Dog food

[Mosby]

For hunting day after day, week after week,
I feed the highest fat/highest protein kibble on the market:
Redpaw PowerEdge Extreme (38% protein, 25% fat)

For summer retriever training which is swimming hundreds of yards every other day,
I feed Redpaw PowerEdge 32k (32%protein, 20% fat)

RedPaw is locally available because of the mushing market here in interior Alaska.

High fat/protein is important for hard working dogs. Everything I have read is Redpaw is a high quality feed. Good for you that it is locally available.

 

[Michael54]

My gsp gets victor professional in the purple bag. Ppp dulled her coat and she didn't seem to have the end of the hunt energy she did on the victor so i switched back. My beagles get fed The Pride 28/20 mix. They do better on the pride than the victor. After talking extensively to my Vet about it, I'm a big believer in different dogs do better on different types of food. Her advice was Over the course of a year try a few different brands changing only the food not amount of activity in the dog and see which one works best for your dog.

 

[Mosby]

My gsp gets victor professional in the purple bag. Ppp dulled her coat and she didn't seem to have the end of the hunt energy she did on the victor so i switched back. My beagles get fed The Pride 28/20 mix. They do better on the pride than the victor. After talking extensively to my Vet about it, I'm a big believer in different dogs do better on different types of food. Her advice was Over the course of a year try a few different brands changing only the food not amount of activity in the dog and see which one works best for your dog.

One of the top Vizsla kennels in the country feeds the Pride 28/20. Not available locally or it is something I would definitely try. Made in Kentucky I believe. Their Performance is 31/22 and would be great during hunting season.

I have been feeding my dogs Victor because it is easy for me to get locally. I recently bought a started GSP and the breeder told me he didn't like Victor because he couldn't keep weight on his dogs on it. My female GSP has done fine on Victor both the Performance and the Hi Pro but she is pretty thin right now and I want to add some weight. She is evidently one of those dogs that are hard to keep weight on during the season. When I increased her portions, she had really loose stools so I have decided to try a higher calorie food instead.

She just finished a bag of Victor Performance but I have been introducing her to PPP Sport Salmon 30/20 which has over 500 calories per cup and over 100 more per cup than Victor.
I am going to see how her weight does and what her coat and stool looks like on the PPP. and go from there. I want to get it figured out before next hunting season. Fortunately there are a number of good dog foods out there to try that are reasonably priced.. Hunting dogs are athletes. The quality of food and nutrition does matter.

 

[samc]

Purina pro plan sport (30/20) for my dog as well. 2.5 year old griffon. I'd stay away from grain free food. Recently read an article in the upland almanac written by a vet that was saying grain free diets lead to an enlarged heart and subsequent heart failure. My parents feed costco grain free food and recently lost a dog to that very thing.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Native 3 for my 5 month old Griff, 10 year old Golden, 9 year old Aussie, and 7 year old Golden Doodle. Its a 30/20 chicken/rice blend made by Kent feeds and is very similar to Pro Plan Sport. I've been feeding Native for more than 10 years, and I trust it better than Purina. Most of their pet foods are full of garbage and very low rated by independent labs.

FWIW- my Griff breeder has fed Pro Plan Sport to his kennel for a very long time, and its the only food/blend he feeds his dogs.

 

[Mosby]

I lost an English Setter years ago to heart problems and looking back, I am convinced it was caused by the grain free food I used back then. Never again.

I have been giving my GSP the PPP Sport Salmon the past several months because of the high calorie content. I wanted to put a few pounds on her before the season and it has done that. I use a Wellness Lamb canned food for a topper that is 95% meat and 12% fat and I am sold on that product. That combination has her coat looking great and she has filled out a bit. PPP Sport ingredients don't impress me but my GSP is doing well on it and I am going to keep her on it for the rest of the season.

I am getting a new Vizsla pup in the spring. I had a Vizsla before that wouldn't eat PPP for whatever reason. She was particular about her food, so I will see how the new pup does with it and adjust accordingly.

 

[Vandy321]

Victor Edge Energy 28/22

My puppy likes it so much, he eats it twice.

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

Inukshuk 30/25 and I can't say enough great things about it. Coat and energy improvement. Less waste and no farts.

Very dense so the dogs don't need to eat as much either. My griff is 65-70lbs, eats what is recommended on the bag (2.5 cups a day) and thrives on it.

