Hunting & Fishing New hunting dog— what’s your kibble of choice?

[BLKWLFK9]

It's no secret that most dog food comes from china. It's also no secret that it's almost a sick joke that they PURPOSEFULLY basically poison the food that we feed our dogs. Pedigree was one of thoe worst. Do yourself a favor and google all the class actions that we have against china and the dog food industry.

Best thing to feed your pup/dog, raw diet. I feed my working dogs raw but will occasionally throw in some Diamond dog food.

Literally everything about them is better about raw, even if the kibble was actually safe. Eyes, coats, digestion, THEIR POOP! Their poop is 1/5 of the amount bc of lack of waste, it's so hard that it damn near bounces, and it chalks up in a day and goes POOF when u hit it with a lawn mower. Chicken backs, turkey necks and eggs 3 days, then organ meats for a day or 2, then back to backs and necks. Throw burger and other meats in there when you want. Deer, rabbit, fish, whatever. The backs and necks are cheaper to come by. Go to your local butcher and order a case of each. 40lbs each. Mix them up and separate them in 1 gal freezer bags, then throw them in the freezer. Take out in the morning, let thaw in the day then feed. They'll eat it a little bit frozen too. A little more work but if u want the best your dog can get, that's it.

 

[Pckphunter]

I had 2 labs live to be over 14 with no health issues their entire life and fed the TSC brand food protein blend. I’m sure it’s not the best food but have had good results even with my English bulldog

 

[Ram4402]

I use Oti-soothe +PS on my dog. I also use a 2x2 square gauze pad instead of a cotton ball.
I had to get it from my vet, I'm not sure if you can get it from chewy or not. But it's well worth it.

 

[Buzzinga]

Dog food companies are the financiers of the veterinarian world. These companies are effectively the ones training your vets, so of course they are going to promote their food as being the best and claim raw diets are harmful. The pet food industry is a billion dollar industry and they are not looking to loose money. But, their kibble causes many of the diseases we see it our dogs and have come to accept as normal. Many of these issues can be prevented through feeding your dog a raw diet, primarily raw meaty bones. The reality is wolves/canines have been eating raw diets for 99.9% of their existence, its what their bodies have evolved to eat and your pet dog will absolutely thrive on a properly prepared raw diet.

Read the books by Dr Tom Lonsdale, they will shock you. Work Wonders is a quick read if you don't want all the academic discussion in Raw Meaty Bones and just want the nuts and bolts. Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth McDonald and Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy R. Schultze were also books I read in addition to both Lonsdale's books but they seemed to just be summaries of other people's work.

Be very clear, this is not the BARF diet promoted by Dr. Ian Billinghurst, which is harmful.

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet/exp-diet-guide.pdf

Many people cringe at the thought of their dogs chomping down on raw bones, but rest assured, after you've fed your dog this type of diet for a while, you feelings will shift to where you cringe at the idea of your dog eating kibble. Their hair will be softer, their breath fresher, their teeth will be cleaner than yours, and they will be healthy and happy. The benefits are almost endless.

Enjoy your new puppy, dogs make people better!

 

[Buzzinga]

It's no secret that most dog food comes from china. It's also no secret that it's almost a sick joke that they PURPOSEFULLY basically poison the food that we feed our dogs. Pedigree was one of thoe worst. Do yourself a favor and google all the class actions that we have against china and the dog food industry.

Best thing to feed your pup/dog, raw diet. I feed my working dogs raw but will occasionally throw in some Diamond dog food.

Literally everything about them is better about raw, even if the kibble was actually safe. Eyes, coats, digestion, THEIR POOP! Their poop is 1/5 of the amount bc of lack of waste, it's so hard that it damn near bounces, and it chalks up in a day and goes POOF when u hit it with a lawn mower. Chicken backs, turkey necks and eggs 3 days, then organ meats for a day or 2, then back to backs and necks. Throw burger and other meats in there when you want. Deer, rabbit, fish, whatever. The backs and necks are cheaper to come by. Go to your local butcher and order a case of each. 40lbs each. Mix them up and separate them in 1 gal freezer bags, then throw them in the freezer. Take out in the morning, let thaw in the day then feed. They'll eat it a little bit frozen too. A little more work but if u want the best your dog can get, that's it.

