protein level question

[LyndaB]

My border collies are very active - they are on a 32 acre ranch - BUT they don't show or herd livestock.

 

I feed Orijen and it's around 40% protein - is this too much protein for my dogs and their 'busy' but not 'performance' lifestyle?

[Brad]

Lynda, I had asked my vet about that food and my dogs, in regards to too much protein (44% I recall). My vet felt that high energy dogs weren't too prone to problems with a higher protein diet and she told me I could continue feeding it if I wanted. I did feed it for a while (but stools were far too stinky) and switched to a comparable brand as far as protien levels go. Both dogs appear fine (for whatever that's worth) and are just active sport dogs, nothing too extreme.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

I don't work my dog, she's an indoor dog with a pretty laid back lifestyle. She gets all the exercise and play she wants, but is not overly active compared to some. We also feed Orijen after years of fighting to find a food that would put weight on her and that she'd eat. I was kind of leery of feeding such a high protein diet for such a lazy dog, but we tried it and have had fantastic results. I do feed her the low end of the suggested amount, but she's now gained the weight she needed to and loves the food, so I'm not going to complain. My vet never said anything about the food having too much protein and they are happy with her physical appearance. Her stools are small and don't smell either, so that's a bonus! Some dogs do well on a high protein diet and some do not, I guess it just depends on your dogs. But if they are healthy, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[JBlaylock]

Well, I'm not sure about dogs and protein, but I know a bit about the use of protein in a human active lifestyle.

 

A goal in any athlete's lifestyle of high activity should be to reduce the ammonia production that results from muscle glycogen depletion and muscle cannibalization. When blood glucose levels dip gluconeogenesis (one process that steps up) uses protein to make glucose and if protein is not available in the blood the body goes after muscle to get it. One byproduct of muscle and BCAA breakdown is ammonia, which is toxic to the cells, a cause of premature fatigue, and processing it puts a lot of stress on the kidneys.

 

So, it would seem that a high protein diet would prevent muscle cannibalization and the passing of toxins through the kidneys. But if you consume too much protein during effort the excess is converted to ammonia which causes the above mentioned muscle cannibalization, etc.

 

Just like too much vitamin C causes your body to flush it all out - you get diarrhea and end up with zippo as for vitamin C intake - too much protein can cause the negative effects that you were consuming protein to avoid in the first place.

 

A proper protein-to-carb ratio is important and those in the know suggest that a highly active athlete eat or drink a solution that contains 88-90% carbs and 10-12% protein. A body builder or someone with less cardio or high entinsity athletiscism in their lifestyle would need more protein and less carbs, but when you are exerting a ton of energy for long periods of time, you need more carbs and less protein or you will end up poisoning yourself and consuming your own muscles. Now, again, that is for humans, and I'm not sure about dogs, but we are both mammals, so it may not be all that different...I'd imagine an active Border Collie who is out running and herding sheep all day would need more fat and less protein than a dog who is relatively sedintary.