Recent dog food experience

[gim]

All the "tests" they show us and "the research" they have undoubtedly always benefit their pocketbook.

That's exactly it.

They push their product for a profit. And the raw suppliers are even worse.

Talk to your vet. That would probably be the best source of information on diet, and one size does not fit all.

BTW, they are finding bird flu in raw pet foot. Buyer beware.

 

[Mosby]

I just made motel reservations for a hunt this fall with some people from a local pointer club. I'll be gone for about 14 days and we'll be hunting in the middle of nowhere and doing a lot of driving on a daily basis. It's also a 2 day drive up and back to get there. How people feed raw during the season is beyond me. Not sure how you pack it or keep it cold let alone frozen and then screw with it when you and the dogs are dead ass tired at the end of the day. If you have the storage and "want to".....good for you but I'll be backing a large bag of performance kibble, a variety of food toppers and a fresh box of fortiflora. I'll take maybe 2 coolers. One for my premade meals that I can heat up and the other for cold drinks, then I'll use them both to bring the birds back home.

Not criticizing or saying it's wrong.....just saying that I'm too lazy to carry frozen meat around and don't have enough space in my small truck for it all regardless.

Relative to dog food companies and research....they control it and the older I get the less I trust any of them. Let's face it...they buy on price, substitute ingredients when it benefits them and only make us aware of research results that help them sell more of a specific product. I admit to being ignorant but how can you say that one companies chicken by products or ground corn are a better quality than somebody else's and what condition is the meat or other ingredients in when it is delivered to them for processing? I don't think we want to know. How long did the product sit at the factory, loading dock or inside the tractor trailer before getting to the distributor and then how long did it sit there before going to the feed or pet store? I don't have a clue but I probably wouldn't like the answer.

Purina has been the gold standard for industry research and dog food products for decades. Pro Plan is the food most others are measured against in the hunting dog and field trial world and I had to stop feeding it because I found worms and bugs in different bags of food. The sort of thing that turns a man into a full blown cynic but it is what it is. We all have to fed our dogs something, so we do the best we can on what we know and assume that dog food price equals quality or is "better" to some extent.

 

[MNMEAD]

Its a crap shoot for sure. We have fed Kirkland brand for a number of years now, and this year switched to Pro Plan 30/20 during the season as the dog was getting pretty gaunt, even after just a single day in the field. She'd look good on Friday, then look emaciated after hunting on Saturday, like she'd lost 5lbs during the day. ProPlan made a tremendous difference. I believe (not a vet or scientist) that it was the bit more fat in the ProPlan keeping the weight on her during the season. At the end of the season we switched back to Kirkland, and within a couple weeks she was all itchy and losing some hair on her ears. Figured it was a food sensitivity, and tried a few foods for a couple weeks. For the past month she's been back on ProPlan 30/20 salmon/cod I believe, and the hair is coming back and the skin sensitivity is gone. Right now, I'm really happy with it. We eat a ton of venison, beef, and vegetables, so both dogs get a relatively high quantity of meat and veg scraps as treats throughout the week.

 

[gim]

Take some time to read ingredient labels. A lot of consumers just look at the front of the bag and the brand name, and see a photo of a wolf eating wild salmon or something like that and make assumptions. Its pure marketing.

Remember when they started advertising "grain free" with all that hype. Well as it turns out, if they remove the grains, they have to put something else in there instead. Studies showed that the substitute ingredients were causing cardiac issues.

 

[KsHusker]

In texas, 10 lb leg quarter bags go for@ $7.00 a bag. My two dogs go through 7-8/ month. So call it sixty bucks on chicken, another 40 on veges.....

Have you fed them deer?

I'm ashamed to admit the last time I went deer hunting about 3 years ago I shot a doe - had it quartered up in a cooler and brought it home - I keep them on ice for about 2 weeks then cut them up (I call it wet aging -- makes for great meat but have to keep the meat on top of the ice, make sure water stays drained and add more ice when needed etc) -- I've been battling lyme disease since 2018 and about 3 yrs ago I was really bad -- I had a bad spell and felt awful after the hunt and couldnt do much for quite a while and the meat started to get a bit strong because I didnt keep up on the ice -- -- I tended to it and stabilized it and if I remember correctly it got really cold so the ice melting was not a concern at that point, but the meat was a bit far gone that I could feed to the family - but fine for the dogs. Anyways I fed the entire deer to both my setters and -- they loved it - they ate a # of the bones and ones they didnt eat were cleaned up like coyotes do -- Ive slowly been getting my health back turtle step at a time - and am hoping to have some stands/deer huts built on land we bought a year after this incident and built our house on.

