Abady Classic Granular

I've never heard of this food.  Very strange stuff.  I personally think the protein is a bit high, but for a working dog, its not really that big of a deal.  But, most importantly, it works for your dog!  In the end, thats all that really matters.

I hvae never heard of this food and it works for you dog, by all means stick with it.  That is why i stick with the Purina --it works for my goldens.
 
I would love for you to post a large picture of your dog.  I grew up in a family of quail hunters and we had English Setters and pointers.  For my 11th birthday my parents were going to get my my first watch (we were rather poor and that was a big spending for them) but a guy up the lane (country folks) had an English Setter that had puppies and I feel in love with them.  He was asking $10 each (this was back in '56 and my dad was making about $40 a week on his regular job, then a little farm money). At the time Daddy had one male Setter and one male pointer, but I just had to have one of my very own. I couldn't have the dog and watch and i chose the puppy, a beautiful white and gold puppy and I named her Beauty.  I got her in June and she died of distempe in Nov. and broke my heart. 
 
Later Daddy bred old Mack.  He was 10 at the time and about the greatest of all bird dogs.  This was Mack's first and only litter of pups, and I got to keep two of them, a male and female.  I think the reason for that was Daddy knew Mack's hunting days were coming to end (he ended up huting til his death at age 15) and he wanted a male and I feel in love with the little female.  They were white with just a little black (Mack was white with only a few black spots) and I named them Rascal and Duchess.  And they turned out hunters their "old man" would have been proud of.  In fact, we used him to aid in training.  English Setters have a special place in my heart and I have old black & white photos but my son "cleaned" my computer a couple of weeks ago and for some reason I can't down load my pictures.  Pictures are there, I find them when I go to My Pictures, but when I go to download and hit browse, this strange stuff about sample picturs comes up, not my pictures.

Hi Sandra,
Did you try to browse to the correct picture folder.  You can remove the sample pictures by the way.  Right click on them and delete them.  I have several sub folders with pictures and when you browse for them you should find them all.  Wish I was there to help you out with that.  That food is interesting looking.  Its really high in protein and fat to me.  But I agree its perfect for working dogs.  My couch potato needs a lower number in both catagories.  I am glad its working so well for your dog and would also like to see a close up of that breed please!  I have had three irish setters and now a Brit.  Someone I know just got two setter pups and my heart is melting every time I see them!!!  Adorable little bundles of joy.

Hi Sandra,
I'll get those pics in tonight for you when I get home from work.  I work 12-8 so it won't be till later this evening.  English Setters are GREAT!!!
 
In the meantime, here is a nice link with some info.
 
[linkhttp://www.sparksllewellinsetters.com/]http://www.sparksllewellinsetters.com/[/link]
 
Charlie

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton   I would love for you to post a large picture of your dog.  I grew up in a family of quail hunters and we had English Setters and pointers... 

 
Hi Sandra, here are some pics...
 

 

 

 

 
Charlie

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.  My dad had one English that was just like the white/blck markings between your dogs black back and head.  He almost looked grey  I had never seen a dog with so much black spots or black fur mixed in with the white so that he appeard almost grey.  I wonder if he had some of this in him.  My dad lost him when he was 13 I think it was, to heartworm treatment.  That was the first time we had ever heard of hearworms.  The treatment was arsenic and to little didn't work, to much killed and Commander was given to much.  All our dogs were promply started on those old daily heart worm tablets (what a pain in the backside they were, but we used them for years.)
 
I love that last picture of your dog pointed (or we always set when it was the setters).  There is hardly anything that is better than watching bird dogs work.  I always loved it when they would be going and get in  position where the wind was behind then and they would pick the scent of quail coming from behind, and drop into a set or point with head turned back so you knew the birds were behind them.
 
And watching one back when they saw the other in set or point.  I have seen them be 20-30 yards away and see the other drop into point and they instantly went into one as well.   Beautiful.  My dad had one pointer  that refused to back younger dogs..  He could cover ground like you woulnd't believe and he would back Commander.  But when Daddy lost Commander and got Frosty, Lucky #2 would not back and it almost cost him his life.  FRosty was about 6 months old, maybe younger, and he set and Lucky rushed up and dropped into a point in front of him---and it was a rattlensake.  It got Lucky in the neck, but thank God he had on a thick leather collar and one fang hit it, so he only got one fang of benom.  Daddy rushed him right to the vet and he was a sad sight for a good while.  Even his chest and  front legs swelled.  Goodness, i could tell you a zillion hunting stories (I got my first shotgun, a .410 at age 10.)  thanks so much for the site, I found it very, very intresting.   And thanks for the pictures of your beautiful dog.

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton    I love that last picture of your dog pointed (or we always set when it was the setters).  There is hardly anything that is better than watching bird dogs work. 

