Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
Posts: 5106

I would like to just discuss Fat Content in our dog food. Me personally, I like a dog food that is at least 20% fat and at times with hard hunting the dogs could handle 24% fat.
I think we all know eating fat without exercise is not good and will make the dog overweight. With that said, I find that anything less than 20 precent fat leaves the dogs looking a little thin. Not saying they are not healthy as there are a lot of thin people a lot healthier that people who are heavier. I would like to hear you opinion on the Fat Content of the dog food you feed and our feeling on it.

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 2014

All I feed is sportsmix blue bag in the summer which is 18 percent fat...in the colder months I swap to the sportsmix black bag which is 20 percent...just swapped about 3 weeks ago...in the summer months the dogs gain too much weight with the black bag...

Having said that my dogs seem to need more food than before just to maintain a good weight...I like to save money and I am thinking of swapping to diamond high energy which keeps weight on them with lower food intake...

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Registered: Jun 2005
Location: Prince Edward Island,Canada
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Most dog foods around here are 10 - 15 percent fat

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Registered: Jan 2005
Location: NE Indiana
Posts: 596

X 2 on the 20 percent fat. I believe that is what keeps a dog slick and shiny. We also supplement our dogs every day. Lol. Called table scraps with their food.

Back when I hunted serious I fed beef tallow with their feed during hide season. Kept them in fine shape.

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Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Perrinton, Michigan
Posts: 632

Feed at least 20 or higher in winter, supplement with beef, pork, or deer scraps (if I'm lucky). And no they don't run deer if I feed deer scraps. If I thought that I would be feeding cooked coons .
winter time I like them a little fatter for cold weather.

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Registered: Jun 2012
Location: McRae Ar
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How did we keep our dogs looking good when dog food was low in fat and very low in protein by today's standards? Also a lot lower in PRICE! The dogs still looked the same so why is it we think all of a sudden we need 20% fat and 30% protein?

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Registered: Apr 2008
Location: michigan
Posts: 265

I feed 26/18 in the winter with a egg
In the summer I feed 21/10 with a
Egg that seems to work for me I buy
eggs at Walmart 60 eggs for $2.20
Dogs like them

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Registered: Dec 2016
Location: MN
Posts: 270

Put straight beef fat in their dog food to keep them thick and healthy in winter months.

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Registered: Jan 2005
Location:
Posts: 593

quote:

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Originally posted by duke20002000
I feed 26/18 in the winter with a egg
In the summer I feed 21/10 with a
Egg that seems to work for me I buy
eggs at Walmart 60 eggs for $2.20
Dogs like them

---

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Registered: Feb 2009
Location: oklahoma
Posts: 194

Save your bacon grease, fish fry oil, or any other cooking oil, from the kitchen. Add one tablespoon to your dogs feed. It's a good way to add fat, with no cost. You can also add a tablespoon of corn oil, to your horse, or mule feed.

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location: tennessee
Posts: 856

I feeds 35/25 year round. If I'm hunting one hard I will also add mackerel or other high fat content fish.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

What does all of that fat do to your dogs cholesterol?

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1610

on the source of protein in your feed will depend on which fat you can add with out causing health problems

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Registered: Apr 2014
Location: batsville ark
Posts: 1110

quote:

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Originally posted by joey
How did we keep our dogs looking good when dog food was low in fat and very low in protein by today's standards? Also a lot lower in PRICE! The dogs still looked the same so why is it we think all of a sudden we need 20% fat and 30% protein?

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 1176

quote:

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Originally posted by joey
How did we keep our dogs looking good when dog food was low in fat and very low in protein by today's standards? Also a lot lower in PRICE! The dogs still looked the same so why is it we think all of a sudden we need 20% fat and 30% protein?

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Registered: Jun 2007
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20% fat is a must for any hard hunting dog. That's just part of it. You have to know what grain is in the food for carbs. Grain free foods don't have enough calories to maintain a hard hunting dog. The wrong grains can overheat a dog or cause it's blood sugar to drop. Your source of protein plays a part as well. Some digest easy some not so much. The harder to digest the more water it takes away from the dogs organs. Which can cause the dog to dehydrate more quickly.

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These dog food posts always make me scratch my head in confusion. Every old bear hunter I know just feeds any ole generic cheap dog food most of which are low in fat. They do this out of necessity when having to feed a larger number of dogs. Those dogs are hunted much harder than any coon hound that's ever walked and those dogs stay tight and healthy. I try to feed mine a little higher grade of dog food but I honestly don't think mine look or perform any better than dogs on a cheaper feed. From my own experience I'd say the only thing I've ever noticed is it takes a little more quantity of a lower quality feed than it does with a higher grade but it really isn't that much of a difference. What I'm trying to say is very few dogs are hunted hard enough for feed to play that big of a role in performance.

