Dog Food Question. lol

[3Roosters]

I know I know.. I opened a can of worms. lol. I am not asking brand or if a dog's tail is docked. hahha. But my question to the peanut gallery is if any of you have switched up..either the brand of dog food..or the main ingredients or both as your dog as aged?
I am thinking of switching up for our 10 yr old Springer.
She hasn't been quite as voracious at feeding time for the last month...not really being picky mind you..but not as interested in chowing down. All other signs appear fine...weight..no vomiting, diarrhea, etc. sleeps seems normal as she ages.
This is our 3rd dog and just wondering from the peanut gallery if changing things up...gradually of course..may be a good thing..Perhaps she is bored??? OF course I do not want to develop a damn picky dog..just wondering..perhaps we should change it up.
Without divulging the brand. She has been on salmon and sweet potato for years. Think its 25% Protein 15% fat 4% Fiber. I hunt less than before..if that plays a part.
Thanks in advance...

 

[wslayer]

Mixing up might peak her interest a little bit. I am Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain for my dogs, past and present.

 

[Wirehair]

Have a 12 yo Wirehair that had both ACL's repaired when he was 5 yo. He stays in shape year around. Noticed about a year ago that he was showing down when walking / hunting. We changed feeding regimen going to Fresh Pets and supplementing with a lot of veggies, pumpkin, etc. We have seen a dramatic change in his coat, muscle structure, and overall level of energy. A little extra effort but not realty any more expensive than the science diet we had been using.

 

[ndfinfan]

We have fed our dogs Blue Buffalo Wilderness for years, never change, never vary - they freaking love it! The wife dehydrates sweet potatoes for snacks - love them. Also get them Blue Buffalo biscuit treats. That's about it for our kids, aside from bites of apple, banana, or asparagus.

 

[johnr]

Lots of left overs and soon to be bad items in our fridge get passed through our GSP. He has nice healthy shits too.

 

[Kurtr]

I have never had to.

 

[Fester]

Mixing up might peak her interest a little bit. I am Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain for my dogs, past and present.

We used taste of the wild salmon. Great brand and pooch loved it. He seemed to be allergic to everything else.

 

[Lycanthrope]

I mix taste of the wild with purina beneful healthy weight on a 1/1 basis. Keeps her shits fairly solid and easier to pick up in the yard. Animal shits in the wild are rarely runny, but many dog foods give dogs runny shits, which stink more and are a PITA to pick up. I played around with foods till I found a combo that gave her pretty consistently solid poo.

 

[riverview]

Purina pro, for the last 10 years, ive fed different food over the years, I've found i good results as far as coat and stools, and being able to buy it almost anywhere when im on the road is a bonus

 

[Coldfront]

I used to feed Purina Pro Plan to my Draths. But the last Drath came out of WI and he feed Nutri Source made in MN and shipped from China. My Drath will be 8 on 3-12 and is as happy as can be. I do feed weight control during the winter and will switch to reg Nutri Source when it warms up and she is able to run more. Then during the fall I switch again to Nutri Sources high protein.

 

[Kurtr]

I fed diamond naturals to previous two dogs. Dog now has a sensitive stomach tried eukanuba, pro plan salmon which was pretty good but kinetic has been the best and cleared up any problems. 2 cups a day once in morning and evening. Maybe a little more if hunting hard. Train 5-6 days a year round with a roading regiment. The roading has shown to add two years to dogs field trial career. Next dog will only be fed once a day in evening as studies have shown that it has a lot of benefits. There are few other decent foods like victor or inukshuk. Blue buffalo, science diet and taste of the wild is good marketing might as well buy the cheap ol’ Roy.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

On my previous lab tried Science Diet, Eukanuba and then Sprout from Fleet Farm which I stayed with for a long time. She used to get bladder infections easily and for whatever reason the cheap food she had less problems and seemed to stay in good shape with no real body ailments. The current dogs I have been running Purina Pro Plan Large breed or the higher protein (Chicken) and they seem fine. We feed probably more than what everyone says to each day but they don't seem fat by any means and I don't notice any unhealthy signs and vet doesn't seem concerned. 6yr old GSP Female and 3yr old GSP/Lab Male

 

[lunkerslayer]

I used to feed Purina Pro Plan to my Draths. But the last Drath came out of WI and he feed Nutri Source made in MN and shipped from China. My Drath will be 8 on 3-12 and is as happy as can be. I do feed weight control during the winter and will switch to reg Nutri Source when it warms up and she is able to run more. Then during the fall I switch again to Nutri Sources high protein.

Same,.if its made in perham why does it ship from China? Probably the reason why it's 60 dollars for a 40# bag. I feed my brown boy 4 cups a day puppy blend after 2 years switch to the adult kibble size.

 

[SerchforPerch]

I switched from Purina Sport to Inukshuk and the dogs seem to be doing well with it.

 

[leier12]

I switched from NutriSource to Kinetic with my Lab. He is keeping weight on with less food and seems to have way more energy than before.

 

[1lessdog]

I have always let my dogs eat when ever they wanted. The bowl was always full and never had a fat or out of shape dog. They were taken out in the morning before work. When I came home from work. And again before I went to bed. They had outside runs and never went to the bathroom in the runs. If they did I would shame them and they would stop. When feeding once or twice a day they seem to inhale there food and not chew it like they should.

 

[KDM]

I don't know why you guys are so concerned about dog food. I've been feeding my AKC Registered German Shepherd bulk lab grown meat his whole life and he's doing great. See.....

 

[NDSportsman]

I have always let my dogs eat when ever they wanted. The bowl was always full and never had a fat or out of shape dog. They were taken out in the morning before work. When I came home from work. And again before I went to bed. They had outside runs and never went to the bathroom in the runs. If they did I would shame them and they would stop. When feeding once or twice a day they seem to inhale there food and not chew it like they should.

It's funny how different dogs are, my previous labs would eat all the time and weigh 2 tons if I let them but the current dogs eat what they want whenever and never seem to over do it and stay in good shape. No different then people I guess.

 

[riverview]

out of 7 dogs i had one male yellow lab that i could self feed, the other 6 would eat the asshole out of a skunk

 

[lunkerslayer]

I switched from NutriSource to Kinetic with my Lab. He is keeping weight on with less food and seems to have way more energy than before.

I also seen a drastic weight loss when Buck is super active on the nutrisource adult/puppy chicken and rice blend 50/5], but the weight never comes back on even when he is less active. I was tired of my neighbor bitching to me that my dog got worms, so i ended up getting some nutrisource super performance blend that's 53% crude protein and fat. Now he keeps the weight on and im only actually feeding him half super and half puppy right now and I can see a significant increase in body mass.
But its nearly 80 dollars compared to the regular 60 for the puppy or adult chicken and rice.
His coat is super shiny now, but the down side with all that protein is super gassy and looser stools