True Performance

As gun dog owners I believe we all strive for the same collective results. A dog that works hard and covers a lot of ground. A dog that is well trained and highly motivated. A dog that is fit and physical. A dog that truly loves to hunt for us and share the thrill. At the end of the day when the last feather floats to the ground, our gun dogs are truly our most faithful and trusted companions. But what are we doing to return their hard work, devotion and commitment? Better yet, what are we doing to make our good dogs great?

Like all living organisms, it starts and ends with nutrition. Food is the fuel that steams our dogs engine and stokes the fire within. Without quality food your dog will never reach his or her full potential in the marsh, woods, or field. These days more and more manufacturers are focusing on producing high quality dog foods. Unfortunately, there are still those owners who believe dog food found at a grocery store is just as good. This simple is not the case. Canines specifically produced and trained to hunt are animal athletes. With any athlete, the quality of their diet dictates their overall performance on the field of play. Over the past year many of my blog posts have hopefully shed some light of the positive and negatives effect of both proper and improper nutrition. Fall is upon us and most hunting seasons across this country are only days away from opening. Unfortunately, for a dog to fully adjust to a food change it can take 4-6 weeks to see any results in the field. But it is never to late to switch from an inexpensive "grocery store" brand to a premium food. If this is your first visit to my blog I urge you to read past posts titled,  Pocket Guide For Dog Food Consumers, The Holistic Gun Dog, and Performance Dog Foods for a more in depth look.

But you may ask, what makes a dog food low or high quality? Great question but one you can answer for yourself very quickly by following these helpful red and green flags. Here is my blue collar round up on things to watch for...

Red flags for low quality dog foods contain:

• ANY Grain source as #1 ingredient
• High amounts corn, soy, and/or wheat grain sources in ingredients overall/any combination
• Grain Gluten in ANY form(low grade protein source)
• Unspecified mystery "Meat" ingredients such as Meat Meal, Meat By-product, etc
• Synthetic preservetives such as, BHT(Butylated Hydroxyanisole), BHA(Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Propylene Glycol, Ethoxyquin
• Food coloring agents aka; color #whatever 

Green flags for high quality dog foods contain:

• Whole meat or whole meat meal proteins such as chicken, duck, beef, bison, fish, lamb, etc as the first ingredient
• Low overall grain ingredient content and gluten free
• At least 2 meat type proteins in top 5 ingredients(including meat protein meals which are a very high source of quality protein)
• Natural preserved with mixed tocopherols(vitamin E)
• Powerful antioxidents such as blueberries, cranberries, etc
• Contain Prebiotics and/or Probiotics aka; Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium



Nothing better than seeing a well fueled, hard charging dog having fun hunting birds!

  The above mentioned red or green flags are a great way to quickly establish whether or not a dog food is grocery or premium. But be advised, some manufactures who are considered "premium" producers slip red flags into there formula's to cut costs. Do NOT be fooled. Do your due diligence and read the label in it's entirety. Do not be fooled by the disclaimer on every bag of food in this country: Approved by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages. The AAFCO has in most nutritionists opinion regulate and allow a very low level(base minimum) of acceptance on what they consider a food "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the the minimum nutrients in dog food". In other words, all dog food for sale in America must reach these low standards before they can even be allowed to bring the product to market. Yep, even Ol' Roy met AAFCO approval so that is not saying much!

I hope this brief round up helps you make a more educated decision when shopping for your gun dogs next bag of food. There are some really wonderful manufacturers out there doing the right thing for our dogs. I don't guarantee many things but I will guarantee this; switching your dog to a high quality diet will vastly improve their performance in the field and in the home. Don't be scared away from the higher prices. If the health and wellbeing of your fourlegged hunting partner is important to you, price should not be the first concern.

Best of luck out there. -Mark