TDG: question about food

[imported_Kat]

Hey TDG, what are your opinions about Royal Canin? I've done a lot of searching about trying to find a good complete food and Royal Canin seems to be about the best I can find, because we don't have a good variety here in the UK. I am feeding Kes the Royal Canin medium dog Junior and she loves it but I would be very interested to know your views as you are well up on dog nutrition and feeding :wink: .

[TDG]

hello kat :)

do you have a new doggie?! sorry, but i have been sooooo busy recently, not much time to keep up with all my forum visits.

royal canin is in my opinion the best of the traditional, "mainstream" commercial dog foods on the market, especially in europe. it's one of the very few brands that originated on the european market (france), and not in the US.

it's what i was feeding my great dane 15 years ago, and we always had good results with it. i realize it isn't quite appropriate to compare the status of a food from 15 years ago to nowadays, but their quality is very consistent, e.g. sufficient meat in the product vs. too many carbs, no meat byproducts etc.

however, compared to many of the newer products available in the US, it fades a little. i know what you mean about lack of much variety, i've lived in germany until 5 years ago and even now often still order dog supplies over the internet to be delivered to my parents, where my old dog lives, so i'm familiar with what's on the market.

i'd stick with the royal canin until the pup is full grown, and then maybe switch to feeding one of the mixer products to which you add fresh meats and veggies, either raw or cooked. that way you can stay away from the typical adult foods that only contain around 18-21% protein and insane amounts of carbs more fit for a cow than for a dog. :)

[Pumpkin the musher]

As long as you are around TDG, what is your opinion on feeding working dogs- i.e. my sled dogs. I run in mid distance type races, requiring more stamina than speed. Runs are usually 15 to 50 miles, with rests and snacks on longer runs, usually every 2 hours, or less if it is really cold or tough terrain. We feed Red Paw 32/20, with ground beef, and occasionally eggs,venison, and fish for a change of pace. My "energy snacks" are homemade- eggs, chicken fat,ground venison, ground/dried anchovie meal and cooked rice frozen into muffin tins. What would you change in order to increase stamina- we need long term, consistent energy available, not short bursts of energy. Thoughts?
This is a long going debate on mushing forums, and there is allot of research on this, especially from Arleigh Reynolds of Cornell-of course everyone has their own plan- I'm just curious what you think!

[imported_Kat]

Hi TDG, thanks a lot for the info! :D Yep I have a new Border collie puppy called Kes (pics on the forum :wink: ). I'm moving to Texas in June hopefully so I will keep her on Royal Canin until shes past the puppy stage then call upon your services if thats ok to pin point a good food that will suit her needs :wink:

[TDG]

pumpkin, i freely admit i don't know by far as much about feeding the true athletes of the dog world, as opposed to less hard working canines.

but i do know that fat is the primary source of energy for dogs, and combined with good quality carbs it provides the high levels of energy required for these animals.

with the carbs i would experiment with sources that are low on the glycemic index, meaning they don't cause rapid spikes of blood sugar, but instead provide a slow and steady output of energy.

so you could try replacing some of the grain content (rice, corn, etc.) in the diet with barley, slow cooked whole oats (not instant oatmeal), peanuts and sweet potatoes for example.

[TDG]

congrats on the new pup kat, i found the thread. what an adorable girl.

you are moving to the US? wow, that is exciting. i hope you will have less trouble with all the immigration stuff than i had. even tho i married a US citizen, it still took them 4 years to sort it all out. :x

good luck! :)