Serve it wet or dry?

4rcgoat

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Dec 12, 2015
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wyoming
To all you K-9 lovers,do you serve their food wet or dry? Our new puppy is turning her nose up to wet food and only prefers dry food. Any opinions on "the best" dog food available?
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
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Wisconsin
I have only ever fed dry dog food, but my 3-year-old lab is starting to get a little weird about eating. She frequently looks at the food then looks at me several times, then will dig in. My in-laws have had a couple of labs over the years that refused to eat unless they added some real meat or other tasty stuff. But that was often in their later years when they seemed to be more pampered/stubborn/finicky. Funny creatures sometimes. Good luck!
 

Wapiti1

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Sep 18, 2017
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Indiana
We feed dry. None of the dogs has ever had any issues with it. Our current dog likes Radford Chicken and Brown Rice. Previous like one of the IAMS varieties. Pick a food based on the dog's needs, then find the flavor it likes. Sedentary dogs need different food than active dogs. I would avoid grain free since there has been some indications of heart issues loosely linked to grain free. Complete and Balanced are words you want to see on the package.

When I had bird dogs, we would switch up the food during the season and feed higher fat and protein food. They did better running all day on that. Off season, they were on lighter food just for maintenance. If I remember right, I fed them Hill's Science Diet during the season and I don't remember off season, so probably Purina or IAMS.

How to Read a Dog Food Label – American Kennel Club (akc.org)

Jeremy
 

CBreeze

FNG
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Oct 5, 2019
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Even my 10 year old lab that’ll hunt 2-3 days this season stays on dry pro plan 30/20 even tho she sleeps 21 hours a day and otherwise lays around.

my experience after cleaning up after / training thousands of dogs is that if they don’t do well in pro plan 30/20 they need to go to the vet and find out what’s wrong, because there is an issue. Older / more sedentary dogs get/ need less of it. Better stools better costs quicker recovery fewer injuries etc etc etc. no I don’t get any incentives yes I buy it at chewy.
 

Rob5589

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Sep 6, 2014
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N CA
Dry. I'm sure they get bored with the same stuff so we will add in some protein source or broth once in a while to change it up.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
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Lenexa, KS
Purina Pro Plan Performance (do they call it Sport now?), the 30/20 stuff

I don't think you'll find many professional dog trainers feeding anything else.
 

grossklw

Lil-Rokslider
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Mar 24, 2017
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224
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Wisconsin
Dry- Purina Pro Plan Sport for my field bred golden. He's not a big eater so high calorie helps, we pheasant hunt 40+ days/year and run 25 miles/week in the off-season. You get what you pay for with dog food. Seth Bynum who is the meateater consultant and bird dog vet (he hunts a ton and specializes in them) feeds his dog Pro Plan Sport (not via advertisement, it's what he told me he recommends 99% of the time and his personal bird dogs eat it due to the high calorie content and ease of digestibility).
 

WCB

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Jun 12, 2019
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Dry-Call of the Wild is what we feed.

However, a couple of our dogs lose their apatite on long trips. We can get them to eat wet food then.
 

KurtR

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Sep 11, 2015
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South Dakota
depends on the situation but mostly dry. i started with eukanuba for my new puppy but it did not agree with his stomach. My wife got science diet puppy which i was not thrilled but has really agreed with him. When we go adult i might try kinetic which the guy i train with uses. My dog would eat the ass out of a skunk so being picky is not a problem but keeping him from eating every thing has been a challenge
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
471
I feed my lab dry food, though I do add a bit of water to it at times. If we are away on a hunting trip for the weekend, I always add water- she won’t eat it otherwise. Dogs are weird.
 
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