There should be enough deer around where I live I could take a few and possibly get on my neighbors to take some does out, I have a friend that manages properties that needs a bunch of does removed every year too -- would give me a reason to go take some out-- we could keep some and feed the dogs the rest. Ive thought about building a walk in cooler in the shop to help with processing/aging which is what I meant by getting set up and getting my big meat grinder situated and ready to go etc.

I'm a yr and a half after building the house and still have lots to do, I was dumb enough I GC'd it all - but glad I did - though it had plenty of frustrating moments even the builders deal with. (Shitty subs, subs who get attitudes etc -- no different than our business at times)

 

[KsHusker]

I just made motel reservations for a hunt this fall with some people from a local pointer club. I'll be gone for about 14 days and we'll be hunting in the middle of nowhere and doing a lot of driving on a daily basis. It's also a 2 day drive up and back to get there. How people feed raw during the season is beyond me. Not sure ................. but it is what it is. We all have to fed our dogs something, so we do the best we can on what we know and assume that dog food price equals quality or is "better" to some extent.

Ive been too lazy myself to make the switch but want to soon -- My wife is from a foreign country -- where she lived until her young adult life it was unheard of for anyone to feed their dogs "Dog food" from a store - you fed them table scraps, stews, bones etc. (One difference as well is they really didnt have "pure bred" dogs -- kind of a weird concept for her - -most are just muts/mixtures of which I have a hypothesis probably makes them inherently healthier too) -- Anyways - the amount of time all the dogs in her families life, neighbors, distant relatives etc all lived much longer than the dogs she came across in the USA.

She had never in her life seen dogs with cancer as when we first got together my 1st setter Macy was at her end, and Macys progeny Rosie I had as well developed cancer at the end of her life. My parents dogs (different breeds) cancer or bladder issues - friends hunting dogs -- cancerous tumors all over (GSP's) - one made it to 14 or 15 - others died about 12 which seemed to be all I can get out of the 3 dogs I've taken to old age.

Anyways I'm saying this in that Purina should not be setting a standard for anything - they are just a big conglomerate part of the Ag/Pharma complex (I made that up - but no different than the Military/Industrial Complex that controls the other parts of govt/regulations) -- so nothing from them can be trusted - and their food should be assumed to be dog excrement and a slow poisonous death we are feeding them -- I'm guilty myself -- but it's the way our country operates when bad people who put $$ over people in charge of everything.

 

[capt4fish]

I just made motel reservations for a hunt this fall with some people from a local pointer club. I'll be gone for about 14 days and we'll be hunting in the middle of nowhere and doing a lot of driving on a daily basis. It's also a 2 day drive up and back to get there. How people feed raw during the season is beyond me. Not sure how you pack it or keep it cold let alone frozen and then screw with it when you and the dogs are dead ass tired at the end of the day. If you have the storage and "want to".....good for you but I'll be backing a large bag of performance kibble, a variety of food toppers and a fresh box of fortiflora. I'll take maybe 2 coolers. One for my premade meals that I can heat up and the other for cold drinks, then I'll use them both to bring the birds back home.

Not criticizing or saying it's wrong.....just saying that I'm too lazy to carry frozen meat around and don't have enough space in my small truck for it all regardless.

Relative to dog food companies and research....they control it and the older I get the less I trust any of them. Let's face it...they buy on price, substitute ingredients when it benefits them and only make us aware of research results that help them sell more of a specific product. I admit to being ignorant but how can you say that one companies chicken by products or ground corn are a better quality than somebody else's and what condition is the meat or other ingredients in when it is delivered to them for processing? I don't think we want to know. How long did the product sit at the factory, loading dock or inside the tractor trailer before getting to the distributor and then how long did it sit there before going to the feed or pet store? I don't have a clue but I probably wouldn't like the answer.

Purina has been the gold standard for industry research and dog food products for decades. Pro Plan is the food most others are measured against in the hunting dog and field trial world and I had to stop feeding it because I found worms and bugs in different bags of food. The sort of thing that turns a man into a full blown cynic but it is what it is. We all have to fed our dogs something, so we do the best we can on what we know and assume that dog food price equals quality or is "better" to some extent.

It is dang hard to stick to raw on the road. We are on the road 6-8 wks in the fall. Last year we changed to pro for the trip. It was much easier. We switched back after a couple weeks back home.
When switching to purina pro it took two weeks for the pups to get used to it…
It took two days when we went back to raw……that tells me something.

 

[capt4fish]

Have you fed them deer?

