Choosing Dog Food

Question
Dear Jessica,

  I am considering adopting an 18 month female chocolate labrador, who weights around 50-65 pounds. I want to have everything planned out before I bring her home and I am having a bit of trouble deciding what type of dog food to feed her. She is quite fit, and we plan on giving her at lease one long walk a day ( occasional jogging as well ). I am thinking about feeding her Nutro MAX Adult Dog Food or Nutro MAX Large Breed Adult Dog Food. If you do not approve or those dog foods, do you think you can give me some other recommendations? Thank you.

                                            - Violet

Answer
Hi Violet,

The Nutro line used to be a fairly decent middle of the road food, however in recent years they have gone downhill. I would go for foods like Innova, Wellness, Taste of The Wild, Solid Gold or Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (yes its a dog food too).

Those food may seem more expensive at first but you'll end up feeding less and you'll see the benefits in less shedding, smaller stools and a healthier dog. In the end feeding a high end food works out to cost about the same as feeding a cheaper lower end food.

Labs are also prone to bloat so I'd stick to feeding her two smaller meals a day rather than one larger one. Raised dishes were once thought to help prevent bloat but have recently been found to increase the risk. I'd also limit heavy activity for an hour before and after a meal.

When you walk her make it a working walk. It takes more energy for a dog to walk at heel or on a loose leash than it does for them to just walk without thinking about anything. Include some sits, and downs, you can teach her to auto-sit at curbs for example. Mental stimulation is needed too. Training and puzzle toys (tug-a-jugs, kongs) are couple good ways to accomplish this. Throw in a bit of fetch and you should have a happy, healthy lab.


~Jess