GSP dog food.

Houston54 The EPA has removed Ethoxyquin from all human food except for coloring cayenne pepper because its carcinogenic. They allow 3ppm for humans and 75ppm for dogs (and I bet you weigh 3 to 4 times your dogs weight). I'm not going to harp on this but do you really want to feed it to your dog?

regards-
C-dad
 
The information available to me notes Ethoxyqquin can be introduced through the use of fish meal in a product. It is not listed as a direct additive so I am thinking that is its source. What i have found is that when it is introduced through fish meal the 75ppm limit pertains to the level in the fish meal not the resulting dog food. So if the percentage of fish meal is 5% in the final product the level of Ethoxyquin would be 5% of 75ppm which is 3.75ppm.

There is a certain level of hysteria regarding Ethoxyquin and it should not be introduced directly into any food product. That is not the case here. Some may believe any level is too much and that is fine. Why it is used at all in any food process is the question needing an answer for me.

It is my position this is a non-issue with this product for my dog.

Here is the quote from the review on the matter:

"Also noted here, and probably in only minor amounts, is fish meal.

Unfortunately, this particular item is anonymous. The term â??ocean fishâ?� does little to properly describe this ingredient. What species? What parts?

Fish meal is commonly made from the by-products of commercial fish operations.

Whatâ??s more, the controversial chemical ethoxyquin is frequently used as a preservative in fish meals.

But because itâ??s usually added to the raw fish before processing, the chemical does not have to be reported to consumers.

Without knowing more, and based upon this fish mealâ??s location on the list of ingredients, itâ??s reasonable to expect to find just a trace amount of ethoxyquin in this product.

And by the way, the controversial chemical ethoxyquin is frequently used as a preservative in fish meal products.

But because itâ??s usually added to the raw fish during transport and before processing, ethoxyquin does not have to be reported to consumers.

Based upon the published ingredients list, thereâ??s no way to know for sure whether ethoxyquin is presentâ?¦ or not."

Everyone can make their own choice.
 
pheasantaddict said:
I would recommend Wellness or Solid Gold. Its worth it.
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Both excellent brands, I feed a combination of Wellness Core and Solid Gold Barking at the Moon, with a little fat added in to get a 33-20 ratio. The $/meal is the same as some of the other premium dog foods because of the high KCal/cup.
 
Does anyone feed raw/cooked wild game to their dogs? I'm considering supplementing my new pup's diet with a bit of last year's elk and deer.
 
If you are feeding a high quality puppy formula to your pup I would see no advantage of feeding elk or deer. I don't know that it would, hurt but if the dog eats more elk/deer and less puppy chow he/she could be missing out on some essential nutrients.
 
Fed my pup Iams smart puppy for large breeds as it seemed to have all the same ingredients and nutritional value of many of the more expensive brands. My pup weighed in at 45lbs at 8 months and was in perfect health however I have changed to Pro Plan because I would like to see if there is any difference and was a little concerned about him keeping weight on as we began a little heavier training as well as it only cost about $2 more. Like someone said it seems Pro Plan is recommended by quite a few. Well we will see if it really matters. I could care less how much it cost as long as my dog is healthy and happy.
 
Good discussion. The problem I see with a lot of the "natural foods" sources is their tendency to humanize dog food--i.e. apply human nutrition knowledge or human bias to food meant for dogs.

We are both mammals but that does not mean we digest food in the same manner, and dogs care a lot less about where a vital nutrient comes from than we do.

Normally I don't see it as all that big a deal if the spendy "natural" foods are decent rations--but the fact that their scare-vertising has crept into normal dog food decision by major manufacturers bothers me.

I quit feeding pro-plan when they went on the "natural" kick and alterred their formula's for most of their rations--for the worse IMO. Pro-plan performance is still the same and is a good food, but I generally have found it easier to switch foods during my dogs less active off-season within the brand than to feed less of a high-energy ration like PP Performance. Within the pro-plan line if I switch to something with less protein/fat I also get fluffy flavor bits or something ridiculous like blueberry or pomegranate chips...it's like the crappy kids breakfast cereals--nothing of substance, but looks or sounds good to PEOPLE.

