Percentage of protein in food

[littlepeas]

Interested to hear what others have been told/have heard and what you have experienced with your dogs regarding % of protein in food, especially in working breeds that are kept as (active) pets.

One trainer (only works with gun dogs, quite old school) has told us no more than 20% protein in food if they are not working as otherwise they will be hyperactive.

The other trainer we use (works with any dog but does lots of different stuff - agility, scent training, etc) has said minimum 70% protein as it is the carbs that make them hyperactive and he compared lower protein foods to giving sweets to children!

It seems to make no difference whatsoever to our 7 yo golden retriever's energy, although his poo is better on the higher protein food. Not sure yet with our working lab puppy (10 months) but I think we will be sticking with the higher protein food for the time being. Neither of our dogs work, but dh does a lot of training and activities with them, especially the lab, who is insanely clever and makes the GR look like Tim Nice but Dim!

It seems to make no difference whatsoever to our 7 yo golden retriever's energy, although his poo is better on the higher protein food.

You have your answer

Loads of studies , loads of opinions but in rl it doesnt make a major difference to most dogs.

Also protein is hard to measure eg protein in raw food and kibble is different. As raw food is high in protein but most raw diets the digestable protein is 13-15% but the meat content will have higher protein.

I think your different trainers are comparing different foods as not sure you can get a dog food with 70% protein but raw would be fine, 20% protein is more likely with processed dog foood

Basically it is very confusing and most people spout a load of ancedotal rubbish. Stick with what works for your dog and just smile at comments!

The serotonin diet is recommended by some behaviourists to help with anxiety in dogs and that is more the timing of the carbs and protein - jury is still out on that one.

However there are some dogs where diet does make a major difference to behaviour but in reality it is a small percentage. These dogs are usually affected by the additives and e numbers than protein content though.

One of my working dogs can not keep weight on with a protein high diet so he has a biggr percentage of carbs and is a better weight. Some of the others have a higher protein diet.

My dog gets really sloppy poos on high protein foods, but they don't seem to make any difference in terms of his energy.

He's a beagle. We don't work him but he's pretty active.

That's interesting re your dog's weight - our lab is still growing but has had a couple of phases where he has looked a bit skinny. We've just adjusted the amount - I hadn't considered the composition of the food.

The retriever is huge but can't have much before he starts getting a bit fat, so the opposite - poor sod.

The other trainer we use (works with any dog but does lots of different stuff - agility, scent training, etc) has said minimum 70% protein

Are you sure they didn't mean a 70/30 meat/veg split? Which is probably only around 30% protein

They might have done, I'm not sure. I may well mean meat, rather than protein!

We've been through a variety of foods due to pups fussiness and have settled on the one she'll eat. The Millie's was 50/50 I think, current is more like 70/30. Never noticed any difference in behaviour or condition. Supposedly our current food is "Behavioral Optimizing Food" but I'm not sure how much I believe in that! She eats it which is the big bonus for me.

She does eat the recommended amount of dried food plus forthglade complementary on top plus treats and chews as well so needs more than the recommended amount to maintain weight.

Just for interest.. Most people assume that raw dog food is the highest % protein. But moisture is actually the main ingredient (65%) in most raw completes. Interesting! In answer to your question, go with whatever you think suits your dog best.