Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Best Dog Food for 2yr Lab

I lost my Casey girl after 13 years to cancer. She was the best. As chance had it, a friend and his wife were splitting and could not keep their 2 yr. Choc. F/M. I now have had her for about a month. Very smart dog ! Big Lover !
She is lean and firm and coat shines. What is best to feed her ?

Tacksmacker

If she looks good now, ask your friend what he was feeding her. I would just keep her on that instead of changing. I have heard its not good to change a dogs food around, not sure if it has any validity or not.

You can change food, but do it incrementally over a week or so.

I've had good luck with Purina 1. Not an ultra premium food, but it works and you can find it almost anywhere.

I did ask what food he was giving her and he answered. "whatever was on sale".

With my labs, if you change food they get the runs and poop constantly. I would recommend a quality food, I am feeding mine Purina optimum weight and well measured portions. Labs can be prone to allergies and skin issues so changing food may cause flare ups or remissions.

I have had a lot of success with the Blackwood line. I feed the 1000 unless I am really working a dog and then I swithc to 2000.

Any good dog food that does not contain CORN!

Get a RICE based dog food!

+1 on the rice.
I switched 4 monthes ago to nutro lamb/ rice and it made a huge difference in their coats. My groomer suggested to stay away from corn also.

We use Eukanuba for our two pointing labs. They love it, it is good for them and their coats shine.

Labradors are actually allergic to corn. Found that out doing this type of research several years ago.

I use Nutro large dog with the supplements for joint care. I found that my 2 year old yellow lab male has very little waste with this food which makes it easy to clean up after. Nutro also runs deals at our feed store, by 12 bags in a year and get one free. Free always works for me.

My 3-yr old lab likes Nutro lamb and rice. She gets lots of compliments on her healthy coat. However, around here and maybe where you live too, it can be hard to find and might be more expensive too.

As to changing foods, sometimes it's an issue and sometimes not. My dog has never had any problems with switches among the Nutro products (sometimes we have to buy something other than the lamb and rice that she prefers). But to be safe, if you can, change gradually.

Good luck!

I work with Labs on occasion( Narcotics, not gun dogs), is that true of all labs? I know alot have skin problems, is corn the issue? Curious...
Thanks,
Ingwe

Biggest problem my Labs had with corn was gas. And if they have that much gas, it can't be working very well.

Lamb and rice, very nice.

Innova is the best that I have seen, my dog loves it.

Nutra Nuggets Lamb & Rice available at Costco has kept a lot of dogs running well for years at our house. My 4 YO black lab has a coat and lean muscle mass that gets a lot of comments. I got a 7 month old female a while back at the pound that had little exercize and probably not too good nutrition. Now she's just over a year, her coat and nails have improved a lot and she's starting to get the strength and stamina she'll need. Plus I just flat got lucky and she's both fearless and birdy to the extreme.

A while back I had to put down my old mixed breed dog. He'd been malnourished as a young dog and severly abused before I felt sorry for him and took him home. He was about two when I found him and the vet told me not to expect much of a lifespan as both early malnutrition and abuse shorten their lives. He died at age 15 which is pretty good for a 90 pound dog and 99% of what he ate was lamb and rice. Goofiest, most useless dog ever but I do miss him every day.

I will give you my opinion on what to feed your dog and how often to feed! First I would only feed 1-time per day. If this is a house dog, you can feed dog at the same time you eat dinner or just before etc. Always try to feed animal at the same time everyday, this way they stay regulated and get used to eating at that time. I will tell you NOT to give snacks, especially from the dinner table. Snacks (dog biscuit) should only be given as a reward in training etc.

It is always a good plan to feed at least 21% PROTEIN and at least 12% FAT. We have GSP hunting dogs that get 2 hours of excercise everyday almost. I feed them 26%protein & 16%fat now, was 28%protein & 20%fat during hunting season.

There are several good dog foods on the market but you don't have to spend $40 to $50 dollars on a bag of dog food. It cost us $24 dollars a bag for our dog food and it is an excellent food. Puppy food is higher in price! Non-hunting dogs don't need as much protein or fat. Dogs left outside in cold climates need a lot more fat and fed maybe twice a day depending on the cold conditions etc.

Our puppies get fed Purina Pro-Plan puppy "chicken" mixed 50% with Diamond Puppy. This has plenty of Omega Fatty Acids in the feed for healthy bones, brain and coat etc. They are on feed 24/7, however it is dropped by a regulator during several times a day in small quantities.

That is a silly statement and totally untrue.

Like a whole breed would be allergic to any single ingredient.

Where is the research to back that up?

Plus one on the Innova. Good stuff.

