eagle pack question

I feed EP Holistic Duck and also the Salmon formulas with great success.

I feed EP Holistic Fish and love it. After about 3 months on it,my slightly overweight heeler is now the perfect weight.

If the one dog gets urinary crystals with UTI, then she needs to be on a prescription diet.  I would suggest that the woman contact her Vet.  Her only option may be the SD food (SD has actually improved quite a bit in the last few years).  I had a cat with this problem and switching them off of the prescription diet is a recipe for kidney and bladder stones. 

If the dogs have weight problems, she can work on exercising them more and using a can of green beans per meal in the food as a filler. 
 
Edited to add: I just want to acknowledge you for being so invested in the health of your friend's dogs.  I'm glad that you're encouraging her to get the dogs back in shape.  It's so sad to see dogs that get that fat.  Good for you for caring about them! 

Here are links to the two science diet Rx diets for urinary crystals.  It depends upon the kinds of stones the dog has: struvite stones versus calcium oxalate stones.  Struvites are the better ones to have, as those can be dissolved with dietary changes.  Calcium oxalates are nasty and usually have to be surgically removed.  They are extremely painful to pass.
 
For calcium oxalates:
[linkhttp://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/products/product_details.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441760652&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024497&bmUID=1166196708802]http://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/products/product_details.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441760652&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024497&bmUID=1166196708802[/link]
 
For struvites:
[linkhttp://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/products/product_details.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441760634&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024497&bmUID=1166196797802]http://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/products/product_details.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441760634&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024497&bmUID=1166196797802[/link]
 
Oh and I take back what I said about SD improving in the past few years.  I don't like the ingredients in these foods!

Max is on the EP chicken w/rice and seems to be doing fine.  He's 61 lbs. and eats between 1-1/2 and 2 cups a day.  That amount is working great for him, so it sounds like your friends dogs are really eating a lot. Max is a *grazer* and regulates his own feeding - some days he eats less, some days a little more.  I think there are some dogs who will just keep eating as long as food is available to them.
 
Joyce

She also going to balk at such a small amount of food ( I said like a cup am and pm) since the girls now get like 3-4 cups each plus S.D. can.

ORIGINAL: suebisaga

Like "g33" I think your friend is going to need to add a "non-junky" filler and reduce the food volume gradually.  That is a huge volume reduction and likely calorie reduction as well.  I don't think you are supposed to go straight from gross overfeeding to feeding the target weight amount.
 
I am amazed at how fat people are letting their dogs get these days.

Well the dogs are on W/D which is prescription. She has never had a sympton of crystels, or any UTI. The owner took a urine in with her for her yearky check up 2 yrs. ago and they said she has crystels. Since then she takes one almost every 3-4 months to be checked and they always put her on antibiotics, I think her vet is full of crap.
I drug her to my vet and even offered to pay a office call and for any test that needed to be done.
My vet checked her urine and said it was fine and W/D is not the food to be on for crystels but for weight loss all though neither dog whas lost any weight in 2 yrs. My vet told her to try another one of the foods I recommanded and in a month to bring a urine in to check it to see if anything shows up.
I think it is just a issue of a greedy vet.
I think we are going to try the lamb and oatmeal eagle holistic.
I am pushy for more walks with them but we are in michigan and the weather is turning cold. They have a wonderful pool but neither dog swims. My dogs love there pool....
Thanks everyone,
sue and the fur crew
 

Isn't that what they say: If your dog is fat, YOU aren't getting enough exercise! 
 
 

If they have UTI issues, even if it's a minut possibility, I would highly recommend that she feed those  dogs some moist food, like canned or raw or home made.  More moisture will help prevent crystals. 