Large # of good ones out there IMO. I like Nutri-source. Kent Native is very good as well. Black Gold. National. Eagle Pak. Sportsman's Pride.
 
beaker said:
Both excellent brands, I feed a combination of Wellness Core and Solid Gold Barking at the Moon, with a little fat added in to get a 33-20 ratio. The $/meal is the same as some of the other premium dog foods because of the high KCal/cup.
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I'm using Wellness Core as well and like it. What 'fat' do you supplement? I add some olive oil as I'm trying to get some weight on one of mine. He's solid muscle as there's not much flat ground around here and he's quite active.
 
I use Pro Plan. Has been good for me and my last GSP lived to 16.5 years! Have zero problems with it!!!
 
I use traditions happy hound and an egg or two every other week to help keep the coats nice and shiny have had zero problems with this brand and its running about 22 dollars per bag and they dont seem to crap as much
 
Gove County Britts said:
I use traditions happy hound and an egg or two every other week to help keep the coats nice and shiny have had zero problems with this brand and its running about 22 dollars per bag and they dont seem to crap as much
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I had never heard of Traditions so I looked it up on the internet. Based on the ingredients in Happy Hound it certainly wouldn't be one a person would pick. Lots of grain and filler, and they don't even list what meat is in it. Certainly a lot better foods out there for the same or a little more money. But hey, if it's working for your dog go for it!
 
well zeb just like dogs there are millions of dogfood brands and they must all work in some fasion or they would not be on the market
 
jnormanh said:
Here's a site which gives good and unbiased reviews of just about every dog food on the market.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
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I respectfully disagree with your assessment of unbiased reviews. Quite the contrary I think they are just the opposite. Take a look at most of the 6 and 5 star foods and you will see most are those boutique brands advertising grain free, exotic meats etc... and VERY expensive. While your dog may do well on them, it certainly doesn't mean your dog wouldn't do well on a lower rated food as well. Cost is certainly not an indication as to how well any given dog will do on a particular food.

Many of the performance feeds such as EuK, Proplan, Native, Nutrisource and others are way down the list. But they have served many breeders, hunters well for a long time. What has always struck me about this site is who is doing the reviews?? There is no reference as to who is doing them nor their qualifications for doing so. Just someone's opinion and the Internet is full of them.:rolleyes:

The best dog food is the one your dog does well on period.

Just for the fact I feed Native brand dog food and it works very well for my dogs.
 
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birdshooter, very well said. I agree with you 100%. That DFA site is nothing more than a big pile of dog crap. Read how they do their ratings. They admit they don't have all the information they need to accurately analyze the foods. So then why even do it. Many of their statements are based on heresay and not on anything documented. We would all be better off if we ignored this site.
 
Calisdad said:
LOL I had a dog that did that. Once. ;)

Trust them with your life, not your breakfast. :p
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she is my first female & first gsp, she still thinks she can lay on my chest.
i know i should not let her get away with all the stuff she does but what can i say.:D
 
I agree with birdshooter.

I actually worked for Purina as an Engineer in a plant a few years back and during that time I had the opportunity to tour their product testing facility.
They have a large number of dogs (that are very well cared for - i.e. a bunch of employees that walk the dogs and play outdoors with them daily) and other employees conduct testing on dog food as you might expect - feeding certain dogs certain foods and observing them.
They want foods dogs like the taste of and will not sell a food that the dogs prefer at least 60% of the time to other brands.
They go so far as to do some high tech bone and muscle density scanning to see that each dog has the proper proportions and growth after they have been on a specific food. They also work hard to extend the life of the dogs on their food. I am sure they pour millions into it and for that reason I trust Purina above all other brands of pet food.
I could type for an hour about all the reasons I trust Purina, but suffice it to say that even though I don't have my Brittany yet, I will be feeding him Pro Plan, even if it were to double in price.

I understand that it doesn't work for every dog on the planet, as each is different, but for the majority it will.
 
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That's good to know Chuckles. To say that comparison sites are bogus and have an agenda is a bit ludicrous. From what I can tell they at least explain their rating systems and no one site is connected to any particular food or company. Those who need a way to select a good food or even to avoid an inferior one can find these sites useful. At the very least they are a place to compare ingredients and make your own evaluation. Just because a food scores low is no reason to degrade the entire site and is akin to yelling at the umpire or referee.

I'm not going to feed my dogs byproducts or preservatives and if I'm looking to change foods this is where I'm going to look first. It just works better than tailgate science for me.
 
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