deschmidt27
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2008
Location: Burlington, CT
Posts: 1758 |
I'm far from a dietary expert, but I use a couple rules of thumb...
It's all about what the dog needs, and will be using. So first and foremost, they don't need a bunch of filler or corn that is simply going to shoot right through them and end up on the kennel floor. That is regardless of the time of year.
Higher fat, means higher calories and therefore energy. If you're hunting them hard, they'll need it. If you're are not, you can cut them back on the fat content in the Summer. However, in the winter time, you'll be amazed how many calories are burned by shivering to keep warm. So, even if you're not hunting them, they'll need the calories to stay warm. Certainly a nice fat layer insulates them, but how many of our dogs are fat at the end of, or during the season. And even if they are, they'll still shiver to keep warm and you'll have to fuel that shivering.
If you're not hunting them hard in the Summer and they need less calories for energy, then you can cut them back on the fat content. If you are hardly hunting them at all, you won't need all the protein to rebuild and maintain muscle mass, so you can cut them back on that first number as well. Like Jay, I've heard that higher protein can damage the kidneys, but I'm not sure how or why. It could be simply becaues they have to process and remove, what they're body is not consuming.
Now... you can play it safe and keep the protein levels up, as well as the amount you feed them, put you'll have to shovel a lot more. So monitor, how fat or skinny they are, but also monitor how much is being wasted by simply landing on the kennel floor.
Treat them like a car... if you want performance, give them better fuel. But if you're not driving it, stop filling the tank!
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David Schmidt
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Last edited by deschmidt27 on 03-21-2013 at 07:02 PM
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03-21-2013 03:22 AM
