Dog food info

[Guest]

There's a bunch of knowledgeable dog folks on this site, so here goes --

I need to go to an adult dog food for my high energy Weimaraner, now 15 months old. She's carrying a bit more over her ribs than I'd like, and she is down to 4 cups per day of large breed puppy brand Authority.

Any recommendations for a good dry dog food for an active 77 pound female (spayed) Weimaraner? I don't want one of the many high corn content foods (too much goes thru without processing).

Thanks for any help.

[Bryce]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, try Exceed in the yellow and black bag. Only place you can get it is the problem. Less than $20 for a 40 lb bag. Have heard it is comparable to Eukanaba. Feed it to our dogs through all life stages including pregnancy and weaning. Did hear some problems of allergic skin reactions in some dogs so keep an eye on your pooch. If you do some research, you're going to discover how criminal like some of these companies are with all the junk they put in dog food.

[Guest]

This is simply a question (no criticism) Isn't 4 cups a day a little much? Or is it just because shes a larger breed? I have never heard of a hound eating so much

[Surface Tension]

4 cups a day would be a snack for my labs.
I feed both 8 cups each each a day in the winter and while hunting. Long Lake Babe is 13 years old and still goes on pheasant hunts which means busting cattails all day long. The other lab, Long Lake Ms.Skeeter is 9 years old, if you saw her you would think shes a puppy. Both are in excellent shape will hunt long after most dogs of there bred and age are dead and gone.
Heres the kicker. There feed Ol Roy hi protien from Walmart. They have all 8 cups each wolfed down in less then a minute.

[ricbak]

Clayton, i use purina HI-PRO for my brittany, I think there are some good brands out there and what i have been told is to get a brand with the highest amount of protien that you feel comfortable with (or how much you want to spend) I have been told that brands like eukanaba with the Lamb and Rice will produce less waste from the dog, guess its just up to the person on how much money they want to spend for dog chow. ricbak

[Guest]

I have had dogs all my life. Springer spaniels and golden retreivers and have never fed any of them that much food. My family had 3 springers that all lived over 15 years. And a golden retreiver lived to be 14. They have all been active bird dogs, and lived in the country on 40 acres. Maybe its just me who does this. Never knew I was starvin the poor guys. With all that food, its no wonder you gotta watch the pocket books. And can you guys walk a sratight line in your yard? must be lots of landmines at times Just messin with ya. If they eat and their bellies aren't draggin,...keep it comin!

[Surface Tension]

My dogs are lean and mean. There kenneled and tought not to do it in the yard. Lotsa woods for them. to do it in. But ya they s__t like a elephant.

[Surface Tension]

Bigguns3 Maybe your dog is runnin the country side diggin in garbage cans to get filled.

[Jimmy]

Clayton, I've got a black lab with a little excess baggage and we feed him Hill's perscription diet r/d. It is expensive but the results are great! A 20lb. bag costs about $30 and the 40lb. bag costs roughly $45. But keep in mind the most important part of a dogs diet is exercise! Later!

Jimmy

[Guest]

My English pointer was over 15 years old last Sept when we had to put her down. At 50 lbs, she ate 2 cups per day for most of her adult life.

Weimaraners are high energy, highly active animals. My barely out of puppyhood female was on 6 cups (3 in morning, 3 in evening) until about one year, then 5, now 4. She would eat a full bag if I let her---one vet actually told me to let her eat til she's done. He doesn't know Weimaraners.

I appreciate the comments and recommendations. However, I'm still in some doubt as to what to put her on now that she should switch to adult dog food.

Thanks for the input.

[radke22]

my english setter eats about 6 cups a day, at least, but he's so skinny you'd think he was starved(but muscular). he runs about 15 miles a day in the back yard so maybe more exercise is the key?

[Seabass77]

Clayton,
I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback/lab mix…. I feed him 4 cups a day if he is not going to be active or 6 cups a day if he is (pheasant hunting, etc..)

As far as food goes, the best recommendation I have heard is to look at the ingredients list on the side/back of the bag. As I understand it, they list the ingredients by content percentage. Meaning, if they list chicken first, chicken is the main ingredient. That should help you while looking for food.

I like IAMS large breed, my boy is 85 pounds and seems to enjoy it.

Seabass

[Guest]

Exercise is the way of life for my pup. She's in and out of the lake regularly, and has free run of our property -- a nice feature of living in rural country. I put her thru training exercise most days, except when I am the one who's lazy.

Thanks again for the info. With that in mind, I'll see what they say at PetsMart in St. Cloud, altho I know they have their brands they want to sell, also. I did know of the listing of ingredients, but I'm not entirely certain which ones are good (chicken, for example) or bad (e.g. corn).

