Makin’ Tracks

A Business is Born

October 3, 2008 – 9:23 am by Peg Harpham

It started with an idea and a $20 advertisement in Team and Trail. Nine years later Redpaw has become known across the US and Canada as a quality performance dog food – a complete diet for the working dog. Now how cool is that?

I had a chance to chat with Eric Morris last week. He’s the fellow responsible for Redpaw and the story is quite interesting. It seems that a little more than a decade ago, Eric was working at the University of Iowa when he got into sled dogs. His interest in canine nutrition led him to develop a performance food for his canine crew. After moving to Wisconsin so he could seriously run dogs he found himself working as a bait boy for minimum wage. and spending more money than he could afford on feeding his dogs (which by the way seems to be a musher’s rite of passage). Read more…

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Doing Things Differently

September 29, 2008 – 10:28 am by Peg Harpham

“That’s not how we do things here.” I had become accustomed to hearing this. Afterall I was an outsider living in a remote Arctic community where the locals’ ancestors had hunted mastedons. But when Peter, my friend and hunting partner uttered those words, I bristled.

I was just finishing attaching new water cans to each dog house when Peter had stopped by. We had an easy friendship and he just watched me work. I had learned early that making small talk was not the way this culture operated and I became comfortable having my friend just stand and appraise my work. So when he told me I was doing something out of the norm, once again, I was a millisecond away from a smart retort. Thankfully I looked at Peter and realized it was just an observation on his part and not a judgement. A few seconds later he added “it’s a good idea” and then he was off to the next part of his day.

The way I worked with my dogs stood out in that community where sled dogs outnumbered people two to one. I like to think that in some ways I improved things. My dogs were friendly and eager to meet people. They didn’t shy away from strange hands because they had been treated with love and consistent gentleness from the moment they emerged from the womb. Read more…

Posted in Nutrition, Sporting Dogs | 2 Comments »

Fall into a New Beginning

September 15, 2008 – 7:32 am by Peg Harpham

Owners of working dogs are easy to spot this time of year. While the rest of the world rails against chilly temperatures and falling leaves, we wander around with silly grins pasted on our faces. It’s not only the energy level of our dogs that seem to rise. We find a sudden spring in our step and a boost in energy. We feel driven to plan training schedules, pour over race and competition pamphlets, calculate calories in each cup of food, finish those chores in a frenzy of action, place ads in the paper for freezer-burned meat and generally drive our non-doggie friends to distraction. For us, autumn is not a sign of hibernation but rather it’s a beginning. Read more…

Posted in Sporting Dogs, Working Dogs | 2 Comments »

Is corn really bad for my dog?

June 18, 2008 – 9:55 am by Eric Morris

This is a common question that goes way back into the history of manufactured dog foods. When feed manufacturers first began making dry pet foods decades ago little was known about how these diets would affect a dog. Based on the industries experience with making animal feeds, corn was a primary ingredient. Due to the industries lack of knowledge on canine nutrition and how to properly process the grains these dog foods did not perform well and often resulted in poor stools. Corn was given the blame for all of this and that stigma is still persisting to this day and is often used as a marketing tool.

Over time the industry has learned more about canine metabolism and how corn can affect digestion and the production methods have progressed significantly. Read more…

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A yellow labrador with shaky legs

June 9, 2008 – 11:28 am by Eric Morris

I received a call a few weeks ago about a nice yellow lab that is moderately active. While out working birds after a couple fo hours the dog was getting shaky legs. Although the dog would continue to work the best it could it was not able to perform at a satisfactory level. To help with this problem we examined the current diet for the dog which was a name brand that had 26% protein and 16% fat. This was the first clue that the dogs poor performance was diet related. We switched the dog over cold turkey to Redpaw 32k dog food. This has 32% protein and 20% fat. The dog adjusted very well and it’s stools improved in three days. The issue of getting shaky legs has also been eliminated. The dog needed a higher fat higher protein content feed that was easy to digest. Not only did the owner cut the amount of dog food being fed by about 30% and his dog can now hunt for longer periods but he also noted a reduction in shedding.

This shows that nutrition is critical for working dogs and all dogs in general. The higher the quality of the diet the better the performance.

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Metabolizable energy is the best comparison

June 8, 2008 – 11:15 am by Eric Morris

 

Caloric Energy Measures in Dog Food

The energy content of dog foods is one way to compare brands. However, it also causes much confusion because not every brand uses the same methods to express its energy content.

The first problem in the expression of kilocalories is in volume. Many brands express energy content in kilocalories per cup. This is a poor way to compare dog foods because it is too vague. A cup can be many sizes, and even if we use the standard 8oz liquid measure it is misleading. Since dog foods vary greatly in density and size of kibble, a denser kibble will look like it has a lot more calories than a less dense one. A more accurate way is to compare a given weight of the foods such as kilocalories per pound or kilogram. Read more…

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How to maximize your dog food budget

June 8, 2008 – 11:03 am by Eric Morris

Due to the higher cost of all consumer goods we have been getting a lot of calls on how to reduce the overall cost of feeding a dog without compromising the quality of diet fed. This is a very good question because as the cost of goods rises it becomes more tempting to feed a lower cost dog food. This is one strategy but it is a short term fix. It may save some money today but the potential health consequences and related expenses must not be over looked. It should also be noted that you will be feeding less (up to 40%) of a high quality dog food versus a cheaper feed, not to mention the increased waste that needs to be picked up.

Here are some ideas to help maximize your current dogs diet. Read more…

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9 yr Old Dog Not Doing Well on Senior Diet, Why?

May 29, 2008 – 11:48 am by Eric Morris

I received a call today from a concerned dog owner looking for information about feeding a older Lab. The dog is moderately active, lives in the home and is a little over weight. The owner was advised to put his dog on a dry dog food designed for older canines. It contained 24% protein and 12% fat and the dog has been on the diet for over six months. The owner noticed the dog is not as energetic, has a slightly brittle coat and is not losing weight. His question to me is what is best to feed this older dog.

As a dog ages it is important to remember that it still has the same basic nutritional needs it had throughout it’s life but it just needs them in lower quantities(ie. the same high quality calories just not as many). Read more…

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