Protein Needs

[Annette47]

What is average? Are we talking weight? Activity level? Age? Gender? Neutered? Sorry, perhaps I'm more dense than most but knowing would help me out more.

Yes, I too am not sure what it means for a Lab to be “average”. Mine have been very varied in terms of their nutritional needs at various points of their lives. Personally, if the dog is healthy, active, has good muscle tone and good stools and is maintaining a healthy weight then the dog is doing well. Chloe is on a food that is 25% protein and is, according to several vets including a rehab specialist in “fantastic muscular condition”. Part of why I have never fed her a higher protein food is that they tend to be correspondingly higher in calories, and she barely needs much (she gets between 1.25-1.5 cups a day total) to maintain a healthy weight as is - and hers is grain free as well as she tends to get fat on grain inclusives. Mulder in his prime ate much more of a higher calorie, higher protein, grain-inclusive food to maintain a similar condition. Different dogs, different needs.

Feed what works.

[Annette47]

Food is protein, fat and carbohydrates and it adds to 100%, to make this point simple.

If you feed lower protein and consequently lower fat, the carbohydrate level rises. Carbohydrate energy is stored as fat and Labs as a breed are probably the most obese in the Dog Kingdom.

Labs do best on higher protein, higher fat foods so long as the amount is restricted. This way they get a low levels of carbs.

The 1 gram of protein method works well. If you use a 30% protein food then the average Lab should get 2.25 - 2.50 cups per day which is good.

If you step up to a 35% - 40% protein food, then you can dial it back to a little less than 2 cups, which is even better.

Using a 25% protein food means you have to feed about 3 cups and give the dog a big belly full of calories from carbohydrates, like 150 grams per day, compared to 50 grams on the high protein option.

But if the 2 cups of the higher protein food has the same calories as the 3 cups of the other, then what difference does it make in the end in terms of the dog’s weight? And feeding the lower protein food allows the dog to feel fuller. If I applied this logic to Chloe, who eats maybe 1.5 cups a day of a lower protein food, then she would get <1 cup a day of a higher protein food and be miserable. Sure, if you have a dog that needs larger amounts of food to maintain a healthy weight, it might be a good idea, but I don’t think it works for ALL labs.

[LabMunsterBracco]

But if the 2 cups of the higher protein food has the same calories as the 3 cups of the other, then what difference does it make in the end in terms of the dog’s weight? And feeding the lower protein food allows the dog to feel fuller. If I applied this logic to Chloe, who eats maybe 1.5 cups a day of a lower protein food, then she would get <1 cup a day of a higher protein food and be miserable. Sure, if you have a dog that needs larger amounts of food to maintain a healthy weight, it might be a good idea, but I don’t think it works for ALL labs.

There is a big difference and it has to do with the proportion of protein and fat calories compared to carbohydrate calories. Carbohydrate calories for dogs are basically useless over a threshold and lower protein food are way over the threshold, which means fat dogs overtime, especially labs.

Protein is 30% entropic, whereas carbohydrates are not, meaning they stick to the ribs very easily. Carbohydrate calories over say 25% - 30% calories are a waste.

As for the dog "feeling" full eating a higher carbohydrate food??? That is a human perception and frankly carbohydrates create hunger from crazy swings in blood sugar. Protein and fat satiate the dog. Also, when people say their dog acts hungry, that is because the dog is trained to do so, because they get fed by acting "hungry".

I really thing the optimal protein level is around 30%-35% for most labs and owners.