I feed Royal Canin, but am looking at a food called Healthwise that may be just as good and cheaper.

Many of the "field trialers" feed a very high protein and fat content. If my dogs are really in tuff weather and working considerably hard, mid to late season we feed Excell or Exceed Dog Food, (Same food just different bags) which is 30%protein and 20%fat. Also make sure your dog is getting plenty of water to drink, meaning that it is drinking the water OK. To high a protein feed and not enough water can cause problems with kiddneys later.

Reba's correct regarding corn as an ingredient in dog food. My vet tells me NEVER to feed any food to a dog/cat that contains corn. Apparently, corn is simply used as a worthless filler by manufacturers, notwithstanding that their ad campaigns make a big deal about how "natural" and "healthy" corn is for animals. Not true, per my vet. Check the ingredients and, if it contains corn, pass on it.

With all due respect.....Corn is not even the leading allergen for one.

"Food allergies account for about 10% of all the allergies seen in dogs and cats. "

"Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. In order of the most common offenders in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, wheat, chicken eggs, corn, and soy."

link


Second if you poll vets they all give you a different answer. Does your vet have nutritional education? My sil is a vet and believes the opposite......My current vet in this state is in the middle. I have asked all of the vets I know and for the most part they have no more knowledge on dog nutrition than you or I.

From Eagle Pack.......Note the reference for the info is not from Eagle Pack.

Corn is an ideal ingredient when used correctly in a formula. It is 99% digestible, an excellent energy source, and one of the best natural Omega 6 fatty acid sources.

Carbohydrates are used in pet food primarily to provide energy. Energy is required for the central nervous system, normal and high levels of physical activity and is also needed when anabolic activities like gestation, lactation and growth are proceeding at a high rate. With little or no dietary carbohydrates available there is added strain on fat and protein. This extra burden on fats and proteins can cause serious problems at birthing time.(1) Judicious use of carbohydrates in a meat meal based formula, i.e. corn, not listed first on the ingredient panel is a nutritionally sound and healthy use of corn and other quality carbohydrates.

(1) Hypoglycemia prior to welping, reduced plasma concentrations, reduced number of live births, lethargy, reduced mothering ability, fetal abnormalities, embryo resorption and reduced milk production.

It Is Not A Filler...
While we believe in meat meal based diets, meaning meat meal should be listed first on the ingredient panel, corn makes an important nutritional contribution to the formula, as noted above; fillers, such as wheat mids and peanut hulls, do not.

Rarely Does Corn Cause Allergies...
A complete literature review shows that corn is rarely incriminated as causing allergies. "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition" addresses this twice: "There have been only six confirmed cases of allergy to corn in dogs reported in the veterinary literature out of 253 total cases." "Corn is a nutritionally superior grain compared with others used in pet foods because it contains a balance of nutrients not found in other grains. Corn provides a highly available source of complex carbohydrates and substantial quantities of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid important for healthy skin. Corn also provides essential amino acids and fiber. In a survey of veterinary dermatologists, corn was not listed among the ingredients most often suspected to cause food allergies. A review of over 200 confirmed canine cases of food allergy in the veterinary literature revealed only three were caused by corn."

A Very Digestible Carbohydrate...
One pet food company that does not have ready access to corn states, rather crudely, that look how corn comes out after we eat corn on the cob and therefore it can't be very digestible. This company knows full well that corn is ground very finely before it is added to the pet food formula. According to "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition", 4th Edition, "Several reports (3) indicate that dogs and cats readily digest starches in commercial pet foods. In studies, dogs were fed foods in which 30 to 57% of the food came from extruded corn, barley, rice or oats. The starch was nearly 100% digested in the small intestine."

It is difficult to do the math because some base numbers are not available, but probably only one dog out of several hundred thousand dogs are likely to be allergic to corn when used correctly in a Super Premium, meat meal-based diet. With an ingredient that quality research shows to be an excellent ingredient, why would you not want to feed it as the carbohydrate component in the diet?

Sources: The information above was drawn from fifteen research studies as listed in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th Edition.

The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog. Wendy Volhard and her husband, Jack, train dogs and conduct "Camps" on dog training, nutrition, and holistic care. Howell Book House recently published a second edition of "The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog". Volhard regards carbohydrates as crucial for a dog's health, and utilizes grains as the major provider of carbohydrates.


Frequently Asked Questions, Comments

Q. I know of dog obedience trainers who take dogs off foods containing corn because they say the dogs work better. Why is that?
A. Studies show that varying energy levels in foods can affect trainability and temperament, but corn per se is not the culprit here. The real problem is the total Kcal's of the diet. The answer is to feed a true meat-based diet with more moderate levels of corn, or other carbohydrates, which in turn reduces Kcal's (i.e., corn not listed as the first ingredient).

