[Spy Car]

Aimme, you have great Goggle skills. Do the searches. All verifiable studies. Please don’t cast aspersions that are unsubstantiated.

There was a study sponsored by Iams (IMS) where dogs who were fed a high-carb diet (and were thus de-conditioned) were put on treadmills with masks and devices that would test their VO2 Max scores. As expected, these couch-potatoes scored very (very) poorly.

Then the same dogs were put on a diet that was relatively high-protein and high-fat. Nothing about their rearing or keeping changed otherwise. After a time they were retested. The increases in VO2 Max score were dramatic. These formerly de-conditioned out-of-shape couch potatoes had VO2 Max scores that were very close to those of elite canine athletes.

This was due to diet alone.

This is wholly in keeping with my own long experience training and raising canine athletes.

Field trial dogs are almost always fed a diet that is at least 30/20 (protein/fat). Not 23/15. And smart field trailers supplement kibble diets with additional animal proteins and fats.

Field-trialers tend to be very quiet about the supplementation because the sport is completely dominated by Purina which sponsors field-trialers with free food, and plays for prize money and the cost of running competitions. Bad mouthing Purina in any way is not a way to win friends in that sport.

30/20 is not “optimal,” to be sure, but it is above the minimums that most seriously de-tune dogs. You are making my point for me.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Spy Car.