What food do you feed your dog?

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russ010

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What food do you guys use, and what type of dog/dogs do you have?

I've got a 1 year old (well, tomorrow he will be 1) German Shepherd AKC and he weighs around 80-85lbs... I'm having a hard time finding food that he can digest well, and I've tried a lot of stuff such as the following:

Beneficial - messed his skin up and got little bumps all over him (same thing happened to my parent's Yellow Lab, but he made bare spots on his body by biting and scratching) - changed both of their foods and the labs hair grew back and he lost fat and gained more muscle

Eagle Pack Hollistic - Large Breed Puppy Formula - couldn't get his poop right... all loose
Eagle Pack Hollistic - Anchovey (fish formula) - worked good for a while, but he wasn't putting on weight
Nutro - same as above, worked a little, then spotty stools
Science Diet, Lamb and Rice - the lady told me this should work with his diet, but apparently he couldn't handle how rich it was

Innova Evo Red Meat - I'm currently feeding him this and it is definitely putting the weight on him and his stools are sometimes good, sometimes bad... but he doesn't poop as much as he used to which I know is good because he's obtaining more of the nutrients... the only bad thing about this is a 30lb bag is $70 and it doesn't take long for him to go through a bag at 4 cups per day.


This is Kodiak at 7 mos... he's a little bigger now, which reminds me I need more pictures

DSCF0210-1.jpg
 
I talked to the vet, and they didn't run any tests, but he told me it sounds like my dog is allergic to any food with grains as well as chicken.... That really takes out a lot of my options

I did all the transitioning right.. actually I did it over 10 days instead of the recommended 10.

Yesterday when I got home I found out he like eating knobs off of grills, as well as the ignitor button and the grill cover. That's what I get for not playing with him while it's raining cats and dogs outside, so I can't be mad!
 
Loggerhead Mike said:
1.5 y/o yellow lab akc. she eats pedagree, rocks, sticks, bugs, rabbits, squirrels, and loves some deer bone

I think you've got the long lost brother of my 5 year old lab... he eats everything! and there have been some animals he's brought up in the yard that I have no idea what they are... were!

He weighs a good 120-125lbs, and he's all muscle now. His head is a good bit bigger than a football, so he's a block head.
 
We feed Iams. My cousin is a vet and she said that for dog food you can get at your local farm supply place, that Iams is the best. After that you have to step up to premium stuff from the vet or specialists.
 
I haven't tried Iams... only because I haven't found one that didn't have chicken or corn in it... and that's why the vet recommened Eagle Pack first, but when he wasn't gaining weight he told me to try Evo.. Normal bags of dog food have 23% of protein in each serving -

EVO has :
Crude Protein (min) 42 %
Crude Fat (min) 22 %
Crude Fiber (max) 2.5 %
Moisture (max) 10 %


Iams Pro Active Health Smart Puppy Large Breed (feed 1-24 months)
Crude Protein, minimum 26.0
Crude Fat, minimum 14.0
Crude Fiber, maximum 4.0
Moisture, maximum 10.0
 
I have a five year old Rot+Sheppard mix. He eats anything he can sneak into his mouth. I once found a plastic worm in his stool! Anyway we live in the city in a small apartment with a yard the size of a prison cell, so I know he doesn't get the exercise he really needs. We have always fed him pedigree. As he has gotten older and on the heavy side we have switched to the weight maintanance pedigree. He had a lot of digestion issues when he was young so the vet suggested feeding him less but more often. As he got older it has worked itself out for the most part.
 
TinyLittleMox.jpg



Moxie gets Bil Jac. We tried some highend supposed human grade pet food and it was too rich and had explosive effects, no fun to come home to when your dog is crated :shock:
 
the breeder I got him from was feeding bil jac when he was a puppy, but I couldn't get him to eat it... I should probably go back to that.

I kept him in the house crated until a few months ago when I finished putting up a fence in my back yard. He goes into the crate at night in the garage when it's cold out
 
russ010 said:
I think you've got the long lost brother of my 5 year old lab... he eats everything! and there have been some animals he's brought up in the yard that I have no idea what they are... were!

He weighs a good 120-125lbs, and he's all muscle now. His head is a good bit bigger than a football, so he's a block head.

Any pics of him? I've never seen a lab that weighed that much that wasn't severely overweight. Not saying that yours is, I've just never seen one.

My 5 yo Chessie weighs in at about 106 (normally) and is all muscle. I can't imagine another 20 lbs on him.

Right now he's having some issues. He's lost nearly 15 lbs and is taking antibiotics and liver enzyme pills. A trip to the vet last weekend said that his gall bladder is inflamed causing the liver issues. He's eating a little better now but not back to normal.

TimToryandAlyssawithGauge.jpg
 
I'll get some when I go back home for Christmas.. I thought I had some on photobucket, but apparently I don't. The only real problems he has is his feet... I have to soak his feet in peroxide every time I go home.. I think it's from running in the fields and woods all the time because I'm constantly digging sand spurs out from between his toes
 
Mine has ear issues....I'm always in there with Qtips, a mixture of alcohol/white vinegar (50/50) and some anti fungal med the vet provides which I really do not think is needed.
 
my bro in law's boxer had the same ear problems when he had her. He just used alcohol/vinegar and forgot about the vet's meds
 
Russ:

I have an 8 year old pure breed GSD "Gromit" I make my own dog food so that she has a very high protein diet. Additionally, for a large GSD it is actually less expensive then feeding her 4 cans of food a day.

You should be aware that German Shepards can get 'bloat" from eating dry dog food - this is when their intestines twist aroudn a lump of food. it is deadly so always wait at least 30 minutes after eating before exercising the dog.

We buy Chicken Liver, Chicken quarters and sometimes beef in bulk whenever it goes on sale (well the liver never goes on sale but that is cheap, good for the dog and my dog's favorite). I boil and then de-bone whatever product we are using and mix in about 30% dry dog food to 60% meat. Dry dogs foods that the GSD Associations approve include Science Diet Natures Blend, Science Diet Large Breed or Eukenuba.

Once I make the food I then store it in plastic quart containers (like those used for take out
soup) in the freezer. We make about 10 days at a time.

My dog has almost perfect teeth, coat and a good disposition. Feeding an active dog like a GSD lost of grains is like pumping a child full of sugar all those carbs are really no good for the dog. There are some GSD owners who feed their shepherds raw food - i have done this but my dog is a slow eater and having raw chicken sitting aroudn all day is gross

Let me know if you have any questions

gromit7.JPG
 
Thanks Capt... I'm actually looking into feeding him a dry/raw diet. How many times per day do you feed him? I give my dog the food, and by the time I turn back around it's gone. He never had a food drive until I started feeding him the EVO Red Meat. I feed him 2cups in the morning, then 2cups when I get home from work
 
Ru7ss: Best thing is to feed the dog one meal a day. Again - avoid the dry food as much as possible - really bad for the German Shepard. If you have to feed your dog dry food please wet it and wait for it to get soft

My dog is not food driven at all - she is play driven. I can lay a nice steak down on the ground and lay a frisbee down next to it - the dog will sniff the steak and grab the frisbee every time
She is mental for the frisbee :D
 
I feed my 2 bassett hounds Merrick grannys pot pie I do wet the food frst they love it. I feed them once a day. they maintainthier weights well an are full of energy good teeth
https://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/dry_dog_food.php
seat pea is 3 years old and 44lbs
Sassafrass is 2 years old and 65 lbs

IMGP0317.jpg
 

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