Dog Food Recommendations

[eingana]

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I've tried everything from Wagg dry food to Burns, taking in Bakers, Chappie and virtually every other brand on the way, and Molly had chronic uncontrolled diarrhoea on all of them. She has GSD dodgy tummy (ask any GSD person, it's a common thing, which is why so many GSDs live on a raw diet) and the first time she had proper solid poo was on raw tripe.

What is right for your dog is right for your dog, and that has no reference to budget to be honest. Mol's raw diet costs about 55-60p a day, which is much less than most of the posh dog food brands that made her ill.

 

[whippetsrus]

Lily's Kitchen. Fab as far as the boys are concerned.

 

[petitsfilous]

Cadac, have you considered Raw feeding? I wouldn't feed my puppy anything BUT raw now.

 

[pidgeypony]

Oh dear, just started feeding my Irish setter on Chappie dry, hoped it might help with his itching. Maybe not, but, as you all say, each dog is different, h loves it, but we will see.

have heard of and seen Applaws, so results on that will be good.

 

[Rosie33]

We have to be careful what we feed to Leah, our Staffy girl, as she easily turns into a walking wind machine! She can clear a room in five minutes, it is a real problem.

We found she has no problem with Harringtons, (very reasonably priced and available in Supermarkets), and she can have JWB wet pouches.

CSJ is a good complete kibble too and is around £12 for 15kg. x

 

[dotdash]

I'm just slowly switching Ben from Science hill to Applaws, its only been three days and he already seems happier and less itching, only draw back is I have to get it delivered because its not sold in local shops. Has anyone tried Applaws?

I did the same switch with Dash, though she ended up doing a direct switch and has had no ill effect. I discovered Applaws dry for my three cats and it's the only dry food they'll eat. I rate it very highly. Dash eats it like she's getting treats and it's got a very high meat content (80%), especially compared to so many other commercial foods, even wet ones. Given the amount that needs to be fed with higher quality foods I've found it to be barely more expensive than the cheapest of foods.

That said, I'd personally quite like to switch to raw, but I'm not sure if I should go with a supplier, a butcher or doing it myself! Anyone have tips for raw feeding?

 

[Oreo]

Cadac, have you considered Raw feeding? I wouldn't feed my puppy anything BUT raw now.

I have and It is something that I am strongly thinking about.

At the minute Oreo is on Harringtons which has really helped her coat. She hasn't had any flakey skin since she's been on it and her paws are much better (however this could also be down to the steriods).

The only problem now is wind, and oh my is it smelly!

So we've introduced a few charcoal biscuits which have helped her a lot.

 

[bedlingtongirl]

We have tried allsorts with ours. We have settled on Butchers mixer biscuits with cooked mince, chicken, heart (ox or pig), liver, kidneys, rabbit, other game meat when available plus a portion of cooked vegetables (mashed) when we have them, and raw eggs. Rab, the pup is still on what the breeder was feeding him, Chudleys Puppy but he has all the meat that the other two have, mixed in. The favourite is definitely heart.

 

[bedlingtongirl]

just a quick extra to the above post - we tried raw for about 2 months which the older dogs loved (didnt have pup at the time) but both of them suffered with upset tums. My other half has always been a bit iffy about raw and that was all the excuse he needed to get them back onto cooked food. I dont know if they picked up a bug or if i did something wrong re presenting the meat (maybe it had bacteria in it??), who knows. I still like the idea of raw feeding and think at some point I will get the dogs back onto it. I learnt one thing though - you need a 2nd freezer!!!!

 

[kpod70]

Hi all

In reply to dog food recommendations, I highly recommend PURE GOLD PET FOOD, google them.

their food is not full of rubbish, comparable to jwb, collards, oscars etc but alot cheaper and its free delivery.

My dogs were having problems on other food and the jwb was getting too expensive so hence my search for a good quality dry complete dog food, and I haven't looked back since I found pure gold.

Hope this helps others.

 

[Milly53]

I was told about Applaws by someone who we met on holiday and she said she got it from Amazon. She mentioned about a colour code for dog food. I presume this is a graded code for quality and apparently Applaws rated very high for being pure and wholesome. Our 15 month old puppy Milly is on Royal Canine and I must say it is very good as she has had several bouts of loose stools due to all the much she manages to get hold of on walks. I am thinking of changing at some later stage to Applaws and would welcome comments from others who are using this food or know of this 'colour coding?'.

Sorry that should have read 15 WEEK old puppy! :>

 

[Poochbypost]

I reccomend BARF to everyone, but the best food that I have come across has to be Lovejoy's, if your wanting some send me a message and ill do you a very good price

 

[Chaumsong]

I was told about Applaws by someone who we met on holiday .... and would welcome comments from others who are using this food

I feed Applaws to all my dogs now. Initially I tried it on my skinny youngster and he now looks fabulous, bodied up and his coat is improving a lot. I thought I would try the light version on my 3 spayed bitches and they're all doing very well. 2 collies and a silken windhound and they each get a small handful twice a day so it's actually quite economical. The young silken lad being young and entire needs a bit more, about a handful and a half (2 x day) of the normal Applaws keeps him in great shape. They've been eating it reliably now for about 2 months, poos are small and firm and coats are all shiny and healthy.

 

[duffy]

i feed raw but when i was feeding kibble , and i fed most of them, i found the best value for money was kirklands, you need a costco card (or someone with a costco card) to get it though. it is a premium meal , with high meat and no grain content like the stuff that sells usually for £45 a 15kg sack but i think i was paying £23 for 18kg at costco.

 

[jakeyboyforever]

We 've had our dog, aged 10 months, only a week, and when we got him he was being fed a soft sort of pate' from Asda. i took him to the vets the day after we got him to have him microchipped and the vet said she was unhappy with his paws and ears which were quite pink. She thought it looked like an allergy. We immediately changed his food to one which has a higher percentage of meat and less animal/vegetable 'derivatives' and his paws seem to have already got much less pink and itchy. We initially tried Nature Diet and when we could not get that we bought Webbox which is very similar. Both of these are complete foods - he is also given a few small dog biscuits as treats. I have bought some kidney to cook and cut very small to help with his training (he is not very motivated by biscuits as rewards)

 

[chelynnah]

My advice with all completes is to avoid those if at all possible with corn, wheat and gluten. Corn is a filler and not processed by the body and results in massive poo's. Garbage in, garbage out. So you have to feed more food to get the nutrition, and all of a sudden what seems like a bargain is costing as much as the 'premium' foods that don't use corn.

Wheat and/or gluten have been shown to be allergen triggers, so we personally avoid those like the plague. You'll find that foods without these 3 things tend to cost slightly more, but as you feel less it works out over time. And garden cleanup is much less unpleasant.

At the end of the day you have to do what works for you and your dogs. We do a half and half diet of raw feeding one meal and complete another. It works for us (I hear all the die-hard raw feeders horrified intakes of breath LOL). Our dogs are happy and healthy and have developed pretty cast-iron stomachs.