Gun Dog Forum

I think I've heard that in humans a higher protein level will create more hgh that will end up with a taller heavier person. Not sure if that is over several generations or for an individual or if it's even true. Does protein level in dogs affect final size. I'm feeding a fairly high protein and fat puppy food and my pup is at 47 lbs at a little over 5 months. The dam is 47 lbs and Gambles Sam Man, his sire, I thought was in the 55 to 65 range.

I think you will find that that only size difference related directly to the food is a serious lack of an element needed for growth and it results in stunting. Just a shortage of less serious proportions can result in retarding growth but it won't effect the end result. I think you will find this to be true in all species.

Ezzy

Thanks ezzy
Never thought a really big dog was a good thing up in chukar country. Guess it's just genetics. He's 1/4 nmk where there are a couple pretty good sized dogs back a couple generations.

Yes, everything I have read as to the studies on protein affecting the end result as to overall growth has shown that high protein doesn't lead to some larger animal. What to concern yourself with is that too heavy a puppy can lead to problems such as elbow dysplasia or aggravating/accentuating underlying genetic based hip dysplasia. Extra protein tends to be an expensive source of calories used by the dog versus a different, less expensive source of calories that are utilized as energy, not as a building block of muscle like protein is used for.

dr tim wrote:Yes, everything I have read as to the studies on protein affecting the end result as to overall growth has shown that high protein doesn't lead to some larger animal. What to concern yourself with is that too heavy a puppy can lead to problems such as elbow dysplasia or aggravating/accentuating underlying genetic based hip dysplasia. Extra protein tends to be an expensive source of calories used by the dog versus a different, less expensive source of calories that are utilized as energy, not as a building block of muscle like protein is used for.

That is what I have read also and seems to agree with the experience I have seen.

dr tim wrote: an expensive source of calories used by the dog versus a different, less expensive source of calories that are utilized as energy, not as a building block of muscle like protein is used for.

Example? Im curious what this is in reference to, are you referring to normal dog food?

Carbs and fats are a much more economical source of energy even though a dog can use some of the overage of protein as energy instead of building and repairing muscle tissue which is it's primary function. In other words hi-protein feeds are not always economical when they are fed more than they need for building muscle. This applies to any kind of feed that you are using.

It makes sense but it leads me to question why a lot of people feed high protein during hunting season and regular food during the off season. Seems like it should be the other way around. You want to go into the season with a well built dog and maintain it throughout that hunting season by keeping his weight up. Does this make sense or does it make too much sense?

Some of both makes sense. You want a higher protein food for both training and in season to build up muscle and maintain it. you want a higher fat food prior to training to build the system up so it is ready for exercise as fat can have an effect to boost V02 max even with out exercise. Once into season the grind leads to much energy expenditure(to use the muscles) thus a high fat food and muscle building and maintenance(high protein food needed. Above all, these ingredients need to b e digestible to make any sense to the equation.

I don't think more protein = larger final size. Think of it like this - most field trialers feed high performance food from puppyhood - at least 30/20. Therefore you would think all their dogs would end up big but this is not the case. Some dogs are just bigger than others. My dog's sire and dam were 32 and 30 lbs respectively. My boy will be 2 years old in 2 weeks and his lean working weight fluctuates between 38-40 lbs (and looks skinny, I can't put meat on him). He has always been fed a high protein food - but so are all the other dogs his breeder raises. They're all different - just like people.