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Purina unveils energy bars for dogs.

7.8K views 24 replies 17 participants last post by  ItalianDogz  
#1 ·
#4 ·
Wonder if they'll get banned from sporting events--enhancement products are supposed to be banned. ;)

"Whoa that dog moved on the course! Wonder if he was on the bar!?"
 
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#7 ·
I guess I just don't understand the point? The main diet should already encourage muscle growth and regeneration, not to mention give the dog enough energy and stamina. From just a treat perspective, I think you will probably be paying more because of the purported benefits and fancy packaging, but when you look at the ingredients, it is mostly fillers anyway.
 
#8 ·
It's targeted to performance dogs I think. It's hard to pack in enough energy in the morning meals for dogs that are running 40 to 80 heats a day.

And I checked out the ingredients and they are comparable to what's already on the markets. They aren't fillers in these cases, they are food that easily and quickly breaks down to provide energy.

And no, I can't just feed him more of his dog food between races because intense running on a full stomach is a really bad idea.
 
#9 ·
I feed raw so it digests much more quickly than kibble. Same thing sled dogs eat and they go for miles a day. I don't agree with the amount of soy in the first bar, and the rice in the second. I consider those fillers. Soy I consider outright bad for a multitude of reasons. Obviously if someone wants to use them they are more than free to do so, but the OP wanted our thoughts on them so I gave mine.
 
#11 ·
I feed raw so it digests much more quickly than kibble. Same thing sled dogs eat and they go for miles a day. I don't agree with the amount of soy in the first bar, and the rice in the second. I consider those fillers. Soy I consider outright bad for a multitude of reasons. Obviously if someone wants to use them they are more than free to do so, but the OP wanted our thoughts on them so I gave mine.
Many, many sled dogs eat kibble or a (gasp!) mixture of raw and kibble. Different people use different things for trail food and snacks on long distance races, but they aren't all raw fed. The lighter the better for long distance races.

I don't think most modern dogs actually exercise enough to need something like an energy bar. But carbohydrates are certainly a cheap source of calories, so if you're simply trying to get a lot of calories in a small snack, an ingredient like rice makes perfect sense. Fat is more calorie dense but it's too easy to make dogs sick giving too much. Carbohydrates aren't really a "filler" in that case, they're serving a specific purpose.
 
#15 ·
I think that far to many people who's dogs aren't run enough as is will buy these thinking that they're awesome and we'll have more fat dogs....

I know there are comparable products, but they aren't generally advertised on TV (at least not when I've been paying attention) while Purina had an ad on during the Superbowl for these.

For the truely working dogs (and I include sports dogs in that) who're running off insane numbers of calories as is I don't see the harm in it. Carbs are quick energy without the bulk of a meal and without the risk of digestive upset like fat has, so as long as the dog's system can tolerate the carbs and ingredients (cause some don't) then I don't see any harm in it.

Not something I'd feed my two, but then my two don't burn calories like that! (Edit: though Arty might if I did something like agility with him, he already eats twice as much as Apollo does, pound for pound!)
 
#17 · (Edited)
I think that Kytkattin has a point, and no one here really has any idea what her experience with dog nutrition is. She was giving an opinion on the product, which is what the original poster wanted, so why comment negatively.

Anyways, I wouldn't use this product. Flynn has no need for it and she is a high energy performance sports dog. She has no problem sprinting for hours on end, in whatever sport we are doing (disc/flyball/herding). I equate this with stage moms using pixi sticks to get their kids to perk up, and there's no way Flynn needs anything like this. After a long day, she still comes home ready to play fetch. I don't think she's ever really been tired. haha.

I'm sure some people use it, and they think it might give their dog an edge or something. I personally think it's a silly thing, and that dogs don't need it. Dogs can always go longer and harder than we humans think they can. I'm pretty sure it's just another way of the company making money. Also, I think far too many people would abuse this product not knowing what it's actually meant for. Like, oh I take my dog on a 30 minute walk, it must need ENERGY! I can't say how many people I've come across thinking their dog is a performance athlete, when all they do is walk with it.
 
#23 ·
I think that Kytkattin has a point, and no one here really has any idea what her experience with dog nutrition is. She was giving an opinion on the product, which is what the original poster wanted, so why comment negatively.

Having a different opinion and/or talking about a sport is not commenting negatively on anyone's opinion or experience about nutrition. If someone is going to use a broad group of dogs as an example of why an opinion is formed, then the information about that broad group of dogs should be correct, yes?
 
#18 ·
I can see where these would make sense, but that is obvious as there is a market for others already. I think it is a bad idea for Purina to start making them and putting them into stores where they are available to people who will misuse or misunderstand them. These are something that should be at the disposale of educated people. Sporting or working dogs who need it. I see it ending up in someone of the people I use to meet when I worked in the pet store who thought they knew everything.
 
#19 ·
There is actually a good use for these sorts of things. My dogs (in the old days before they were injured) used to run with me for a couple hours at a time, often swimming in cold water, when the air temperature was also cool. Tessa would get so depleted she was really borderline hypoglycemic and very chilled. A couple times she needed honey on the gums to get her back to full awareness (that was scary).

Hunting dogs and endurance dogs really do "crash" like human athletes.

Sled dogs require up to 10,000 calories per day for their work

That said, for 99.9% of America's pet dogs, this may be just another source of too many calories.
 
#24 ·
They probably could help, especially the bar with maltodextrin. That really would help her muscles for activity the next day.

Things like these bars work better on older dogs. I don't see a need for the first, but the second bar could be very useful. It can take several days for the muscles to restock muscle glycogen normally.
 
#22 ·
Admit I haven't seen these yet but sounds as if someone has found a profitable gap in the market. Does a dog that is fit to do the job in hand need extra oomph, and if it does is it just being over-faced? Just asking. Also I seem to remember that Soya can't be processed by dogs, so although the protien content is counted in, it can't actually be utilised.