# Interest Comments From a Top Trial Trainer



## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

From the Dr. Tim's FB page. Scott Townsend is a highly regarded trainer...these are the folks you take advice from, IMO.

*"We got this bit of great news from Scott Townsend of Cross Wind Kennel. Congratulations to Scott and his crew.

"Tim, 

Just got back from the Purina Endurance Trial. 112 dogs entered. I had 5 that were qualified. All of them are on Momentum. I finished 2nd, 4th and my young GSP was put out in the 16 to 8 cut by a National champion. Didn't win but real pleased with those results. Its rare to put two dogs in the final four.

The dogs held up great in the heat. I can't tell you how much I am pleased with the food. I was concerned with having them on a new food and then running them in the heat. It is a concern I will no longer have to think about. They performed better then I have ever seen them. 

I was mixing in a handful with the multi dextrin between rounds to give them something to run on during the next round. 

I think my dogs held up better then any others there.

Keep up the good work."*


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

You keep posting these random reviews of this food, and get little to no feedback. If you would like to discuss this food, by all means, feel free, that's what DFC is all about! However, any more posts in which nearly the entirety is copied from another website will be removed.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

Monster, most of aren't into sled Dogs. Also, I have serious issues with you constantly equating good health with good athletic performance. I've said it before, most of us are more concerned with what foods will give our Dogs the longest lifespan. Period. 

If there is a direct connection with sled Dog performance and how it will benefit our Dogs, let us know. Athletic performance in humans is not necessarily a direct route to health either. Was Barry Bonds "healthy" when he was blasting home runs? Are NFL running backs "healthy?" Many of them can't walk by the time they hit 50. 

Some of us are actually going to try Tim's food but this constant reference to sled Dogs is getting old.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

kevin bradley said:


> Monster, most of aren't into sled Dogs. Also, I have serious issues with you constantly equating good health with good athletic performance. I've said it before, most of us are more concerned with what foods will give our Dogs the longest lifespan. Period.
> 
> If there is a direct connection with sled Dog performance and how it will benefit our Dogs, let us know. Athletic performance in humans is not necessarily a direct route to health either. Was Barry Bonds "healthy" when he was blasting home runs? Are NFL running backs "healthy?" Many of them can't walk by the time they hit 50.
> 
> Some of us are actually going to try Tim's food but this constant reference to sled Dogs is getting old.


Scott's dogs aren't sled dogs....that event is for hunting dogs, which in most cases are also family dogs when not competing. His dogs are German Shorthaired Pointers.

Kevin, also the other reference was a dock and fly-ball champion, #2 in the world.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

monster'sdad said:


> Scott's dogs aren't sled dogs....that event is for hunting dogs, which in most cases are also family dogs when not competing. His dogs are German Shorthaired Pointers.
> 
> Kevin, also the other reference was a dock and fly-ball champion, #2 in the world.


If I read correctly, the event is NSTRA: (the) National Shoot to Retrieve Association, which 2nd to AKC in terms of events for hunting breeds. Although we don't participate in NSTRA events, I know several local hunting dog people who participate in both AKC & NSTRA trials. It makes for a VERY busy season!

That being said, I saw a lot of kennel entries in this particular function. Very rarely are kennel dogs "family dogs when not competing", unless it is a VERY small "kennel".


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

kevin bradley said:


> Monster, most of aren't into sled Dogs. Also, I have serious issues with you constantly equating good health with good athletic performance. I've said it before, most of us are more concerned with what foods will give our Dogs the longest lifespan. Period.
> 
> If there is a direct connection with sled Dog performance and how it will benefit our Dogs, let us know. Athletic performance in humans is not necessarily a direct route to health either. Was Barry Bonds "healthy" when he was blasting home runs? Are NFL running backs "healthy?" Many of them can't walk by the time they hit 50.
> 
> Some of us are actually going to try Tim's food but this constant reference to sled Dogs is getting old.


Kevin, the points about unhealthy pro sports "athletes" and some being on the juice etc. doesn't change that fact that clean top performing athletes in any athletic sport (sorry I don't regard MLB or NFL as true athletic sports. I was never winded after a few yds run when I played soccer for 2x45mins straight) need a great diet as a foundation. No top performer wins anything eating pizza and Popeye's. Obviously there are many moving parts in becoming a top performer, food is an important one. With lesser foods training and conditioning will only be so effective and sub par results will be the result when it's crunch-time. A food that is shown to perform well in training and competition will work great for non competing dogs too because all the macro nutrients are proven to be of great quality. Meaning digestibility is great and the formula have a proper balance for optimal assimilation. Various foods popular among owners of working, sporting and racing dogs aren't popular because they are stuffed full of performance enhancing ingredients aimed at a specific point in time and is inherently unhealthy the rest of the time. Quite the opposite, they are popular because they provide a great foundation for physical and mental conditioning, and that holds true for most any dog.

A good analogy is car racing. Car, parts and tire manufacturers pour millions and millions into Nascar, Formula 1 and Indycar teams. Parts, technology and know-how used and tested on the circuit find it's way to cars you and I buy. Break discs might not be of the same size but a scaled down cheaper version (sometimes it's the same) of the same disc/technology can be found on your BMW for example. BMW could have purchased break discs (chicken meal) from for example the same place Hyundai buys their discs (chicken meal) but that would be at the expense of the ability to stop (digestibility, ash) at short distances at high speeds. You can also do the same analogy in terms of balance. Oversized performance pads on tiny Suzuki discs.

