EVO with brown rice

Your dogs are NOT getting energy from the brown rice.  Dogs get their energy from FATS not carbs.  EVO is a great food, but if you're having problems with it, you might want to try Innova.

This quote comes out of my applied animal nutrition textbook (and no, it' not written by a big dog food company).
 
"Carbohydrates are not specifically required by dogs and cats, but they play key roles as sources of energy and as funtional food componenets of the diet"
 
It goes on the explain the different functional catagories of carbohydrates, which are, absorbable carbs, digestible carbs, fermentable carbs, and non-fermentable.
Dependant on the functional catagory a carb source comes from, it can provide energy. Digestible carbs (rice is included in this catagory), for instance, break down into starch and when cooked or rendered, is nearly 100% digestable. It also states that, there is a positive linear correlation between starch in foods and blood glucose and insulin responses.

I find it very hard to believe that dogs do not get any energy from carbs.

I find it very hard to believe that dogs do not get any energy from carbs.

You dont have to believe it jettasmomma[]I  also think they can gain energy from carbs,ofcourse they can gain the same energy from fat and it is easier for them to digest/assimulate than grains,but when it comes down to it they can gain energy from both. However if i wanted to achieve this i would be adding in some cuts of fatty meat with the EVO and not brown rice,as the dogs body will have to work much harder to convert the rice to energy as it would the meat.

Forgot to add,isnt the whole point of EVO the fact that it is grainless?? Perhaps,as someone else suggested innova may suit your dogs better??

I've heard equal amount of success from both sides of EVO.....the owner of my local pet store told  me that about 50% of ppl who try it bring it back saying their dog lost energy, lost weight, felt sick, etc and the other 50% swear by it now...I guess it depends on the dog.  My pup did fine on it, but I guess it wasn't miraculous on either side of the spectrum (nothing great, but nothing bad). 

Actually, dogs gain 2.5 times more energy from fat, but they do utilize carbs for energy as well.
 
Think about it this way.
kcals are basically heat energy (definition of kilocalorie - the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade).
So when you consider that carbs are worth 4kcals/gram, protein is worth 4 kcals/gram and fats are worth 9 kcals/gram, you can clearly see that carbs DO provide energy, only at a lower rate than fats.
Now consider that IF carbs are missing in the diet and a particular dog needs some of the nutrients that carbs provide, then that could be why the OP dogs are doing better WITH the addition of rice. Also, consider that if carbs AIDE in digestion of nutrients, maybe these particular dogs are utilizing the starches, etc for other nutrient digestion.
 

I agree with glenmar and edie. You can try the regular Innova instead or add canned food (w/ grains) to the Evo. I use Evo as well, but sometimes use the canned Innova in my rotation.

Thank you so much to everyone who posted replies. As far as feeding traditional Innova we tried that early on and it didn't agree with either dog. They are doing so well on the EVO that I would like to stick with it.

What sort of fatty meats would help them gain more energy over the carbs in the brown rice? One is extremely allergic to beef, FYI!

Thank you all again for your help!

I was going to say marbled beef....but I guess that is out.....I'm not sure if there is a lot of poultry with the fat still intact on it  (most of the time they shave it off).

Lamb is a good fatty one.

Duck is an incredibly fatty bird, although I've never fed it to a dog. I just remember making a couple of them in a huge pan, and the pan being half filled with grease at the end. [sm=biggrin.gif]

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Your dogs are NOT getting energy from the brown rice.  Dogs get their energy from FATS not carbs.  EVO is a great food, but if you're having problems with it, you might want to try Innova.

 
Dogs get a bulk of their energy through FAT, but to say they get nothing out of CARBS is not entirely true.  The difference is, that element of energy derived is NOT as critical to the dog#%92s body, in comparison to say the needs of a long-distance runner or human athlete.  But nonetheless the energy is still there from Carbs but for the dogs needs it is not critical and not what is needed for tissue mass and growth.
 
 Ever wonder why as good of a feed EVO and those high Cals is it is not suitable for large breed puppies?  Here#%92s the reason, and it was touched upon in another thread as calcium heavy.  This means strong probability of rapid bone growth.  In order to ensure optimum health, tissue and muscle development must grow at the same rate as bone; otherwise it is a set-up for pending disaster and the possible collapse of your dog.  Companies must draw the line in the sand as far as what is deemed adequate enough to support proper growth; otherwise they could be swamped in lawsuits.  The only way to ensure tissue and muscle development is peak and can keep up with the rate of bone growth is to have adequate concentration of animal source proteins (this includes proteins from FAT in addition meat) to get the job done. One would need Innova lg. breed mix first, then after growth switch it to EVO.
 
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