Abady Response To The Critics

She's adorable.  But, Charlie, you always harp on those hot spots.  They can be caused by many things besides food. 
 
I also notice that a lot of dogs that are fed raw or it's equivalent seem to be on what I would consider the thin to almost too thin side so I don't think that's just an Abady issue. 
 
 

Ok, second try of pic.

Awwww. . .you just have the best looking pugs I've ever seen![]

Awwww. . .you just have the best looking pugs I've ever seen!

 
Thank You! The Pug in front was my runt of his litter. I took  chance to keep him, he turned out super huskey. The boy behind him, far right, is his brother, the one that lost weight on grain free. Trying to put a little weight back on him!

As a rescuer I have frequent opportunity to see the difference good food makes. A coat in top working condition isn't just an aesthetic thing here - a poor coat won't shed water, keep a dog warm, and won't "lift" correctly when it's hot to release radiated heat.

Here's Eddie, the Pineapple Dog, when he first arrived:



Here he was a month later, on Bil-Jac:



Not up to my standards but getting there.

Here's a dog that is under condition - she was going through constant heats and I could not keep weight on her:



Here she is after being spayed, in top working form - notice that she is not only smooth coated, but soaking wet - nothing to hide! Notice also how her coat is shedding the water - she's dry underneath though she's been working in pouring freezing rain/sleet for about an hour.



And in case anyone doubts the muscular prowess of this dog:



My youngest pup, side - this is the age when many BCs get horrendously skinny but he seems to have avoided that - so did my other pup who is just a bit old than him:



"Did someone say dinner?!?"



Ben is eleven and a half years old, with multiple genetic health problems:



Gus is our new boy - always ready for a laugh:



Although he takes his job of making sure the cat stays in line, very seriously:



And an atypically goofy view of Cord:

Beautiful dogs, oh my God.  My eye is not good they look great to me in all the pictures, LOL! 
 
I love Gus[sm=floating.gif]

We call Gus our Disney Dog. You wouldn't believe what a goofy personality this dog has. He's just like the dogs in the Disney movies, but no one ever taught him to be like that! In the morning, he puts his head on the edge of the bed near Patrick's head. Then he'll put a paw there. Then he puts his paw on Patrick's shoulder. Then he gets up higher, puts his head on Patrick's shoulder, and waves his paw at me while making this wooing noise. Then if that doesn't work he turns his head sideways and groans. It just goes on and on.

He's always like this:

a poor coat won't shed water

 
LOL, my KayCee must have the best coat in the world.  it takes me FOREVER to get her wet enough to shampoo!  I think she is wet and turn the hose off, she shakes and suddenly she is about as dry as when I turned the hose on her.
 
But seriously, your dogs are beautiful.  Whenever I see a  picture of one of you BC i think of Bandit, the one in Wis. that died from PH6 the same day my Hunter my Hunt3r died from it.  Such beautiful dogs.  Is one that lives down the street, Kayla  I think she is about 10 now, and the friendiest girl.  When she was young she was allowed to roam as our street is not busy (only takes one car on the road at the wrong time) and when she would see me out front she would run down and go over on her back.  I would scartch her and she would muyst whine and pee all over herself.    Do any of yours smile?  You would think Kayla was shwoing teeth in a snarl, but she isn't.  Just lips her lips and "grins", tail going 100 miles per hour.

I don't have any smilers but I've known a few! I had a friend whose dog for some reason would do it every time he said, "Piggly Wiggly." She'd double herself in half like she was trying to face front and back at the same time, her tail would whirl in a circle (we call that Beater Tail), and she'd grin.

Yes, we who share our lives with BCs spend half our time playing mind games with our dogs, and the other half trying to decipher the minds games they play with US. []

She honestly doesn't look like she's in that good of condition to me- especially her coat. Not just that she wasn't brushed, but the condition of her hair. I've seen pictures of Sandra's dogs (which are fed a food I'm not crazy about), but her dogs DO look like they're in great condition with super shiny coats.

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Thanks for the compliment on my dogs.  They do have beautiful coats. 
 
Now in defense of his setter, I grew up with setters. Most lived past life expectancy, hunting til the end.   I lost 2 of mine to distemper--despite having had the vax, and one to poison, so they all died young.
 
But they were built about like this setter.  You wouldn't really see muscle tone like in the pointers, but they could hunt day break to sunset 7 days a week during season, going thru AWFUL rough terrian.  I don't know why our setters didn't have the "beefy" look of our pointers, but they were all trim line and i am talking about over a dozen English setters, not just a couple.  I have seen a few that were beefy, but not many--my dad's brothers and many friends quail hunted and had setters and pointers, so i have seen a lot.
 
I will post a pic of my oneEnligsh, Duchess.  Because of her rear leg  eign extended, she looks a little more muscular than she really was.  But she never tired no matter how much she hunted.  And she was poisoned in our fenced back yard when someone put ground meat with poison in it back there.  She was the only one that ate it--probably got to itall  first, or that was only one piece.  Had a necropsy done to determine why she died.  I was crushed to lose her and deeply wounded that someone would do this kind of thing to a dog.

Here he was a month later, on Bil-Jac:

 
Gorgeous dogs and coats! That is how my Toy Spaniel coat looks, and she eats mostly Bil Jac at times(very picky too!). I think Bil Jac does wonders for lots of dogs. Here is a better pic of my Tessy.

Beautiful, just makes me want to smoosh her. Sandra's dogs make me feel that way, too. Actually, a lot of people on this forum who feed all kinds of different ways, have dogs that make me want to smooshy face.

I think it's important to remember that no one food is going to work for all dogs, or all household situations. Heck, if that were possible Purina would have figured it out a long time ago, I guarantee it! []

I just got a coupon for Royal Canin in the mail. I'm going to use it to see how Zhi will do on one of their toy breed formulas. It will break one of my rules for her - no grain - but that's just something I've done prophylactically, not because she's ever had a problem with it. She's doing terrific on NB duck but I'm always looking for something to improve her coat.

But they were built about like this setter. You wouldn't really see muscle tone like in the pointers, but they could hunt day break to sunset 7 days a week during season

 
Thank you Sandra. These are good old Field bred Setters...made to do just that...go all day long. Lean, mean, racing machines. I just dabbled a few years with Irish Setter's, field trials, show Irish Setters...many years ago.
His Setter is lovely. But honestly, to try and judge from a photo is very difficult ....she is in the shade, maybe she hasn't had a good scubby bath to bring out the sheen in her coat??  As for muscle, I now have a very coated breed and unless you put your hands on there is no way to know muscle. I have been surprised to feel  Beardies so hard mucsled it feels like greyhound. Also had hands on to feel no tone or muscle at all, equally surprising.
None of this has anything to do with what food she is eating -- trying to evaluate her from a photograph.
The multiple hoto essay Becca did definitly gives a bit better idea of coat quality and mucsle -- esp on the smooth dog.

I think it's important to remember that no one food is going to work for all dogs, or all household situations. Heck, if that were possible Purina would have figured it out a long time ago, I guarantee it!

 
Thanks!
 
I agree no one food works for every dog, that is why I usually have 3 different foods going on at one time. Good luck with the Royal Canin, I have always had good results with their foods.

ORIGINAL: cc431

She looks good to me...only thing out of the ordinary with her coat is it lacks that cheap food smell and no hot spots.

Looks underweight to me...