Dog food

[KurtR]

I started with eukanuba and dog did not agree with that. Ppp salmon and rice was pretty good but tried the kinetic 30/20 and it has been great. No squirts good coat and plenty of energy

 

[tcpip95]

Diamond Skin & Coat Real Meat mixed with a tablespoon of Merrick Grain Free Wet Dog Food Real Chicken Recipe.

 

[bdan68]

Best thing for a dog is real food. Which pretty much means no commercial dog food, especially dry kibble. It's complete garbage with almost zero nutrition. Give your dog the same foods you eat. No, not the pasta, rice, grains, etc. But the meat and eggs. Your dog will live a lot longer and will be much healthier.

 

[Braaap]

Best thing for a dog is real food. Which pretty much means no commercial dog food, especially dry kibble. It's complete garbage with almost zero nutrition. Give your dog the same foods you eat. No, not the pasta, rice, grains, etc. But the meat and eggs. Your dog will live a lot longer and will be much healthier.

What is an example of a meal for your dog? The last time I gave my dog some ground beef she got the shits.

 

[bdan68]

What is an example of a meal for your dog? The last time I gave my dog some ground beef she got the shits.

For the last couple of years, about 90% of our dog's diet has been ground deer meat. I salvage road killed deer whenever I can, and then grind all that up for our dog. I also had someone give me about 100 pounds of old venison when they were needing to clean out a freezer and make room for more meat from the current hunting season. In addition to the ground meat, we give our dog any leftover meat from our meals, so she gets a lot of beef, chicken, and pork. I also give her eggs frequently, and occasionally mix a can of sardines into her food.

 

[Vandy321]

Where can we find reliable/non-biased (paid for) reviews/comparisons on dog foods? My pup is on Victor, love the energy, don't love the shedding (he's a DK, it shouldn't be this bad) he also has some pretty nasty farts with it and leave skid marks on the sheet we now put on the couch, it's gross.

Looking to switch, PPP always gets good reviews, but where are some non-biased reviews located? I do like the sporting dog type brands for their heart/joint health additives

 

[Vandy321]

For the last couple of years, about 90% of our dog's diet has been ground deer meat. I salvage road killed deer whenever I can, and then grind all that up for our dog. I also had someone give me about 100 pounds of old venison when they were needing to clean out a freezer and make room for more meat from the current hunting season. In addition to the ground meat, we give our dog any leftover meat from our meals, so she gets a lot of beef, chicken, and pork. I also give her eggs frequently, and occasionally mix a can of sardines into her food.

Not to be confrontational, but you claimed the dogs will live longer from this sort of diet, but then state you've been feeding your dog this way for the past couple of years...can you point me towards the evidence/studies on this? Of course, it makes sense to me, on its face, but it's is a TON of more money if I'm going to go this route as my pup isn't going to get my 1 elk/year, whole food diets aren't cheap, just want to see if side by side studies have been done over the life of say a few dogs from the same litters, I can't find much data.

 

[long hunter]

Our lab is a PPP dog, with two teaspoons of missing link skin and coat powder at breakfast time, along with a glycol flex tab, at supper he gets PPP and a bit of merrick canned food mixed in and another glycol flex. depending on what we have left over from the night before I will fore go the wet food and give him a bit of burger, chicken or roast that sort of thing, occasionally will give him an egg with his breakfast he is going on 4 and does great with this routine. the breeder and also our vet recommended the glycol flex and been doing that since he was a puppy, had two prior dogs who had to be put down from bad hips no fun there.

 

[Mosby]

Where can we find reliable/non-biased (paid for) reviews/comparisons on dog foods? My pup is on Victor, love the energy, don't love the shedding (he's a DK, it shouldn't be this bad) he also has some pretty nasty farts with it and leave skid marks on the sheet we now put on the couch, it's gross.

