CORN IN DOG FOOD- GOOD OR BAD ?

[ohlinger]

I feed Pride orange bag. I can't remember how much corn it has but all dog feed has some corn. My hounds are slick as a whistle and I have fed it for 7 years. I go to the green bag during hot weather and have very little stool to clean up and nergy levels are high, and they dont' stop at every water hole so I know the sodium content is low. There's a discussion: sodium. If there's too much of that, they can't pass a water source.

Do you mind posting a pic of your'e dogs to let us see how slick this orange bag of pride is keeping them ? I just always like to see for myself. Not all dog food has corn.

[ohlinger]

I posted this question for input from fellow beaglers and I appreciate all input . Thank you.

The main reason for the question was because I noticed the feed I have used for five years now , seems to be treating my dogs differently. Buddy Boy 24-20. Never had problems until now. More stool, looser and lighter in color. Plus a house dog that scratches like he has fleas but doesn't( maybe allergies to corn). Occasionally will vomit foamy mess with no warning or gagging . A female beagle 6 yrs. old suddenly gets scabs on her ears and fore legs .This is after being laid up the last month because of deer season.

So I did some looking around and found info. on corn in dog food. The statement on the site was that corn is hard on a dog. May cause stool problems and may even cause skin irritations, like scabs or allergies , even after long periods of time.
They continued on corn stating that corn in any form , ground, middlings , and meal forms can have this effect.

Also learned a little about what the AAFCO makes the dog food companies adhere to . Not quite what I thought. For instance if ingredients state meat by-products, this could mean " anything off the floor such as blood , hides , hooves ,entrails ect. " it also stated that some foods have used road kill animals and euthenized cats and dogs. Not sure what to make of it all,but for me the proof is what I see. My dogs are not looking sick or under fed just noticed the stool being the biggest change and the two dogs (one of which is a house pet ) with skin problems.
I'll be trying a different food for sure. Just got to watch the price. I agree with the previous statement that they are dogs not humans. They wont eat better than me, but I will make sure they are in good health.

Lol you messed up by educating yourself before you made the post b/c you will get alot of uneducated opinions. This i something i'm always looking into as well. People are talking about affordable dog food that does'nt have corn as a filler. Well you may be just fooling yourself. A few of us are actualy saving money by feeding a more qualtiy or higher priced dog food b/c you are feeding less b/c the dogs don't require as much to maintain good health. When you're feeding them primarily corn yeah you might have to feed abit extra feed to help the hounds maintain a healthy weight and get enough of the what they need to maintain there health and appearance is a good indication of health that is if you care at all about any of that. some people just dont really care b/c they are just dogs....but i bet they are the ones with best dogs in the country too :-D if you ask them!!!

[Newt]

Since hounds can be compared to marathon runners in their persuit of game, I looked up a diet for marathon runners. Corn and cereal shows up often.

Strategies to reduce stomach and gut upsets (gastrointestinal upsets)

* Reduce your fibre intake by choosing lower-fibre cereals like cornflakes, rice bubbles, white rice, pasta, bread and soft fruits with no skin.

Pre-competition meal ideas

* White toast and low-fat spreads/spaghetti/corn/banana.
* Cereal with trim milk and/or yoghurt and/or fresh canned fruit.
* Muffins or crumpets with jam/honey.
* Low-fat pancakes with fruit.
* Creamed rice and fruit.
* Oatmeal with trim milk.
* Pasta with a tomato-based sauce.
* Risotto.
* Baked potato with corn/spaghetti/tomato-based sauce.
* Sandwiches/rolls with spreads/banana.
* Fruit salad and yoghurt.
* Liquid meals.

[mundellm]

Newt,
Bad idea feeding them that ...

