EVO turkey and chicken -weim/lab mix

6266 Views 42 Replies 9 Participants Last post by CorgiPaws, May 10, 2010

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · May 2, 2010

I have a weimaraner lab mix (some people call then silver labs) and feed her 1 cup twice daily. She is pretty active with running every day. I am new to these premium dog foods and came from royal canin max 30 lab food. I definitively use less of the EVO than the Royal Canin.

is this enough food? so far it looks like her weight is staying about the same (60lbs). I am on my first bag of food and also feed her a few of the EVO grain-less treats a day. Will she have digestive problems due to the low amount of food?

I do notice that every few days after running hard she has really soft poop. it seems random and not daily. My wife is concerned that the food is no good for her. But her coat is better than ever and her skin issues have gone away. Before she had some dry skin issues.

any thoughts?

Thanks

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SaltyDog

· #2 · May 2, 2010 (Edited)

I have two pure breed Weimeraners....a 4 year old 72 lb female and an 8 month 54 lb female. (I estimate the puppy will be finished about 75 to 80).

Don't be concerned about the occasional soft poo. Lower grade dog foods have fiberous fillers in them to help formulate the stool. It's always been said that a nice firm stool means the dog is digesting well. Higher grade kibbles do not need these "fillers" as they will naturally form a better stool, since the dog will absorb more of the contents of the food.

My adult eats three cups a day of generally Evo Chicken and Turkey. Sometimes I switch up a cup or two of the daily feeding with Honest Kitchen Embark, Orijen Large Breed Puppy, or Evo Red

My puppy eats about 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups a day of generally Orijen Large Breed puppy. Sometimes I switch up a a cup or two of the daily feeding with Honest Kitchen Embark or Orijen 6 Fish.

For treats, I have like a half bag of Evo Wild Cravings. Good treats, but since I feed mainly processed foods, I'm working on getting away from processed treats. Other treats I feed are Honest Kitchen Smooches, fresh apples, lightly cooked chicken strips and assorted chews from Jones, Canine Caviar and Merrick.

Hope this helps formulate a feeding program for your pooch :smile:

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Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 2, 2010

Thanks for the reply.

Does 1 cup twice daily sound like not enough? I can't go by her she always seems hungry but I watch her weight closely. I figure if she is maintaining a good 60 lbs, then I would leave it at 2 cups total for the day plus a few of those EVO treats. If she starts to loose weight I figure I could add more. Sound right?

The vet seems to think that she might be allergic to beef so I am really struggling to find something for her to chew on as well (no rawhides). She doesn't like the super hard nylobones. I have been giving her greenies. They last a few minutes and seem to clean her teeth a little.

I would like to find something else though. I think she likes to feel like she can do some damage on whatever she chews and the nylobones are just to hard.

luvMyBRT

· #4 · May 2, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
Does 1 cup twice daily sound like not enough? I can't go by her she always seems hungry but I watch her weight closely. I figure if she is maintaining a good 60 lbs, then I would leave it at 2 cups total for the day plus a few of those EVO treats. If she starts to loose weight I figure I could add more. Sound right?

Yes. Sounds great. Just go by her weight and the way she looks. My 50 lb. GSH Pointer eats 2 cups a day and maintains a nice weight.

The vet seems to think that she might be allergic to beef so I am really struggling to find something for her to chew on as well (no rawhides). She doesn't like the super hard nylobones. I have been giving her greenies. They last a few minutes and seem to clean her teeth a little.

No more rawhides for sure! They can cause blockage and are not safe. Nylabones have also been known to cause tooth breakage. If she's not allergic to beef try "Bully Sticks". My dog loves them! You can also get Kongs and fill them with goodies inside. I am sure someone will come along with some other chew toy options.

RCTRIPLEFRESH5

· #5 · May 2, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
Thanks for the reply.

Does 1 cup twice daily sound like not enough? I can't go by her she always seems hungry but I watch her weight closely. I figure if she is maintaining a good 60 lbs, then I would leave it at 2 cups total for the day plus a few of those EVO treats. If she starts to loose weight I figure I could add more. Sound right?

