There are few recurring themes that show up in the Man’s Best Friend mailbag, but one of the most common is this question: How much do I feed my dog?
Obviously I’m no expert on canine nutrition, but I did run the feed question by Mike Stewart of Wildrose Kennels in Oxford, Mississippi. Stewart has a herd of Labradors under his watch and is responsible for Deke and Drake, the Ducks Unlimited dogs. Stewart’s first piece of advice was simple: use the recommended amount of cups listed on the bag as a benchmark but not as a golden rule. Then it’s time to study the fine print. “Look at the ingredients,” he said. “For retrievers you want a feed with a ratio of 24 percent protein to 14 percent fat. If you’re running a hard-charging bird dog all day you might want to move up to a ratio of 32 percent protein to 26 percent fat.”