Dog Food Recommendations

[CharlieSox]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hello,

Charlie used to have the pedigree complete kibbles before I got him but I find it a bit expensive, so have changed him to Corporal Crunch which he likes and he still has as much energy and his coat is good etc the only down side is it makes him a bit windy. Its £9 for a 15kg bag, Can anyone recommend another one to try?

Thanks

 

[banana]

I feed mine a Royal Canin complete food along with home cooked food - It is expensive but worth it I think for their overall and long term health as well as immediate effects... xx

Have we seen a pic of Charlie yet?

 

[lurcherman]

when feeding your mutts so much comes into it, you could buy average food or very expensive, it s comes down what you can afford at times,now dogs can die young and whenever on wotever they eat, my dog av a complete thats not too expensive and keeps their arse in check lol they also have as much meat as i can get, mine av rufus.

 

[eingana]

Molly is a raw fed dog, for health reasons more than anything else. It also turns out to be much cheaper than feeding dry food (which she didn't like and gave her terrible diarrhoea) if you have a friendly wholesale butcher and a raw feeding food shop near your home, but you do need lots of freezer space available. I just stocked up on food for Molly this week and filled her freezer completely with 2 months' worth of food for £26.

When it comes to prepared food there is no such thing as 'the best' though, there's just the best that fits in with your budget. You could spend ridiculous amounts of money on a really good food and then have your dog not like it, or like we had, it caused diarrhoea just as badly as the cheaper food did.

Burns is a good food, but it's over £40 for a 15kg sack, CSJ and Skinners are less expensive and lots of people have good opinions of those, but Molly has a chicken carcass for her breakfast and 500g of raw minced meat, offal and bone for her dinner, with a few bits of dried black pudding and some rawhide to chew as treats and she's happy and healthy on that in a way that she never was on commercial food.

 

[Jasp]

What works for one dog can be a disaster for another and with so many completes available it can be a real case of trial and error before you settle on a solution. Learn to understand the way ingredients are listed on dog food, the largest component is listed first and that should always be a specific meat (not a derivative) and avoid anything that has large quantities of corn or maize unless you happen to have a gas mask lying around.

The best advice is not to discount more expensive foods purely on price. The fact is that most (but not all) 'premium' foods usually contain higher quality ingredients, which are not only better for the dogs health, but they also need to consume physically less of the food to get the same amount of nutrition. Lots of cheap food is the same price as a little bit of expensive food, if you see what I mean.

I once did an experiment comparing Bakers Complete and Origen and taking into account the reccomended feeding amounts, the Origen worked out just a couple of quid more over the course of a month.

 

[banana]

Thats so true!

 

[Steeleye Span]

Skinners Field and Trial Duck and Rice is reasonably priced and you don't have to feed huge quantities.

 

[petitsfilous]

As far as kibble goes I would Wainwrights a try.

 

[murphyrules]

Try and steer clear of Beef flavour, stick with Chicken or Fish, in my experience these result in much less wind issues!! :thumbsup:

 

[Baxter's Mum]

Baxter is on burns mixed with Orijen at the moment as this is what the breeder fed him, however we will hopefully be changing this to CSJ.

 

[Oreo]

I'm working through foods at the minute.

I've tried:

James Wellbeloved - Various flavours (caused itching and runny poos)

Royal Canin Sensitive (caused itching and reduced runny poos)

Burns - Pork and rice - (caused itching and runny poos)

Chappie Dry - (caused itching and reduced runny poos)

Chappie Wet - (caused itching but sorted runny poos)

Butchers Wet - (jury still out on poos but itching has reduced)

It all depends on the dog I think and is a case of trial and error really. Some foods will cause problems others will work.

 

[lurcherman]

cadac how long do you give each food?

 

[Oreo]

The James well beloved she was on at the home so we continued for around two months while she settled in.

The Royal Canin and Burns we did for around 14 weeks each as part of a trial (vet suggested). She had nothing else but the food and water, even her flavoured toys like her nylabone were removed just in case.

The chappie dry she was on for around a month and the wet she was on from just after Christmas until a few weeks ago.

 

[lurcherman]

ok just wondered, you know what your doing, sometimes like you say its just hit or miss,best of luck..

 

[Oreo]

I'm not sure I do no what I am doing really lol.

I just go by what I read on the bag and if the dog enjoys it mostly.

She isn't keen on kibble (to the point she seems to starve herself) so that's why we looked at a wet food. I think the combination of both will help her in the long run (in terms of not getting bored).

This of course is assuming that her itching is down to food. It could turn out to be something unrelated.

Having spent months sitting with the dog by her bowl trying the tempt her to eat, it's just nice to see her enjoying her food so much.

 

[lurcherman]

you say she dosnt like dry, have you tried soaking it? bet you have lol im so lucky mine eat wotever i put infront of them.

 

[Tall Tails]

It is a case of trial and error when it comes to feeding your dog. There is so much on the market at the moment.

Please remember that whenever you change your dogs food that you do it slowly over a couple of weeks. This will reduce diarrhea and flatulence.

When I rescued my dog he was from a dogs home and they had been giving him basically anything that was donated. It took me about 3 months to get rid of the diarrhea and I tried -

Wainwrights (all flavours)

James Wellbeloved (all flavours)

Chappie (Chicken)

BARF (raw meat)

And we have finally settled on Skinners Field and Trail Salmon and rice. Both of my dogs have nice solid poo, nice thick and shiny coats and just enough energy not to be stupid and distructive.

Always check the ingredients of your dogs food, just like you would at the supermarket with your own food. And stay away from coloured kibble like Bakers, it's like feeding your kids smarties everyday (full of E numbers)!!!

Hope this helps and good luck xx

 

[murphyrules]

My dog has been on Bakers for 9 years and its perfect for him, he is fit and healthy, slim, not hyper active and poos are firm, what suits one dog may not suit another.

My other is fed on Wafcol salmon and potato due to many food intolerances

 

[Yve]

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?

 

[Oreo]

I've heard good things about applaws but never tried it myself.

If it works for your dog then that's all that matters