Dogs cannot be compared to humans...metabolism and digestive tracts are completly different. Your diet consist of Carbs. Dogs get their energy FROM FAT and PROTEIN. People get their energy from sugar and carbs. If you want to look something up ... try looking up feeding sled dogs or working dogs.


http://workingdogswin.com/category/feed ... king-dogs/

[Househounds]

wireman252,

Check out this site about dog foods. Go to Dog Food Reviews. Some interesting info. You want to make sure the first ingrediants listed on the bag are what the name of the food is such as chicken, lamb, beef, fish, rice, potatoes etc. and not the filler stuff. I stay away from corn.

http://dogfoodchat.com/

In looking at this I found out that Kirkland brand (from Costco) is made by Diamond. I have been using it for about 3 years now. I get the lamb and rice as this seem to agree with my dogs stomachs the best.

[2500 HD]

Black Gold for going on 2.5 years now.

26/18 in the warmer less active months, 24/20 in the winter more active months.
Lways have real healthy stools, coats look excelant, good on weight control. Vet always
compliments on their appearance and overall health.

Same here. What cracks me up is how people analyze a dog food label, while grease runs down their wrist at a fast food joint.

[Bev]

Here are some facts that I've gleaned over the years from discussions with my pet food advertisers. It makes perfect sense to me.

Dogs are not carnivores; they are omnivores. They need all components in their diet; protein, vegetables and carbs.

Corn is the most important ingredient in dog food because it is their "energy carb." What you need to watch for on the label is if it is ground corn or corn meal. Ground corn doesn't state how rough or fine it is ground. It could be chunks, most of which would pass through. Corn meal is a powder and will give the best absorption value. The dog will get the most out of corn meal.

Rice is an inferior source of carbohydrates. It is generally given only when corn cannot be tolerated.

Protein is not one of those "the more the better" things for dogs. Too much protein over a lifetime is hard on the kidneys (for humans, too!) Cats have the highest protein requirement of all animals, and they only need 40%. Working dogs will do well on 24 or 26%. Puppy chow carries a slightly higher percentage because they are burning calories just growing. For added energy, add some fat, not more protein.

Stool consistency is largely influenced by fiber percentage. The higher the fiber, the bigger and looser the stool. I never buy a feed that has over 4% fiber. I prefer 3%.


All that being said, take a look at the ingredients label of this food. It's what I fed because it met all the above criteria:

http://blackgolddogfood.com/performance.htm

If it's available in your area I would highly recommend it, regardless of what it costs. If not, I would get as close to those numbers as I could.

[2500 HD]

Very good post Bev.

[AlabamaSwamper]

Bev,

I fed Black Gold for 6 years. Just switched about 6 months ago. It is almost $30 a bag. I can buy a much better product for $30 a bag. Don't get me wrong, I loved BG and my dogs did very well on it and I never saw the problems others had with it. For that price however, I can get comparable products for $25 a bag. I'm testing now and this winter will be a good test. If I don't find anything, I won't have any reservation about switching back to BG but $30 a bag feeding 15 dogs hurts my wallet. lol

I've been feeding Enhance all summer. Much better rated food because of ingredients. It was even cheaper. That all changed a few weeks ago when they were bought out. Can't even get it now.

[cpuckett]

i have been feedin black gold black bag for 2 years now and have no plans of switchin,i fed purina pro hi pro for prbally 10 yrs,and liked it then all the sudden i could not keep weight on my dogs i had to start feedin them almost double to keep them in decent shape,so then i switched to diamond preimium aldult witch was 25.18 a bag 2 years ago and did not totally like it,but did'nt know what to switch to ,so i started to ask around about different brands of dog foods and from everybody i talked to that fed blackgold they were more than satisfied,some of the others seemed to not really like what they were feedin ,due to results or price,i get blackgold for 24.28 a 50 pound bag plus tax and right now they are given an extra 5 pounds free per bag,so i got a fillin they are gettin ready to go up they normally dont give you something for nothin,but i will stick with them as long as i can afford it,purina has went up on price and and also started makin smaller bags,so at least they are given you more i guess.when you feed 6 or more hounds i don't know any workin man or woman that can afford feedin any food without corn of some sort'just go price scince diet ,or eukanuba,there is no possible way i could afford that stuff even if it is a better feed,jmo

[wireman252]

Well I had an offer on some food that I'm going to try. Diamond Naturals chicken and rice 26-16 . No corn , wheat , or soy and the part I like is no bi-products, which from info. I've read on seems to be the one thing that could be the result of inconsistency in feed. so much can go into feed marked with bi-product, from what I've read.

