What is the best food for a 1 yr old Chocolate Lab?

Question

I bought my sister a 1 yr old female chocolate lab.Really good dog by the way.I don't want to give her up.But her coat is really dull and light colored.What is the best food I can give her right now that won't make her gain too much weight but make her coat dark and shiney? And I also have a black lab.Any suggestions on him?He is almost 2.

Answer 1

Pinnacle, Avoderm, Nutro these are all really good foods but there are several other out there as well!! best thing that you could do is goto a good pet store and tell them what you are looking for, they are very friendly and know alot about foods.

I also must agree with the poster below!! I hate Science diet and Iams!! they are only one step above grocery store food and we all know grocery store food is crap!!

Answer 2

Don't give your dog science diet! this food contains corn which most labs (including mine) are allergic to and will dry them out and make them itch. I have found that california natural is a great food for my lab, though it is a little more expensive, it contains great ingredients and is a simple formula. Everyone tells me what a great coat my chocolate lab has. I have also tried some organic foods that seemed to work fine as well as natural balence is ok. Point is, look at the ingredients of the food. If it has corn, don't give it to your lab. If it has a lot of fillers (rice, byproducts,etc) don't get it. You may pay the extra dollar for the good food, but your lab will look great, it will eat less because it is all absorbed due to the fact there isn't any fillers, and it will poop less :) I hope this helps :)

Answer 3

In my experience I have seen many Labradors do well on the Eukanuba Diet, some may disagree with me, however, that is just my opinion. If you don't want to try the Eukanuba, then buy some Derm Caps, it is a fatty acid supplement and try those, do not expect to see results immediately it generally takes about 30 days, another product that we sold at the animal hospital I worked at was called Pro Derma, it was a powder and it seemed to work really well too. Good Luck.

just remember: when switching a pets diet always introduce it slowly, I would recommend 25% of the new food to 75% of the previous food for 5 days, then 50% of new food to 50% of previous for another 5 days, then 25% previous to 75% new for 5 days and then just give all new food. This should avoid any dietary indiscretion with your new food.

Answer 4

I just switched my lab mix (also rotty, and possibly a bit pit) from science diet to nutro-large breed puppy.

We switched because on the science diet he had a bit of a diarrhea problem, but also after switching found that his coat is coming back in (he had scratched himself bare in a couple places), and his chocolate coloring is coming back very strong (he had been turning a bit black and not so glossy).

I would suggest the Nutro for that reason, its also a bit cheaper. Do as we did though-spend time in the petstore comparing all the foods. The nutro actually had a bit more protein and only a minimal gain in fat over the science diet, so we went that route. There may be something even better that was not offered in our store though.

Answer 5

if you do end up changing his food may i suggest adding some Cold water fish oils (there are many diff brands) it has numerous benefits including less shedding and glossier coat etc. there are so many good brands of food out there as well (solid gold,natural balance,chicken soup for dog lovers,timberwolf,innova,innova evo,acana,orijen, etc these foods can be found in some pet shops or holistic pet food stores. I own a holistic pet food store and sell alot of the fish oils and also use it with my dogs as well and it works wonders. good luck!!

Answer 6

here is a great website to find out which dog food is good for your dog but I would suggest solid gold
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

Answer 7

BARF diet...... Bit confusing at first but is purely and best way proven to feed your dog

Answer 8

Science diet puppy formula.

Answer 9

http://www.holdinggold.com/barfrecipes.htm
raw bones and raw meat

Answer 10

I put this in your other post.
"Blackwood"