Second Food Question - Page 1

Read what was said about Nutro - Never tried it but I have fed Blackwood, Black Diamond and now feeding Nature's Recipe.  What do you folks think is the best without breaking the bank.

I have looked at so many labels and talked to so many sales reps that I have gotten frustrated.  I am not a nutritionist but I want what's best for my situation. 

Here's what I have currently all GSD: 3yr old High Drive Male (94#s), 3 year old Female working service dog (72#s), 3 yr old med drive brood bitch (open)62#s), 11 mo old med/high male in training (84#'s), 8 mo old high GSD/Mal in training (51#'s). Oh yeah our Gr. Pyrenees 8 yrs and 125#'s with summer clip.(he's our coyote chaser). 

Any help is appreciated. By the way we are having high temps in the 95-100 range.  Feeding twice a day: 6:30 AM 68-75 temp and after dark about 9:00PM when temps have dropped to the mid 80's.  They are eating pretty well on this schedule.

Again thanks for any help.

TUFF

A meat-based, grain free food.
Innova EVO, Instinct, Taste of the Wild, Orijen, and Wellness CORE.

Or you could explore non-kibble feeding options.

I  tried taste if the wild - salmon as a trial, generated great appetites but very expensive.   Tried EVO with one dog who eats anything, but would not touch EVO. Don't know why.

What are you feeding and to how many dogs, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks

I feed prey-model raw food diet, to one dog, at the moment.  The more you're feeding, the cheaper it gets, actually.

In the past, circumstances have necessitated me feeding kibble, and I've fed EVO or Timberwolf Organics [which I would no longer recommend, since they've undergone about three reformulations and are no longer reliable.]

Often, dogs that are used to eating kibbles that are sprayed with fats [like the majority of commercial kibbles, that's where the poultry fat ingredient comes in, they spray it on the cooked bits to make them smell appetizing], don't know how to react to kibble that has less odor.

Really, if the kibble is healthy, which EVO is, by most standards [certainly far healthier than most other kibbles], I wouldn't accept the dog's refusal to eat it.  If he doesn't want to eat, he can be hungry until he changes his mind.  Letting a dog manipulate you with food can become a serious slippery slope if you let it.

If you're seriously concerned about heat and dehydration with the dogs, something to consider is that kibble takes moisture from the dogs to rehydrate before they can digest it.  Just something to be aware of if you're feeding kibble.

The only thing I would like to add about the original food and company you mentioned on the first post is that I tried calling there call center several times to ask simple,non proprietary type questions andI can honestly tell you that I have never run into a more evasive company than this.Everything I enquired about for example there omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is over 20  to 1 in the product I was asking about and wondered why they would do that especially with all the research and knowledge out there in respect to how unhealthy that is.I got nothing,not even the numbers on an as fed basis OR dry matter,ex-protein,fat,fibre,calcium etc.The only thing they would reveal is the guaranteed analysis which is on the bag.When you are that EVASIVE about such simple things that makes me run the other way.This has been my personal experiance with this company and as I said ,I tried 2 or 3 different times.Good luck with your little one.

I have my dogs currently on Blue Buffalo. 7 year old beagle very active and a 10 month old german shepherd both females and they love it. My GSD (Athena) is in heat and it is very hot in south texas so she is very picky at the moment. I had fed my beagle Authority Harvest Baked lots of veggies and pretty good ingredients but was discontinued.  In Blue Buffalo I like feeding the salmon and sweet potatoes it actually make my garage smell like fish. No real complaints so far been using since october when I got Athena.

Also I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on adequate amounts of fiber for a my GSD's diet. Blue Buffalo has about 4% fiber and i am not sure if that is adequate or not. Her stoole for the most part is seems fine but I had an issue with it that I think may have came from me getting lamb and rice instead of salmon and sweet potatoes may have affected her stomache. But it got me thinking about fiber and wondered if anyone has a thought on adequate fiber. Thanx

Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato:

Ingredients:
Whitefish, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Menhadden Fish Meal, Oatmeal, Canola Oil (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Whole Potatoes, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Dried Chicory Root, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Garlic, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Herring Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Fructooligosaccharides, Monooligosaccharides, Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.
 

Looks to me as though there's ample fiber.
Fish appearing as the first ingredient is somewhat misleading, since they're portioning it by weight inclusive of its water content, which is removed during the extrusion process.  Its actually probably lower down on the ingredient list.

Its a better food than most kibbles out there, though.  At least the grain sources aren't corn.

Since you are offering good info. What do you think of the items in bold (Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley Oatmeal etc. Just wondering because they are in bold.

 I bolded them because you were interested in the fiber content of the food, I was pointing out several of the numerous fiber sources it contained.  Frankly, the food is comprised mostly of fiber.

I'm really not a fan of feeding any grain to a dog, regardless of its quality.  They don't need it, and some dogs suffer for it.
Dogs, ideally, should receive their protein from meat sources, as that is what they are designed to eat.
Grains are used because they are a far cheaper source of protein than meat.

However, in the grand scheme of things, rice and wheat are certainly less objectionable than corn.