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Registered: Dec 2013
Location: Nichols Ny
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I can name several guys close to me that load the dogs during daylight and don't get home until after daylight on 4-6 nights a week. More for some other guys.

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: North MO
Posts: 2353

Numbers don't matter if they can't digest it properly

I feed a 26-16, all year long.

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Registered: Nov 2014
Location:
Posts: 168

coon dogs are hunted hard, but its relative to the game they are pursuing. I've never seen coon dogs run till they blew out pads, wore the hair off there face and matted there eyes shut, just in one hunt. A coon dog isn't exerting himself anywhere near that of a bear, coyote, or fox hound that may run all day and night and into tomorrow. Sometimes longer. Seen quite a few that needed a higher powered feed to stay in top shape but let's face it, most people ain't hunting that caliber of dog anymore! I don't run fox or coyote, and I very rarely bear hunt anymore. I've never seen a scenario where my coon dogs exerted anywhere near the energy that other types of running dogs put out. I also know a bunch of men that say "I hunt mine every day", but the dog is spending as much time or more in the box than on the ground. I've seen this old dog with 65 miles on the Garmin after 2 days back to back catching bears both days. Never once was the collar on when he wasn't running or walking a bear. He would always get the 3rd day off and right back at it on the 4th. I wish I would have kept up with more statistical things like that when I had him in his prime.

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Registered: Jun 2012
Location: McRae Ar
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quote:

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Originally posted by River Birch Run
The cheep dogfood is like people eating cake and cookies. They will keep weight on because it is all carbs. You can hunt them a few hours every other nite at there fine. However, if you hunt a dog hard it doesn't take long for them to drop off. They get skinny fast, can't handle the heat and lose there drive (if they had one to begin with).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
What does all of that fat do to your dogs cholesterol?

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quote:

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Originally posted by joey
I have done this many many years, I have heard that for a long time but it is not been my experience. I fed cheap dog food when that's what I could afford. I hunted 5 to 6 nights a week then for several hours a night. Then when I could afford what was supposed to be a much better quality feed I was working to much to hunt very hard. The dogs looked and performed the exact same way. A dog does not need 20% of its food intake to be fat. Its a marketing tool to charge more money simple as that. I no longer feed dog food, I feed a raw diet and it isn't even close to 20% fat. I'll guarantee my dog can go as long and as hard as any out there. He doesn't get hot or drink much water because the raw diet does not dehydrate him like dry dog food does.

I stopped feeding dog food for two reasons. First I know whats going in my dogs food now and second is because they keep going up in price and down in weight of the bags. Dog food equals a rip off. We use it because its convenient and easy.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by joey
I have done this many many years, I have heard that for a long time but it is not been my experience. I fed cheap dog food when that's what I could afford. I hunted 5 to 6 nights a week then for several hours a night. Then when I could afford what was supposed to be a much better quality feed I was working to much to hunt very hard. The dogs looked and performed the exact same way. A dog does not need 20% of its food intake to be fat. Its a marketing tool to charge more money simple as that. I no longer feed dog food, I feed a raw diet and it isn't even close to 20% fat. I'll guarantee my dog can go as long and as hard as any out there. He doesn't get hot or drink much water because the raw diet does not dehydrate him like dry dog food does.

I stopped feeding dog food for two reasons. First I know whats going in my dogs food now and second is because they keep going up in price and down in weight of the bags. Dog food equals a rip off. We use it because its convenient and easy.

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quote:

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Originally posted by River Birch Run
Most people don't hunt one dog hard for long periods of time. I do and have seen what they look like on cheep foods. It's not good, they look like a sack of bones. When it heats up they burn up. I spent 8 months studying research done on food and hydration after my dog started nearly passing out while hunting. That's after I spent a ton of money getting test run on him at the vets and got a clean bill of health. I was mindful of where the info was coming from and made sure the research wasn't being paid for by a dog food co. Being able to apply what I learned has made a big difference in there performance over long periods of time. I looked into the raw diet and its almost impossible to give a dog the right balance of fat/protein/minerals and vits. Minerals are very important because its like a domino effect with each other. If one is off it affects all of them and they control many important organs in a dogs body such as the thyroid. Also it's to hard to keep raw meats from spoiling and causing bacteria. Had a friend kill two dogs that way before they learned there lesson. I would much rather feed raw and not have un needed chemicals in there food but its just realistic.

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