THIS 100%

Thank you for posting this

 

[Hattrick]

pro plan performance if it’s a working dog. It’s a reason all the top pros in the country use it. As a pro trainer I see all kinds of different foods come with my client dogs. I see far more problems using pro plan. Better coats, better stools less Allergies. I run the performance 30-20

 

[Codiekfx400]

@Hattrick did you mean far less problems?

 

[Simonsza1]

Ya he had to of meant less. I also use the pro plan sport 30/20. We add a scoop of nupro silver at dinner. Our gsp is a beast and everyone comments on how he literally never even has to stop and take a break and after going 100% all day if he takes a five minute nap it’s like he slept all night. He got a skunk for Christmas thankfully not a real one.

 

[Badfinger]

Nature's Select is the best food I've found and I've done a lot of research.

Nature's Select

 

[xdeano]

My wife posed doing more of a real food for our dogs recently on out drive to the in-laws. Basically mixing fruits, vegetables, rice and meat. Then putting a laddel of warm bone broth over the top. Sounds like a lot of work to me. But im game. She said shed do some more research.

Deano

 

[W54/XM-388]

My wife posed doing more of a real food for our dogs recently on out drive to the in-laws. Basically mixing fruits, vegetables, rice and meat. Then putting a laddel of warm bone broth over the top. Sounds like a lot of work to me. But im game. She said shed do some more research.

Deano

Once you get used to cooking breakfast and dinner for your dogs just like you would for humans, it quickly becomes part of your schedule & you barely notice it anymore.

 

[xdeano]

Once you get used to cooking breakfast and dinner for your dogs just like you would for humans, it quickly becomes part of your schedule & you barely notice it anymore.

Do you have any good reference material or suggestions on which way to go as far as books, internet sites. I can do a search, but can be lead astray by all the bs on the web.

Xdeano

 

[Jefe's Dope]

I switched from Merrick to Pro Plan based on this thread. Her shit was nasty and never recovered to what it was like using Merrick. Went back to Merrick and her shit is back to good and she seems happier. I'm using a grain free version.

 

[Buzzinga]

Do you have any good reference material or suggestions on which way to go as far as books, internet sites. I can do a search, but can be lead astray by all the bs on the web.

Xdeano

Read the books I mentioned above. Dr. Tom Lonsdale's books. You don't want to feed too many fruits and veggies, this will change the acid levels in their stomachs and not allow them to digest raw meats. Basically 10% of their diet should be fruits/veggies. You want your dog eating raw meaty bones such as chicken backs or turkey necks. The raw meat is easily digestible as long as you aren't feeding too much non-raw food and the bones will scrape their teeth clean, naturally.



Also, if you switch dog's kibble all at once, your dog's poop will be nasty. Always take a week to 10 days and slowly integrate the new food with the old so their stomachs can adjust.

 

[Simonsza1]

Grain free no bueno! Huge links to heart disease. Look it up and research it very interesting. Most of the big proponent brands of grain free years back have started to add it back in ways because of the links.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Grain free no bueno! Huge links to heart disease. Look it up and research it very interesting. Most of the big proponent brands of grain free years back have started to add it back in ways because of the links.

Sorry. I meant I switched back to the Merrick with grain from grain free Merrick.

Amazon.com

 

[hlee]

Dogs digestive tracts don’t like switching back and forth. They like to be on one food and stay there. Vets and nutritionists recommend slowly acclimating a dog to new food over the course of a couple of weeks.

We boarded our dogs recently but forgot to pack their food. Usually, we pack their food by meal, but were in a rush and it slipped our minds. They had the runs for about 3 days after we got them back home. Back on their regular food and their digestive tracts were back to normal.

 

[Hattrick]

Yes less problems

 

[Jefe's Dope]

I blend and increase over time when changing food. Some blending should occur bag to bag as well IMO.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

Pro plan.....