Q. I've heard that corn is missing several amino acids. Is this true?
A. Yes, but it doesn't matter. Why? Because our formulas derive amino acids from meat meal, not carbohydrates and soy. That is the reason we use three meat meal proteins in our diets - each makes its own unique, natural and complete amino acid contribution to the formula.


Many dogs do perfectly fine on a food that contains corn........Many dogs do fine on foods that do not contain corn.

There is no scientific evidence that grains or byproduct are bad for your dog. A lady who knows more about dog nutrition than anyone I know wrote this once.

The problem is that there really ISN'T one best way to feed our dogs. While it might be nice if there was, the reality is probably even more encouraging. In "real life" most dogs will not just survive, but will thrive on a variety of very different formulas. We see dogs glowing on high protein/high fat, on low protein/high carbs, on grains, on no grains, on by-products, without by-products, on raw, on cooked. If our dogs are thriving, we are doing right by them. If they aren't, then we have a responsibility to work to make them healthy. Isn't this the bottom line?

By the same token, if someone else's dog is thriving on something different, then they too are acting as responsible owners. It really is just that simple.

Much of the information on the internet is driven by profit and/or ego, and it can be quite difficult to tease out the threads of truth. Please remember that even the "worst" fed dogs in North America eat a better diet than many, many humans around the world, and our ability to even engage in this debate is a luxury we tend to take for granted.

All that may be true, but you don't want to be in the same house with any of my Labs when they have eaten dog food with corn in it and that's a (gag) fact.

Eukanuba Sporting is the best, period. (as far as big names) Then probably Purina Pro Plan. You want to make sure and get the high protein feed with glucosamine/chondroitin for the joints....it's well worth the price.

my 2 cents

HTB

I am sure that is true. Individual dogs have different reactions to different types of food........once you have identified an ingredient that does not agree with your dog then you should not feed it.

When you find a food that works you should of course use it.

Orijen dog food..nuff said

OK lets just cut to the chase shall we! Now how many champions are feed those dog foods which some of you have put up as the BEST DOG FOOD? What was feed to the #1 field trial dog in the GSP breed before he won the title? These are things to look hard at when your feeding a working type dog. Those type dogs are put to the test at least 4 days a week hard.

Purina and Excell are the only ones I know of in the performance type dogs at both the Pro & Amature level.

Now there is a dog food called "BLUE" that states it has all the best ingredients inside. Now they have a graph on their web site that shows this but who really knows, what is in that dog food.

I NEVER feed just one type of dog food to my dogs NEVER!!! YOU just can't trust the industry and what practices they undergo to get dog food out to market people.

NOW take a hard look at what happened 2 years ago with DIAMOND DOG FOOD COMPANY and those dogs that were feed that food and are now DEAD. The law suit is still pending I understand for over a 100 good working upland dogs that parished because their owners went by a label or the friend's ok nest door.

Well I'm not here to say corn is good or bad,,I simply don't know.

I will say when I would go out to feed cows, my Lab "Hank" would dip his nose in the corn bucket and go to town. I would holler at him " Hank you corn dog"!!! and he would lift his head and grin at me.

Sure enough there was a time or two ol Hank would clear the room so to speak, but I'm not sure if it was the corn or if he just decided the party was over and it was bed time.

I miss Hank, I suppose no more or less than anyone who had what they felt was the best dog to swim the Columbia, whether it was the corn that did him in or old age, I'm not that concerned, and I imagine those green-heads on the other side are trembling at the sight of "Ol Hank" hitting the water.

Lamb and rice .... chicken and rice .. both seem to be good combo's with Lab's ..... 1st lab 20 years ago we experimented with different types for the first year and had coat problems and "hot spots " ended up with a product call FROMM .....now getting hard to find around here .

Multiple grades available depending on the dogs activity . Fairly expensive .

The first dog passed at 16 years old .... presently are feeding three with the same ... great coats .. lean and healthy .. good product .

Knew a guy who fed his lab chicken and rice - mostly because he figured a pheasant dog should eat birds to keep him "sharp".


Joke I know but his dog was danged good and lived a long time.

.......I've been through a lot of different feeds over the years, but have settled on BlackGold out of Missouri as the best premium feed for my dogs. I have Decker Rat Terriers, and phased out the English Setters I bred for years. The terriers do very well on Blackgold in the black bag,they produce a good number of different formulations in various color bags bearing specific aimed applications.All thier ingredients are number one ingredients in thier feeds. I have to drive 50 miles to pick mine up, but it's affordable and the my dogs do better, and preform better on it than any other I've tried. I DON"T SELL THE STUFF, but wanted to give it the props it's earned from me.