I'm ashamed to admit the last time I went deer hunting about 3 years ago I shot a doe - had it quartered up in a cooler and brought it home - I keep them on ice for about 2 weeks then cut them up (I call it wet aging -- makes for great meat but have to keep the meat on top of the ice, make sure water stays drained and add more ice when needed etc) -- I've been battling lyme disease since 2018 and about 3 yrs ago I was really bad -- I had a bad spell and felt awful after the hunt and couldnt do much for quite a while and the meat started to get a bit strong because I didnt keep up on the ice -- -- I tended to it and stabilized it and if I remember correctly it got really cold so the ice melting was not a concern at that point, but the meat was a bit far gone that I could feed to the family - but fine for the dogs. Anyways I fed the entire deer to both my setters and -- they loved it - they ate a # of the bones and ones they didnt eat were cleaned up like coyotes do -- Ive slowly been getting my health back turtle step at a time - and am hoping to have some stands/deer huts built on land we bought a year after this incident and built our house on.

There should be enough deer around where I live I could take a few and possibly get on my neighbors to take some does out, I have a friend that manages properties that needs a bunch of does removed every year too -- would give me a reason to go take some out-- we could keep some and feed the dogs the rest. Ive thought about building a walk in cooler in the shop to help with processing/aging which is what I meant by getting set up and getting my big meat grinder situated and ready to go etc.

I'm a yr and a half after building the house and still have lots to do, I was dumb enough I GC'd it all - but glad I did - though it had plenty of frustrating moments even the builders deal with. (Shitty subs, subs who get attitudes etc -- no different than our business at times)

I have used deer trimmings and as well as elk, fish,beef. I believe it is all great for them.
When I am lucky enough or one of my pards is lucky enough to kill an elk, I take all the organ meat, all the trimmings back to Texas from Colorado.

 

[Weimdogman]

Take some time to read ingredient labels. A lot of consumers just look at the front of the bag and the brand name, and see a photo of a wolf eating wild salmon or something like that and make assumptions. Its pure marketing.

Remember when they started advertising "grain free" with all that hype. Well as it turns out, if they remove the grains, they have to put something else in there instead. Studies showed that the substitute ingredients were causing cardiac issues.

Reread articles about grain free and cardiac issues. It wasn't what they substituted it is what was lacking.

 

[Marshstalker]

what do you feel is the cost comparison? at 60.00 a 30lb bag I go through 2 a month. After a aholiday, you can get turkey as low as 39 cents a pound.

The new raw we get is Midwest Legacy BLT.
80$ for 30lb. Our old food, ceased production, was 108$ for 40lb. Try a raw food calculator for you dog, it's generally 2.5% body weight per day.
You can always add raw eggs/shells, fish oil, herring, goat milk. I even give my dog duck/pheasant hearts and livers raw while I clean em as a treat since she fetched them.

 

[Gatzby]

It would be interesting. You kinda got to the exact point I was making. All the "tests" they show us and "the research" they have undoubtedly always benefit their pocketbook. If you put a champion field trial dog from today up against a champion from 1980 do they win/outperform just based on the "supposed superior diet" of today?

Our ability as trainers, training practices, and quality of breeding, have had FAR FAR FAR more effect than nutrition.

 

[Mosby]

Have to get my male Vizsla ready for spring hunt test, so I'll be gradually increasing his calories as he starts to run and train more. A friend just bred her female GSP and the new mom is going to need some additional calories/nutrition too, so I decided to make up a new batch of "mush" that I use as a food topper and add to their kibble.

- 3 lbs of fatty beef stew meat
- 1 lb ground lamb
- several small boneless center cut pork chops(on clearance at Walmart)
- 1 package beef liver
- 1 package of chicken livers
- 1 package of chicken gizzards

Put into a 6 qt crock pot and cooked over night. Total cost was around $40. The canned food I was buying for a topper went up to $48 a case. At that price, I would rather make my own. I'll blend it up when it cools down into a soft food consistency and freeze in 2 and 4 cup containers.

 

[BRITTMAN]

80% lean (undrained) hamburger provides our bird dogs with that extra protein and fat and also that extra incentive to eat when exhausted. I can crumble up a pound or two and keep in a baggie in a cooler on trips.

I have fed IAMs to all my bird dogs. Lamb and rice to bird dogs and senior food to those retired. IAMs is P&G and not the dog food of choice of pros (often compensated), but it works darn well for my dogs.

Supplement with burger and sometimes rice on extended days of hunting or training vs. messing with changing foods.

My Brittanys have so far have hunted until 11 and lived to 14+. We walk a mile (more often two miles) a day year around, I do not let them run on chemically treated lawns.