Note; None of this means other foods are directly bad foods and won't work for a given dog or situation, or won't keep the dog healthy. But it does mean that you should balance first hand accounts from owners of various performance dogs with personal convictions, forum opinions, marketing tactics and even price. Stating that most of us here are not mushers or need performance food is a little too easy. Btw, several here have sporting, hunting, working or racing dogs. Some use the usual suspects, some use more "mainstream" brands.
A body that to a lesser degree have the need to build, mend and rebuild is much more forgiving to the food. It goes both ways. After a while evaluating dogs eating certain formulas it becomes clear that those dogs are held back by a sub-optimal diet. It can be both mental and physical.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

DaViking said:


> The points about unhealthy pro sports "athletes" and some being on the juice etc. doesn't change that fact that clean top performing athletes in any athletic sport (sorry I don't regard MLB or NFL as true athletic sports. I was never winded after a few yds run when I played soccer for 2x45mins straight) need a great diet as a foundation. No top performer wins anything eating pizza and Popeye's. Obviously there are many moving parts in becoming a top performer, food is one important one. With lesser foods training and conditioning will only be so effective and sub par results will be the result when it's crunch-time. A food that is shown to perform well in training and competition will work great for non competing dogs too because all the macro nutrients are proven to be of great quality. Meaning digestibility is great and the formula have a proper balance for optimal assimilation. Various foods popular among owners of working, sporting and racing dogs aren't popular because they are stuffed full of performance enhancing ingredients aimed at a specific point in time. They are popular because they provide a great foundation for physical and mental conditioning.
> 
> A good analogy is car racing. Car, parts and tire manufacturers pour millions and millions into Nascar, Formula 1 and Indycar teams. Parts, technology and know-how used and tested on the circuit find it's way to cars you and I buy. Break discs might not be of the same size but a scaled down cheaper version (sometimes it's the same) of the same disc/technology can be found on your BMW for example. BMW could have purchased break discs (chicken meal) from for example the same place Hyundai buys their discs (chicken meal) but that would be at the expense of the ability to stop (digestibility, ash) at short distances at high speeds. You can also do the same analogy in terms of balance. Oversized performance pads on tiny Suzuki discs.


When I posted that about those German Shorthairs on Dr. Tim's, as well as Seeker and all the sled dogs, I figured it was self-evident!!!! I guess not.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, in my prior life, I knew/know quite a few world class, ie Olympic Gold Medalists, World Champs, Commonwealth Games medalists in a variety of sports, and competitive round the endurance sailors. Having competing against them or hanging round with them I know that most of them did not have what I would call a super healthy diet. Mental drive, aptitude and physical fitness count for a lot.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> Well, in my prior life, I knew/know quite a few world class, ie Olympic Gold Medalists, World Champs, Commonwealth Games medalists in a variety of sports, and competitive round the endurance sailors. Having competing against them or hanging round with them I know that most of them did not have what I would call a super healthy diet. Mental drive, aptitude and physical fitness count for a lot.


Diet is a critical part of being a top performer in anything in life. Physical fitness can not exist without something building and maintaining it. Also, in 2012, one of the pillars of mental healthcare is diet. It's a build, run, mend and rebuild cycle. Extreme athletic performance, be it in humans or dogs, is an outright war against the body. Something need to provide the building blocks so it can be repeated tomorrow, next week or next month. When this can be repeated over and over again at a consistent high level you know that whatever is used as food works and is of good quality. That knowledge you can take home and apply to your own "pack", humans or dogs, no need to be a top performer to take advantage. A mediocre diet will not get most anywhere. Check out for example how cross country skiers or rowers incorporate diet into their training regime. Always some exceptions, some sports doesn't require the perfect athlete or in a few cases it might even favor a bad diet. In other cases you are simply dealing with extreme talents that win seemingly no matter what. That's not the normal and for the vast majority of athletes diet is on of the many things they need to get right in order to be successful. Doesn't mean they can't indulge in "bad" food now and then. Anyway, the winners and world champs are not really that interesting. They are too few. It's the millions who deliver top performances as a result of dedication, hard work and a plan, where diet is an essential part, who are the proof is in the pudding imho. Winners can be freaks of nature or on the "juice" for that matter.
Also, I don know what a "super healthy diet" is? What is it?


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I wonder what Usain Bolt's diet is like? maybe he is a natural. Amazing to watch either way....I think Stanley could outrun him on a 100 metre sprint


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

everyone has made good points.

And I knew my analogy had flaws. My only point was that equating a Dogs performance in some type of athletic event doesn't necessarily point to the food being ideal. 

I think its fair to say that 99% of us want the food that will give our Dogs the longest possible life.... if there is a direct connection to longevity and Tim's food or whatever food the Sled Dogs are eating, I'm all ears. IE-are there sled Dogs living to 20 years old? I'll run to that food if there are so let me know.

I doubt seriously that Olympic Sprinters or Marathon runners live any longer on average than the average non-obese person.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

kevin bradley said:


> I doubt seriously that Olympic Sprinters or Marathon runners live any longer on average than the average non-obese person.


Not sure that should be the goal. They don't live longer (at least nothing to write home about), but more unhealthy people on various less good diets attempting the same "abuse" to their bodies would most certainly die earlier or run into all kinds of issues at an old age. In that lies the main point imo. Great foods with a proven track record in various high stress scenarios allows the body to build, maintain, re-build and maintain good overall health regardless of stress factors thrown at the body.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

thats fair, Vike.

I should add that most owners goals are for their Dogs to live longer... WITH a good standard of living.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

kevin bradley said:


> thats fair, Vike.
> 
> I should add that most owners goals are for their Dogs to live longer... WITH a good standard of living.


Absolutely, but the "living longer" is such a moving target. Pinning one food against another in terms of "living longer" is impossible. When focusing on those who provide great nutrition for a healthy life the "living longer" kind'a tag along in a way


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