dog food, again

[Dano2]

i remember someone else on hear mentioning they feed their dog Canidae.
Just curious about the amount you feed your dog.
My lab is about 63#'s and she really loves the stuff and woofs it down like nothing.
Same with my other lab, and shes about 11 weeks.
I feed the older one 1 1/2 cups twice a day, which is about what the bag says to feed, but it seems she could eat alot more.
Ofcourse she would probably eat half the bag if I let her.
She isn't fat, and isn't skinny and has plebty of energy, but it just doesn't seem like much (1 1/2 cups twice a day) but maybe I'm just thinking this becasue it is such a high quality food, and with some of the other grocery store brands it seems you have to feed 2 to 3 times more. Now the younger one (about 11 weeks) the bag says according to her weight) feed her 3/4 cup a day. It seems like such a small amount.
I give her a little more than that, becasue she just woofs it down and wants more and more.
Around noon each day they do get some treats as well, a couple milk bones or whatever.

Should I follow what the bag says or what?
It just seems like its not much, I think I'll givem a little more anyway when it starts getting colder, bulk em up a bit forthe winter, but after hunten season ofcourse.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

My vet was very helpful in this area. I currently feed my average sized 7 month old golden 2 cups twice a day of Eukenuba puppy food for large breed dogs. It seems perfect.

[bigdog]

My current lab is about the same size (65#-70) and he gets about 1 1/4 cups twice a day of Science Diet Maint. Also manages a cookie or two and a few table scraps. He would eat more if I let him but then he starts to get fat. Once he got into the bag and we ended up at the U emergency room in the middle of the night afraid of bloat. Luckily didn't have bloat but the x-ray pretty much showed nothing but dog food inside of him!

[This message has been edited by bigdog (edited 09-29-2003).]

[Redlantern]

Typically the higher quality foods will have more calories per pound. You won't have to feed as much. If the dog is still hungry after getting all the calories it needs, give it a carrot or two.
You will also notice that with the higher quality foods you will have less waste. More of the ingredients in it are digestible. I stay away from foods that have vegetables or meat by products listed in the top five ingredients. The by products are mostly beaks, ligaments, etc. While it's protein, it's not very digestible to an animal with such a short digestive system as a dog. I use National. I've had good luck with it, but I do supplement it with 50% ground turkey.

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Erik

[SouthernMinnyRookie]

I feed my 90 lb Golden Retriever Science Diet for Large Breeds. He gets 1.5 cups 2 times a day. I do not give him scraps and very few treats (maybe 2-3 a week). Vet said he looks great and I am doing a GREAT job on the amount of food.

He also said during hunting I could give him 2 cups / 2 times a day if he wanted it.

Getting excited to get some roosters!!

Jason

[BLACKJACK]

Dano, I think you just need to look at your dogs condition - fat or skinny - and adjust accordingly. And it depends on how hard you hunt them. If its once a weekend, your regular amt will work, but if you hunt them hard (or when its gets cold) you need to give them more. I feed my 6 year old female lab Science Diet Maint. Shes gets all she wants to eat and shes doing well. And I also give her table scraps, I figure why waste it and cut down on dogfood costs. Now with pheasant hunting 10 days away (and colder weather), I'm going to switch her to the hi-cal Science diet. When we go to SoDak pheasant hunting, we'll actually mix some canned dog food with their dog food, just to get them to eat more, they're sometimes so tired that they won't eat without the extras. And at the end of 5 days, they're still skin and muscle and bones.

[This message has been edited by BLACKJACK (edited 09-30-2003).]

[setterguy]

Redlantern-

Where do you get your National? I used to use it but the place I got it from stopped carrying it.

[Guest]

I would recommend that all of you try Nutri-Source. It is manufactured by Tuffy's in Perham. They make a high performance brand that is top notch. I also like to support the local economy. Just my 2 cents.

[Redlantern]

Setterguy, I have a couple of friends just west of me off of 95 that sell it. E-mail me and I can give you there number if interested. [email protected]

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Erik

[Dano2]

Walter, I haven't got my dog that one, but I DID have her on Tuffys Gold Premium, manufatured same place, got it from a local guy here that trains dogs, great quality and VERY good price, only thing is, it was the first time I noticed my dog not eating very well, she wouldn't hardley finish her meals, then I weaned her back to Iams, and it definetly had to be her disliking the food, becasue she woofed the Iams down like nothing.
Then I weaned her over to the Canidae after reading about it and researching some foods, and both the dogs just cant get enough.
Not sure what was with the tuffys, but i guess MY dog didn't care for it, and this dog will eat anything.
thanks for all the input.
Man its fun watching that little one tryan beat up the older one, she sure has alot of spunk in her.

[Mr. B]

Your lab sounds just like mine. We are very carefull to make sure our lab does not over eat.

If she will eat and eat and eat make sure she does not get into her food. My lab got in to her's once and I am not sure how much she ate but I know the next day she lost 10 lbs in 8 hours while I was at work. It was quite the mess and an expensive vet bill. Now her food is kept in a screw top container not one that snaps on.

It is amazing she will sit there staring at her food until I tell her to eat but once she starts do not get in her way. She will knock you over to get to her food. She does not try to get other food that might be out but her dog food goes nuts for.

Good luck with you lab and have fun hunting her.

[Guest]

Dano,
It surprises me that your dog didn't like the Tuffy's. I work for Tuffy's and would recommend that you try our new brand of Nutri-Source. We've been pushing it for about a year now, and all of our responses have been great. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Its a top of the line product for a very reasonable price. We also have a high performance that seems to work very well. If you or anyone else has any questions feel free to email me. [email protected]
thanks