 
Thank you very much for the kind words.  In the last picture she is not on a point, but I have a few of those pics too!
The link below should take you there.  If you notice, the second picture in this group you'll see a hen Pheasant in the lower left of the photo. 
 
[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=173295&mpage=1&key=𪓯]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=173295&mpage=1&key=𪓯[/link]
 
"Backing" or "honoring" points is nice to see.  For those not familiar, it is when a dog is respecting the point of another dog just ahead.  They may not see the bird, can probably smell it for sure, but they realize the dog ahead of them is on point so they also lock up as well.  My dog will honor or back another dog, some won't.  Some do it naturally, some need more training to get it right.  Some dogs (in the younger years) like to be there first so may kind of rush up and try to steal the point off another dog, kinda like I got there first even though they didn't.  But in time, the best bred dogs with strong bloodlines will often "honor" naturally.  Some dogs just don't get though and aren't good at honoring.

Those are beautiful shots.  And yes, i did see the hen.  I have never hunted pheasants, we only hunted bob white quail in east and central Texas.  I loved to watch the dogs trailing running covey of quail.  If the birds stopped, they also stopped on a dime.  Beautiful to watch.  My dad's one setter, the almost solid white one (just a few black spots) was the grandson of a field champion. ...something something Flight Commander.  Dad never registar Mack, just  wanted him for hutning quail and for a great family dog.  When he died at 15 not one of us had ever heard him growl at any person or dog.  A great bird dog and family dog.  A doctor friend of my Dad's gave mack to him in the spring of '47.

Hopefull, pictures of some of our dogs. Old Mack with his pups, Rascal and Duchess,  my Dad with  Mack as a puppy in '47, Rascal,  and pointer Lucky #1 with Mack when Mack was 13 or 14.  In case you are wondering, Lucky is chewing thos sticky burs out of  Macks fur.  Daddy had thought we were cutting on Mack's fur til we caught Lucky doing this.

Thanks for sharing those pics.  I like to see the older photos.  The dogs look really good.  Back in those days, I had heard the dog food actually was of better quality as compared to many of todays commercial feeds (store brands-discount stores).  When the bottom line and profit margin of companies had become the most important factor in production, the dog foods took a hit.  Many feeds today rely on grains and fibers to help that profit margin...seems those who benefit most are not the dogs but the veterinarians.   I like the photo of your dad with his arms his dogs, proud papa!  The field setters look like were great bird dogs.  The link above from SparksLlewelling had mentioned, it would be very difficult to find modern day English field setters not having Llewellin bloodlines running through them, being the bloodline had become the most desirable and popular.  Your fathers setters, regardless of who bred those dogs, without question, had Llewellin bloodlines.  Thanks again for sharing!
 
Charlie

I had heard the dog food actually was of better quality as compared to many of todays commercial feeds

I believe the purina from back in the day was much better than today's versions.Weird isnt it?It should be the other way around,some pet foods like science diet etc have gone backward instead of forward [8|] I heard SD used to be a decent food too,before the big wigs took them over [&:]

You are welcome.  I only regret  I don't have more pictures.  I do not even have one of my very own "first dog', Beauty, the white and gold setter.  And us 5 kids divided up pictures after Mom died in '89) (Daddy died in '7 so we all have a few pictures, but not many.  We all loved the dogs so much and still tell hunting stories and talk about them when we get together...except my sister, she neve hunted.  She just talks about playing with them.
 
My Dad enlisted in the Navy in Jan. '42 and after boot camp was sent straight to sea and ended up stationed in Australia00he was an electrician and worked damaged ships.  He didn't come back to the states and  home until the war was over, i guess either Aug. or Sept of '45.  But his parents and his brothers say that when Daddy got home, his pointer went haywire with joy.  They could not believe Flash remembered Daddy after almost 4 years, but he did.    I find that amazing and it not been my grandparents and two uncles and one aunt telling me, I don't think I would have believed it.

Back in those days, I had heard the dog food actually was of better quality as compared to many of todays commercial feeds (store brands-

 
I have read this, but then i have also read the opposite.  I think those of us that feed Purina etc  and our dogs are doing great on it doubt this is true, and those whose dogs will not do will on them believe it is true.  Rumors are easy to start, and they fly well.  Problem is telling what is rumor and what is truth, what was started by fact, what was started with imagination or "what i think".  I still get e-mails and read posts on various boards about the swiffer mop killing dogs and that has been around for some time.  There are some others as well.  As i said, hard to tell truth from fiction.

Charlie the consistency of that food is really odd.How do dogs "eat" it?It looks like they'de have to lick it up??

Sandra,it would be interesting to see an ingredient list from SD and purina when they first came out.I wonder if thats possible?