Geesh. . . another dog food question

[shelb'smum]

Tell me thoughts about sience diet.

thats what the vet has me feeding shelby. but she seems a little heavy... at 4.5 months she is 22pds

[PSmitty]

Shelb's mum-

 

Here check out this link, in case you haven't seen it. Lots of info on choosing a good food for you dog. I'm not going to bash SD, since I know some people here feed it, but I wouldn't.

 

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

[Liz P]

I used to run sled dogs so I can explain the diet.

 

There is high protein because they are extreme athletes and are constantly breaking down and rebuilding muscle. Protein is NOT an energy source and a diet high in protein but low in fat will cause a dog to lose weight. Protein is broken down then used as a building block for muscle and other molecules in the body.

 

Fat is for energy. It has more than twice the calories as carbs and is great for working dogs because it provides a steady stream of energy (think endurance).

 

Carbs are not a good source of energy for working dogs. I cringe when I see people giving Nutrical to keep their dogs going. Think of a kid who eats loads of candy, has a sugar high then CRASHES. I avoid carbs as much as possible with my dogs. However, some carbs are needed in order to burn fat as an energy source. (Atkins diet, if you don't eat any carbs you lose weight.)

 

For putting weight on I use a diet like Eagle Power Pack (just a few more carbs to stimulate weight gain). For endurance I feed Eagle Pack Ultra, Innova Evo, etc.

[BayouBC]

I like my dogs slim, but I don't want them skinny. Having NO body fat isn't a good thing. Personally, I've never had a problem with vets and judging weights. The vets I worked for were pretty honest with clients when their dogs were chunking up, and they had us techs do the same thing when we were first in with the clients, whether dog or cat owners (cats are even worse in the weight department...)

 

And while I agree that you need more fat in order to boost body weight, in general the foods with higher fat content have higher protein and vice versa. Usually if a dog is burning off that many calories they're also needing more protein in order to maintain good muscle mass.

[SoloRiver]

Hi Deb,

 

Solo's coat also has a tendency to look dry and weird compared to some other dogs -- maybe it's a family thing. His coat is a very different texture from many other Border Collies I've seen. It doesn't really lie flat anywhere and is very poofy with a natural frizz and curl to it that is becoming more pronounced as he ages. Certain foods just don't agree with him coatwise at all, and I think they don't have enough oil or fat in them for him personally (Canidae and Wellness are two that come to mind) although Fly does fine on them. In the past he has done well on Natural Balance, Nature's Variety, and Innova EVO to name a few. I usually choose the lamb or beef formulae of whatever kibble I am feeding since it tends to be higher in fat than chicken.

 

I also add fish body oil (not liver oil) and used to feed some canned mackerel (not the kind with tomato sauce) once or twice a week but it is expensive and hard to find out here in San Fran. Oily fish are a good way to bring more shine to the coat. Solo will never have a truly shiny coat the way a dog with a flatter, slicker coat would but I can definitely see the difference.

 

I will also admit that I have, at times, used a spray-on conditioner after I bathe him, but that's mostly to help repel dirt (it's like Show Sheen for horses) or at least, that's the story I tell people.

 

Solo is so poofy that you can't really see what he's shaped like, and Fly rarely stays still enough to be photographed, so I can't really contribute to this thread, but here's Solo anyway. He is about 23" at the shoulder and a tad under 50 pounds. You can at least see how very fluffy his coat is in these photos. He isn't built like most of the dogs pictured thus far -- he has much heavier bone and a wide barrel chest -- he is very masculine looking and bigger up front than in back, like a lion.

 

 

[Lunar]

Originally posted by Kat's Dogs:

I looked at Maggie's pics, she looks a lot like Dazzle. That is really lucky of you to have found a such a great vet!

In my experience it's just the dog's natural proclivity. Zeeke and Zoe don't put on weight. We tried putting weight on Zeeke, but nope. Oreo gets the same amount of food as Zoe - and worse quality food - but she balloons if she gets two kibble too much. She just packs it on. Zoe... nope.

[SoloRiver]

I just realized I got this thread and the "what a healthy Border Collie looks like" threads mixed up. My bad.

 

I do think that what a healthy dog looks like depends a lot on the build of the dog himself, though. Most of the dogs posted on the other thread are very light in bone and generally dainty so when fit they are necessarily going to look quite thin and to the general observer, even skeletal. Neither of my dogs is as lightly built (although Fly comes close) and Solo would have to be grievously underweight (not to mention, missing half of his hair) to look like that!

 

He's not fat, he's just big boned.

[Brandon M]

What about Iams puppy food? thats what I've been feeding Lance. It's one of the only premium foods available where I live.

[Maralynn]

Personaly, I wouldn't feed Iams. I believe it is over priced for what you get, and does not fall in the premium food category.

 

What foods can you get near where you live? There's probably something better available. Remember, high price + good advertising does not always mean highest quality.

 

Also, do a search on "food" here. You'll come up with lots of good info!

[sea4th]

Iams has changed over the years. Used to be a pretty good kibble, but not so much for the last several years. I don't have time to find the link now, but maybe Blackwood dog food might be another option for you? They deliver. That being said, are you happy with the Iams?

 

Also, maybe I missed it, but did the OP ever mention how old the dog is question is? If the dog is question is still a young dog, and is otherwise healthy, I would not even be concerned. Assuming the same can be said of Aussies, every border collie that I've had, was always on the thin side through about 2 yrs. old. I look at about the 2 yrs. mark for them to start filling out. In fact, I don't particularly want them looking "just right" weight wise, until they are mature.

 

When I get a rescue in who I think is too thin, I'll add some Bil-Jac (their frozen food) to their food for a while. That food is notorious for putting on weight. Since it's a soft food, tartar build up on the teeth is pretty common, so I don't feed it often, only occasionally.

 

I feed Natural Life Lamb & Rice to my 3 dogs - Oscar & Annie do fine, but Jill's coat is dry and rough looking and her skin sensitive/QUOTE]

 

If this is in fact because of a seasonal change, I wouldn't worry too much about thyroid testing, but if it's been going on for a while, it's something you might want to look into. JMO