vid - feeding kibble (ron2)

I'll reply to myself to add something else.

One of the main reasons I have changed his feed is that Nutro no longer offers the formula he was eating. And I fed him that formula, not because I'm a big fan of Nutro but because it worked and I am a fan of "if it works, don't fix it." The only thing they have that approached large breed needs in my estimation was the Senior formula. I know some giant breeds are considered senior at 5 years but I think, with his pre-dominate breed of Sibe, 5 years old is not quite senior and I also think than any dog, aside from health considerations, can go on eating animal protein most of their life.

Eagle Pack has had formulas of similar and/or better quality and simplicity to what he was eating and I always considered them the next step if his food wasn't working out. Well, his old formula was working but the company doesn't offer it anymore, even on their website. I feed large breed because, even though he is only 65 pounds, his height is over standard for either breed and Lab is the other breed and Labs can be prone to Hip Dysplasia, though he's never shown signs, so far. It's possible that his hapless breeder, in crossing a brown, red, and white Sibe with a Black Lab, through simply dumb luck produced a pup free of physical defects, though he does have one weird thing. Sometimes, the muscles in his scalp will pull to the right side and I think that's a result of Sibes being able to hold their ears up and Labs not and his neurons get confused at times. Anyway, calcium is important because he is tall, being 26 inches to the shoulder and long like a Lab. DW is 5' 5 1/2" and Shadow could put his paws on her shoulders. Also, his bones are less dense than a full Lab, hence, his weight, which is over for a Sibe and average to under for a Lab.

I found out that Nutro has a shortage of lamb ingredient but that there is not a world shortage of lamb. And Nutro's shortage is a foul-up within the company. Ending shot is that, in the list of formulas to make, with only so much lamb on hand, Shadow's formula took the axe, probably because it wasn't selling as much as maybe some of the other formulas, though I knew a few hunters with Labs that fed what I was feeding.

 You can tell he's confident that nobody is going to steal his food!  LOL.  That's how Crusher eats, but slightly slower.  Its like he lifts his head in between bits just to say,"Ya, I'm top dog"  Onyx (aka: Nonee Tachew) inhales her food.  Be it Kibble, Raw, homecooked, or poptart.  If she gets it, it enters her body in milliseconds or her beast of a brother may just steal it.  The exception to this is if she is backed into her crate with something she can't just swallow.  I've seen her give him a face full of spit and watched him back down.  When I feed them now, I make them sit at the door, I hand Crusher his food, he trots out the door to the outdoor kennel and lays down with his food and then I hand Onyx hers and she goes into the porch and straight into her crate.  So much for putting their crates away. 

Well since EP is the favorite in our house..... hope it keeps working for Shadow Ron.

ron2

Anyway, calcium is important because he is tall, being 26 inches to the shoulder and long like a Lab. DW is 5' 5 1/2" and Shadow could put his paws on her shoulders. Also, his bones are less dense than a full Lab, hence, his weight, which is over for a Sibe and average to under for a Lab.

Hi Ron! I too have switched over to Eagle Pack Holistics. I go between the Chicken and the Sardine. Now and then I feed the Small Breed Adult, I love the protein and fat for performance dogs. My guys have done really well on these foods. I switched from the Canidae formula, the new one. I too like the basic feed with rice and lots of meats (sigh...good old Canidae) and wanted to avoid barley and as much veggies and fruits (and other grains) as possible. I gave Eagle pack Holistics a try. OK, so it has some oatmeal in it. One thing to remember: Eagle has worked long and hard over many years with many Great Dane breeders to develop the correct calc/phos balance for large breeds. I would not worry at all about the calcium in any of their formulas. Esp if you decided to try the Large Breed. http://www.eaglepack.com/Choose/ChooseDog.html Anyway - somewhere on their site is a link to the Great Dane Lady - and altho I don't take on totally everything she has to say - I truly believe she knows her stuff when it comes to large breeds and calcium. Keep us updated on Shadows progress with his new food.

 Aww, my current version of Firefox for Mac OS hates Google vids.  Too bad - I wanted to see Shadow in action!

I hope the Eagle Pack works for you all!  It's a good company with a long history of being customer and pet oriented.  Our new kittenz are eating EP Holistics too - mixed with InstinctsTC kitten formula raw premix (with beef heart). 

Thanks for your reply, Sarah B. I actually emailed the Great Dane Lady directly from her website. It's all Dyan's fault, actually. She has been a proponent of Eagle Pack Foods for as long as I have been here and she led me to know about Linda Arndt and the long-term feeding trial done on large and giant breeds. As it turns out, several companies were approached but Eagle Pack, alone, stepped up to the challenge. So, using the results of success from others, from Linda Arndt, to our own Dyan and her beautiful Harlequin GD, Bubblegum (RIP), I had plenty of good evidence that it is a good food for large breed dogs and dogs with large breed issues. And I could always ask either lady, if necessary, for more info.

