Purina Cat chow most of the time......damn dog wont stop getting into the cat dish.
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Purina One. Seems to work fine and the dogs like it.
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Dog eats what I eat and all the scraps. Its the Alaskan way.
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Here is some dog feeding suggestions by a vet who recommends supplementing commercial dog food diets with meat and vegetables. LINK (http://www.wellvet.com/feedingdogs.html)
a. All dogs should be fed, by volume of the total amount fed each meal, 25-50% meat
b. The meat can include: i. Beef ii. Chicken iii. Turkey iv. Fish
c. The easiest way to start this program is to use ground meats. Take the portion to be fed, mix with water, and cook on the stovetop or in the microwave until the meat is cooked medium (pink) to medium-well. Some animals will thrive on raw meats, but do not start this practice in the beginning.
i. Take this meat portion, including the water, and add it to the rest of the ingredients
II. Commercial Dog Food Portion
a. Although there are many good home-cooking recipes, we feel that most owners have little time or inclination to routinely feed an entirely home-cooked diet for their dog. Good intentions fall by the wayside, and the diet plan is not followed as it should be. Instead, by feeding some meat, some commercial diet, and the rest as outlined below, the dog receives an excellent, well-balanced diet. Costs are kept at a minimum, and the time required to prepare the diet is so moderate that even the busiest person will be able to follow this feeding protocol.
b. There are many commercial diets that are good diets. However, none stand out as clearly superior to any other (they are NOT home cooking, after all). There are, however, a large number that are not worth feeding because they are either of too poor a quality or they are not cost effective (remember the average commercial diets that masquerade as premium diets). There are too many of these to mention, but a good clue that the diet falls in this category is if it claims to be "just as good as such and such, but costs less", or the "premium diet costs less than about a dollar a pound".
c. We use and recommend the Flint River Ranch diets, and will gladly provide you with information on how to order them.
d. The commercial diet, whether dry food or canned, should be of as high a quality as you can afford, and should make up no more than 25-40% of the diet.
Your Animal's Specific Recommendations: Only available following a phone consult
III. The Variety Component
a. Since grains and other carbohydrates are not necessary, we recommend they be fed sparingly. Their biggest benefit is that they are inexpensive. Using the plan we are outlining, they are even less necessary, because the commercial diets contain grains. One of our favorite grains to use is white rice. Many dogs have digestive problems, which improve when rice is fed.
b. Vegetables should be routinely added. We recommend: i. Carrots ii. Broccoli iii. Peas iv. Leafy greens
c. Sweet potatoes, pumpkin, yams, and squashes are all excellent additions to the diet. Sweet potato is especially good, inexpensive, easy to prepare, and readily accepted. Sweet potato should be cooked, and can then be used a portion at a time over a few days. They can be mashed and mixed so well into the diet that all animals will accept them. Carrots often need to be cooked lightly or shredded/chopped finely, or they may not be accepted or completely digested.
d. Dairy products can be included sparingly. Our favorites are: i. Yogurt ii. Cottage Cheese
e. Eggs are great to feed, and can be fed cooked or raw. We recommend no more than a couple of eggs a week, if fed raw. Cooked eggs can be fed a little more frequently.
f. Leftovers can be fed as well, as long as they are good food and not excessively fatty or sweet.
g. The variety component should be just that: fed for variety, one thing one day, and another thing another day. Don't get caught up in a routine where you are feeding the same things all the time. Variety is just as necessary for your dog as it is for yourself.
h. A couple final thoughts: i. Corn is not a vegetable. It is a grain, and it is in plentiful supply in almost all commercial diets. so there is no reason to feed corn.
ii. Legumes (beans, peanuts) are good sources of proteins and fiber, but do not have particularly large amounts of vitamins and tend to provide excessive carbohydrates, which leads to obesity
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I feed my German Shorthair and Vizsla Diamond Beef or Lamb. I swithced to Diamond from Nutro about 4 months ago and have not seen any ill effects. I started with the Diamond Chicken but quickly changed, because my dogs were extra gassy and had soft stools with the chicken. Switched to Beef and Lamb and everything is good now. I aslo supplement their commercial food with raw meat and some veggies. All of the trimmings from butchering deer, elk, beef, etc. that I used to throw away I now give it to my dogs. And I save the liver and heart out of all the animals and birds that I butcher and feed them those too. And all raw, they love it. Also, all those broccoli/cauliflower stems, and lettuce stalks that you normally throw away chop them up and add it too your raw meat and they love that too.
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Ol Roy last 7 years.
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Good Lord, I dont feed myself or my family as well as that vet recommends feeding the dog!!!! :yike:
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I'm a science diet guy. My lab mix gets adult maintenence.
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I'm feeding Nutro puppy food right now. I'll probably switch to Costco's Kirkland brand when I switch to adult food. Its made by Diamond and supposed to be good stuff.
While the plan was Costco,I ran out of food a week or so ago and didn't get around to Costco to buy the Kirkland brand. I hit the pet store and came out with a bag of Pro Plan large breed puppy.
It looks to be a great choice for my puppy. I've upped her daily amount of food (being thats shes grown so much) and even with more food she is pooping far less than when she was on the Nutro. She was going 5-6 times per day. Now she goes 2-3 times per day and the turds are about half the size.
