I NEED A FEED THAT PRODUCES LESS MESS TO CLEAN UP!!

[foxxy]

nutro its higher priced but they only have 1 or 2 stools a day if fed right

[tiffinis]

this is my soapbox topic so I will try to keep it short. A better food produces less waste. Do not feed any food that the main ingrediant is corn. I feed 9 dogs, 7 beagles and 2 Labs. I feed Professional Chicken & Barley, with the buyers program buy 6 get 1 free. I go thru 40 lbs per week. I did feed Canidae for about 8 weeks, most the dogs did pretty good on it, but I had 2 get hotspots. I have never had that problem with the Professional. Also WAY less shedding and less "hound" odor for any of those that have the dogs in the house.

[island ridge hounds]

i like and feed, when i can get it. topps or rex's dog feed made from speciality feeds. feed less because its compressed in making and clean up is less. hounds stay healthy and slick.

[chipper]

I agree with some of the earlier posts.If you have so many hounds that you need to feed the cheapest food you can find,you are not doing yourself or your dogs any favors.Try to make sure the first ingredient listed on the bag is some form of meat or meat meal,not corn.You will be able to feed less of a high quality feed because the food is not loaded with cheap fillers that your dog does not get any benefit from but, will poop out as waste.Pay attention to the ingredients and if you are not sure if a particular ingredient is good or bad then do some research on it.Some dogs will not tolerate certain ingredients in the food,no matter how good the feed is.For example,my hounds always did great on the Canidae food.
Tiffinis stated that a couple of hers developed hot spots on the Canidae.If you change feed do it gradually as some feed is a lot different than other feeds and may have lots of new ingredients that your dog is not use to.In any case,keep an eye on the dog to see how it is adjusting.Our hounds all deserve the best feed we can afford for them.It is much better for them and us as well.OK I will be quiet now.

[Bev]

tiffinis, what is the fiber percentage on the feed you use? I'm guessing 3.5 - 4%. I used Professional for a short time, and another similar called Prism. Liked them both but they got very hard for me to find locally.

[cpuckett]

i give 24 .26 a 50 pound bag thats counting tax for the black gold in the black bag 26/18 it is the best feed iv'e ever fed,i know there are better feeds out there but this feed suits me and my dogs look great and have plenty of energy on it.but my dealer told me they have come out with a new feed called black gold field trial blend,that is going to be 24/18 and is going to be a dollar cheaper so if u can find it in your area then this may help u on price some.charles

[RunninHard]

i give 24 .26 a 50 pound bag thats counting tax for the black gold in the black bag 26/18 it is the best feed iv'e ever fed,i know there are better feeds out there but this feed suits me and my dogs look great and have plenty of energy on it.but my dealer told me they have come out with a new feed called black gold field trial blend,that is going to be 24/18 and is going to be a dollar cheaper so if u can find it in your area then this may help u on price some.charles

$24.26 for 50#s ? Thats great, I pay $32.01 for it here in Port Huron Mich ....

[cpuckett]

wow that's quite a bit higher,why is the price so much different from here to there,it don't cost them anymore to make it does it.i only feed 6 to 7 dogs but still don't know if i could afford to feed it at that price,but i would still try to

[mjs bunnybuster]

I'm thinking about starting to feed a raw diet. Those of you that do feed a raw diet is it true you can do it for the same price as kibble? And also how much time do you spend preparing each day?

[bucks better beagles]

This is directed to Bev. After reading your post referring to fiber content, I checked my PMI and it is 3% fiber. However, I often use Pride 26/18 and it is 2% fiber. I seem to get more excrement with the Pride than I do PMI although the contents are virtually the same. I have not paid particular attention to fiber before so this interests me. What say you? My dogs also drink a lot more water with the Pride. Why would this be?

I had the same problem when I used Sportdog as far as the water went. Why would one food cause a dog to drink a lot of water and another cause it not to?

[2500 HD]

Salt content. More salt added requires more water consumption. Intake of alot of water is good for muscle rehydration, but can cause dehydration if fresh water is not readily available!!!! Watering at only feeding time is the worse thing you can do to a dog in cold weather. IMO!!!!! Heated water bowls are cheep compared to poor dog health. again IMO!!!!!!!

[Bev]

This is directed to Bev. After reading your post referring to fiber content, I checked my PMI and it is 3% fiber. However, I often use Pride 26/18 and it is 2% fiber. I seem to get more excrement with the Pride than I do PMI although the contents are virtually the same. I have not paid particular attention to fiber before so this interests me. What say you? My dogs also drink a lot more water with the Pride. Why would this be?

I had the same problem when I used Sportdog as far as the water went. Why would one food cause a dog to drink a lot of water and another cause it not to?

I couldn't tell you why your dogs poop so much on the Pride but I would wager it's not related to fiber. I looked up PMI food labels and I couldn't find a 26/18 formula, only a 23/16, so that along with the disparity in fiber levels tell me you aren't using comparable feeds; the ingredients aren't virtually the same. I also noticed that Pride's meat source is porcine (pig). First time I've seen that. We don't know what the ash content is on either of those feeds because it isn't listed. It could be 4%; it could be 8 or 9%. I think both Diamond and Black Gold list the ash percentage on their bags.

My first instinct as to why your lower fiber food causes more stool? There's no telling how fine or rough the corn is ground in the feed. It just says "ground." Rough ground corn will pass through mostly undigested. This is why I also recommend avoiding dog food that says ground corn. Opt for corn meal whenever possible. Meal is meal - we know the texture of meal, it's almost a powder and the dog will be able to digest more of it. Lastly, I'm confused as to why both of those feeds use rice, in fact, list rice before the corn. Rice is inferior to corn as a source of carbohydrates (but is an excellent "filler").

HD2500 is absolutely correct on the salt of dog foods. Purina is generally lower in salt than many of the commercial feeds, and dogs don't seem to go through as much water while on it.

[ohlinger]

Salt content. More salt added requires more water consumption. Intake of alot of water is good for muscle rehydration, but can cause dehydration if fresh water is not readily available!!!! Watering at only feeding time is the worse thing you can do to a dog in cold weather. IMO!!!!! Heated water bowls are cheep compared to poor dog health. again IMO!!!!!!!

Really interested! I definitley agree...mine are only getting water during feeding time right now, it freezes too fast i water down the food and bust out the ice and refill the water bowls. Thought about heated water bowls where do you get them ? are they battery powered its feasible for me to have to run an extension cord and power strip to my kennel ? Looking for info on these handy dandy suckers!! Thanks ! do they work when it gets really cold ?

[ohlinger]

feed purina pro plan performance purple and black bag..you can't go wrong pricey but you feed less and dogs stay healthy it levels out in the long run price vs. amount fed. I thought it was crazy at first but a guy swore by it and he was right!!!

[2500 HD]

Heated water bowls are $19.99 at TSC. The bowls are better than the pails because the pails will freeze in single digit weather when full. The bowls have stayed unfrozen for me down to a -5 for sure. Mine are on outdoor extension cords and 3-ways. No trouble here. Hang 3-ways upside down or protect them so water (rain/ sow) doesn't run in them. Pull excess cord through the kennel wire and zip tie to hold the bowl in the corner leaving only enough cord to dump the bowl out. Keeps the dogs from destroying them if they get bored. LOL