The vet seems to think that she might be allergic to beef so I am really struggling to find something for her to chew on as well (no rawhides). She doesn't like the super hard nylobones. I have been giving her greenies. They last a few minutes and seem to clean her teeth a little.

I would like to find something else though. I think she likes to feel like she can do some damage on whatever she chews and the nylobones are just to hard.

i feed my 75 pound golden a little over 2 cups a day,and his food is less caloric than evo is. im kind of scared to sw3itch to evo, cause i mthinking i might only have to feed 1.5 cups to him, and i am not willing to feed under 2,even though i know it might be best, i am not willing to give under 2 cups of food...there's no way its good for a 75 pounder. hopefully when i switch to evo he does well on 2 ! btw your dog looks awesome. she looks pretty pure weim,my dog loves weims.

SaltyDog

· #6 · May 2, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
Thanks for the reply.

The vet seems to think that she might be allergic to beef so I am really struggling to find something for her to chew on as well (no rawhides). She doesn't like the super hard nylobones. I have been giving her greenies. They last a few minutes and seem to clean her teeth a little.

I would like to find something else though. I think she likes to feel like she can do some damage on whatever she chews and the nylobones are just to hard.

Canine Caviar has a ton of Buffalo Chews. Check those out. I believe most of the Merrick products are from cattle, so if your dog is allergic to beef, I don't know how it would handle "chews" from cattle. You can always try one and see what happens. Jones and Bravo also have chews from Buffalo.

If your dog looks good on two cups of food, then so be it :smile: You can always feed a little more if need be.

As I stated earlier, my 4 year old adult eats 3 cups a day spread out over three feedings. I should have also mentioned that she also gets a supplement called Wholistic Canine Complete that has a digestive enzyme in it to aid in the breakdown of the food and absorbtion into the body. You have to account that into the feeding as well. Just remember, every dog is different

kevin bradley

· #7 · May 3, 2010

2 of my guys are in the 55 lbs. range and about 1 1/2 cups per DAY holds their weight fine.

With the super true premium foods, you have to throw out any pre conceived notions about what you THINK is enough. Let a healthy weight determine it. Heck, it may be way less than you can imagine.

1605

· #8 · May 3, 2010 (Edited)

Breathing Borla said:
I have a weimaraner lab mix (some people call then silver labs) and feed her 1 cup twice daily. She is pretty active with running every day. I am new to these premium dog foods and came from royal canin max 30 lab food. I definitively use less of the EVO than the Royal Canin.

is this enough food? so far it looks like her weight is staying about the same (60lbs). I am on my first bag of food and also feed her a few of the EVO grain-less treats a day. Will she have digestive problems due to the low amount of food?

I do notice that every few days after running hard she has really soft poop. it seems random and not daily. My wife is concerned that the food is no good for her. But her coat is better than ever and her skin issues have gone away. Before she had some dry skin issues.

any thoughts?

Thanks

Right now our GSP is at 2 1/2 cups of Evo Turkey/Chicken Large bites. He probably weighs 58-60#. If he starts looking too skinny or is back in hunting trials, we will give him more. We put out his food once a day (he self-regulates very well).

The main thing to remember is that while the number of cups of food may be less with EVO, the amount of CALORIES is probably the same or GREATER than your former dog food. It's also much higher protein; probably the highest percentage of protein out there at 42%. And the "waste production" went WAY down once we switched to EVO too.

It sounds like your dog is doing better on EVO than on the previous brand you were using.

Meanwhile, forget about the Greenies & stick with the nylabones; the Greenies do nothing IMHO.

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 3, 2010

SubMariner said:
Right now our GSP is at 2 1/2 cups of Evo Turkey/Chicken Large bites. He probably weighs 58-60#. If he starts looking too skinny or is back in hunting trials, we will give him more. We put out his food once a day (he self-regulates very well).

The main thing to remember is that while the number of cups of food may be less with EVO, the amount of CALORIES is probably the same or GREATER than your former dog food. It's also much higher protein; probably the highest percentage of protein out there at 42%. And the "waste production" went WAY down once we switched to EVO too.

It sounds like your dog is doing better on EVO than on the previous brand you were using.

Meanwhile, forget about the Greenies & stick with the nylabones; the Greenies do nothing IMHO.

