Thoughts on diet during gestation and effects on puppies through life - Page 1

So we already know how dysplasia is hereditary and environmental through what you feed, weight and activity/trauma etc. but I believe dogs that came from a mom fed a high quality variety diet of balanced raw and kibble have a much greater advantage than dogs coming from moms fed low quality food. The nutrients during pregnancy influence the dog's future for life and is just as important as after they are whelped.
I have looked for studies on this and cannot find any that are specific to this topic.
Anyone know of studies done on this?

Not precisely what you're looking for. I've looked for the same thing. :(

Plenty of human nutrition data.  There are not going to be any studies on how a raw high protein, high fat human quality meat diet compares with Purina Pro Plan or Ol' Roy because the dog food industry will try to kill the studies before they begin, invalidate the results after they are finished, and most researchers wouldn't touch it because the dog food industry is so powerful and has deep pockets and political support.  Just imagine that a study was done comparing human raw meat diet to dry kibble and the hip dysplasia was tremendously reduced in those animals eating the raw diet.  Then every dog food company would have to do studies proving their dry corn in a bag dog food was just as good as raw fresh meat.  It would cost the dog food companies a fortune to do the studies and then another fortune to find researchers to fake the results.  

The food companies already do the research (e.g. Waltham )
but you can bet they don't make everything they work out public.
So all the prepared foods are claimed by their manufacturers to be
better than everybody else's.

Whatever way you feed, Raw, moist, kibbled, or mixture of those, go
for the best you can get.
Should have thought it was obvious that the better diet, on all fronts,
you can provide for an in-whelp bitch, the more advantages it will
give her and her resulting pups.  Not 'just' about HD, but in every way.
Same is true for what you wean the pups onto.  [Actually, same is true
for as long as you are feeding the resulting dog !]


Breeders are sometimes constrained by availability or finance;  they can
still get decent results by going for the 'next best' they can manage.
Anybody who breeds dogs when they do not want to do that - or knows
from the off they cannot afford to - should not breed dogs.

 

I breed GSD's and Labs, and years back I had a litter of GSD's and a litter of Labs at the same time,
they both ate the same dog food and both litters had two or more pups with considerable overbites,
that had never happened before so I changed the brand of kibble I was using.

If you can feed raw or a high quality kibble that has never been recalled, go for it.
For all I know it could have come from the town water system that year............

Epigenetics .. the environment affects the expression of genes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics




 

Bubba that is the closest I've seen in this search. Thank you but still not a controlled study on what I was wanting exactly.
I do feed raw, totw, coconut oil, fish oil, DE, spirulina (in small amounts) some cooked meals on occasion and I lightly use Nu Vet vitamins. I see what it does for my dogs and puppies.
Hopefully someone knows of a documented study of pups from raw fed moms vs those from poorly fed; low quality fed moms. There has to be more than just opinions out there.
I already know the benefits personally.

Money is on the side of the dog food companies .. researchers need grant money to operate and the politics and money of dry dog foods is supported by veterinarians.  

I would probably look more at the beginning raw feeders websites. ie.  Jane Anderson's PWD site;  VonLotta's GSD site; although probably NOT documented have a wealth of information;  different stages/diets of feeding raw for different ages and their long term feeding their mama dogs raw and kibble.  Food for thought.  Good luck  Nan

My sister is a genetic counselor and works with geneticists and a reproductive oncology surgeon with human reproductive cancers.  What is rare in genetics is a disease, condition or syndrome that is NOT influenced by the environment.  Only 10% or less of cancers are purely genetic in origin and 90% are environmental or genetics X environment in origin.  We have had many discussions about genetics in dogs plus dogs are used as models for human cancers in some cases.