Gun Dog Forum

I know PPP sport is the standard for most guys, and that's what I've been feeding my 6 month old GWP. However, when at Petco today to get more I got into a conversation with an employee who was pushing the Acana dog food pretty hard. So, curious to hear from those who have tried it (or looked into it)... what are your thoughts? Looks like it's trying to fill a niche of being the "best" kibble type food before going to a freeze dried or raw food diet. Has anyone moved to it from PPP sport and felt like it was worth the extra money?

Thanks

It might make you feel better to feed it, but I have serious doubts that your dog will see any benefits at all and perhaps maybe he may not do as well. I have tried different foods with my dogs over the years to try and save a couple bucks; Loyall, Victor, Eukanuba, Canidae, Costco, they did well on all of them because they are all solid foods. But they have always seemed to do the best on PPP, coats and skin look better, stools look better and they have plenty of energy. So that’s what we settled on and they get it from cradle to grave.

Bottom line, a hard working dog should be fed a grain inclusive 30/20 ration (my dogs hold weight better and coats look the best when that grain is corn), feed an adult dog once a day as close to 24 hours before the next round of exercise as possible. Dogs have much greater stamina on a high fat diet while running on an empty stomach, it is also better for them physically to run with an empty stomach.

Lots of good brands, but as I have stated, I as well as most that have had dogs for awhile found the best results feeding Purina Pro Plan Performance. The overwhelming majority of the top Field Trial dogs in the country eat the same from the whelping box to the grave and most of the best in show crowd feed purina as well.

Read the dog, not the bag or brochure and don’t listen to any website rankings or a $10 an hour box store employee. Your dog and the proven results in the hobby over the years is a much more credible source. If he is doing good on PPP then keep doing what you are doing and save the mental exercise for more important pursuits. Because you are not going to do any better than what you are doing now.

Will it nag at you forever if you don't try it? Your best bet might to try it for a bag or two. No telling in advance how a particular dog will do on a particular food.

That being said, I started with PPP, switched to something "better" and again to something "just as good but cheaper" and here I am, feeding PPP again ( and still )

I could not say it any better than what Garrison posted....Art

Art -

If a Petco or wherever was giving out free one, two or five pound bags of the product for folks to try...that is one thing. Companies do indeed give out free samples. All sorts of companies give out all sorts of free samples. It is called "marketing".

If they wanted me to try a bag and they gave me 1/2 off my first bag...I'd probably try it.

If there is no financial incentive...well... we all know the old saw: "talk is cheap...."

RayG

Honestly, the only times I actively look to change dog food is when I cannot readily obtain the food the dogs are currently eating, or if something changes and the dogs are no longer doing well on it.

Garrison,
Thanks. Everything you said makes sense. I was just curious as much as anything, both because of what the employee was saying about it and because the ingredient list and macro numbers did look good. But you're right, he's doing good on Purina so no logical reason to make a change.

I agree with everything Garrison said. There are a lot of good brands and feeding PPP is always a safe bet. Too many great hunting dogs using it to question it. I wouldn't put a lot of weight on an opinion from a pet store employee when it comes to feeding a hunting dog although they would probably be fine on whatever you get.

Whatever you buy, make sure you it is easy to find where you live and you can get it near where you hunt. Availability is one of the things I always consider. I live way out in the country and local farm and ranch and feed stores aren't going to carry the same brands the box stores do. When you are hunting out of state, it is nice when you can get your brand of dog food locally.