Sirius Black
Always there to- guide the way. | 
 | | Barked: Sun Nov 9, '08 7:39am PST |  | |  | | Wow, you have no idea the can of worms you're opening with this question 
I would feed Orijen if it was available in my area, but unfortunately it isn't and being a graduate student, I can't afford the shipping fees to order it. So instead I feed wellness core, because it's the best kibble i could find in this area. No corn or wheat products, carbohydrates come from oatmeal, also contains meat from "meal" or dehydrated sources so the water loss during processing doesn't put the protein sources lower on the ingredients list than where their wet weight places them. Drawbacks include that the company does not own their own slaughter house, so this concerns me a little. The company was also recently sold by the family who previously owned and operated it.
I also add fresh ground flax seed (pre-ground flax is oxidized quickly with exposure to air and therefor not biologically active), and pure pumpkin puree to his morning and evening meals due to some research I read about GSDs lacking an IgA (or mucosal/intestinal) immune response. I've only found limited experimentation with dosage, but retinal is one of the things we research in my lab and I know it's effects on immune response and decided to supplement extra VitA into his diet to be on the safe side (we are an immunology/ molecular bio lab). The pumpkin also adds a small amount of fiber.
Sirius also gets 1500 mg of glucosamine per day for his joints, the minimum dosage shown to be effective in synovial fluid accumulation is 1200 mg in clinical trials, so I'm always sure to supplement at least that level, but no more than 1500 mg/d.
As you can tell, I'm obsessive so I'm sure most of this isn't necessary, but seeing as how I could find no peer reviewed publications on the adversities of doing this, only positives, I do it anyway. |  |  | |  |
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5
And I'm talking "clear the room" "wake you up from sleep" gas.
