Dog Food

[RyeGuy74]

Just curious what everyone's opinion on best dog food for hunting dogs is? I'll be bringing my new cocker spaniel puppy home rather soon and want to make sure she has the best!

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Pro purina plan 20/30

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Pro plan vote as well. Many options, I use the savor with weight management to get high fiber for my pup. Many options tho!

 

[Zootownelk]

23 years ago when we got our first dog (Lab), our breeder and vet told us to use Purina Pro Plan. That's all we've used, so can't compare to others, but it's a popular pick.

 

[Nutrioso]

ProPlan Sport here as well. Since my dog is mostly doing sprints after a lot of sitting while duck hunting, I turn down the protein to 26/16. Purina also makes good puppy food in their premium Sport line.

 

[mtmiller]

Pro Plan

 

[WV Hunter]

As a pup I fed the Pro Plan Savor but I came to find out the Purina One Chicken for Puppy’s was about the same stuff for cheaper. He is on Pro Plan Sport now

 

[Frenchy]

I used Purina Pro Plan Sport on my Lab. The Current Golden gets a brand called Holistic, and the one before that did good on Evo.

 

[F250]

We have used Pro Plan for Labs and Chesapeakes for years.

 

[Scott85]

Another vote for pro plan!

 

[Wild Bill]

Pro Plan Sport (30/20) build up to hunting season and transition to Pro Plan Focus (26/12) in the off season. My pooch hasn't had an issue with transitioning on and off of food, but some dogs may. I do it just because I like to be able to keep him light and trim during the off season when I may not have the time to run him as long or as often as I do other times of year.
When he went off to be trained the last couple summers he was fed Kinetic and never had any issues with that either.

 

[buckbull]

The best is ground raw venison. Its like anything else, anything processed cannot compete with natural.

 

[JEL]

Another for pro plan. We did have to go from sport to the sensitive skin and stomach variety after my lab developed some allergy issues.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I have used a number of brands. Right now I give the dogs Iames low fat (blue bag). Last year dang near lost my five year-old Lab to pancreatitis/colon infection and vet said to keep her on low fat. The special stuff she sold to me ($$$!) the dog wouldn't touch. When I'm staying in rural Montana bird hunting I have to take what I can get at local grocery store. Pedigree has also worked well for me (and reasonably priced). One year when I was working the dogs hard for very few pheasants I switched to Purina high protein stuff. What a mistake! Had runny dog crap all over the cargo area of my Jimmy (hunting with three dogs sometimes in subzero temps so no crates). Moral of that story: be careful about switching dogfood brands suddenly and drastically.

I would heartily recommend getting the Purina probiotic additive from your vet (for whatever reason it's not available over the counter). Puppies have a tendency to chew on sticks and dig in the yard. Both can give them the bug that almost killed my dog last year. The probiotic will help their immune system deal with it. Be especially attentive about the pup chewing on sticks at the lake.

Feed your dog raw venison and you better have a quality gas mask handy! Very raunchy farts. Also runs through them fast. I save the honker drumsticks for my dogs (rest goes into smokies sausage). Bone them out at the end of the season and can the meat for the dogs. I mix it with their dry dogfood. Regular canned dogfood will ruin a dog's teeth if they're fed it exclusively.

 

[Frenchy]

The best is ground raw venison. Its like anything else, anything processed cannot compete with natural.

I do this with any freezer burnt items about once a year. Grind up the meat with any peas/carrots...etc that is collecting frost in the freezer. Add a little coconut oil to it as well. Then I add it to about half of his normal kibble.

Its a good use for diver ducks too!

 

[MTLabrador]

Another vote for Pro Plan sport. Didn’t realize this stuff was so popular.

 

[Jmnhunter]

☺ Diamond Naturals

Not sure anyone elses experiences with raw knucklebones, but we tried those and smoked ones made for dogs from the local butcher and that just wrecked havoc on his stomach; switched to deer antlers were used when he was young

 

[Ben Lamb]

we had been using Pro Plan Sport & Puppy for the labs, but we've switched to Royal Canin at our Vet's recommendation.

 

[MTLabrador]

My dog seems to have decided to switch himself to a raw antelope diet. Caught in the act...

 

[WV Hunter]

At some point you may want to add this as someone mentioned above. This stuff has helped with the sometimes runny or soft stools he occasionally gets on Pro Plan Sport. Our vet recommended this over switching brands and it’s helped