oops never mind
Survey of Dry Dog Foods
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Dawn, I have a nearly 12 year old boy and a nearly 9 year old girl. My girl tends to put on weight easier than my boy. I have been feeding a rotation of grain free foods now for several years now. I currently use Orijen, Evo, and Instinct. In addition to the kibble I used to use canned food in the evening but have recently switched to homemade using recipes for the Halo pet food website or using Honest Kitchen or Happy Dog when I want something quick. Nicky gets about a cup to a cup and half of food a day. Half a cup of kibble in the morning and then half a cup to a cup of "wet" meal in the evening. Rally gets about 3/4 of cup, I adjust based on her weight. She gets about a quarter cup in the morning and then half a cup "wet" at night. I add water to the "wet" meal to add volume without calories when she needs to lose a little weight.
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Is Instinct the one that has a rabbit version - have you tried it?
Instinct does have a rabbit version. I have used it and the dogs have done fine on it. I do supplement with homecooked food also. Mine love fruits and veggies.
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My dogs are not on kibble, but when I have BRAT fosters I keep them on kibble, to make for easier transitions when their forever homes are finally found. The one I really like is Blue Buffalo's Wilderness, it is their grainfree variety, easily found at the big namebrand pets stores.
Our foster a few months ago, Bana, came to us with a very dry, coarse, almost prickly fur and within 10 days her fur got softer and richer in the color, you could see her coat loosing the dry coarse, lighter colored fur/hairs and at two weeks on it she looked like a different dog. I was amazed at her quick transition. It did take her a while to get used to the idea of eating at set times, as she had been free feed at her previous foster and Kibbles&Bits at that.
I have also used Honest Kitchen dehydrated foods with great success in the past, with two highly allergic dogs. Currently my dogs are on RAW food, with SOJOs grainfree veggie mix or Honest Kitchens Preference mix as a supplement. They are thriving.. -
I usually mix 50/50 Canidae All Life Stages kibble with Merricks (Cowboy Cookout or Grammy's Pot Pie) kibble. They lose interest when served dry - so I mix with about a TBS of hot water to bring out gravy. Duke is 25 lbs and Daisy is 34 lbs - both get the same portions - a bit less than 2/3 cup morning same for evening. Occasionally if there is leftover meat from our evening meal - I sprinkle in lean pieces. What a treat!
They both LOVE Blue Buffalo Wilderness - but - it gives Daisy gas…I don't buy that anymore.
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Feeding quality food to your pets should have nothing to do with if they are pets or show.. (and for 90% of us, they are show dogs/performance dogs, but pets first). Food is a pretty personal choice… and only by reading and learning about nutrition can you make an educated decision on what is best for your dog/dogs. They are not all the same and what works for one, may not work for another. I prefer less grains.. and more meat/veggies... but not all dogs do well on that...
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My basenjis are pets first and Liyah is a show dog second. Ruby and Brando have been on grain-free since I adopted them so it stands to reason that Liyah will be fed that when she is switched to adult food. I feed what I think is best for them and what I can afford. It is definitely a personal decision. -
So you're saying that a show dogs diet plays no part in the choices you make for a ring ready dog? I really find that hard to believe.
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I agree with tanza and renaultf1, my dogs don't eat any different for show than they would as companions. IMO, all dogs should be fed a high quality food that will help them maintain a correct weight, healthy skin and coat, and good muscle condition.
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Snorky…Well that's your choice to not believe it. In my case my adults are on Orijen & Canidae grain free, and my 9mo. is on puppy food that isn't grain free - so in essence, IMHO, she's on lesser quality food. She turns 1 in December and then she will be switched to grain-free. It isn't about her being a show dog, it is about the quality of the food and what works best for the individual dog food wise. She is no different than my other 2 except she gets puppy food and goes away to a show on an occasional weekend.
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So you're saying that a show dogs diet plays no part in the choices you make for a ring ready dog? I really find that hard to believe.
Believe it or not, I have never fed my dogs when in the show ring anything different then when they are not… period...
I am not sure why someone would think that a show dog is fed different then a companion? Just because they might spend weekends traveling to a dog show, still doesn't make them any different?...
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So you're saying that a show dogs diet plays no part in the choices you make for a ring ready dog? I really find that hard to believe.
I'm not sure I understand this statement. Sure my dogs' diet plays a part in making her ring-ready. But I want the best out of all of my dogs, but then again my dogs are performance/conformation dogs for a LONG time.
Digital (my almost 13 year old; and who is or is very close to being retired from agility) and Jet (my almost 12 year old, who has been retired from agility for a few years) both get Evo, muttloaf in the evening meal, and joint suppliments. Diggie gets probiotics too; Jet doesn't seem to need them.
Zest, my current conformation, coursing, agility rising star is almost 3 year old, gets fed a 50/50 mix of Evo/Canidae. Some muttloaf in the evenings. I do feed probiotics on weekends we show or when she isn't feeling well, but otherwise not.
Pearl, the rescue malinois, is 2 and gets 1 heaping cup of Canidae and 1/2 heaping cup of Evo twice a day. She gets joint sups and probiotics in the evening. Both this one and my previous malinois tend to have sensitive digestive systems and the Evo seems too rich for either of them by itself. Pearl is on joint sups because I thought she looked weak in her pasterns/joints and the probiotics b/c i think she needs the help in absorbing the food. But I'm not overly happy that this is the very best combination for her, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I do NOT want to tinker with the basenjis' diets.
So, actually, my "current" show dog is the cheapest to feed.
