Boxer and food

[Alanward87]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hi all I was just wondering what your thoughts were as to the best food for a boxer. We currently feed him with tails.com food. The cost seems a little steep when compared to other brands. For example 11.3kg from tails is £60 and will last 4 weeks. Royal Canin boxer junior 12kg bag is £42 and lasts 4.5 weeks. Is it really that much better or am I being ripped off?

I don't mind paying a premium if it's the best, but if there is better out I am happy to change. Obviously cost is a factor but what's best for the dog is the main factor.

 

[JoanneF]

Tails isn't as tailored as the marketing would have you believe. If you ask for some specifics (I can't remember the details but for example below a certain % of fat and poultry free) they can't actually deliver. They just mix from basic components then charge you quite a lot to print your dog's name on the bag.

Have a look at www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

It is an independent dog food comparison website which scores all types of foods (dry, raw, wet) on a scale of 0 to 5. You can set filters for your dog's weight, age etc and choose to view only the foods scoring, say, 4 and above. Then you can show them listed according to daily feeding cost so you can see what gives you best value for money. It has its limitations but it's a decent place to start.

 

[Alanward87]

Thank you for the reply that's a great help. I will spend some time once the kids are in bed seeing if I can understand what breakdown will be best for him and what options are highest rated.

Thanks again.

 

[JudyN]

Do consider feeding raw, too, which many people (me included) think is the best diet of all. It's very straightforward once you get your head round the basics, and there's several people here who could advise you.

 

[Mad Murphy]

George and Murphy have a raw /premix diet . George adjusted within 24 hours from the cheap kibble he had been getting.. small poo no allergy problems its great.
R.C isnt really that good either

 

[Alanward87]

I had thought about the raw diet but opted for dry food due to ease and practicality as figured as he comes to work with me and has 4-5 meals a day it would be easier to manage dry food. I'm happy to look into it more seriously

 

[Alanward87]

Anyone had any experience with wolf tucker raw food. They do a puppy pack 12 food types and give a meal plan that seems to be quite a good easy introduction to raw feed. Does anyone with more experience have a opinion on this company and their feed?

 

[JudyN]

I've not tried it, but it looks excellent. I'd want to include some whole bones for dental health at some point though. Maybe chicken wings, though you'd have to make sure he's not a gulper, and they might be too small for him once he's full grown.

It is expensive, but once you're used to the idea of feeling raw, you can always investigate other brands.

One thing worth mentioning - my dog didn't seem to do that well on a 'raw complete' which included veg and various other supplements, whereas he was much better with a more DIY approach. Some dogs need a bit more bone and a bit less offal, or vice versa, for the perfect poo, so if this raw doesn't work well for your boy, a different approach might.

 

[Alanward87]

Thanks for that, I appreciate its not the cheapest but I guess my view on it was it still not excessive but gave a complete feed ready made so he could get started on it, then I can learn how it all works along side the ready made feed to them make up my own DIY raw diet.

 

[Alanward87]

Just a quick note, when it comes to raw diet...... I had a thought and yes it did hurt a little.

We holiday in our touring caravan, often going away for 1 or two weeks. Dodsley currently comes with us and will continue to do so but the freezer space is very limited. Any ideas for taking food and keeping it fresh? Most I have seen is its good for 3 days when frozen. We will probibly only fit a couple of days of food in the freezer.

 

[JoanneF]

Gentle dog food is formulated to be fed alongside raw (we travel too).

Gentle Dog Food, Natural Dog Food

 

[Alanward87]

That's good news, I went to my local dog food store who stock raw products and they informed me if it was a raw diet we went for we have to feed exclusively raw. Good to see that if we were away for two weeks we could do raw as long as practical then use gentle to see us through.

 

[JudyN]

When we go on holiday, we usually just have the standard freezer compartment at the top of the fridge. We take the food in a freezer bag with ice blocks, put what we can in the freezer compartment and the rest in the main compartment of the fridge, all together so they hold their temperature better. We usually find that the ones in the body of the fridge take a day or two to defrost fully to fridge temperature, so feed those first and then move some from the freezer compartment to the fridge. (We don't bother with carcasses on holiday as they'd take up far too much room.)

If you've not got the room for that, could you take a portable plug-in fridge? If you keep it closed as much as possible, the meat will stay frozen for quite some time.

Alternatively, there's a brand of food called Gentle which is meant to be compatible with raw feeding - @JoanneF feeds it to her dog when away from home as she also travels a lot.

 

[JudyN]

Typically, JoanneF has cross-posted with me! We're good at that!

It used to be said that you shouldn't combine raw & kibble but plenty of people do and I've yet to come across anyone who had a problem with it. It's one of those 'theories' that became 'common knowledge' without actually having any solid evidence behind it.

 

[excuseme]

Anyone had any experience with wolf tucker raw food. They do a puppy pack 12 food types and give a meal plan that seems to be quite a good easy introduction to raw feed. Does anyone with more experience have a opinion on this company and their feed?

WolfTucker make a nice fresh frozen product, they use the same raw feeding vet as ourselves. They are very knowledgeable and care so much about our dogs diets, their customer care is fantastic.

I tried some of their puppy mixes and our puppies were not keen, but they loved the adult mixes. A very nice product.

 

[Biker John]

Wolf Tucker is one of the ones I feed Folly on, I know they all say they are complete but me the worrier likes to get from more than one supplier just in case. (And she also gets chicken wings and carcasses occasionally). I think the food is good, and Folly agrees.

 

[The Dawg Nanny]

I feed dry foods to my dogs and I look for foods that have as much natural ingredients as possible. My 9 year old Golden retriever is in excellent shape and is often mistaken for a puppy .

 

[Lennor Magill]

Anyone had any experience with wolf tucker raw food. They do a puppy pack 12 food types and give a meal plan that seems to be quite a good easy introduction to raw feed. Does anyone with more experience have a opinion on this company and their feed?

Hi, i have been using WolfTucker for 2.6 years now . I've tried others but settled wit this brand.
Morgan and Rex have beautiful soft coats.clean breath and firm almost odourless stool and when they pass wind. They have a good variety of different raw foods . They come well packaged and mostly delivery next day . You can get a variety pack for trying to see which you dog likes best.
My lads seem to thrive on it without any problems. I also give lamb bones as well to help to keep their teeth clean and healthy. They are very healthy and happy dogs with clean teeth and shiny coats..
Give it a try and follow the guidelines to ease into raw feeding. WolfTucker have a vet you can talk to about portions and feeding raw.

 

[JudyN]

Hmm, I'm quite tempted to try Wolftucker myself... though I'd also want to add in some oily fish and chicken carcasses. They give 'Pack Points' for introducing friends - any current users interested in introducing me? I'd like to price it up more accurately before making a definite decision though.

 

[JudyN]

It would cost me £3 a day to feed Jasper on Wolftucker once I've added in the chicken carcasses If I put my mind to it I could feed myself for less!