He seemed to like it and cleaned his bowl. True, he'll eat most anything I give him but that places it upon me to make sure that what he eats is what he needs to eat. The problem I have with Nutro Senior is that meat is not the first ingredient. A grain is. People that know me know that I have no problems with kibble or grains but even I think that meat or meat meal should be the first ingredient. There are some things I learned from Morganna, too. Such as the most prevalent ingredients are the first ingredient through and including the first listed fat. Everything else is in trace or supplemental amounts.

Or to take a lesson from Momentum Foods. Momentum is a food designed by a vet who mushes (races sled dogs). And that food has animal protein as a first ingredient. Barring a health condition, such as failing kidneys, were NFE proteins are required, any healthy dog can eat animal protein pretty much his/her entire life. I know that on an as-fed basis, the protein profile is what matters most, as opposed to what we think about the ingredient list. And that some of the non-meat ingredients provide some essential proteins to provide a complete nutrition. But I consider dogs to be omnivores with a strong leaning towards meat.

I also know of people, specifically mushers, who supplement kibble, which is convenient, with meat, especially in competition, when the caloric needs of the dogs are quite high. For example, a musher in the Iditarod fed Eagle Pack Power (their working dog formula) and seal meat to his dogs. And won. The food did it's job. And your talking about 45 to 50 lb dogs pulling in a team of 12 to 14 pulling a sled with at least 100 lbs of food and supplies and a 180 lb human at 20 mph for at least two hours at a time at - 30 F over the Alaskan wilderness. And actually, I bet they could have done it on the kibble alone but many mushers have a tradition of feeding raw or homecooked.

I am also fortunate that the Green Market is only 7 miles away. Not that I would complain about having to drive to Plano, Texas. Canine Comissary is about 40 miles away and my car gets an average of over 30 mpg. EP is more expensive but price has never been a concern to me. If I had to drive to Plano to buy it, so be it. It's not about the cost, it's about what Shadow needs to eat. And, as I think anyone can see, I mean what I say. If Nutro didn't work, I would change without hesitation (minus the time to consider which formula would be best). And I don't mind that it's more expensive. But I am glad that I don't have to drive far to get it.

 

huskymom

You can tell he's confident that nobody is going to steal his food

It looks that way, doesn't it? He loves to eat outside. He even ate outside this summer when normally he'd eat inside during the hottest days. But he especially likes it outside below freezing.

This is last March, with his old food.

We were in the middle of a blizzard and that's snow on his fur.

As for the crates, oh well. It's like when Shadow has to chase the kong. It's a ritual of dinnertime.

 

Thanks, Dyan. I hope so, too, as it has turned out to be quite convenient.

brookcove

Aww, my current version of Firefox for Mac OS hates Google vids.

Actually, it's on photobucket. Would you like me to try and email it to you? Or I just email it (.wmw format) and see if you can see it?

 

Hi, Ron.  I liked seeing Shadow come to life.  He chews his food like Willow does--so cute.  And, she also likes eating outside--no matter the weather--although not sure how she'll be this year, she's lost so much of her coat due to her illness.  Speaking of coat, I've heard that Eagle puts a gorgeous coat on dogs so let me know if that is true, OK??

Good luck with the new food.  I hope he contines to like it and does well on it.

Lori

 

I think everyone should contribute a vid of their pooch during supper time! I love watching dogs chowing down!

 A good friend of mine feeds EP to her dogs, and it's done very good things for thier coats. They were on Innova and Canidae, before. Now, they're eating Precise and EP Fish. They look fantastic.

 

I'm going to have to video my dogs, now. All the cool kids are doing it! I have one eating kibble with canned, and one eating premade raw. 

jennie_c_d

I'm going to have to video my dogs, now. All the cool kids are doing it! I

 

Yes, join the "in" crowd.

jennie_c_d

I have one eating kibble with canned, and one eating premade raw. 

 

If logistics permit, you might get it into one video but use two if you must.

I can just thank everyone in this reply. I'm going to give it a few days but I think he'll do well on it. My biggest concern is that if there is too much of the apples and cranberries or it's wrong in the mix that it would change his immune system response, like the Innova did  But he may not have any bad reaction at all. He doesn't eat fruit as a rule. But he will eat grass, nuts (we have pecan trees), anything meat, mashed sweet potatos. I once got him to eat a celery stick but only because it had been inside a roasted turkey. You can leave a carrot on the floor and so will he. But I think the mix EP will probably work with him. I know holistics tend to include fruits and vegetables because humans like them, at least they did at the start. And I don't have a problem with that.  As long as the food works for Shadow and he can and will eat it, so be it. Granted, there's plenty of people to speak for it and I would consider this food because of their input, which I value.

So, if he's doing okay after a few days, then I'll start buying the big bag.

Shadow IS a pretty boy.  Loved the video.  Heidi puts her ball in her food ball sometimes...it cracks me up.  She tries to eat around it for a minute...then realizes its in the way, so takes it out.

I recently switched to EP Holistic Lamb Meal too.  Everyone is doing great on it.  I wanted a bit more protein than offered in the EPH, so I mix in  some TOTW too.  Bruder can't handle that mix, though so he gets EPH strictly.