General Dog Questions (food, crate)?

Question by Violet: General Dog Questions (food, crate)?
Hi,

I will soon be bringing home my two year old Labrador Retriever from a reputable breeder. The breeder is very helpful and she is only selling the lab because she is slightly too small (still a very large dog, just a little small compared to breed standard), she's around the 55 pound point (or should be).

She is already crate trained and I just have a few questions about it?

1. Where is the best place to put the crate?
In a busy area like the kitchen or in a quiter area like a small, tiled "doggy room" (we call it the doggie room because it has a dog "spa" in there) so she can have her privacy? Or in my bed room?

2. Should the crate always be in the same place or...
could it be moved to a different room at night? If the crate should be in a busier area, I was thinking of keeping it there and then moving it to my bed room at night, would this cause too much confusion?

The breeder feeds Royal Canin Labrador Retriever 30, but I am not a big fan of it. I am planning to slowly switch her to Orijen or Acana after she has adjusted to her new life.

3. Do you recommend I switch from Royal Canin to Orijen or Acana?

Also she is around 6 pounds over weight (which I was also very concerned about but she is losing weight). Even though she is only two years old I was considering switching her to a senior diet (Orijen doesn't have a formula for overweight dogs, but Acana does so if I decide on Orijen I want to know if it's okay to have her on a senior diet). I have heard of a three year old husky on a senior formula for the same reason as mine.

4. What do you think about a Senior Formula?

5. Do you recommend Orijen and Acana dog food?

6. I know they are made by the same company but what do you prefer?

7. What do you think about the saying "High protein diets cause kidney problems"?

Thank you very much. If you want best answer please try to answer ALL seven questions (preferably number your answers it just makes it easier). Most thourough, helpful and informative answer will get best answer. Thanks again!

Cheers!

Best answer:

Answer by moof
How wonderful that you're putting so much thought into this.

1.) I think it depends on her temperament. You can ask the breeder about this, or you can just observe her yourself for a few days when you get her. She'd probably prefer to be in your bedroom; most dogs prefer to be near their humans. There are some dogs that are more independent and prefer a safe, out-of-the-way haven for their crate location. I think it's more likely that she'll prefer the crate being in your bedroom (or in another room that's commonly used), but there is a chance that she'll prefer her "own" room.

2.) There might be some confusion, but she should catch on to the pattern pretty quickly. It's up to you. If you want to have two locations for the crate, why don't you invest in an extra crate? I know at least one person who does this, and it works out fine. They have one upstairs (just outside the bedroom) and one downstairs (in the living room). Again, though, this is a preference thing, I think.

3.) Yes. Royal Canin is pretty low quality, so that'd be a good switch. When you do switch, make sure you do so gradually over a period of two weeks to help prevent digestive upset, though. Also, keep in mind that some individual dogs don't do quite so well on such rich diets. Give her system a few months to stabilize, but if her poop still hasn't firmed up after three months, then these formulas may be a bit too much for her stomach, if it's sensitive.

4.) Hm.. I suppose it's all right. The Orijen Senior formula AAFCO-approved for all life stages, although it's too high in calcium for the proper joint development of a large or giant breed puppy.. Since she's two, her growth plates have closed, so it seems safe to feed this food. Actually, overall, the formula is really similar to the regular Adult formula -- the most obvious difference is simply that the Senior formula has something like 55 fewer calories per cup. Besides that, the ingredients and guaranteed analysis are quite comparable, so I do think that this may actually be appropriate for your new girl.

5.) Yeah. They're not appropriate for every dog (e.g., large and giant breed puppies, dogs with very sensitive stomachs), but in general, yeah, they're very good.

6.) Hm.. I suppose Orijen. Acana's a little lighter on the meat content.

7.) I don't think it's true. Protein studies that indicate that low protein diets are better for dogs were generally done on rats, and rats.. aren't dogs. How much protein does the best rat food, Harlan Teklad (which has been renamed something like Native Earth, I think), have? 18% in their common formula. How much protein do the best dog foods have, such as Orijen? Like 40%. These foods are considered the best for a reason: they're formulated to best meet the needs of their respective species.. Anyway, here are some pages you might want to read concerning the topic:

http://www.wysong.net/learn/entry/84/

http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidneyprotein.html

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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