So I'm going to be getting a chocolate lab within a couple months and was wondering what kind food people are feeding their hunting dogs. I'm not sure if I'm getting a male or female yet but Orschelns here in town has a sale this weekend and was wanting to know what kind of food I should get so I can get a jump on the food situation for my hunting partner. I've heard mixed stories on several different foods and want to hear some of your opinions.
Thanks mulies

Only hard dog food here. Pet Pride is the brand I've been feeding both my dogs for years.
And maybe a french fry once in awhile.

I gave got 2 chocolate labs one Male and Female Male is Females pup I dont hunt with them but my male is nothing but muscle I feed them Retriever Mini Chunk with an Oatmeal Base too it. Im not saying that you should feed your pup this now but when he grows older you might wanna give it a try. If your really unsure and want to be positive your giving them the right diet meet with your local vet. and come up with a good diet based on how you need him/her built.

IMO I would get a female not saying its always true but most of the females we have had including the one now are much calmer and listen better than the males.

Good Luck with your new friend, Have you picked out a good name yet or are ya waiting to see him??? My dogs names are Male-Magnum Trooper
Female- Macey Jay

Thanks for the info
Actually I was looking at Magnum for a male name but don't have a female name yet. I'm willing to bet that whatever gender I pick at the time a name will come right after.

OK, I have 2 black labs, Henri and Remi, and within my circle of huntin buddies then is a total of 10 labs between us, all hunt, all are great hunting dog and incredible family members.

Now as far a Male or female its up to you, Krazy has made a point about females being slightly better than males, and this holds true to a certain extent. I also think it depends on if you nueter the male, I nuetered my first one because his original intention was to be a pet, then I got a second one 8 months later and I didn't nueter him, and can see a differece in there trainability nuetered one is much more receptive than the un-nuetered one is, I am comparing the trainabilty to when the nuetered one was 8 months old to the un-nuetered one now at 8 months old.

OK, sorry, on to your real question. I feed nutro large breed puppy and adult food respectively. Buddies use Diamond black gold, pro plan, eukenuba, the list goes on..... As long as you feed a top brand food and none of the "cheap ****" your dog will do just fine. Now I can't stress this point enough When feeding you pup, for his entire life, do your best at putting him in his crate for an hour after he eats, this wont be possible when you first get him, but as he gets older you will be able to do this. Also try and keep him from running around for the hour before eating as well. This will help from preventing "BLOAT" the twisting of the stomach from the gases and food being in their belly. you can searh this on the web when you get time....

Good luck with your new buddy and post some pics when you get him

I have had two male chocolates, and I have to agree that as long as you go with a higher priced quality food you are in good shape, but my preference has been Purina Exclusive. My first one didn't like the Exclusive puppy food, so I started him on Natural choice before moving him into Exclusive as an adult. Both of my dogs have been absolutely beautiful dogs with gorgeous coats and muscular bodies.

No, don't get a chocolate lab.... chocolate labs are no good.... only black or yellow labs are worth going hunting with.... LOL

Seriously, if the dog you are getting is going to be a puppy, than it is very important that you feed a high quality food and don't try to skimp and save money. The pup needs good nutrition while growing and developing, and to ensure good joint health and proper development of eyes, mouth, etc, you need a good food. You can switch to a more moderate priced food once the dog reaches 2 yrs of age. Anyhow, as far as brand - Pro Plan, Iams, Eukanuba, Diamond, all make good puppy foods. I personally have always preferred Pro Plan. At any rate, be careful about buying a bunch in advance, cause dogs can be picky, especially as pups. Some dogs might like a lamb & rice, while others will only eat chicken. Also, especially when a dog is teething, they may prefer a wet soft food over hard dry kibble. Once a dog gets older and grown, I may require them to eat what I feed, but when they are puppies I'm way more concerned with them getting the nutrition they need and I will feed them whatever they want to eat.

sciene diet is a great food and there are numerous studies done with it to prove it quality. if you want an all natural dog food, canidae is tough to beat. both are top quality pet foods. i recommend using dry food with only a very little bit of soft food for taste. dry food helps keep the tarter off of the dogs gums and teeth. also, if your getting a hunting dog, look into vpi pet insurance, i have it for both my basset hounds and they are fair priced and we always get a check after bringing them to the vet. you just put your claim in and they send you a check for some of the cost. pretty good. good luck

Thanks guys. My cousin has the dogs and he was telling me this weekend that he's pretty sure the female is pregoed so it should be good to go. Sounds like food is just like anything else, ya get what ya pay for. Trust me on this, he or she will eat a good brand name food. When I get that far I will check out the "Bloat" thing, I've never really thought about that before.
I thought about checking into food at Orschlens but a 17' Rivers Edge ladder stand caught my eye instead, so stuff for the dog is going to wait for a little while longer.

Another thing you will want to do is find out what food your cousin is feeding and buy a small bag of that food to keep your pup from getting and upset stomach, then slowly start mixing the food the pup is on with the food you want to use.. after the first week or so start mixing the food 3/4 of the food its on with 1/4 of the food you want to use then slowly start increasing the amounts of you food and lowering the amout of the food he started on at your cousins.

Also if your going to hunt him, start introducing him to wings of the type of birds you plan on hunting, ducks, pheasents, whatever, this will really get his nose going. Cabelas sells Pheasent wings, or if your hunting cut the wings of and freeze them till you ned them later. Pup will start getting the idea that the smell means fun.....

Yea, I planned on keeping a couple pheasant and quail wings this fall. How do you usually introduce it to em? You play fetch with em or just do some teasin with it?

Well I would ask your cousin to put one in with the litter if he is willing, this will help. When you get him you can tie one to a string and the other end to a stick or something and have him chase it around, just a few mintues a day, or every few days, nothing major and then once he starts getting older and starts to retrieve tie one to a small canvas bumper and start playing fetch, when he's ready, don't push him at the begining, or you will do more harm than good.

Cool man, thanks for the advice. I'm itching to get this pup but I've got to do some waitin for it to happen.

I would use the waiting time to start reading up on training. Granted getting them into birds and scents and everything is fun, but a solid base of obiedence is the key to a good bird dog, so focus on the basic sit, stay, and heel. Look at them as a child and going through school, you wouldn't have a 1st grader taking high school classes so be paient(sp?) and at any time you think he is failing or not getting what you want go back a few steps, to what he knows and work him some more it will pay big dividends later.....

Here is a pic of my dogs, the one at the top and the right are mine and the one on the left is my buddies as I was dog sitting...


http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k410/Me...tos/dogs013.jpg

Those are some good looking dogs. I've got a buddy that is in the middle of training his yellow lab so he probably has some videos and other stuff I might be able to borrow... just to get me started anyway.

Thank you!

Thats the way to do it, Start networking so to speak. When you have friends and what not it really helps becasue eveyone has some things to borrow, have or work with. Also look in your area for a HRC club, ( hunting retrievers club) They are usally great people and they hold training day so you can get together with a group and learn more and people bring all sorts of cool things for training. You could at least start talking with them and maybe join once the pup is ready for that kind of atmosphere.....