EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

 I was at TSC getting dog food i tend to get retriever cuase i like the high protein  and low fat. What do yall look for in a dog food?

First thing I do is flip it over and read the ingredients, most of the time whatever it consist of most is the first then so on, not always the case, I try to avoid anything if the first ingredients are corn or wheat, second thing I look for is the fiber content, low fiber means less grain and more meat based kibble, not saying my way is right or the only way but it's just a personal preference...

Depends on time of year it is as to what feed I'm feeding, a lot of your cheaper feeds will show a high protein but it may not be a source of protein a dog can digest (absorbed by body) some feed manufacturers add hair to the formula to increase the protein  content on paper but in the end result your dogs can't use it....

Thats good info i never new that. So what kind of food do u use?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/diamond-extreme-athlete-dog-food-40-lb
the best I can find for the price, About $1 per lb.
When I can I will mix it with
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/taste-of-the-wild-wetlands-canine-formula-with-roasted-fowl-30-lb-bag
Excellent feed but on the pricey side. I wouldnt just pile on the protein, dogs need and use fat as well. If you go real high protein content it can tax your dogs liver.

high fat is important in the winter

I've recently swapped to the blue bag of showtime and couldn't be happier, seems my dogs don't burn out as quick, eat less, crap twice a day, and look good to boot, I was feeding the value pac made by specialty feeds and after swapping to the showtime could see the difference in overall coat health and muscle tone, since swapping I've had to buy a different brand a time or two and my dogs are real reluctant to eat anything else, of course they'll eat it when they get hungry but don't gobble it up like the showtime....

Another thing I look at, whenever I open a bag of feed I always grab a handful and rub it in my hands to see what kind of grease it has to it, IMO the oiler your hand is the better the feed is going to be....

Does that rubbing trick work on can food as well. Lol


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Sure does JP, you just got to have soft hands and knead it play-do lol....

I feed diamond high energy. $32 a bag and I think it's 24% protein and 18 % whatever the other crap is

in the summer 18 percent or lower is ok...in the winter 20 percent protein because dogs burn more calories and more as the temperature drops...

I was feeding diamond high energy but the turds are sometimes messy and have a bad smell...

I switched back to sportsmix in the black bag and the turds are solid and don't have much of a smell...lots easier to clean up...

THAT IS 24/20. THAT "OTHER CRAP" IS THE FAT.

like already mentioned some cheap dog foods will have hair to increase the protein and bone to increase the calcium content but neither are digestible...just looks good to the buyer who does not know any better...a slick trick...

and the highest content is stated on the bag first and goes down from there to the least amount...

also if the bag says 100 percent nutritionally complete for all stages of a dogs life then it should be that according to law...

sorry...meant to say 20 percent fast and 24 percent protein...

I feed river run 30/20 now while we are hunting.

I will switch them to 24/20 in the slower times.

I feed river run as well... It's cheap. It'a crap by the ingredients and by the rating sites.
 My dogs do well on it...
They did better on victor and I would feed that if I could afford it
I supplement with table scraps all the time and raw when it's available

IS THAT BAD???!

Goose, I also feed the blue bag showtime in the winter. 27/20. In the summer I feed the black bag 24/20. If you do not mind me asking what are you paying for the blue bag & where are you getting it. I am paying 25.00 a bag for the blue & 23.25 for the black. I normally pick up 650# at a time.

I usually get 400 lbs at a time

I'm giving 25.00 a sack for it at  the hardware store in angie north of bogalusa, there's a foxpen around picayune that sells it for around 22.00 a sack, Chad Holston buys it from them he could possibly give you the number, I usually buy 4 or 5 bags a time so it doesn't justify driving over there to save a few bucks...

its the preservatives that i watch for if i buy comercial dog food

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/red-flag-ingredients/dog-food-preservatives/

I used to feed retriever, it's pretty low quality like river run but my dogs stool wasnt as good as it is in river run.
I fed diamond high energy for couple years as well...it about like retriever as far as stool, ingredients and price.
I fed diamond naturals for while...had the most terrible stinky stools in it and it cost way more.
My two hunting buds feed showtime and got a hook up on it but they live a ways from me and we ain't got it where I live. The ratings and ingredients on it is bout the same and retriever or diamond high energy.
I figure if I was gonna cheap out I might as well just go all in with river run lol. It's all bout the dame junk anyway.
As far as I'm concerned if you got the extra money to do it right in the kibble dept(which isn't really that much and takes less to maintain a dog), victor is hard to beat for the price as far as quality and the stool proves it

seems like two of the best feeds in my area are diamond hi energy and sportsmix in the black bag...one feed store sells Victor but last I checked he wanted an arm and a leg for it...

Yeah that company really seems to have blown up...
 5-6 years ago you could get red bag of victor for like 18-20 bucks a bag now they asking 35+
I still feed the puppy bag to preg females and puppies if I got em til I yank the rug out from under em and put down the river run...lol

Taste of the wild Prairie its 32 protein and 18 fat. I like the high protein high fat feeds. The more active your dogs are the more fat is beneficial for them. This one is grain free as well. A little on the pricey side as I get it for about $1.46 per lb but worth it to me. My dogs always look good, stool is a lot less compared to when I fed cheaper dog foods as well.