Looking to switch, PPP always gets good reviews, but where are some non-biased reviews located? I do like the sporting dog type brands for their heart/joint health additives

I feed my GSP PPP Salmon. There are probably several other dog foods I could feed her and she would do as well on.

Gundogforum.com used to be a great site. Top breeders and dog people used to be on there a lot and there are some great old threads on dog food. If you do a search, you can get some second opinions and read entertaining arguments on food and ingredients. FWIW, they didn't think much of dog food advisor which does do dog food reviews and supposed to be non biased. The site is owned by a dentist and how accurate their opinions on food and ingredients are is open to debate but it is a popular site.

One thing there is unbiased research on is the importance of 30% protein and at least 20% fat in whatever brand of food you feed. Dogs stay healthier and find more birds when fed 30/20.

Personally, I talked to several breeders and trainers and asked what they feed and their opinions of dog food based on their experience. Most used and recommended PPP. Not everyone does though for a variety of reasons and there is a lot of cheaper dog foods being used by some really good kennels.

There isn't any one right answer and I would go with how your dog is doing. Based on the sheading alone, I would probably try a bag or two of another food and see if there are any improvements.

 

[KurtR]

I know when I switched to kinetic they told me to give it three months and that with the zoom itchy dog supplement has been a game changer

 

[Mosby]

I know when I switched to kinetic they told me to give it three months and that with the zoom itchy dog supplement has been a game changer

Kinetic is quality food and you can get it from Chewy or pick it up at Tractor Supply, which for me is important. I like having a couple of different sources to get my dog food from and I drive by Tractor Supply every week. Kinetic compares really well to PPP Salmon on price too.

I am getting a new Vizsla pup in a couple of weeks. He is currently getting Victor but I will likely transition him over to the PPP Salmon after he gets acclimated but I will have to see how he does. I had a old Vizsla previously that did not like PPP for whatever reason and I got tired of fighting with her over it. She was a handful.

Which Kinetic formula are you feeding?

 

[Vandy321]

Kinetic is quality food and you can get it from Chewy or pick it up at Tractor Supply, which for me is important. I like having a couple of different sources to get my dog food from and I drive by Tractor Supply every week. Kinetic compares really well to PPP Salmon on price too.

I am getting a new Vizsla pup in a couple of weeks. He is currently getting Victor but I will likely transition him over to the PPP Salmon after he gets acclimated but I will have to see how he does. I had a old Vizsla previously that did not like PPP for whatever reason and I got tired of fighting with her over it. She was a handful.

Which Kinetic formula are you feeding?

This is what I'm referencing on the reviews...folks say it's great food, but both PPP and Kinetic get pretty average (at best) reviews for quality/type of ingredients. I guess what's left out is price as well. Castor and Pollux or Canidae (not grain free) are what I'm leaning towards. Can't argue with their ingredients, although the price does hurt a bit

 

[mtnlomo]

I did a ton of research when we got our pup. It had been some years since our last lab died and grain free had fallen out of favor. Purina pro plan came up several times just behind the expensive boutique brands so that's what I went with. We also use salmon oil since labs can have sensitive skin. He's doing great, growing like crazy, fantastic coat, endless energy.

Salmon oil is the ticket for us too. Whatever food anyone ends up choosing I can't stress enough how good a quality salmon oil is for the dogs. My wife loves it too because my lab's fur is much softer and healthier.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Diamond puppy and diamond adult dog.
Used PPP Salmon but my dog didn't like it. I wish she had.

 

[twall13]

What salmon oil are you guys using? I'd like to add some to my pup's diet as her skin has been a bit dry lately and I think that would help.