......I've got Jinger Belle with a litter of Decker pups on thier "Ultimate Puppy Feed", and although Jinger has always been a finicky eater, she's holding her weight, and the pups, at two weeks old, are healthy little 'butterballs', strong, active, and gorgeous! Send me a PM and I'll send an email with photos...

The best dog food I have ever found was recommended by my dog trainer and all my labs love it. It is Extreme Dog Fuel and it truly is the best. Here is their web site http://www.extremedogfuel.com

I see some people using/recommending Nutro products. My Yorkie was on it for years and then started acting strange a few weeks ago. Shortness of breath or wheezing, seemed like he was always hungry , could never get enough to eat so I did some searching and found this:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia03.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

switched to Science Diet recommended by his vet

....Being a major well known brand isn't necessarily an indicator of top quality ingredients. I recall recently when the toxic ingredients from China were found to be killing dogs, or severely damaging thier kidneys,MANY major brands were found to be buying ingredients from China.

If your dog has gas problems a tablespoon of plain yogurt in their food will stop that. it takes a couple of days but after that just put a little plain yogurt in their food and problem is solved.

I have always fed my labs nutro natural lamb and rice
in the warmer off season and nutro max when they are working winter
totally agree with the once a day

Check out the Blackwood line of foods. They may not be available in your area but they are very popular here in N.C. among hunting dog folks. I have had my dogs on Eukanuba, Iams, and Diamond as well but I really like the Blackwood. If you are working your dog a lot the Blackwood 2000 is great!!

Bil-Jak frozen.

Canidae

WDJ had a article on Top 10 dry dog foods explaining why and according to quality of ingredience. Try and search

As for the basic feed I would recommend a high protein/high fat feed, . And that is especially true the more work a dog gets. Studies have shown working dogs on a high protein diet have less soft tissue injury. Look for food that the first few ingredients are meat or meat meal. Supplement with a high quality fish oil capsule that is pharmaceutical grade/molecular distilled with a EPA to DHA ratio 2/1. Plain yogurt or kefir is also good for a dog. And a MSM and Glucosamine capsule as well.
I feed Evo a 42/22 feed. I also train A LOT. It is not cheap but meat cost more than grains. You get what you pay for. Those that don't have dogs that get a lot of work 28-30 % protein should be enough.

I had been using Canidae for a couple years, then they changed the formula w/o telling anyone. Google the complaints and you'll see what I'm referring too.

After a quick but extensive search (before my bag of old Canidae ran out) I switched to Innova.
http://www.naturapet.com

Diamond

Had the same problem with Canidae. They changed the formula and he had loose stools. Now I feed him Nutro 30/20.

Best dog food for my Lab Im my opinion is

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

I feed Purina pro plan. It's pricey but you should see my dog's coat. Everyone comments on his coat.

30/20 ratio and the number 1 ingredient is corn.

I too feed Purina PRO-PLAN but only with 2 other dry dog foods! I just don't trust the dog food companies 100% anymore. Especially after what happened a couple years ago with the DIAMOND DOG FOOD COMPANY...YIKES!!! OVER 100 dogs died from their tainted dog food and they tried to LIE their way out of the problem, saying it was only an isolated incident.

YEP, isolated in 23 frigging states folks, I almost lost 6 dogs over that deal but lucky for me I only gave them 33% of the product mixed with other feed. NO MORE DIAMOND!!!

Let the dog be your guide.

Some dogs thrive on some food that would render another dog low.

My lab pup thrived on Iam's Large Breed Puppy food till it was a year old. It now (believe it - or not) thrives on Wal Mart "Old Roy"! No gas, no runs, great coat, great teeth etc.

Don't judge a dog food by what you read in other dog food company's ads.

Brian I use Ole Roy and mix it to a ratio of usually 25% with my other brands of dog food. I been feeding that feed for over 20 years now and it has always been very stable as far as the dogs doing good on it etc.

Hunters Special is another feed I use to help keep the weight on the dogs throughout the years. Our dogs get exercised at least 2 hours every day unless it is storming outside. Excell is another all chicken product that is very good for hunting breeds, at 30%protein and 20% Fat.

I meant, the number 1 ingredient is CHICKEN. Duh.

Did you feed corn based food to ALL labs? That's quite a broad statement to make. Labs are NOT allergic to corn. YOUR labs may have been, but mine aren't and never have been, and a good friend that has several labs aren't.

It's been proven that corn is not GOOD for the canine system as they don't digest it, funny but neither do humans!! Eat a couple corn on a cob, or a can of corn and then take a close look at you poop! The corn will be WHOLE!!