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From a dietary perspective, I spend a lot more effort on my older basenji, Nemo (the cuddlely non-show dog), as he has apparently some intolerance to chicken (can never gain weight on it) but has had good luck on fish and possibly a few other protein sources. So we've tried "Fromm Four Star Salmon a la veg" then "Fromm Four Star Surf & Turf" (grain-free), Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream for a short period of time and I made the jump over to the Evo Red Meat Small Bites and he is doing great on that (no poo issues). Zoni, the show-dog puppy, is on Innova Puppy Food, but I'm planning to switch her over probably to the poultry-based EVO first and then rotate from there. She'll probably be rotated on a wider range of foods, only because I believe she should be able to tolerate it, unlike Nemo…definitely not because she is a showdog.
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Are these foods good for our dogs???
Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison
Natural Balance Potato and Duck
Pinnale Trout and Sweet PotatoRita Jean
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I think Natural Balance product line is excellent, especially the Duck and potatoe one, That is what my vet many years ago recommended for dogs with allergies. My Westie was on this one when his allergies got so bad that no matter what he ate medicin wise he had to live with an E-collar on..
After many years on this I switrched to RAW and his allergies went away completely. I do not no anything about the last one you mentioned. -
Jaycee seems to love these foods trying to change her over slowly so do not upset her system in way. She really like that Pinnale just not sure what everyone thought about it.
Rita Jean
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I have not used Pinnacle so can not really share any experience with it. I would ask, what are its ingredients? There are several websites that help owners make sense of ingredients to determine if a food is a good quality food.
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I'm not sure I understand this statement. Sure my dogs' diet plays a part in making her ring-ready. But I want the best out of all of my dogs, but then again my dogs are performance/conformation dogs for a LONG time.
Digital (my almost 13 year old; and who is or is very close to being retired from agility) and Jet (my almost 12 year old, who has been retired from agility for a few years) both get Evo, muttloaf in the evening meal, and joint suppliments. Diggie gets probiotics too; Jet doesn't seem to need them.
Zest, my current conformation, coursing, agility rising star is almost 3 year old, gets fed a 50/50 mix of Evo/Canidae. Some muttloaf in the evenings. I do feed probiotics on weekends we show or when she isn't feeling well, but otherwise not.
Pearl, the rescue malinois, is 2 and gets 1 heaping cup of Canidae and 1/2 heaping cup of Evo twice a day. She gets joint sups and probiotics in the evening. Both this one and my previous malinois tend to have sensitive digestive systems and the Evo seems too rich for either of them by itself. Pearl is on joint sups because I thought she looked weak in her pasterns/joints and the probiotics b/c i think she needs the help in absorbing the food. But I'm not overly happy that this is the very best combination for her, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I do NOT want to tinker with the basenjis' diets.
So, actually, my "current" show dog is the cheapest to feed.
Thank you agileb. You summed it up nicely.
I realize after re-reading my last post that it comes off as curt and somewhat bitchy. Sorry all. Poor choice of words. But as agileb. states, yes some dogs are fed differently per their performance/show requirements.
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I don't think that is what agileb said at all. She said each of her dogs is fed based on its own personal needs. Each dog is an individual and so what works for one may not work for another.
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To clarify, I'm not feeding my dogs differently because they are show/performance dogs; I'm feeding them differently because that is what works for the individual. Where I see feeding a dog differently because it is a performance/working dog (NOT a conformation/show dog) is where the dog is burning TONS of calories. Examples would be a working border collie/kepie or, perhaps, a greyhound that is being run many times a week (I don't know how they work things at the track), a working military/border patrol dog that is logging in miles of work daily, etc. My performance/show dogs are more weekend warriors by comparison. Training less than an hour everyday (not that I really train 7 days a week), hardly needs a special diet (IMHO).
I will say I feed the basenjis more in the winter than the summer; they need more calories when it's cold. I also cook an egg on show/agility/coursing mornings, but that's because Digital is a picky boy and I need him to having something in his tummy when he's performing in agility/coursing. And it has just sort of carried over even though Miss Zest would never turn down food of any sort. Of course that's not too different from most weekends since I usually cook a big breakfast on Sat and Sun and everyone gets a bite of egg then.
However, I will say I know of some people who do feed their current show dogs a better diet than the non-show dogs, which I find very sad.
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I don't think that is what agileb said at all. She said each of her dogs is fed based on its own personal needs. Each dog is an individual and so what works for one may not work for another.
As it is with humans as well.
I much agree. Not all Basenjis are alike when it comes to food.
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To clarify, I'm not feeding my dogs differently because they are show/performance dogs; I'm feeding them differently because that is what works for the individual. Where I see feeding a dog differently because it is a performance/working dog (NOT a conformation/show dog) is where the dog is burning TONS of calories. Examples would be a working border collie/kepie or, perhaps, a greyhound that is being run many times a week (I don't know how they work things at the track), a working military/border patrol dog that is logging in miles of work daily, etc. My performance/show dogs are more weekend warriors by comparison. Training less than an hour everyday (not that I really train 7 days a week), hardly needs a special diet (IMHO).
I will say I feed the basenjis more in the winter than the summer; they need more calories when it's cold. I also cook an egg on show/agility/coursing mornings, but that's because Digital is a picky boy and I need him to having something in his tummy when he's performing in agility/coursing. And it has just sort of carried over even though Miss Zest would never turn down food of any sort. Of course that's not too different from most weekends since I usually cook a big breakfast on Sat and Sun and everyone gets a bite of egg then.
However, I will say I know of some people who do feed their current show dogs a better diet than the non-show dogs, which I find very sad.
Well put, especially your last comment… I totally agree.... and pets/companions deserve the best we can feed them... no different then show/performace dogs...