 

[TurboTrout]

Fromm

 

[teddyw19]

Taste of the wild is good. I moved my lab to sports mix wholesomes its pretty affordable and grain free.

 

[Simonsza1]

Guys please read up on grain free foods. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do but please do your own research. Lots of links where grain free foods have led to heart disease and other problems. Even the leaders of grain free foods have been implementing grains etc back into there foods for this reason. I could go on and give you more details but I know lots of you may just brush me off for another guy on the forum. Please do some research on it, I know if your posting here you obviously love your dogs.

 

[Simonsza1]

I’ll add two more things, be careful what you read, lots of the studies are actually paid for by the dog food companies. Also for the hunters out there you may agree with this. I’ve been a hardcore predator hunter and a trapper for almost 40years now and while yes all the predator scat has plenty of remnants of eating other animals it’s also always full of corn, soybeans, acorns, grains etc and always fruits especially where there’s apples. So don’t let the marketing of the wolves living grain free fool you into thinking that’s how they actually eat!

 

[3-0-hate]

My Weimaraner and my lab mix both do very well on the Kirkland signature from Costco. I rotate to a different protein every time (salmon, lamb, beef, etc) and they don’t have any issues with stomach upset.

Their coats look great and they are very healthy.

And the food doesn’t break the bank!

 

[Hattrick]

agreed

 

[Jigstick]

I’ve fed Origen and Purina Pro Plan to various labs that I’ve owned. The grain free shit is a fad. Univ of Penn Vet School, one of the best in the country, recently released some data regarding grain free diets and a higher incidence of cardiac disease. I trust their study. We’ve never had a problem with the Purina Pro Plan. Didn’t see any noticeable benefit from the Origen. So we switched back to PPP with our current yellow lab.

 

[Romeo458]

Mines spoiled by one of her uncles. He gets chicken hind quarters from Fairway grocery cheap. He cooked them with a suvee cooker and grinds them. I usually get about 2 or 3 gallon bags a month of the extra fatty parts his cats don't like. I mix that with her old doggie science diet the vet wants her on. She loves it, and its great for her. She's 12 now and still hyper enoughto run her german Sheppard cousin thats half her age in to the ground.

 

[Buzzinga]

I still think a raw diet is best, but FirstMate is a Kibble worth looking at, I feed it to my old girl who didn't have the benefit of eating raw.

FirstMate Dog Food | Review | Rating | Recalls

FirstMate Dog Food - an independent review, star rating and recall history by the editors of The Dog Food Advisor.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com

 

[Highbrass]

If your dogs are active and burning plenty of calories Purina Pro Plan is the food to feed.

 

[Simonsza1]

If your dogs are active and burning plenty of calories Purina Pro Plan is the food to feed.
View attachment 7522586

Our gsp is purina pro plan sport all the way! He loves pumpkin also lol

 

[Codiekfx400]

Watch out that pumpkin is a natural laxative. Dog will be squirting orange half way across the room.

 

[Slowroll]

I
I feed mine virgin kittens at midnight. Results may vary. When I run out, she likes hills science diet.

 

[Simonsza1]

Watch out that pumpkin is a natural laxative. Dog will be squirting orange half way across the room.

Ya I know it. He loves them so much we buy them for him. Found out when he stole our neighbors fall porch decorations and ate them. We also have 6 apple trees and he loves apples so much that now he gets one every day as a treat. we even buy them for him once the trees runs out. He will practically kill you for your Apple or pear core while your trying to eat your own. Poops are just fine though! Crazy gsp

 

[Jefe's Dope]

 

[JohnFrsux]

Hi everyone,
I recently changed my dog's food because she had a strange allergy, our veterinarian helped me choose a new food, now everything is fine.

 

[Pinch_NO]

Each dog is a little different but my spriger get all lose in the outgoing side if the food have to much grain based protein like soya or similar. I keep him on the animal based proteins and his stomach seems to handle that better.

