What do you feed your Labrador please?

[needshoes]

Ive had a 1-2-1 dog training session today and one of the questions he asked was what did i feed her?
She is a 13mth choc Labrador female and he breeder thinks she is bordering on being too big

She is fed Hills Science plan (adult, but she was on puppy) but he thinks that there is the equivalent for less and im wasting my money on a fancy brand.
I suppose i assumed that the more the food cost, the better it was for her but im all for money saving!

Could i ask what do you feed your labs please?

Not ours (don't have labs ), but a good friend feed their labs on Skinner's Field & Trial and they are stunning, lean and healthy labs.
Skinner's do a F&T Maintenance (around £17 for 15kg) for dogs in the off-season (so I imagine also your average pet lab as opposed to a hard working gundog!) so it might be more suited to your girl depending on her activity levels.

You could ask your breeder what they feed their dogs on, or ask your vet what they recommend.

Also, if she needs to lose a bit of weight (just 1-2kg can make all the difference) try reducing the amount of food by 10-20g a day. I have never fed my dogs according to manufacturers guidelines, but rather what maintains their weight. If they start losing weight, I increase their food. If they start gaining, I decrease it.

One problem with labs is people are so used to seeing rather round ones they think a healthy, lean lab is skinny IYSWIM. I'm not saying that is the case with your girl, but just something to bear in mind.

HTH

my 14 month lab has James Wellbeloved lamb and vegetable adult kibble, about 60g less than they recommend on the pack for his weight, he gets loose poos if I give the full amount. He looks a bit skinny but vet said 14 month labs are meant to look like that.
I know vets often recommend Hills Science Plan (mine did at the first puppy visit and gave starter pack) but I found a lot of stuff on the internet that put me off.

I have a real problem with Hills - take a look here - that is a variety intended for dogs ill with heart disease! Their website doesn't seem to offer the ingredients of any individual foods, I had to look them up on Pets at Home and similar to find out what's actually in them.

Lots of assurances on the website though - "Corn is an excellent ingredient because of the benefits it brings to the product. Corn is a highly nutritious ingredient chosen as a source of protein (for muscle and tissue growth)" - erm, why not meat as a protein source, huh? "Some consumers are concerned that corn may be a filler. Fillers offer no nutritional value whatsoever. Corn, as mentioned above, is a superb source of nutrients." For herbivores, yeah.

It's incredibly expensive for such a poor food. Take a look at the ingredients of other similar 'premium' foods - Royal Canin comes to mind - they're full of rubbish and no real meat, you're paying for the shiny packaging and pseudo scientific gubbins. Something like Skinners duck/turkey/salmon and rice (I don't rate the other varieties, they have additional grains) is £21 for 15kg and a perfectly acceptable budget alternative. If you want to spend more on a premium food have a look at Fish4Dogs.

I am feeding my 16 month old choc lab girl Burns, which is great for her. Last year we tried Orijen, which is supposed to be super-duper dog food (looking at the ingredients I was tempted to give it a go myself), but it gave the most awful wind. She likes Burns, very energetic without being "hyper" and is in a great shape (nice slender 23kg).

Some people I talk to choose Fish4Dogs, JamesWellbeloved, Naturediet, Orijen and Acana.

"her"
"but it gave her the most awful wind"

Skinner's Field and Trial Salmon and Rice in the morning

BARF in the evening.

Skinners Salmon and rice here too, my lab is almost one and is in perfect shape has a lovely shiney coat, lots of energy and is on a whole as chilled as a cucumber :).

Both of ours are completely BARF fed and are in fantastic condition. They also have no wind (unless the yellow has been thieving) and do teeny poos as there is so little waste from the diet.

I can't recommend it enough.

Another vote here for James Wellbeloved. We have 2 labs & it suits them very well.