Good hunting, good fishing, and enjoy your dogs -- a house is not a home without a dog.

[bigdog]

Clayton,
I have always fed my labs Science Diet. Started with my first dog about 15 years ago on the advice of the vet. I feed 4 cups a day, combined with canned food when hunting. The dogs are healthy, coats are in good condition, and yard waste is minimal. Other vets have asked when they see the dogs if they are on Science Diet. So I take this as a positive sign for that brand although others may be just as good.

[Capt'nJosh]

I feed my golden retreiver 1.5 cups in the morning and 1.5 cups at night. There is usually a little food left in the bowl from the previous feeding, so I figure that should be enough. He comes carrying his food dish to me if he's still hungry I feed him Performance Pro-Pack that I get from the vet. Kinda spendy stuff but he seems dump big piles when I've tried fed him regular dog chow stuff. That's my 2 cents...

[Guest]

I did a little research, and my hounds are just fine. I'm not sure if filling the bowl and letting them eat as much as they please is a good idea for just anybody.
Another important thing to do is to gradually change the foods when switching brands. You'll get some loose stuff and your pooch will have a hurtin [PoorWordUsage]er if the change in foods isn't gradual enough.

[Guest]

I decided to go with the adult version of what she's on -- Authority. For her weight the recommendation is 3.5 cups.

As for Science Diet, I used it for years with my English pointer, but learned that the reason vets are so quick to recommend it is that vets have a stake in it. Other less pricey food is as good or even better.

[Bird Dog]

I feed Diamond Dog food The ingrediants are the same as the big name brands.If you were
to look at the back of the bags and compare the listings you would find them to be the same.During hunting season I feed the high energy formula to my setters and during the off season I feed the maintenance formula.
The price is much more reasonable.they don't advertise so they are able to keep the price down.I have had very good results with the product,and I know of several others that feed the product to there Labs etc.I think that the vets get a kickback for endorsing the big name products.Not that the big name products are not good.I just think that there are other foods out there that are comparable and much more economical

Bird Dog

[danny berg]

my dog is a lab mix 3 years old. and he picks at his food.
I put about 10 to 14 cups in his bowl each Monday morning and he eats as he wants it. He never eats the whole thing, Except on weekends when he get more exercise then he will get about 6 to 8 cups a day. I recently switched to the Sam's club brand but I will switch back to Purina when this bag is done. Way too many bombs in the yard, and way to soft for the scooper.

[danny berg]

I gradually changed from one to the other. Mixing the two together and gradually adding more of the new untill the old is gone. I fill the bowl on Monday and by Friday 3/4 of the food is gone. Even when I fed him indoors he didn't eat much, he gets about an hour on weeknights to run like the dickens. then on weekends it is almost all day long.

[Kostoglotov]

I've used Innova & California Natural for about 2 years w/ my hound

Here's a link comparing these two the major brands:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

[BLACKJACK]

I've always fed my dogs (Labs) all that they want to eat, when the bowl is empty, I refill it. Occaisionally, they get into an eating contest, they'll eat until the bowl is empty, but then when I refill the bowl, they may not clean it out for a couple of days.

I've tried Iam's, Old Roy, and some of the other Purina dog foods. I've settled on the Purina Pro-plan. Not cheap, but they have lots of energy and their coats shine. Old Roy was cheap and the dogs did ok on it, but you could also call it 'Old [PoorWordUsage]', they were crapping so much! Even living in the country, I got tired of all the [PoorWordUsage]. You get what you pay for, anyone in a kennel situation I think would want to pay for the better dog food and shovel less [PoorWordUsage].

One thing that no one has mentioned is the protein/fat content. All dog foods have a label that will list that info. During the hunting season and winter, I'll feed the 26% protein and 15% fat dogfood, then go to a lesser, maintenance food in the spring and summer.

One more thing. When we go to SoDak for 5 days, we've found that the dogs are so tired that they often won't eat, so we mix a can of dogfood with their dry food to make them eat. Looking into doing that at breaktime to, only in a smaller protion.

[Guest]

Those of you getting high [PoorWordUsage] output from your dogs are most likely feeding them dog food with high corn content. The corn satisfies their hunger, but goes thru without much nutritional benefit.

[Guest]

I've been feeding my mutts the Premium Lamb and Rice for active dogs that you get at Wally World for about 6 years, with real good results. It comes in a black and silver bag, and costs about $23.00 for a 40 lb. bag. Minimal clean-up, compared to other brands I have tried, and the dogs have nice shiny coats, good tone, etc.

[spinach]

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