Thanks for the reply. She won't chew the nylabones. I have them all over the place.

i think I will try the buffalo hide things the other guy mentioned. Where do you get those?

Also, she got diarrhea again Sunday when we were running her a lot.

I just don't get it, her poop was perfect in the morning, but in the middle of exercise she gets the runs. Then the next day she will have normal poop again. It seems to only happen during exercise

I don't want to limit her play time. This dog LOVES to RUN, I think that's the weim.

She is awesome at catching the Frisbee. If we don't run her hard twice a day you can't even deal with her. I don't mind though cuase I liek to play with her and we have a HUGE area to play in as my lot backs up to a common area of just grass. She can do 100 yard sprints if she wants.

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 3, 2010

also, I have a few older pics up in my album. she seems more silver nowa days kinda like the avatar pic.

I have to figure out this diarrhea issue. Is it bad for them to have every few days. I was thinking she could still be getting used to the food. I am still on my first bag of 28lbs.

Thanks for all the help and warm welcome.

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 3, 2010 (Edited)

SaltyDog said:
Canine Caviar has a ton of Buffalo Chews. Check those out. Jones and Bravo also have chews from Buffalo.

Are these chews like rawhides only different material? so she can chew them up and if she eats some is ok? I haven't seen these. sounds interesting as she would love to be able to chew on something

what about the blockage thing the other guy mentioned? Do these buffalo chews do that? I am not sure what that meant actually.

SaltyDog

· #12 · May 4, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
Are these chews like rawhides only different material? so she can chew them up and if she eats some is ok? I haven't seen these. sounds interesting as she would love to be able to chew on something

what about the blockage thing the other guy mentioned? Do these buffalo chews do that? I am not sure what that meant actually.

These chews are all natural and meant to be eaten....not rawhide. They are things like tendons, tracheas, lungs....you get the idea.

Check these wesites out and find the chews section.
www.healthstoreforpets.com
Natural Pet Health - The Pet Health and Nutrition Center - your natural pet health store: Litchfield Connecticut New England

My dogs LOVE all these chews.

1605

· #13 · May 4, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
Thanks for the reply. She won't chew the nylabones. I have them all over the place.

i think I will try the buffalo hide things the other guy mentioned. Where do you get those?

Also, she got diarrhea again Sunday when we were running her a lot.

I just don't get it, her poop was perfect in the morning, but in the middle of exercise she gets the runs. Then the next day she will have normal poop again. It seems to only happen during exercise

I don't want to limit her play time. This dog LOVES to RUN, I think that's the weim.

She is awesome at catching the Frisbee. If we don't run her hard twice a day you can't even deal with her. I don't mind though cuase I liek to play with her and we have a HUGE area to play in as my lot backs up to a common area of just grass. She can do 100 yard sprints if she wants.

To be honest, I've seen this happen with hunting dogs during hard exercise; it happens all the time with Zio. They start to run... then "do the kennel point". Run some more... and do another "kennel point", only this time it's looser because that's all that's left in their intestinal tract. I think it has something to do with their system trying to clear itself out as a response the hard, intense exercise.

And yeah, I know all about the hunting dogs needing someplace to put all that energy! :wink:

Sorry, can't help you with the buffalo hides.

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 7, 2010

I think I may have to try something else. She had the runs the last two times she went.

i don't get it, everything else seems to be great.

Is it bad for them to have loose/runny poop

SaltyDog

· #15 · May 7, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
I think I may have to try something else. She had the runs the last two times she went.

i don't get it, everything else seems to be great.

Is it bad for them to have loose/runny poop

Are you tranisitioning with your old food? When I switched my dogs from Wellness to Orijen, I did it over a 21 day period. Now they can eat Orijen, Evo, Honest Kitchen with no issues, switching whenever I want.

There is a possibility that it is too rich. Evo is pretty rich.

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 7, 2010 (Edited)

SaltyDog said:
Are you tranisitioning with your old food? When I switched my dogs from Wellness to Orijen, I did it over a 21 day period. Now they can eat Orijen, Evo, Honest Kitchen with no issues, switching whenever I want.

There is a possibility that it is too rich. Evo is pretty rich.