I'm going in half with another houndsman and for a pallet of 52-40lb bags the price is $1080 that's 52 cents a lb. that's only 2 cents more a pound than some one paying $25 for a 50lb bag . my share is $540 for 26-40lb bags or $20.77 a bag. Certainly affordable being the feed I was feeding ( with poor results ) is going to $20.16 a 50lb. bag. A little more money for a better food is worth paying , for me.

The best part is the guy I'm splitting it with , has been feeding it to his coon dogs for a couple years now and prefers this over the buddy boy I fed, he tried it as well, and also prefers it to the black gold. He trials and hunts his dogs harder than anyone I've ever seen. He runs year round from 0-90 deg. and his dogs look like machines. The proof is in performance and his hounds perform better now than ever he says. I'll let you know how my beagles handle this feed.

Thanks for all the input. Very helpful...................Happy Running !!!

[Bev]

I might also mention that inconsistency in feed -- especially those that mention by-products, is because those manufacturers buy what and from whoever is cheaper on the market that day, instead of buying from the same meat supplier all the time. This is how they keep the price down. You don't know if you are buying meat from carcass animals, or the by-products from recently slaughtered animals. Carcass animals could be (how many days dead?) before sent to the mfgr. They buy whatever's cheapest that day. They might pay a little more over the long haul, which means a little higher price to the consumer, but unless their practice has changed, Black Gold buys from a regular supplier -- they don't buy old carcass meat, so they don't have the consistency problem.

If it were me, and I had to buy cheaper food because of the number of dogs I keep, I'd cut down the number of dogs I keep, and feed fewer a lot better. Not criticizing -- to each his own. That's just my take. I've found myself more than once with so many dogs I couldn't afford the better food, and I found that by having that many dogs I wasn't doing them much justice in the field, either. Some of the most successful breeders and field trialers I ever met never kept more than 7 ot 8 hounds at a time. Kinda on the same vein of "don't have any more kids than you can afford to feed, lol." Just something to think about.

[Alabama John]

I go by the day old bread store and get loaves of bread for 50 cents a loaf. Whole wheat, white, health bread whichever.

The dogs love to eat it and all can catch a piece sailed through the air and they catch it midair. Same with cornbread and biscuits left over.

Cuts down on store bought dog feed and dogs do great eating some of it three or four times a week along with feed.
Inbreeding, linegreeding, best to best.

That's why I like grade dogs best.
They do not have papers to contend with, a registry to pay, or trophies to chase, or high priced pups to sale, they are bred and raised for one purpose, to rabbit hunt with and enjoy hearing them running a rabbit. They usually have only one name too. I do have one with two names and he is TEE BO!

[Bev]

I hear that, John! I buy the best dog food I can afford and then turn around and give'em a half bologna sandwich on top of that -- just because I like to treat them to a goody, lol!

[klrconcrete]

I just checked out the Black Gold feed that was recommended and the first question is What is meat meal? Is it always the same kind of meat or does that vary with what ever can be purchased cheapest at the time? Chicken by product meal? What does that cover? Any part of the chicken that cant be sold for human consumption? Meat Meal (as vague as it is ) is the first ingredient but there are 5 corn and grain sources next in line so really there is much more grain in a bag than is let on. If you really study dry kibble - all the brands, formulas, etc. 95% of it is the same stuff in different bags, - and is low grade feed. I like the saying " My dogs do fine on it" which in reality translates in to "it will work until something cheaper comes along". Feed what you are convinced is the "best" as long as it doesnt cost to much!