I picked it originally because most of the guys I hunt with have drahts and they recommended it.

They also make a 32/32 mix which I don't think you would find any working dog to be lacking on that mix. Even extremely tough gainers.

 

[zfountaine55]

I have cycled through a few. I have have a 2yo GWP that is somewhat picky and has had a lot of trouble with digestion. Have tried a couple different PPP blends. 2 from Dr. Tim’s, and Fueled by Team Dog. Currently landed on the new PPP sport duck and turkey blend (Ducks Unlimited logo on bag) and fortiflora to help with digestion. Showing good improvement so far and he loves the food. Much more than any other food I’ve tried.

 

[PoorMansWrangler]

Fed Pro Plan 30/20 for 5 years to my male gsp, picked up a pointer puppy that seems to be shedding more than necessary, picked up some victor 30/20 to try out and see if it helps

 

[See_Bennie_Point]

Switched this summer from Victor Active Dog and Puppy (grain free) to Victor Max-5 Pro 30/20 blend and lil' dude loves the food. So far this season I've noticed pup seems to recover faster and go longer in the field. Also switched from feeding twice a day to once a day.
I know some of this has to be attributed to the pup being a year older as well (3.5 years old this hunting season).

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

I’m on my second police K9, and I’ve been through every food you can think of to keep weight on, not go broke, and avoid the dreaded pudding poo.

In my experience Victor Hi Pro Plus has been the winner by a landslide. Second place would be the salmon/sweet potato mix you get from Costco (blue bag).

 

[beachbunny]

first time seeing this thread,
im laughing cause my dog is out behind the hangar chewing on the pelvis and leg bone of a deer i butchered

 

[Ryan47]

I have a Blue Heeler and she gets a 50/50 mix of Merrick Classic and the Grain Free. She loves it and seems to do very well for her. I dont see any mention of Merrick in this thread and was a little surprised, but may not be formulated specifically for hunting dogs.

 

[chad.vis]

Two GWPs and a Draht, I feed the 30/20 diamond after problems with PPP and been happy. I also feed scraps and deer bones and trim whenever available and see an obvious improvement in their coat when I have raw meat consistently.

 

[Mosby]

I have been feeding my GSP PPP Salmon & Rice and she has done well on it after feeding Victor. Filled out as she has matured and coat is great. I did buy a couple bags of Inukshuk 32/32 on sale to try this winter but it seems a bit too hot for her and stools weren't great. I am blending it in right now to use it up but will go back to straight PPP when it is gone. I know some people who have had problems with PPP but I haven't but I am always looking for a better alternative. Things change and sometimes its good to have an open mind.

One thing I started doing this season is cooking chicken livers, hearts, gizzards and fatty beef chunks when I have them in the crock pot in water/unsalted chicken stock and using it as a warm topper on the kibble. She likes it and it helps get her to finish her dinner when she is tired after a hard hunt. Should add some decent nutrients and protein from meat to the kibble too, which has a lot of plant based protein. Cost is pretty cheap. Packages of chicken livers, gizzards and hearts can be bought for less than $3 total.

 

[Zappaman]

first time seeing this thread,
im laughing cause my dog is out behind the hangar chewing on the pelvis and leg bone of a deer i butchered

I butcher about 4 deer and 2-5 pigs a year. All the off-cuts go into the “dog grind” gallon freezer bags (approx 80 lbs a year) and are pulled once a month or so and cooked and refrozen into quart bags and added 6-8 times a week into her Diamond dog food. She’s a happy dog who also gets most of the bones toasted up (also frozen… but they run out about July though). She’s been very happy since deer season with her fresh supply of bones lately coming back into stock

 

[jbarr79]

+1 for Victor. Was feeding Eukanuba but found out they are moving dry food process plant overseas so wanted to find food made in the states.


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[cuttiebrownbow]

+1 for Victor. Was feeding Eukanuba but found out they are moving dry food process plant overseas so wanted to find food made in the states.


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I liked eukanuba but my current dog had the nastiest farts from it. Them moving overseas only makes me happier that I switched to Inukshuk.


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[Trial153]

Diamond Naturals here, the chicken. Bump it up to the extreme Athlete when I am running them hard during the winter. They also get some salmon oil every other day.