I passed the switching part a few weeks ago, but I am still on the first bag.

I don't get how it can be fine one day, and then runny, the next then fine, then runny.

I was considering Orijen as a alternative but it looks like you have to feed them way more according to the feeding chart. Their adult says 5-5 3/4 cup for a 50-65lbs dog

I am only using 2 cups EVO daily

although when you look at the calories

here is orijen

ORIJEN ADULT DOG has a Metabolizable Energy (ME) of 3950 kcal/kg or 470 kcal/250ml cup,

here is EVO

Calorie Content:
4,243 kcal/kg
537 kcal/cup

The numbers don't see all that different. EVO is only slightly higher. So maybe I would only have to go to 2 1/2 cups daily with orijen instead of 2 cups EVO

Are those number apples to apples. one says Metabolizable calories the other only says calories.

I have to figure this out as I need to buy food very soon. I also need to figure out the EVO treats that I buy.

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RCTRIPLEFRESH5

· #17 · May 7, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
I passed the switching part a few weeks ago, but I am still on the first bag.

I don't get how it can be fine one day, and then runny, the next then fine, then runny.

I was considering Orijen as a alternative but it looks like you have to feed them way more according to the feeding chart. Their adult says 5-5 3/4 cup for a 50-65lbs dog

I am only using 2 cups EVO daily

although when you look at the calories

here is orijen

ORIJEN ADULT DOG has a Metabolizable Energy (ME) of 3950 kcal/kg or 470 kcal/250ml cup,

here is EVO

Calorie Content:
4,243 kcal/kg
537 kcal/cup

The numbers don't see all that different. EVO is only slightly higher. So maybe I would only have to go to 2 1/2 cups daily with orijen instead of 2 cups EVO

Are those number apples to apples. one says Metabolizable calories the other only says calories.

I have to figure this out as I need to buy food very soon. I also need to figure out the EVO treats that I buy.

i think you should be aware evo is going downhill. i think you should feed orijen regional red.

you dont need to feed a lot of orijen, maybe more than evo, but its not a lot compared to others.
orijen red has 3990 cals which is higher than the adult, and not to far from evo to make much.

SaltyDog

· #18 · May 7, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
I passed the switching part a few weeks ago, but I am still on the first bag.

I don't get how it can be fine one day, and then runny, the next then fine, then runny.

I was considering Orijen as a alternative but it looks like you have to feed them way more according to the feeding chart. Their adult says 5-5 3/4 cup for a 50-65lbs dog

I am only using 2 cups EVO daily

although when you look at the calories

here is orijen

ORIJEN ADULT DOG has a Metabolizable Energy (ME) of 3950 kcal/kg or 470 kcal/250ml cup,

here is EVO

Calorie Content:
4,243 kcal/kg
537 kcal/cup

The numbers don't see all that different. EVO is only slightly higher. So maybe I would only have to go to 2 1/2 cups daily with orijen instead of 2 cups EVO

Are those number apples to apples. one says Metabolizable calories the other only says calories.

I have to figure this out as I need to buy food very soon. I also need to figure out the EVO treats that I buy.

To gain a certain calorie count in the dog, yes you would feed more Orijen than you would Evo. Evo though is also high in fat, which is how they obtain that high calorie count. But this higher fat content, not the calories, I think might be your issue. I have fed Canine Caviar in the past which is 599 calories per cup, but only 16% fat. No runny poo, loads of energy, easily digested. I fed 3 cups of this per day. Great summer food like Evo. I don't feed either of these though in the winter months.

Your pooch may not be burning what you are feeding, hence the runny poo. Even though you'd feed more Orijen, his lifestyle may be a little more inclined for this food. It's lower by about 60 to 70 calories per cup, but it's way lower in fat.

Just a thought :smile:

Breathing Borla

Discussion Starter · #19 · May 9, 2010

I went with Orijen adult. i am mixing with the EVO until it's gone so we'll see how it goes.

I hope this works.

SaltyDog

· #20 · May 9, 2010

Breathing Borla said:
I went with Orijen adult. i am mixing with the EVO until it's gone so we'll see how it goes.

I hope this works.

Update us in a week :smile:

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