With the increase in the value of mutton, we have been getting numerous enquiries regarding the feeding of working dogs.  In response we have done an evaluation of a few types of dog biscuit, looking in particular at nutritional factors and of course dollars.

The biscuit labels show % crude protein and fat, and the ingredients are listed in order.  For highly athletic animals like working dogs who exercise for several hours a day, it is essential for the feed to contain high levels of protein for muscle recovery and fat for energy, and for these to be primarily from an animal source i.e. chicken, turkey, meat etc.  A quality balance of other vitamins, minerals and trace elements is essential and the whole lot has to be easily absorbed by the dog's gut.

There are serveral types of biscuit that meet these criteria, with the gold standard appearing to be Eukanuba Performance at 30% crude protein, 20% fat and chicken the No. 1 ingredient.  The average cost per day feeding this alone would be $1.63 for a 20kg Heading dog or $3.10 for a 40kg Huntaway.

Other biscuits may seem cheaper at 'recommended' daily amounts, but a tough conversion (see table) shows that the lower quality foods need higher volumes fed, and so price-wise the foods are comparable.  We would argue that the higher quality, lower-volume feeds are better - better absorbtion better vitamins/trace elements, and less faeces.

This could well be less than the cost of feeding the dogs mutton, with the benefits of a better nutritional balance.  Of course, genuine dog-tucker quality mutton is fine to use as a supplement to a good biscuit, and is a good use of non-works-able sheep.  As always do the sums and come and talk to us if you have any queries. 

DOG FOOD COMPARISONS (2).doc (0.04MB)