charlie brown

Hello,

I am currently feeding my dogs Pedigree Adult Complete Nutrition, and I am disappointed in the weight of my hounds. I am feeding one dog 1 1/2 large coffee cans full per day of food, and the other 1 full can. The first dog seems to be skin and bones. The other seems to be barely maintaining weight, if not loosing. I have looked into Purina One dog food, in their formula of 30/20, and it is like $20 per 20lb bag. I have also made contact with a hound breeder in Utah that runs Mountain lions, and he is a distributor for PKC foods. He recommended me to try 26/18 formula. The Pedigree is only 21/9!! I think that extra fat would make a BIG difference, especially with the colder weather. The PKC food is $16.50 per 50lb bag, which would be a lot easier for me to handle with two hungry hounds, and plans to get at least 2 more within the next year. Any help would be great!!

underdog

If you're feeding your dogs that quantity and they are still thin, they definitely need more fat in their food. Adult forumlas are usually low in fat. I just checked Pedigree's website and didn't see your feed listed, but their Adult Performance blend is only 15% fat and first ingedient is corn (dog food manufacturers list ingredients in order of their content), making me question how good this food is. Corn is hard to digest, so a food high in corn might not provide as much digestible protein and fat as one that has a meat product as the primary ingredient.

Purina is good food, but you might look at Diamond brands sold in feed stores or Maxx Nutrition sold at WalMart. I'd feed something with 20% fat and if they get heavy, cut back on the quantity. Both of these feeds provide quality nutrition and good prices. I've used both with satisfactory on bird dogs that hunt 2 or 3 times a week.

I've never heard of PKC brand foods. Is this some other brand they sell to PKC members? You need to know more about it before you use it.

donm

purina and old roys mixed a little corn oil 2 table spoons and scraps have given this to every thing from hounds to bird dogs for years. are you sure you dont have a worm problum that it a lot of food to be losing weight.

losthwy

If what underdog said is correct, andI assume it is, that the first ingredient is corn in the food, then it is a VERY poor quality food. The first ingredients listed for dog food should be meat or meat meal. The better dog foods will have two or more meat/meat meal listed as the first ingredients. Corn is basically a filler and cheap, which is why that food sells for $16.50.

AlaskaMagnum

Have you wormed him? If he is eating that much and is literally skin and bones, makes me wonder.

As for food, I have fed Diamond, but I do not like the dog's coat on it, however it is a quality food, but there are better ones out there. Pedigree is junk and should be avoided. If you feed Diamond, I suggest you buy the Kirkland brand at Costco -- it the green bag Diamond food and runs about $15 per bag.

Lots of guys with multiple dogs feed Kasko and Eagle Pack, both are good. Lots of sled dog guys up here feed the Eagle Pack.

Purina One is not that good either, but for a store brand, is decent.

If you want super premium food and do not paying about a buck a pound, try Innova or Royal Canine. Both are excellent food, very little waste, no corn, no brewer's rice. Great food.

charlie brown

Thanks for the help guys!!

Yes, my dogs are wormed. I even called the vet on this very issue. I had them both wormed on August 24th of this year. My vet stated that I should only need to worm twice per year as long as they are not getting into stuff they shouldn't be. They are constantly contained, so I know they aren't getting into anything.

I also called a supply store in Elko, and talked to them about what foods they have. They have one which I can't recall the entire name right now, but it has "26" in it. He said that a lot of people who are running lions are feeding this stuff with good results. I will try this for a while, and also try and find a dealer for Diamond foods.

Thanks again for the help!!

Snooky

The PKC 26-18 is a red meat base with no soy. It is a premium quality feed that is highly digestable and formulated for hard hunting dogs. Their 24-20 is also a very good food and gives a little more fat in case that good dog has to spend a night lost on a cold winter night. You are learning a valuable lesson with your dogs. You can starve a dog to death on the econo type feed. Studies have proven that you can save 3-10 cents per day per dog by feeding a premium quality food such as PKC (Pro Kennels Choice) brand. Reading labels can be deceiving as many proteins will not digest well or not at all. Chicken feathers qualify as chicken by products and will put the protein levels off the scale but will not digest and pass right through the dog. Be sure good ingredients are used or the label means little. Kirklands was mentioned and is a good food but several here in southern Idaho have switched to PKC and like the results better.

JaredA

I use Wysong or Wellness. What do you guys think of these? Hes a Brittany and seems to do real well with both. Thanks!!!