Dog food questions

[Skip]

Title just about says it. Anyone got a Great Pyrnee dog? How quickly do they go through feed? And what do you feed them?

 

[KotaDVM]

How old is your dog?
What is his/her day usually like? (sedentary vs. active lifestyle)
What is your dog currently eating?

Knowing those facts we can narrow down a food and how much your dog should have

 

[Chatychick]

Well I have 4 GP/Anatolians and they eat basically 50lbs a week. You dont feed them alot like some think. Mine get about 1/2 of a 3lb coffee can once a day. Now when my female was pregnant she ate more which is understandable, and also while feeding the pups she was always hungry. During the winter I feed mine a little more but during the summer they dont seem to eat during the day mine like to eat at night when its cooler. Hope this helps some.

 

[farrier!]

We dont have one but one comes to visit us every few months and attempts to stay.
Even with the 12 mile trek he eats less then half of what my Vizsla does. Big difference on activity level too.

 

[jywel417]

This is a question that varies dog to dog and food to food. I can tell you one of the vets I work for has her undergraduate on animal nutrition and wrote her thesis on nutrition. The vet I work for always suggested people stay away from store brand foods, like Ol' Roy, Pet Pride, etc. Dr. Maria is VERY adamant about telling people to NOT feed those foods. As a general rule any Name brand dog food (Purina, Pedigree, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro, etc) is a good food. We have several issues with coat and itchy dogs on those that eat beneful, I think it is a higher grain food . . .

The amount of food can also depend on the brand itself. My 2 dobermans did NOT like Science Diet brand food (it is one of the foods we sell at work). In addition to Hills Science Diet's ever increasing prices (

try explaining to clients why their dog food is increasing about once a month . . .

) the feeding chart also rec for my 2 dogs (55 lbs and 65 lbs) that they needed 5-6 cups of large breed food per day. . . . so I am going to pay LOTS for food and feed my dogs LARGE quantities which increases output. Due to allergy issues in my girls (one to grain, one to chicken) I looked at the IVD prescription foods and even if I paid OUR cost it was more expensive than me going to the feed store next door and getting some of the high end natural/organic foods. I feed my two girls Wellness Brand Dog food, Morgan (5 1/2) eats the Super 5 Lamb and they rec she get 2 to 2.5 cups of food per day, she usually eats about 2 cups a day and is at an ideal weight. Sister (going to be 3 this tuesday

) is on their Wellness CORE Oceanfish (grain free, think it has about 5 main ingredients) and they rec she also get 2 to 2.5 cups of food per day, she weighs 55 lbs. For a while I was having trouble keeping weight on sister and she was having to get 4 cups of food a day to prevent her from loosing more. I tried another high end brand of food at that point and she was needing over 6 cups of food a day to maintain her weight, so I went back to the Wellness CORE.

Also, different brands of dog food, regardless of amt consumed, seem to agree more with the dogs digestive system and can greatly DECREASE fecal output. If you think your dog poops alot, it smells more than you think it should, maybe try switching foods if you want to try and fix this. My dogs didn't poop very much at all on Eukanuba food, but they started putting chicken in their lamb formula and Morgan's twice monthly diarrhea started up again like clockwork. Good luck and I will check back to see if I have caused any confusion/need to answer any questions!!

 

[Rosalind]

I have a Great Pyrenees and a Newfoundland.

The Pyr as a puppy ate about 3-4 cups of Wellness kibble per day, even when I left it out free-choice. He is now 22 months old and eating about 2 cups of Wellness Large Breed or Taste Of The Wild kibble and half a can of Merrick per day. You offer him a treat, he can take it or leave it--even the super-smelly training treats, he's only good for about 8-10 little pieces before he gets bored. His daily chores consist of minding chickens from 9am - 5:30pm and five daily patrols around the property, two of which end with a long walk and play/training time.

The Newfoundland is still a puppy (9 months old), and she eats twice as much as the Pyr: 6 cups of kibble and half a can of Merrick, plus all the treats she can charm out of DH. She hangs out with the Pyr as he does his chores and has been "helping" me clean the pool this time of year. A little more active than him, but not by much.

On weekends, they also get 2 eggs (thoroughly cooked in the microwave), a little bit of fish oil on their kibble, bits of cheese, a couple tablespoons of yogurt, and raw meaty beef bones.

If your question was, "do they really eat a lot less than similar-sized giant breeds" then I'd say the answer is yes.

 

[Mugen]

Hello Folks,

I have two Komondors and a Caucasian Mountain Dog. I have been feeding them Sport Mix from a local farm supply store. Is that a good brand? Thanks!

Mugen

 

[jywel417]

I am not sure, I have never heard of it before . . . . . maybe someone else can chime in . . . . . I know that walmart store brands, kmart store brands, and similar store brands are not very nutritional but that might be okay, will see if anyone else has any experience

 

[KotaDVM]

Quote:
I looked up the website and Sportmix looks like a typical dogfood in regards to ingredients. The calories are little on the high end for a normal family pet...this food looks like it is made specifically working dogs that need more calories in the diet. Overall it looks like it fulfills all of your dogs' needs. Does the packaging say that a feeding trial was done?

 

[halo]

I feed my guys Wellness; I just love it. They look fabulous on not much food (tho they do get chicken and eggs, too). You get what you pay for, and Wellness is one of the best dog foods around.