Back to the question, as was said by several people, get a good non-corn based food. But better yet, get one where the first ingredient is MEAT! Lamb, beef or chicken, doesn't matter, if the first ingredient is meat -NOT meat-BY product- then you have a decent food, doesn't matter the brand.

gundogpa - do you really think the dog food companies (or people that they hire to write their reports) that put corn in their dog food are going to say it's bad?? Would be kinda counterproductive for them!

Wolfwoman perhaps your need a new set of teeth to chew that corn well before you swallow, pushing it going down to your digestive track.

Duck-Dog.......Yes, the number one ingrediant is CHICKEN alright! I raise all my pups on this food and they do very well indeed. It is more money but the results are worth the cost in my humble opinion and I have over 15 dogs in our kennel.

Nope you can look it up, corn (the outer part) is not digestible by humans. You would have to chew a heck of a lot of times to get that outer shell (or husk) macerated.

Wolfman, even if a human cannot digest the outter shell of the corn, it does NOT make it a bad choice for use as a dog food! Now if it did, there would be a whole lot of uprising in the dog food and pet industry period.

Humans have been eating corn for several centuries forum member and it is approved by ALL the medical fields in the world as a proper food for the human body.

Actually it has been found to be a terrible choice for dogs foods and that's the reason SO MANY have gotten away from it. There is NO nutritional value in corn for dogs, it's nothing more than a filler that goes in one end and comes out the other. If you switch to a dog food that has no corn or fillers in it and you feed the dog the PROPER amount of food you will see that there's less cleanup.

I feed my dog the Dick Van Patton food. My vet said its good. No grain,corn syrup,ect. My Lab loves it!

You cannot judge food quality by a lab - they will eat ANYTHING!! lol

I use Science Diet Allergenic for my black lab. No ear problems or skin problems. It has all the nutrients she needs so she is never lacking in energy, also she doesn't crap as much because shes eating good food. As she is a working dog I cant afford to give her cheap food.

Dog foods are interesting marketing tools.

Iams was originally a mink food recipe that's been added to over the years.The corporation that owns Iams decided that Eukanuba(which for years was sold right along with the rest of Iams line,until Iams began selling to grocery stores)would bring them in more cash if it was turned into its own specialty line.Now it's not uncommon to find stores that only sell Eukanuba.Iams was always hard for retailers to make a profit on,because the wholesale prices were so high.

Science Diet at one time was actually a Co-op owned by vets.This Co-op would then sell exclusively to other vets and of course those vets would gouge the [bleep] out of clients.I saw some of the wholesale lists on it and most of it was 300% mark up.Most vets were even candid about science diet a racket for them.

Diamond got a bad rep for killing dogs,but Ole Roy has the same rep if not worse.I've talked to plenty of vets who have seen all kinds of health problems related to ole roy.Of course most people think nothing of it because it's wal mart,kind of like when walmart got caught using child labor.People got pissed for about 15 minutes and then immediately went back to buy more [bleep].

As far as corn causing skin allergies.Rice causes far more skin issues in dogs.Plenty of vets will vouch for seeing more problems with rice based foods then corn and this was made evident and easily traced when all the rice based foods became vogue.Rice and soybean are cheap fillers and you see both used and pimped as "special diets".

As with people,dogs get over medicated by doctors also.A lot of major skin issues can be traced back to over use of antibiotics.Immune system is actually weakened rather then built up and skin disorders pop up.

The over use and abuse of high protein foods cause all kinds of problems in dogs.I've seen more bird dogs with kidney problems directly related to a high protein diet,then any other cause.A local vet that bird hunts all over the country,along with owning a pheasant preserve.He started blood testing his own dogs and those of some local outfitters.His finding was standard diets provide plenty of protein and the majority of dogs do nothing but piss and [bleep] out higher protein diets and worse case they develop kidney issues.I've hunted over this vets dogs and they're balls to the wall all day on standard diets,with perfect health.A friend has hounds that we run both lions and coon with,the same vet started blood testing them and the hounds were on a diet of around 30% protein.Tested the hounds after back to back lion hunts where they were easily covering ten times the distances of any bird dog and the blood tests showed that the dogs weren't assimilating all the protein they were being fed,along with one hound having kidney problems related to too high of protein diet.We went back to feeding Iams chunk and retested the dogs and had better results and the dogs health was still fine.

Innova Puppy if you have one, and then their all meat EVO.

Mark

I'd bet Diamond's quality control is INCREDIBLE after that incident....if they survived that and still have loyal customers I'd say that's a pretty good indicator that their food is top notch now.