[tshuntin]

I have been of the opinion that for working retrievers the higher Protein foods (ie: 30% 20% fat) have great benefit. This is what I have fed to my dogs for multiple years. I have had good success.

However, I was talking with someone the other day who runs pointers and he says he has had better success in his dogs since switching to a food with 24% protein but, still a high level of fat around 20%. He says he is getting better energy from this and better performance doing this than he did with a higher protein percentage.

Could this be true in Retrievers as well or could this be more compared to the distance runner (pointer) and powerful sprinter (retriever)? With the build of labs vs pointers do the pointers not need as much protein, do labs need more protein?

What are your thoughts/opinions/expertise on the best protein and fat levels/percentages in working retrievers??????? Thanks, Travis

 

[Steve Shaver]

Good question but I dont know the answer.
I feed Pete the 30/20 stuff and he does great. Much better stamina and quicker recovery from a hard work out Kitty on the other hand has a lot more get up and go than Pete to begin with and gets fat on the 30/20 so she gets a 26/16.

 

[Losthwy]

I do recall reading about a direct correlation between protein and incidents of injury. Dogs fed a higher protein diet had fewer injuries. I would believe given the nature of retriever games the demands of feed would differ from pointers. Retrievers are more like sprinters and pointers closer to long distant runners.

 

[smillerdvm]

Losthwy; I believe the studies I saw linked lower injury rates for higher fat content. That is my recollection at least

 

[Rick Hall]

Lifted from a Mike Lardy interview with Arleigh Reynolds:

Another study with sled dogs showed the significant effects of protein levels on soft tissue injury rates. In one study, every dog (100 percent) on an 18 percent protein diet suffered soft tissue injury during twelve weeks of training, while only 20 percent (one in five) of the dogs fed 24 percent protein did so, and the group fed 32 percent protein diets with the same training experienced no injuries whatsoever. Dr. Reynolds explains, "We don't completely understand the mechanism, but we do know that feeding what was until now been considered an adequate amount of protein [18 percent] did not support good health and performance during intensive conditioning. A minimum of 24 percent of the calories should come from protein, or the risk of injury increases and the ability to maximally metabolize oxygen decreases."

 

[Jason Ferris]

Interesting quote Rick. Where can I find the full interview?

Regards, Jason.

 

[pafromga]

We feed a high protein/ high fat diet but stopped feeding the really high protein food.
Some of the dogs with sensitive stomachs had problems with their stool. It caused alot of mess. We feed them a active adult food now and everybody seems good. The messes went away.

 

[Losthwy]

We feed a high protein/ high fat diet but stopped feeding the really high protein food.
Some of the dogs with sensitive stomachs had problems with their stool. It caused alot of mess. We feed them a active adult food now and everybody seems good. The messes went away.

I have a dog that that had cronic loose stools and after trying many foods. I found he does best on Innova "EVO" which is a 42% protein food. A high protien food caused loose stools in your dogs and high protein food cured the problem in mine.

 

[TheBear]

Try this link:

http://www.working-retriever.com/library/dietper.html