When you get in the overthinking loop!

[Clodagh]

I’ve had a bulk order of food delivered. It’s all good quality, mainly 30% protein and a few of 21%.
The 30% is intended for the workers once we start shooting, which is mid September. They are training daily now though and doing a lot of fittening work.
The 21% is for the 6 month old beagle pups.
Old retirees will have the 30%.
But I started them all on the lower stuff to start with and my skinnies have actually put weight on. This is good.
So carbs = weight gain?
Protein for what? Endurance? Good muscle quality? Not getting tired?
Could I, for a week or two, give them one for breakfast and one for dinner? The food company say mix it up but separate would be easier and more accurate.

 

[Andie02]

Can't answer that Clodagh but I would be very wary of giving a food with such low protein and high carbs/fillers to a dog that has yeasty ears, having had the experience I have had with my dog, I found that it was definitely carbs that caused the problems with her.

Just read your post over on the other thread. We got our dog at aprox 2 and a half, not exactly a rescue but was poor and had a litter of puppies, they no longer wanted her, that was her 2nd home! She came to us with an ear infection, which over time was reoccurring in one ear and then another, and then the itching. Most probably why she had already had 2 homes in her short life. Vets put her on steroids, which only masks the problem, eventually they wanted to put her on Apoquel, I decided no, enough was enough on the drugs and did a lot of research and eventually got her diet sorted to relieve her problems. She has Orijen kibble and Forthglade Just Range, even giving her Forthglade wet food with the veg will set her problems off again with both the yeasty ears and the itching.

Just saying how I have managed the problems having tried a lot of different foods along the way. The Non Stinky as a food supplement is also a necessity to keep her right, the steroids caused her coat to go very thin, it eventually grew back in good condition on the Non Stinky, it did take a while though to grow fully back, for a long tine she looked as though I had given her a trace clip. Both dogs only have natural treats/chews dried tripe and fish skin. They are both also on probiotics and the Riaflex supplements. Having had many dogs over the years this was the first one that I had encountered with these problems, what a nightmare it was to resolve without her having drugs.

 

[Clodagh]

Thank you. Red is going on the better stuff anyway, as ? she’s a worker.