[Dailydrool] dog food

[R Groves]

First and foremost once a day feeding is a **BAD** idea.  It can easily lead to resource issues, food issues (guarding/resource) and is a marker for increased bloat potential (ie... if being fed once a day they're probably starving by the time they eat, and thus gulp food with more air, or that's the theory)

Second.. Food quantity ... are using an 8oz cup measure or using a scale to measure out exactly 8 oz cups?  

Third, have you tried adding fillers ... canned no salt green beans, carrots (whole raw, minus any left over leafy tops)?

Lastly ... food itself.  I've been pretty happy using Kirkland's Premium Lamb dry food.  40 lbs $26.99 last week.  Kirkland's not for everyone .. and even one version may not be ok for all hounds.  Within 2 weeks of trying the Kirkland "healthy weight" / diet version of their food, my more "sensitive" hound broke out pretty badly ... and most of that went away a month after going back to the Lamb formula.  And the Kirkland foods do rank up there in the higher tiers... no they aren't your raw lamb/chicken/rice/potato ... but for dry food they're pretty decent.

-Robert
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  Hi all.  Once again I am going to bring up the subject of dog food.  I have 3 dogs, a 10-year-old lab, an approximately 8-year-old rescued mixed breed (med size) and 4-year-old basset.  I had fed Purina One in the past, then switched to Purina Dog Chow because of the cost of feeding 3 dogs.  Because the dogs were packing on the pounds, my vet recommended we switch to Science Diet Lite.  My dogs eat twice a day, once at about 5:30 a.m. with Millie the lab getting 2 cups, Buddy the mix gets about 1 1/2-2 cups and Reba the basset gets 1 cup, same at about 4:00 p.m.  I am going through a 30 pound bag of food in less than 2 weeks at $43./per bag.  I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on maybe a better quality dog food where I could feed them just once a day so that a bag lasts longer, yet they are full, still at a good weight and maybe a little less money?  My second question is if I can find the right food, how do I transition them to eating only once a day?  As it is now, they KNOW when it is 4:00 and time for dinner and they come find me and not let me out of their sight until I feed them.. all 3 of them!
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