Ferocia KennelS
Located in Southern Oregon

All dogs are individuals when it comes to feeding and nutrition. What works for one dog may not work for another.

Many dogs do very well and are healthy on diets that are carbohydrate heavy, or that include grain and corn products. Some dogs thrive on a low carbohydrate raw diet and do poorly on high carbohydrate or a grain inclusive diet. Some dogs require higher levels of carbohydrates to maintain healthy body weight. Some dogs do not tolerate high fat levels and develop diarrhea and bad gas, while others require higher fat to maintain good condition. A dogs individual metabolism and energy level will also play a big part in proper diet selection.  

Diet and nutrition is very important and many conditions or ailments such as dry/itchy skin, dry/brittle fur, excessive shedding, ear infections, body odor, bad breath, loose stools, high volume of stools, urine odor, allergies, vomiting, and many other health concerns are often caused or made worse by the diet your dog is fed.  A certain food might cause one dog to drop weight, have loose stools and itchy skin, but another dog on that same food has great body condition, nice firm stools and a gleaming healthy coat.  

Feed the dog in front of you based on what they do best on. If your dog has bad gas, does not have firm stool, is itchy, has a dry or dull coat, has ear issues, etc - look at the diet! Consider changing foods to find one that works better for your dog, or adding a supplement to address a specific issue such as dry coat.

The primary consideration is the quality and quantity of the meat ingredients in the food. Named (i.e. Chicken, Turkey, Rabbit, Lamb etc.) meat meals should top the ingredients list of the food, not generic or unnamed ingredients such as Meat Meal. Fresh, water-inclusive, meat ingredients that are listed simply as chicken, beef, pork, and so on, are actually not as ideal for kibble due to the fact that ingredient listings on the products are formed by the weight of each ingredient *before* cooking. Fresh meats are anywhere from 65-80% water, which is eliminated in the cooking process and drops those fresh meat ingredients considerably further down the list. Named meat meals (chicken meal, beef meal, lamb meal, etc) are essentially meat concentrates and already have most of the moisture removed, so their position on the ingredients list is not misleading. They are fine to see as part of an ingredients list, but as the only/primary meat source, we prefer not to see it.

​

Again, dogs are individuals and it is always best to judge a food based on the health of the dog you are feeding it to. There are many misconceptions and many strong opinions regarding nutrition for your pets. 

At Ferocia Kennels we prefer to feed a high calorie kibble with a moderate carbohydrate level. For us, calorie content is a major factor in food selection - the higher the calorie content the better, as our dogs are working dogs. We prefer a high calorie performance formula. Below is a look at the different supplements we use and the kibbles we feed or have fed in the past. We also prefer to rotate and mix protein sources to provide variety not only of flavor but more importantly of nutrients. Different meats/proteins have different amino acid profiles and we feel it is good to provide variety for optimum nutrition for our dogs.