I have been feeding my lab iams large breed puppy, and then after a year I switched to large breed adult. It is 22% protein, and 12.5% fat. I have been feeding him twice the recommended and he just doesn't seem to put on any weight. dont get my wrong, a lab without a weight problem is nothing to complain about. But during those cold hunts, he has nothing to keep him warm.

I went to the feed store and picked up a bag of Diamond Extreme Athlete. 32%protein, 25% fat. First 2 ingredients are meat vs. the 2nd ingredient on iams being corn meal. I was thinking about just having him go through this one bag during the winter months, put a little weight on him, then switch to maybe a 26% P and 16-18%F, or is it ok to keep them on such a high protein high fat diet all the time?

Anybody use the Diamond Extreme Athlete? any thoughts?

I'm NO Dog or Food expert. BUT give Nutro a look.

I'm going through a similar situation but I have a pointer that is way to slim for my taste. Took her to the vet and ended up sending a blood sample to the lab. All came back fine, she just has the metabolism of young swedish girl.

There are several vets at the clinic I use and the one that asked for the tests is not a favorite so I asked my regular Doc for his opinion. He looked at the tests and said she was fine and asked what I was feeding. I told him I had just switched from Eukanuba adult to High preformance.

He told me that it's not the fat content in the high preformance(20%) that was important to adding weight, it's the carbs that put on the weight. He said to use their High perfomance Active, because it has more carbs and more calories per cup of feed. Food for thought.

I think it's fine to feed the same thing year round. Just be sure you exercise them a lot to burn it off.

extremedogfuel.com. It worked great for my dogs but I just recently changed to a new food that is just coming out that my buddy,who is a trainer, wanted me to try on my new pup. So far so good. I would tell the name but it doesn't have one yet. If he hadn't asked me to change I would still be using extreme dog fuel. JMO

I feed "Taste of the Wild" for my dog. It has a good
Protein: 32% Fat: 18%
Calories: 3,719 kcal/kg (370 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Ingredients
Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 32.0% Minimum
Crude Fat 18.0 Minimum
Crude Fiber 3.0% Maximum
Moisture 10.0% Maximum
Zinc 150 mg/kg Minimum
Selenium 0.4 mg/kg Minimum
Vitamin E 150 IU/kg Minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids * 2.8% Minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids * 0.3% Minimum

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profile.

Calorie Content: 3,719 kcal/kg (370 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy.

AAFCO Statement
Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profile


I have not had any issues with this food.
I also feed Enova? to my little french bull dog...and he loves that too..

I use EVO brand food. Great ingredients, but the stuff is pricey. Around $60 for a large bag of food. I got through a bag a month with my lab and terrier.

X2

If you're a Costco member the Kirklands best is actually really nice feed as well.

i have tried many high performance with the same problems dog losing weight and wont gain. evo, kent native 3, pro plan ,
eukanuba hi performance and some others i cant even remember.
none of them worked for me just like chet stated. now i am on nutrisource hi performance and this is working . even had to cut back from 4 cups to 3 cups a day cause they started gaining too much. this was a big step in the right direction for me

my poor malnourished underpriveleged impoverished GSP eats the pink Exceed lamb and chopped lizard formula from Sam's..........she's making it.....day by day...lol

I won't feed anything with "Gluten" which is a by-product of whatever it may be "gluten" about...ie..chicken!( crushed beak and feet)

And dogs should not have grain of anykind, although its whats most dog foods are made of..go figure.

I feed Exclusive Performance, some of my dogs get fat if they aren't exercised a lot and some stay skinny as a rail. It has to do with their metabolism. Just to set the facts straight, "Gluten" is the protein in grain not chicken beaks and feet. I don't think grain is bad for dogs, heck if I spill any of my pigeon grain the dogs pick it off the ground and eat it. I've seen coyotes eat corn from deer feeders. Some dogs are allergic to some grains, but grain in general is not bad. To the OP, your dog is still young, the weight will come, just continue feed well-balanced diet and exercise and you'll be OK. Good luck.

Give this a look.

http://enhance3022.com/

I was feeding Exclusive to Zeke but switched him to this and he is doing real well.

Do not feed your dog a corn based food. It should be a rice base. Corn is very unhealthy and draining to your dogs energy.

I have a Chessie that's tall and lean. We feed him four cups of Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice and he doesn't gain a pound. I checked his lineage and found there is a mix of bulky dogs and lean dogs.

The fact that your lab won't gain weight could be associated with his genetics.

We also have a Brittany that looks like he's emaciated. But, he eats three cups of Pro Plan Chick & Rice and doesn't gain weight. He's parasite free and healthy as a horse. That particular breeding produced three pups that are lean and muscular.

As for food, we believe the best all around feeding program is Purina Pro Plan.

I switched from Pro Plan to Eukanuba Performance 30/20 over a year ago and haven't looked back. I was able to cut back on the amount I was feeding and my dogs coats and teeth looked so much better. I also like the fact that the food contains glucosamine and chondroitin which many lower grade commercial foods do not have. I think dog food is the most overlooked item for most people. Our dogs are athletes and should be fed the best we can get. Not everyone will agree on the "best" dog food but everyone should do their homework to find out what is the best food for their dog (and price should not be the first/main consideration). I also think you should find a competent vet that understands/knows/has experience with working dogs. Just because someone has DVM behind their name doesn't make them knowledgable in the area of working dogs and their dietary needs. This of course, is just my own opinion and worth every penny you paid for it.

I had been feeding Pro Plan for quite a while, but the fat content was just too high for our older dogs. I made a switch to the Nutro Naturals. Good food but pretty pricy.
I had read about the Diamond foods and compared it to Nutro. Figured I would give it a try. I had a lot of the same issues with Diamond that everyone else complains about. Loose stools -- terrible gas and the big one was they didn't like it. So we are back on the Nutro Naturals. Sometimes it just aint worth savin a few bucks.

Anyone know if there is somewhere close to San Antonio that I could buy in bulk to save some cash? I like to feed Nutro or Kirkland's but open to other good all natural foods.

Redboneman-

Try these guys.

Lone Star Pet Supply, Inc.
17414 Triton Dr.
Schertz, TX 78154
210–651–4414 • 800–888–6532

Here's something I learned regarding reading the labels.
If you see meat(i.e. chicken vs chicken meal) listed as the 1st ingredient and a grain 2nd then the grain actually makes up the bulk of the product. The meat can be up to 80% water before cooked. Since the items are listed by weight before cooking, the grain actually makes up more of the product than the meat.
Now if a meat is listed as 1st ingredient and a meat meal is listed 2nd then a grain 3rd, the protien source will be more of the product than the grain. From what I have read, the meat meal's are OK, but what you want to stay away from is the meat-by-products. That's where the beaks and feet come from.

Here's a link to an Iams review. Explains it much better than I can. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1769&cat=all