 

[benchmstr]

I exclusively use bully max.

I always have used it for my dogo argentino and my bully, but recently my agency switched to bully max for our canines.

I also have several friends using it on their bird dogs and hog dogs...no other food compares.

535 calories per cup

They have gorila max also from the same company and it has over 600 calories...but I've never used it

 

[hunter1959]

I have kept my German Shorthair on Purina Pro Plan Sport, both dry and wet, since she came home at 10 weeks... the breeder (Dusty W, in Pennsylvania is strict in the use of it as well and suggested it)... she is 3 as of November 17th and she is healthy, strong and with endless energy... If she doesn't get 2 hours of sprinting in a day she is unhappy...

 

[Sniperwannabee]

Our 6 year old healthy and very active Great Dane came down with congestive heart failure and died 2.5 years ago..... He was on Costco's Nature's Domain Salmon & Sweet Potato, grain free. Since then our dogs (Lab and Dane) are now eating Costco's Kirkland Signature Adult Dog w/ Lamb, Brown Rice for grain, and Vegetable.

This was taken a couple days before he passed.

Really he loooks so healthy?,,,...

 

[Sniperwannabee]

If by “top brands,” you mean grain free brands, then you are correct. Grain free dog food is a fad as much as gluten free human food.

Oatmeal is considered a grain right? Our pro plan is lamb and oatmeal

 

[hlee]

Oatmeal is considered a grain right? Our pro plan is lamb and oatmeal

My point is not that grains are inherently good for dogs. It is that they are not inherently bad for dogs. The "grain free" fad is based on a poor understanding of a dog's metabolism. The proponents say "dogs are carnivores, they need meat." Well, domestic dogs are actually omnivores and, while they do need meat in their diet, they can metabolize a wide variety plant based food. And, just as soon as they say "meat, meat, meat" they make their dog food with non-grain fillers- you know plant material that is not meat but is not grain. Yeah, no grains. But, these boutique dog food labels are running on "feels" and not science. They don't have veterinary dietitians on staff and they don't have the money to run the multi-year live feeding trials that they big pet food companies can and do run. The going hypothesis is that one or more of these fillers causes the dilated cardio myopathy that has been linked to a grain free diet. It's not the grains that are stopping the DCM. It's that some other "filler" is causing it...

 

[Sniperwannabee]

Good to know but it looks like all the top brands are listed.

Didn’t see purina

 

[Jefe's Dope]

 

[Mischievous]

Piper eats Fromm Kibble and Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Raw Lamb/Duck/Rabbit, Salmon Cod Food Topper, and Norwegian Salmon Oil.
She 15lbs of energy and just hunts up women..... and literally wrestles with the big dogs, a Rottweiler, Boxer, and Rhodesian Ridgeback, and catches a mean frisbee toss. She's holding out for contract from the Yankees for shortstop.

Her DNA Mix:
24.3% Pomeranian

16.5% Chihuahua

13.9% Australian Cattle Dog

13.0% American Pit Bull Terrier

11.8% Pug

8.9% Shih Tzu

6.0% Dachshund

5.6% Supermutt (lab and poodle)

 

[3-0-hate]

View attachment 7553925

Ill see your Wiem and raise you a pit-lab!

I love Weims.. I want another one badly, but we have a strict two dog limit...

 

[Mischievous]

Ill see your Wiem and raise you a pit-lab!

I love Weims.. I want another one badly, but we have a strict two dog limit...

If it's not the dogs limit, maybe get rid of part of the "we" (wife/gf, etc) and get the pup lol

 

[Simonsza1]

 

[DrBoz]

Hey all!

Have a new English setter pup coming my way this week and looking for dog food recommendations. He’ll be training to (hopefully) be a top shelf bird dog.

I’ve searched the web and find that every site out there is an ad or has an agenda.

Hoping folks on this site that love their hunting buddy can share what they are feeding to keep Fido in tip top shape.

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Purina pro plan. Chicken or lamb

 

[Rvie]

Purina pro plan. Chicken or lamb

Sport