Monday, April 13, 2009

Dreaming Pink




No! I'm not talking about the new line of panties and bras at Victoria's Secret. I'm talking dog food.

About seven months out of the year I feed the green bag of Iams dog food, which is good for a dog that isn't hunting. My dog Lady is close to eight years old now. I like to think she is in her prime, but occasionally if there isn't any bird scent in the air she slows down or starts ranging closer after an hour jog.

My Dad does the feeding at our house, mostly because he loves my dog Lady more than he does me most days. Dad wakes up early and takes Lady on an hour jog seven days a week, regardless of rain or snow. Lady really loves him, but I take her hunting so she loves me more.


Late last September I bought a bag of Sporting Dog Eukanuba, in hopes that it would give Lady a little more energy. Normally we feed three cups of Iams, so I just asked my dad to feed two cups Iams and add one cup of Eukanuba. The results were remarkable. My Dad and I noticed a difference in our eight year old dog within two days. It was as though she was a puppy again, she could run for hours and never tire.

We fed one cup Eukanuba and two cups Iams the whole fall and winter season. My Dad started having dreams about Eukanuba.

My Dad eats a bowl of oatmeal every morning after his run. Dad dreamt that after his run instead of adding a cup of oatmeal to the boiling water he added one cup of, as he calls it "the pink dog food".

The biggest difference came during the hunts. Lady never tired. My Uncle Dan and I raised our pups together. They are the same age and this year in South Dakota when we hunted them together it was very apparent which dog was eating Eukanuba. On our longer trips to Montana and South Dakota by the end of the trip the dogs seem to be a little more worn down, not Lady. She had the same fire the whole trip.


I don't equate all of this to Eukanuba, I owe a great thanks to my dad who runs her seven days a week.

I think Eukanuba also helps with scenting ability. All my cousins and friends who didn't own dogs wanted to hunt behind Lady because she was always finding birds.

I noticed again the potency of this dog food, because we just cut Lady back to three cups of Iams for the summer season. And within a week or two she was the same old dog she was last summer. My Dad asked if she was sick or getting old?

So we tested it last week and we fed her a cup of Eukanuba a couple days in a row and she was on fire again! I think my dad wants to keep feeding her a little Eukanuba year round. Hopefully he pays for it, because that stuff isn't cheap.

No! I am not sponsored by Eukanuba. I just wanted to share the secret of Eukanuba with my fellow bird hunting bloggers.

5 comments:

doglover said...

I love Eukanuba, I have a soon to be 8 year old Labrador, she plays like a 6 month old, and I have never had any health issues at all, she just gets her regular vet visits, he says she is healthy because she eats healthy!

Lisa said...

I'm going to put the pink in my Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Don't you think that would help on my long runs? I started giggling as soon as I saw the pink bag on your blog. That story is now written down for all eternity. Perfect!

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric,

This is Elliott from Eukanuba!

One of our hunting guys at the company sent me your blog this morning. I'm so glad to see that you found our "secret" and that Lady is thriving on Eukanuba.

We are really proud of our dog food up here in Dayton, and we're always delighted when we find folks out there who discover how our nutrition makes a difference.

You are dead on about Lady's scenting ability on Eukanuba. We did a study in 2000 that confirmed hunting dogs get 55% more finds throughout the season on the "pink bag."

If you're interested, I'll send you a couple tshirts and some Euk flair. I'm at garlock.eg@pg.com

--Elliott

ps. Love your blog. You've got a great writing style. I saw your post about "you never know who reads your blog." LOL I had a very similar experience recently.

BevAndBailey said...

Your blog is making the rounds at Eukanuba today! Great post! Great blog! and Lady is a beauty!! I really enjoyed looking at your photos--especially the ones of Lady. It's pretty obvious that she is a much-loved pooch!

I work in Eukanuba Consumer Relations and if we can be of any assistance with questions on Lady's nutrition, give us a call at 800-423-6036.

Also, I'm not sure if you're into forums, but one you might find interesting (since you're a hunter) is the Ducks Unlimited Waterdog forum at http://www.dancindogproductions.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10.

Eric G said...

I think it is fantastic that this post made it all the way to Eukanuba. Thanks to all those who commented. Eukanuba really is a great dog food!