MILLIEV,
Thank you for taking the time to individually respond to the questions I posted. Considering the now provided fuller picture my comments & observations are as followsâŠ
My first comment would be that Turkey as a protein source can sometimes cause some issues for some dogs. Certainly in this household when feeding Wainrwights wet trays with turkey I noticed looser stools & dog rear end related smells. That is not to say that Wainrwrights &/or Turkey should be avoided but it may be worth considering other foods or protein sources if your aim is a more settled digestive system is desired. That said I donât think Turkey is that high in protein so it should make the dog less energetic assuming that is the ultimate goal.
Do bear in mind that with higher quality working dog foods the clue is in the title. Sure you can buy a sack of sawdust quality foods branded as suitable for working dogs but in the main the better working dog foods are usually designed so that dogs have appropriate available energy day to dayâŠthink of a good working dog foods as performance fuels & expect to have energy on tap accordingly !
Considering the weight of your dog & current exercise routine the amount fed doesnât seem significantly high although sometimes loose or relatively large outputs can indicate a dog may be suited to a downwards adjustment of daily feed amountâŠyou could perhaps try say dropping feed amount by say 10% albeit I suspect this may leave the dog over hungry.
Water intake may be a factor to consider. I didnât ask how much water the dog was taking on board via an independent bowl. Certainly I would want my dog to take in plenty of water if solely on dry extruded kibble of any type.
Your dog weight & condition reporting donât indicate you have been massively overfeeding either raw or kibble, however, if feeding a raw complete, stool output was good, the dog was otherwise healthy & only issues were dog overweight & restless then I might have been first looking at a slight reduction in feed amount &/or an increase in exercise activity. I say this as i am a firm believer that dog behaviour & body condition (plus stool output) can be key indicators in helping owners decide if the dog would suit a reduction in food or an increase in daily expelled energyâŠin basic terms if I was otherwise happy feeding raw complete, for your dog I would have tried reducing bowl amount or providing more off lead or other more demanding exercise.
Whilst on the subject of energy levels, exercise & your specific dog⊠As you know your dog is a combination of two breeds. Golden retrievers really benefit from exercise and I would expect this breed to have an abundance of energy at a young age such as with your dog. I donât know a great deal about minature poodles and their metabolism but they are a very intelligent breed that benefit from variety & stimulation. I have met plenty of Labradoodles, Golden Retrievers & toy, standard & giant poodles.
I would actually expect a young dog of your dogs hybrid breed type to be a bit of a handful by genetic default , ( intelligent, energetic & often on the go). Adjustment of exercise, stimulation, training & maybe tweaking daily feed amount of a good food would be my routes to balance out unwanted energy levels before I tried to make the dog more docile by downgrading food quality.
Analysing & interpreting individual & specific percentages of fat, carbs, protein may assist but personally I would be paying more attention to metabolised energy figures when provided. I started looking at these figures first when I was feeding âMilliesâ Wolfheart (MWH), dry extruded kibbles. Millies make these figures openly available for their products as do Nutriment with their raw complete foods. Very useful, particularly for owners who want to fine tune (up or down) , the food to suit desired energy available in a specific dog
If you decide on a conventional dry extruded Kibble from a UK brand then Mark at MWH is knowledgable & usually happy to assist in helping find a product that might best suit your dog & importantly its diet needs (relative to what you & the dog want to do if you tell him this). Mark has a very good understanding of energy levels & the different factors involved in selecting a specific food. Despite all this he accepts that some foods might not suit a particular dog.
On the subject of brands it is really important to recognise that there are significant differences between specific foods under one brand heading. Natural Instinct Natural chicken for example is a different product than say their Natural Beef & Tripe. Same can be said for other food brands where the ingredients & protein sources vary.
One thing I noted was your additional reason for changing from Raw complete, travelling to France etc & convenience in feeding. I really cant comment here as I donât know how often you go, what storage, whether you d.i.y. source raw abroad etc. It may be the case you choose to feed something else when abroad, it may be best that you move away from Raw complete for nowâŠLast word on Raw complete is that quality &/or composition of raw completes can significantly vary between brand products & brand names.
I know that cold pressed has been mentioned before, however, I really do think that decent cold pressed foods are worthy of real consideration for owners looking to avoid raw but also keen to avoid traditionally dry extruded kibbles. If looking at cold pressed do take some time looking at ingredient differences and decide whether you want potato or rice etcâŠOnce again Gentle would be my 1st port of call & not least for aftersales & customer service.
Mindful I have posted a lot of content but hope some of the above of use.
Please get back if any questions & please DO keep us updated if ableâŠ(others may benefit from you sharing your experience(s) & dog food journey).
Good Luck
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