Solid Gold Holistique is highly recommended for dogs that have kidney/UTI problems.  Because it is low in fat, it is also a weight management food.  However, even SG recommends that you mix it with another higher protien if you are feeding it for weight issues and not for a serious health problem like kidney or liver issues.  So...I would use Solid Gold Holistique and mix it with a good canned food (Like Eagle Pack) for more protien.  Here's a link http://solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=6&code=160

I was also having a hard time trying to decide which of the Eagle Pack formula's to go with. I did some checking on their website and after reading ingredients, protein and fat percentage along with the amount of cals per cup, I found
the Maintenance, Anchovy Sardine and Salmon formula or the Senior Care would be the best choices. I then called their customer service and they also recommended one of those 3. My dog loves them all. If there are allergies I think I would try the Anchovy Sardine and Salmon. (22% protein/ 12% fat and 356 cals per cup). The Great Dane Lady recommends the Senior Care formula for weight loss. I rotate between the Senior and the fish. Both are excellent formulas and my Golden has done very well on them. The Maintenance does have corn, but the other 2 do not.
I hope this helps. This is the Great Dane Lady's opinion on food of choice for weight loss:
 My preference is the [linkNatural/Holistic>http://www.eaglepack.com/]Natural/Holistic [/link][linkhttp://www.eaglepack.com/]Eagle Pack line [/link]of Pet Foods which I have used for 20 years. Choose one of the following or you can rotate flavors on adults. Do not mix any foods or brands of food 50/50 for any length of time, other than transitioning over to a new diet which should only take 3 days on Eagle.. [linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/do_not_mix_dog_food_brands.htm]Mixing foods[/link] can cause nutritional imbalance.
Food of Choice for Weight Loss
Eagle Senior - 26% protein - 10% fat
Forget the name, look at the protein and fat distrubution, that is what is important. I like to use a bit higher protein food like the Eagle Senior, to hold muscle mass and keep energy level up, and use a lower fat food so the calories are less. I do not like to drop below 10% fat otherwise the coats are compromised. Likewise any reduced fat dog food is normally lower in protein and the dogs energy level goes down hill in nothing flat! Eagle also uses optimal vitamin and minerals on their food and it is even bumped up more for those aging dogs in need or those dogs in need of less food for weight reduction. I have found all other Senior foods to be "out of step" with what is actually needed for a senior or weight loss situation.
I find the Eagle Senior to be the ideal food for weight loss regardless of the age of the dog. The immune system will not be compromised because it is a quality protein food with a superior vitamin/mineral composition to support the elderly dog and likewise the animal that needs to lose weight. I also think this is a good diet for diabetic dogs because it is lower in carbohydrates and easier for their system to metabolize.
Of course no dog snacks other than fruit of veggies and you might want to reduce the actual amount you normally feed. If you normally give your poochie 4 cups a day, try 3 - 3 1/2 cups daily and add some broth, or a thick veggie soup to the kibble to act as a healthy filler.
Linda's Very Veggie Soup[color=#000000] - [/color]2 large cans of chicken or beef broth - (low sodium for heart or elderly dogs- or homemade). Add LOTS of veggies - carrots, green beans, wax beans, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and couple cloves of garlic. The idea is to use this as the filler so you want it to be hearty and filling.
I choose Eagle because all products are made with human grade/organic ingredients,a multi-protein source, not grain based, yogurt cultures (probiotics) digestive enzymes, prebiotics, glucosamine HCL for joint support, high quality sequestered minerals which are critical for proper growth and no bone diseases, no ethoxiquin, no BHA,BHT, only naturally preservative, vitamin C and yucca and balanced Omega 6:3 fatty acids. This is the ONLY dog foods ever tested on giant breeds and it was done on several litters before it became available to the public. It has the longest track record for giant breeds of any food on the market. I directed the feed trials on this food 18 years ago as well as the Large and Giant Puppy food feed trials in 2002 so I know these foods work. Eagle owns their own USDA/Aphis approved plant.
I have provided a [linklist>http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/criteria_list_of_better_foods.htm]list of better food[/link] and my criteria for selection, located at this website - if you live somewhere where you can not locate Eagle.
To purchase Eagle Dog Foods:

• Go to their website [link>http://www.eaglepack.com/]http://www.eaglepack.com[/link]
  
• On the Eagle Home page click on Retailers or Purchase Online or International sales
  
• Call Eagle - 800-255-5959 - they ship directly to you as well