STOCKDOGS article by Angie Untiz

[kelpiegirl]

Hi

Not sure if anyone read this yet, but in the recent issue of Stockdogs magazine, there was an article by Angie regarding amounts of fat in dog food- should be in the 20's for working dogs. Has anyone read this article yet? Is there a kibble out there with that much fat? If so, anyone have a food that they reccommend?

Thanks

Julie

[Rosanne]

All of these seem good. I've fed several with no problems:

 

EVO Fat-22% Protein-43%

or EVO Red Meat (even more expensive) same fat level

HealthWise Chick/Oatmeal Active is 20% fat, 30 protein

Nature's Variety Instinct is 22-fat, 42 protein

Solid Gold Barking at the Moon is 20-fat, 42 protein

 

all except the HealthWise are grain-free. The HealthWise is a NaturaPet product that's actually pretty affordable compared to the other ones. EVO Red Meat costs a fortune but I have to admit that my dogs love it and do great on it.

 

I imagine some well-chosen added meat or canned food might do the trick as well if a dry food is at least a higher fat like 18%. But I'm not an expert by any means.... I just like to look at ingredients and nutrients. I use www.petfooddirect.com - even if you don't order there, they list the ingredients for all the foods they sell so it's a great resource.

[KathyF]

I use Nutrisource's Performance for my working and trialing dogs. This food is targeted specifically for the working and trialing dogs. You can find out more information at: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/formulas.php I have been very happy with this food, it has 30% protein and 20% fat. We have noticed that the dogs have more stamina and recovery quicker after a hard work out.

 

Kathy

[MrSnappy]

I don't feed kibble to my dogs but if I did, it would be Orijen: http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/

 

I have switched my cat(s) over to Orijen from Evo. For starters, Orijen is Canadian and I try to support Canadians. It's also organic. It's also almost half the price of Evo. For what I get for $25.00 from Evo, I get for $14.00 from Orijen.

 

For the adult dog food, I think you're looking at something like 40% protein, which is a lot closer to the protein level of raw meat than most kibbles.

 

RDM

[Rosanne]

Well jeez I didn't know Orijen was in the US now.

 

Of course there aren't any in PA yet. I'll check it out.

 

Why is everything cheaper in Canada? I swear sometimes I want to move to Ontario

[kelpiegirl]

Lucy seems to be an easy keeper. She does well on Canidae. On EVO she gained weight- well, that was when I fed the two together as a switch. I liked the Evo though. How much Evo do you suppose a little girl like Lucy's size (about 30 lbs) needs? I was thinking like 1/2 cup twice a day. Right now she gets 1 cup (approx) twice a day. She works sheep twice a week, and does goose control every other day. I woudn't say this is HARD work, but enough.

Julie

[Rosanne]

On 2nd glance, Orijen goes for about $48 per 30lbs. . . about the same as EVO is locally. oh well. The shipping down to the US probably costs a bit.

 

 

 

My 38lb male can eat 2 cups of EVO a day (I always feed 2 meals, and I usually add in a few big spoons of high-quality canned food at night)

My 25lb girl eats about 2/3 cup twice a day so 1.3 total,

my 35lb adolescent girl, who stopped growing over the winter, eats about the same as the 25 lber.

 

My mom says her dogs always pork up on EVO too, but I fed variations of EVO for so long that I always regard it as "I have to feed more of other foods" and I rarely feed anything that's less than 400 calories or so a cup, so my feeding amounts don't vary tremendously from food to food.

 

ETA: all my dogs do something every day, whether it's swimming, agility/jumpwork, or just chasing a toy or each other around. Drifter and Seri work sheep 1-3 times a week. That's it. I can't imagine goose-work is all that easy though. And I'll admit 20+ hours a day my dogs are sleeping. ..

[kelpiegirl]

Thanks. Lucy is fit, and it's important that all my dogs are in good condition- just want to do the best for them. Goose work is easy now- not many around- BUT the SWIMMING! She will swim after them for just about EVER. Not even winded coming out after 25 mins. And, she is herding them- working hard hard hard.

Julie

 

On 2nd glance, Orijen goes for about $48 per 30lbs. . . about the same as EVO is locally. oh well. The shipping down to the US probably costs a bit.

My 38lb male can eat 2 cups of EVO a day (I always feed 2 meals, and I usually add in a few big spoons of high-quality canned food at night)

My 25lb girl eats about 2/3 cup twice a day so 1.3 total,

my 35lb adolescent girl, who stopped growing over the winter, eats about the same as the 25 lber.

 

My mom says her dogs always pork up on EVO too, but I fed variations of EVO for so long that I always regard it as "I have to feed more of other foods" and I rarely feed anything that's less than 400 calories or so a cup, so my feeding amounts don't vary tremendously from food to food.

 

ETA: all my dogs do something every day, whether it's swimming, agility/jumpwork, or just chasing a toy or each other around. Drifter and Seri work sheep 1-3 times a week. That's it. I can't imagine goose-work is all that easy though. And I'll admit 20+ hours a day my dogs are sleeping. ..