I feed diamond naturals chicken and rice. I have fed it for several years now. It cost me $32 per 40lb bag. I feed it year round bumping feed rate during winter and the hardest hunting periods. My dogs do good on it. Stool is generally nice hard turds not cow patties. I have looked at victor but not crazy bout trying to switch feed for a couple months until the dogs line out and I can see the true results. I have my feed down to a science. I know exactly what each dog to maintain or gain weight.


Shotgun
Arkansas

 I have  tried to change dogs foods and I have to end up back at  diamond high energy ...you can feed it every other day and the dogs look real good providing you worm regular .....I'm bout to try  some marksman I believe is the name  its  cheaper and probably is .. same protein and fat but the diamond I feed half  as much as any other feed I have  tried ..maybe this new feed will be  ok ...

I feed the Victor red bag. 24-20. Dogs do great on it. Nice stools and don't feed to much to keep them nice. Great energy levels good coats. Great food but pricey if you have alot of dogs. I only feed 2. 90 and 60 pounds and the bag lasts about exactly a month.

How are the stools on that one? When I was feeding diamond I was cleaning twice the poop, but it was diamond lamb n rice


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stools are good . I'm feed'n about 19 dogs

Never personally had a dog have issue with the Diamond, they tend to do very well. Tried other food and the stool got larger and with more stink. When I fed just the Taste of The Wild the stool got loose and couldnt keep weight on em. The mix seems to do well for them and its easy to control their weight.

What flavor taste of the wild were you feeding?


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http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/taste-of-the-wild-wetlands-canine-formula-with-roasted-fowl-30-lb-bag
Wetlands.

I feed the pacific stream and my mutts are the healthiest they've been and minimal poop, I've tried a few other brands without success


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I'm with you bud, I switched to prairie just because it is higher in protein and fat but my dogs looked real good on both. And when people talk about stool what is most important to me is how much. The smaller the better meaning more of it is being digested and absorbed. Also I feed less to maintain the same weight I did before. So really when you think about it like that it makes it less expensive.

Does anyone use any supplements ?

I've seen pros use fish oil pills , this vitilize powder , chicken/  chicken broth along with 30/20 food
(http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/CHRISHEARNE1982/150621-22/0C4EBAF3-7B7E-4AF6-9B0D-68D595393720_zpsifulcbj2.jpg) (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/CHRISHEARNE1982/media/150621-22/0C4EBAF3-7B7E-4AF6-9B0D-68D595393720_zpsifulcbj2.jpg.html)
http://biozymeinc.com/vitalize/products/vitalize-dog/
I believe it helps with high stress situations like having 20 , 30 plus dogs at your kennels and your running /  hunting / training them everyday . I think I remember hearing dog track people use it too

I might try that high prairie, this winter is colder that it's been in years and I have a couple dogs looking a little lean, those higher numbers might do the trick


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Glad you shared that, didn't know biozyme made that, I'm a dealer for them for the cattle minerals, I've seen first hand what the minerals do, and the amaferm helps them to digest and absorb the feed a lot better, definately going to look into this, I've been reading up a lot on supplements and conditioning.

Good deal , glad I could help someone !

Liefalwepon...I keep a coffee can next to our stove to store bacon grease and corn oil that is no longer needed and give a couple teaspoons to each dog over their food during cold weather to help maintain weight if needed...

Glad you mention that as I do the same with Bacon grease. Its a good source of fat and calories, I will also supplement cod liver oil as well sometimes called just fish oil.

Funny you mention that, I've had a jar of bacon grease sitting in my food can for a month just have not used it yet, thanks


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I fed those lean dogs the hides off the last hogs I got and they ate off the layer of fat attached to the hide and now they look fine, it seemed like they put on weight in four days


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Bacon grease is also a good hoof moisturizer . Use it just like hoof flex. It s a animal by product & keeps the hoof in really good shape. Of course if you have dogs running loose, they might try to lick it off. ;D

Diamond Hi Energy for the past three years and all my dogs looks good. Just have to increase the amount during hunting season.

Google Martin's Canine Feed.  No other dog food brought out the muscles in my bulldogs like Martin's formula.

I'm feeding showtime at the moment it seems to be working okay.

I got a deal on some Diamond Extreme athlete the other day.  I will say, that is some good feed but no way I can afford to keep feeding that feed.  Right now most of the dogs are on the showtime 27/20 and I feed them extreme athlete 2 days before hunting.  They crap way less and seem to be full of steam all day. 

I paid 27.00 for 40 lb bag on the diamond, but regularly it is 39.90 for 40 lbs.   

I was using Diamond High Energy until was at the local feed store here in town and they had Sport mix. (BLACK bag) same price  except it is  55 pounds. It's about the same as the Hi energy just more for less and the dogs take to it really good.  I buy a pallet st a time and they drop the price a few cents a bag wich it comes out to be about 2 free bags.110 pounds free.