To my untrained eye,she is getting more nutrients out of the PPLBP.
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most top level competitive lab guys feed Purina Pro Plan. Websites that promote meat-only foods are just promoting themselves and their expensive foods.
Most all websites which "rate" dog foods are down-rating every other food but the type they produce.
I think Coscto is the best buy personally. I'd say in second place is Nutra. Third probably Purina PP.
I've fed other all meat diets/foods(dated a gal who works for a high-end pet food chain) and saw no improvement in energy, coat, poops etc from feeding a $65 30lb bag to the plain old Costco food. I think the dogs like the flavor of the expensive stuff better but, I'd rather buy a big tub of peanutbutter from costco and dip dog-cookies in it for them everyday than spend that kind of money on a small bag of dog food.
I also feed my dogs raw carrots and save fat and meat from dinners to mix with their foods. If I have meat go bad/get old I'll cook it and mix it with brown rice and freeze it. Mix it with kibble etc.
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taste of the wild, bison and venison. 50.00 a bag 35lbs ouch
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We feed our Brittany Purina PP Performance when we have her home. However, when shes with her field trial trainer she gets fed Joy Performance. Last summer he fed a lot of PP Performance at summer camp in SD, however he couldn't get a full hour out of the dogs and couldn't keep weight on them when the weather was hot. He switched to Joy Performance and it seemed to make a huge difference. When we got our pup home 2 summers ago she had been fed PP Performance and she seemed really skinny. This year we got her back and she was built like a brick chit house and she went from 30-32lbs and was all muscle. If Joy Performance wasn't so hard to find shed still be on it when shes home, but PP is a lot easier to buy. Here's two before an after pictures. You can see the difference.
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I've been using diamond products because of the solid lookin poop, and my dogs like it. My female yeller lab is a shedder.....All that I own is covered in yellow hair. I have had her at the vet twice for more than a few days(for medical reasons) and when I get her back she doesn't shed as much???? The vet ain't even sure why, I think its a reaction to grass, because she don't see much of that at the vet office, near as I can figure. Is anyone using a food that helps with the shedding? You know whats funny about them darn dogs, I can have the same food as my buddy has for his dog, and feed my dogs before they go to his house, but the food over there must be better because they will polish his dog food bowls clean. Lol stupid dogs.
Seriously though, any suggestions for a food to help with shedding, besides skin and coat dry dog food would be apreciated. I've tried them all.
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nontypical176, you might look into Dinovite (http://www.dinovite.com/index.php/search-by-issue?cat=96) for the shedding issue. I've also heard that supplements work (Omega 3 and Omega 6), but I used Dinovite and had good luck. They didn't have the liquid stuff when I used it for my dog, but the granular stuff worked.
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If you have a mud bay grainery by you go check it out the people in there are tree hugger types but they got some good foods I switched my lab about 2 years ago and his overall health has improved. When you look at the ingredients on most of their food the first four ingredients are some sort of meat. The food is a more expensive but no kidding you will feed your dog less and he won't be starving all the time.
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I feed my dogs 50 percent raw and 50 percent Instinct Dog Food (Chicken Meal Formula). They usually get raw in the morning which consists of a Chicken thigh and half a cup dry. Then Cup or so dry at night and half can of wet each. They love it and do very well on it. No rashes or hot spots. Coats look good and they are very active and maintain great weight. During the Upland and Waterfowl season my GWP gets a lot more because we hunt 5 days a week. It is a bit higher in cost but I don't have real children (:IBCOOL:) so I consider them my kids and spoil them a bit.
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Kirkland Lamb and Rice, Costco. It's about $30 in Anchorage but 40 pounds last my pup about 3 months :chuckle:
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Taste of the Wild. All formulas for variety.
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Taste of the wild! All four flavors. Bison, Fowl, Lamb and Salmon. A bit pricey but the dogs are very healthy, lots of energy and good bowels and maintaining weight very well.
Just a note, we used to feed our Rottwieller IAMs, thought it was a great product. I was approached by a lady at a dog park and she asked what I was feeding our dog. She told me that IAMs has been linked to cancer???, thought the lady was crazy and ignored the comment. 6 months later, my 5 year old beautiful rottweiler was diagnosed with lymphomia and bone cancer. She died a month later. :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :'( :'(
Well, that was a hard lesson. So, I did all the research on foods, proteins, grain...yada yada yada. We settled on Taste of the Wild. Never considered the cost an issue. $46 per 25lb bag. Hey, if it keeps my dogs healthy its worth every penny. Every Vet check, the Doc tells me they are doing great and in perfect health. Cant ask for much more then that. Do your home work, understand what YOUR breed of dog needs and what is best for their health. Dont consider the cost only your buddies health.
Man I use to feed my Rotty the same thing Lamb & Rice she was 5 1/2 the smartest best dog My family had ever owned so intelligent. I had to have her put down due to bone cancer, It's sad when you gotta put a dog down when they have such a normal state of mind still, she just wanted to continue but could hardly walk, through the front soulders down the legs sad day.
I feed my 5 year Lab now Taste of the Wild, love it and the vets say it's excellant all natural food.....
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Del's farm dog food keeps my dog healthy and happy