Dog food

[yellow dog]

If your feeding a diet that your dog is very well on and maintaining it's weight, energy , stamina etc. keep them on it. But... mushers will bait will dog food in order to get their dog/dogs to eat or drink before and after extreme exercise. Working dogs will louse there appetite just as human athletes will do after after daily physical exercise. I like to bait the water before I go hunting using a product called Glycocharge or on colder days a powdered fat supplement National Energy Pak high in calories. I use either of these products instead of feeding kibble and they lap it up every time. Later on after the hunt is over they get kibble sometimes baited with the fat supplement if needed.

[that a boy]

working dogs need endurance .
Endurance = fat !
I feed my pointer sport and agility from Acana.

Crude protein (min.)	35 %
Fat content (min.)	22 %

[Cass]

I generally switch my food in the off season as my dog runs real hot off higher protein foods so to deal with that for the other 8 months of the year is a bit out of my patience level. This year I am not sure if I will switch. We recently moved and he has been even more high strung since coming here (maybe all the extra space). I would have done the switch in August to prepare but just recently bought a new bag of his other food. Going to try just increasing the amount/calories and sticking with the 26% protein instead of 31. I have been increasing over the last 3 weeks so we'll see. Of course there is also that first month where endurance is increasing as well from being ran more often so have to ignore the initial poor recovery. Feed what works. It's not always about more protein/fat and organic claims

[terrym]

Fat is the fuel for energy though. You're the second person on this thread to mention you change foods based on season. I'm starting to think maybe there is something to that. My dog is very similar to yours and to make it worse he's in rehab from surgery so he can't run yet but really really really wants to.
I have a new dog coming in December and I hope it does well on what I feed the other one. I really don't want to buy 2 different feeds so I may have to expirement a bit at first.

[Cass]

Yes I keep fat levels high. There is only a 1% difference in fat levels between the 2 so it's pretty insignificant. However there is definitely a correlation between the protein and his behavior. He also gets more animal fat during hunting season in the form of eggs and sardines.

[terrym]

Yes I keep fat levels high. There is only a 1% difference in fat levels between the 2 so it's pretty insignificant. However there is definitely a correlation between the protein and his behavior. He also gets more animal fat during hunting season in the form of eggs and sardines.

I found the same re: protein. Tried Orijen but found it too hot. Went to Acana and that was a better fit for him.

[welsh]

The experts advise not switching foods so I think Cass is on the right track. I now try to stay on the same food year-round, up the quantity during the hunting season and give the dog stuff like sardines and pepperettes for extra fat. Most of our dogs, in spite of our fond beliefs, are essentially weekend warriors -- they go most of the year being only moderately active and then in the hunting season find themselves covering large distances all of a sudden. I train throughout the year but there is no comparison between a summer training session and six hours of hunting, three days in a row. If you hit those real extremes then I think it's sensible to think about things like Glycocharge.

There are lots of quality foods on the market, so I think the emphasis on brand is misplaced. Whatever works for your dog is the only sensible rule.

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[terrym]

Mine is free fed so he regulates himself as needed. Not sure that will work anymore when there are 2 dogs in the house?

[yellow dog]

Feed the same brand year round Terry. A maintenance diet during the off season and then switch to the higher protein/fat during the working season of the SAME BRAND. If your your feeding Acana Sport & Agility during the working season switch to an Acana line that is lower protein/fat during the off season. At least you know the Acana proteins and fats used are from the same reliable source they use in all their dog food lines. That's key so not to disrupt the digestive system as well as the risk of switching to another brand of potentially lower quality of protein/fat being used.

[terrym]

He's on Acana Grasslands (33/17) year round. During hunting season I supplement with high fat treats the night before. Chicken skin, bacon that type of thing. He loves salmon.