Dog food????

[Dahitman44]

My 10-year old gets senior dog food and my nine-month-old pup gets some high energy food.

Do I need to do this? Some people said it is a gimmake and it is all the same. Is that true?

I also used to buy expensive food for Boomer when he was younger -- is that worth it?

What types of food do you guys/gals use? If you have an old dog and a young one do you use two different foods?

Thanks

Hitman

[Mille Lacs Guy]

No it's not a gimmick. Some of the cheaper food has more corn in it and a lot of animal by product which basically means they just grind up a chicken for instance and use the bones feathers and everything for a percentage of the food. It is a small percentage but that what animal by product is when you look at your ingredient.

For hunting season I switch over to a high performance, I use Nutri Source which is about 32% protein and doesn't have any by products. For the rest of the year I use the regular adult nutrisource that is about 26% protein and that works well too. I had fairly good luck with Diamond in the past as well but it as animal by products in it.

A suggestion would be to look for a food around 26% protein or better and one with chicken and rice as the main ingredients.

[Dahitman44]

Good information.

Anyone else?

[jigging-matt]

I think the food definitely makes a difference. When my dog turned 8 I asked the Vet about switching to the senior brand and he highly recomended it. After being on the food for a few days she seemed like she had more energy again. The Vet told me this is because they make the food easier to break down for older dogs. I've always used the higher end foods and will do it again If I get another dog. By using the good quality puppy food, reg age food, and senior mainteance food, I had a Springer Spaniel live to 13 and a Basset Hound live to just over 14, both had very few health problems and even ran around up till their last days.

[xedge2002]

There is definetly a difference in the foods. Our vet said our one dog needed to drop a few pounds and recommended we put her on a senior dog food (shes only 4). They said it is kinda like a diet dog food because older dogs aren't as active as young dogs so they don't need the higher levels of nutrition. But I would definetly switch back to a regular food for hunting season if she still hunted. With all the running she would be able to burn those extra calories with no problem. She blew her knee out so she is done hunting.

[Dahitman44]

Great info, guys.

[Dahitman44]

I think i bought them Nutra Source as well. It is chicken and rice based. Should be good, I hope.