What do you feed your Irish Setters?

[Sue and Cash]

I have a new puppy coming home in four weeks and have always fed Purina Pro Plan, but the Salmon and Rice with no corn or wheat in it. I was considering using Wellness large breed puppy or Innova large breed puppy. My husband wants to stick with Pro Plan Selects Turkey and Barley for puppies. I am undecided and wondered what the others use. I should add the puppy is coming to us on Eukanuba, and I have never fed Iams/Eukanuba products and not sure I like how many glutens and grains are in their products.Thanks.

[Laura Kolbach]

http://www.championpetfoods.com/ - they do both Orijen and Acana. i've been feeding it for years now. it does not contain any grains (some of the acana products do but then only brown rice and steamed oats). otherwise only fruits and herbs like: sweet potato/russet potato, pea, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, nettle, milk thistle, just to name some.
the while paper (long but very interesting reading): http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

[Sue and Cash]

Yes I was looking at Orijen today. It is a bit more money than I can afford. I know it's great food. But the price is hefty. Not that Wellness or Innova were cheap! I used to demo for Wellness. So I was lucky to have the opportunity to learn about so many great foods. I just wasn't sure for growth, is an all life stages okay? Or should I do large breed puppy. I know many say there is no need to use puppy but watch for protein and fat levels and calcium level too..

[Laura Kolbach]

i don't believe in the "old school" of not much protein. feeding Orijen, i just can't do that... i know there are many opponents but i have seem many pups raised on the above... with high protein... and no grains... and adults and senoirs doing fabulous on it. and the white paper says it all for me. (and no, it is definately not cheap but i still feed both my girls on it.)
please also check http://dogfoodanalysis.com as well, you'll see reviews and ratings of almost all available dog foods. hope you find one that suits your needs.

[Melinda Auld]

I feed a mix of raw meaty bones, vegies, fish, yoghurt and Eagle Pack "holistic range" kibble. Mine love the Duck & Oatmeal flavour, and the Anchovie flavour.

The Eagle Pack is pricey, but the ingredients are all human grade and the grain content is low. I would try Orijen, but I don't think I can get it where I live. Also, we had a scare here in Australia recently with Orijen, because it was being irradiated as it came through quarantine, and I believe a few animals died (though this might just have been with their cat food range).

[Laura Kolbach]

it was the cat range. the announcement is also on the canadian website. they stopped exporting to australia because of some special regulation (yes, irradiating or similar) - will try to find it for you. the cats did not die or got sick because of the food but the thing they did to it before letting it into the country.
i think, orijen is one of the best alternatives if you don't have space to store stuff for BARF.

[Kristina]

I am feeding mine with Arden Grange (Fresh Chicken and Rice or Limb and Rice) http://www.ardengrange.com/ Also fed wih Eucanuba, Pro Plan and Orijen. She seems to like Arden Grange the most. For start give your new puppy the same as the breeder, then slowly add different tipe of food and see what suits your dog best. If Orijen is to expensive, why not mixing with some other?
Good luck!

[Sue and Cash]

I know my last setter ate the Salmon/Rice but it isn't a puppy food. I agree it gives a good coat. So shiny. Regular large breed puppy Pro Plan has corn gluten meal in it and I just prefer to avoid gluten meal completely.
I was able to use Selects puppy but the adult food didn't agree with my dog anymore. I like a fish based diet when adult anyway. Well good thing I have another month to wander the web and stores. Now our choice of names is becoming a family battle! Everyone has a name they love and no one else likes. I am leaning towards Dillon right now.

[Teresa]

After trying lots of diferent foods over the years, My girls only eat Royal Canin. Pitanga is eating the Irish Setter kind and Romã eats large junior. It's the only brand i trust my Setters with and the only brand Pitanga will eat with pleasure. However i do not know if you have access to it... I had never heard about most of the brands you've posted here :)

[Astrid Landsaat]

Fran,
Robert Alleyne is right about dogfood! I am only feeding the best quality of dried food and some raw fresh food that I can eat safely. That means free range beef from the supermarket and fresh eggs. I am not so sure about the Barf diet because of this article: http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/barf-myth.html Don't get me wrong, I agree that most commercial dogfoods are bad news and the article was written by someone who works for a food company. On the other hand, he does have some points I agree with.

[Fran Griffin]

See my latest thread about dog food myths.  Robert Alleyne who is a friend of mine going back years, really doesn't go far enough, and he knows that's how I (and others) feel.  He personally has problems with raw food, but that's his decision and I love Rob to bits (you should see he and I when we get together, we are like long lost soul mates... people have even thought there is something going on between us lol) .

Any diet can be detrimental, even raw.  The first raw foods I placed my dogs on were ghastly and the health problems I was hoping to reverse were still there in great force. However, since they have been on good quality raw, with my knowing where that meat was sourced and the cuts of meat used, there have been incredible improvements,  Yes, there is an underlying health issue with two of them, which is a slight pancreatic insufficiency,  which is now under control,  but a good quality raw food was much easier for the two with PI to digest even without the enzymes which are now added to their food.

[Elizabeth I Cerins]

I read with interest the article found by following your link.  I had briefly looked into the BARF diet when I acquired Ruairi.  I found much similar information and then I discussed it with my vet.  Consequently I feed the prescription Royal Canin Development Food.  However, one part in the article really stood out for me as I had not seen that reference to potential lack of fatty acids in some of the foods.  Ruairi has had one ear infection and he had dry skin.  The addition of the olive oil to his food has certainly made a difference on the latter issue and constant vigilance for the former.  Obviously I must seriously consider the fatty acids in making a choice regarding his adult diet.  Thank you for this information.

[Andy Benstead]

Hi Astrid. I must start by saying both my dogs are raw fed. BARF = Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or as some people say "Bone and Raw Food". I have read the article from the link. I would say that most of it is not true. Most vets have very little knowledge about animal nutrition at all. Most vets (but not all) only know what they are taught by pet food companies and obviously these companies are not going to tell vets that a raw diet is best for our dogs. Most of what is printed against a raw food diet is written by people connected to commercial pet food companies. Just look at how many commercial brands of dog food (Kibble) have been re-called over the last couple of years. Most of them were contaminated with salmonella. This contamination was a low risk to dogs, but a very high risk to humans.

Good advertising is the best way to sell a bad product. Most people have been taken in by the pet food industry.

Have a look at these two videos by Dr Karen Becker and see what you think.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx2YIIpF4cc

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=TJPToVsJj-c&a...

 

Andy