My last dog used to love leftover fish skin from our meals so I'll likely start to give her some of that as well after we get through potty training her. We typically only eat fish about once per week so I'll need to supplement beyond that as well.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Trial153]

This is what I use. I have a gallon shipped monthly though subscribe and save

Life Line Pet Nutrition Wild Alaskan Fish Oil Omega-3 Supplement for Skin & Coat – Supports Brain, Eye & Heart Health in Dogs & Cats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IPIRHA...t_i_1Y3ZDW09SFBY8T1KMSQ7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[KurtR]

Kinetic is quality food and you can get it from Chewy or pick it up at Tractor Supply, which for me is important. I like having a couple of different sources to get my dog food from and I drive by Tractor Supply every week. Kinetic compares really well to PPP Salmon on price too.

I am getting a new Vizsla pup in a couple of weeks. He is currently getting Victor but I will likely transition him over to the PPP Salmon after he gets acclimated but I will have to see how he does. I had a old Vizsla previously that did not like PPP for whatever reason and I got tired of fighting with her over it. She was a handful.

Which Kinetic formula are you feeding?

The 30k. I started with eukanuba and that didn’t agree with him then went ppp salmon and it was better . I run with a few guys who use kinetic so I tried it and it has been the best for his stomach. For a lab that will eat anything he has a very sensitive stomach even if my kid gives a few to many dog treats I can tell. I have to either order or drive 100 miles to get any good dog food so I usually buy a few bags a time. It’s nice he only eats a 1.5 cups morning and evening. I also like how much ppp and kinetic both support hunt test/field trails and hunting. Good companies.

 

[Mosby]

This is what I'm referencing on the reviews...folks say it's great food, but both PPP and Kinetic get pretty average (at best) reviews for quality/type of ingredients. I guess what's left out is price as well. Castor and Pollux or Canidae (not grain free) are what I'm leaning towards. Can't argue with their ingredients, although the price does hurt a bit

Whatever you feed, I would not recommend grain free dog food. It has been linked to dog deaths and most gun dog people I know, don't feed it because of it fwiw.

For the first time, the FDA names 16 brands of dog food linked to canine heart disease

The FDA is investigating more than 500 reports that appear to link dog foods that are marketed as "grain free" to canine dilated cardiomyopathy.

www.nbcnews.com

I stopped looking at ingredients and reviews when looking for dog food and started focusing on nutrients (protein/fat). The dog food debate begins and ends with the source of protein. Animal vs plant. Meat vs meal vs by products. Corn vs something else. I gave up trying to figure it out and I like to keep things simple. I am a Vizsla guy. The #1 FC Vizsla of all time was fed PPP. He did ok on it and lived a long life. I figured it was a good place to start and a lot of people use it. I don't think PPP is the best but I think it is good enough for a hunting dog to do his job and have a healthy life. It has also never been recalled and I can find it easily.

Like a lot of people, I look for 30% protein, 20% fat and I prefer at least 500 calories per cup. I like the food to be calorie dense because my dogs don't eat a lot of volume. I also supplement my dogs kibble during hunting season with a nutrient dense, high fat slurry that I make. They probably don't need it but they like it and it helps to get them to eat when they are tired. Anything I can do to keep weight on. If I had Labs I might feed a different formula.

I think that nutrients are more important than ingredients. I don't know if how it "gets there" matters except maybe digestibility. Scientific studies support a 30/20 formula for gun dog health and performance, so I would look for food that falls into that spectrum. Here is a study on the impact of nutrients on gun dog performance. It is a bit dated but there isn't a lot of this type of research and I haven't found anything that disputes it.

(PDF) Effect of diet of hunting performance of English pointers

PDF | A study was conducted to evaluate the influence of diet on hunting performance of English pointers during the quail-hunting season in southwest... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

Every dog is different. Feed whatever brand you are comfortable with and what your dogs like and does well on. If you are looking for other brands to consider, I would look at Dr. Tim's, Redpaw and Inukshuk. They are also proven dog foods for working dogs but they aren't food your are going to find in a local store. At least not for me.

 

[Vandy321]

That inukshuk is very interesting, assuming someone's not looking for limited ingredient/limited grains. Thanks for the suggestions.

I agree though, not worth the heart risk of grain free, proven or not.