Food Help

[setterluv]

First of all, let me say that I'm not a Hunting/Field trainer. But I love the sport and am very interested in it. My dad works for a company that makes the dog boxes for trucks and trailers for the gun dog people, and we see a lot of them come through. My Irish setter will be doing some Hunt Tests later on down the road, but that's it for now. I have collies and compete in a variety of different performance events.

But, I was doing a search on dog food topics and came across this forum and thought I'd ask a food question.

For years I've been feeding Exceed Performance 30/20 (Chicken) and sometimes the Maxxi 30/20. My dogs got that year round. They didn't do as well on the Lamb and Rice formula. But now Exceed is no longer being stocked in my area (TX), and I'm in a bind as to what to do next. I'd like to put them on Pro Plan, but honestly, with two high energy younger dogs, as well as the older ones, and with the price of Pro Plan, I'm not sure I can afford it.

But, my local feed store stocks a lot of different Diamond foods, and stocks some Red Flannel. They do have some formulas with higher protein/fact ratios, and the price isn't too bad. Plus, my brother works there and so I get a discount.

Diamond has several different colors, and types. They do stock the High Energy formula, and I believe the Premium formula. Are there any certain formulas you could recommend? My dogs have always done better on the higher protein/fat.

[ezzy333]

Try the Premium in the green and yellow bag. It's a good feed at a reasonable price.

Ezzy

[nitrex]

Try the Premium in the green and yellow bag. It's a good feed at a reasonable price.

Ezzy

Ditto! I used it for several years and never had problems.

Nitrex

[setterluv]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a try. I noticed that our feed store also sells several different formulas of a food called "Red Flannel", one of those looked pretty decent also.

[ezzy333]

I know nothing about Red Flannel except I have heard a couple of people on here say they had fed it and if I remember right they liked it.

Ezzy

[big steve46]

Diamond Premium is good, and i fed it for years. I presently feed Enhance by Arkat--Hunters Edge 24-18, and I like it. also, it is less expensive.

[daniemeade]

I have a very high energy GSP and are located in NE Kansas. My father-in-law also has two high energy GSPs. We feed Diamond High Protein for Sporting Dogs. It is in a red and green bag and we get it at Orchlens. We have found that that is what our male GSP does the best on. We have tried numerous others (Purina High Protien, Purina Dog Chow, Eukinuba, Iams). As a puppy he was on Purina Puppy Chow and we switched him over to the Purina High Protein at a year. He lost weight, and had diarrhea. This was the pattern with all the food we tried until we got to the Diamond.

My father-in-law feeds Red Flannel as that is what the local Co-Op carries in his area and his dogs do wonderful on it. They have used it for years with no trouble.

Now I will say that the only thing with the Diamond is that it was to much for our female lab. She gained too much weight on it and we switched her back to a lower protein/fat ratio. Other than that no complaints. But it is a trial and error process. If it works for your dog and you can afford it than it is the right food for the both of you. Just be carful and don't switch them all at once we mixed the previous food with the new food and gradually transitioned them. BUt if you have been doing all of this research you probably know all of that already.

[postoakshorthairs]

I currently feed the Diamond in the green/yellow bag and my dogs do great on it. I fed the Red Flannel food and my dogs did fine as well. They have a program where every 6th or 7th bag is free (can't recall). The reason I switched back is the place I bought it was not open on the weekends, evenings etc and Rural King Supply carries Diamond and is open 7days a week and evenings so when i don't plan well I can pick some up.

[setterluv]

Thanks for all of the advice.

They are currently on Pro Plan Large Breed, but I'm not impressed with it, and the price is killing me. My feed store carries Diamond, Diamond Naturals and Red Flannel. Next time I'm in town I re-read the labels and pick up some Premium.

It's nice to find some other dog people who are fine with feeding something that doesn't cost them an arm and a leg. On other forums, whenever I mentioned mine were on Exceed, then Pro Plan, then mentioned wanting to try Diamond, most of the dog people flipped out. Evidently they can shell out $50 + for a sack of feed easier than I can.

[postoakshorthairs]

I don't agree that you have to feed the most expensive food there is to keep your animals happy and healthy. In my opinion cost is not always related to quality anyway and with some of the foods your paying for a big name and advertisement. Besides, with several dogs I have to find something economical , without feeding junk, in order to keep momma happy I love my dogs but they can't make me sleep on the couch!

[MikeB]

I have been in the dog training business a long long time and have fed my dogs a lot of different food of the years. I have never owned a "high energy" hunting dog. Always thought I would really like a GSP or a Vizsla but since I don't hunt and don't ever plan to I thought I didn't need one of those breeds. They really do need to hunt to be happy I am sure. I have had several types of herding dogs some more active than others.

So for high energy hunting dog I would think it is important to feed the energy to keep proper weight, muscle, skin and coat etc. The way I always judged food was by the ingredinets, protien/fat and calories per cup. Higher the calorie the better for some dogs and less calories for other dogs. GSP's vs Labs maybe.

I find it interesting that... and this is just 1 brand.
Diamond High Energy for Hunting Dogs (Dark Red/green label) is 24/20 and 394 kcal/cup
Diamond Performance for dogs (Black/purple label) is 30/20 and 448 kcal/cup.
Diamond Premium Adult for dogs (Green/yellow label) is 26/18 and 425 kcal/cup

Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete (Cream/bright orange stripe) is 32/25 and 470 kcal/cup
Diamond Naturals Chicken/Rice (Cream/Dark orange stripe) is 26/16 and 368 kcal/cup
Diamond Naturals Beef meal/rice (Cream/blue stripe) is 25/15 and 338 kcal/cup

So I guess you have to experiment with a few different brands and formulas to find just what works best for each dog because ingredients and calorie per cup does make a difference.

[setterluv]

Thanks. I've just found out that our Sams has gotten some more Exceed in (they said they got too many complaints) so I'll probably put them back on the Exceed, but the Diamond Premium still is looking good, and it's so much cheaper. It'd be close to $8 cheaper, plus I wouldn't have to spend all the gas and time going into the metroplex.

We'll see how it plays out...