MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Kea was on Beta puppy which was Ok, we then chainged to Wainwrights as shes a big girl now (she also gets sardines or something similar most days) anyway the amount of shite she produces has rocketted. Choosing a dog food seems like a nightmare, any recommendations, she'll eat anything so whats the best food that is not too expensive?
Our 20 month old Boxer has 2lb of tripe & a bowl of complete food(it's called greyhound mix) a day,he like it & doesn't produce too much sh1te....Tripe's around 30p a lb,the dry food is £15 a bag & last around a month...
'cept on Saturdays,he has steak for tea then..... 8)
We just give Pete working dog food... the only name I can remember off the top of my head is Gilpa, but there are loads of brands in the pet suppliers. It usually works out approx £12 for a 15kg bag which lasts a good while...
But I guess it might depend on the breed...
pets at home do an own brand complete which is made by the Hills lot apparently. £28 for a 15kg bag
Burns, jesus bit expensive, why do you reckon its better.
pets at home do an own brand complete which is made by the Hills lot apparently. £28 for a 15kg bag
Thats the Wainwrights she's on now. Iams seems like it might be worth a try next.
kea is a skinny lurcher.
James Wellbeloved.
Not cheap tho'
However in my experience GIGO (garbage in garbage out) applies.
My previous dog lived on Vitalin, quarter of the price, messy at best and made her fart like a trooper unless she had some home made live yoghurt each day!
Burns, jesus bit expensive, why do you reckon its better.
Well, we weened ours onto Burns at an early age after i did a bit of reading up on pet nutrition as he used to S**t for england, now down to one solid one a day, his coat\skin is in perfect nick and the vet compliments on his weight and build every time we go, must be doing something for him.
It is pricey but you wouldnt eat a 2p beefburger.....or would you !?
Badger the Staffy eats Bakers and is happy, for a treat pour the oil out of a tin of tuna over it. Give him canned food and he farts so bad 😯
Our boxer has a natural diet which tends to consist of:
Either: Mince/Chicken/Sardines or Tuna with..
a mixture of rice & barley or pasta with...
brocoli/cauliflower/courgette or carrot
Breakfast: 2 weetabix, bannana, natural yougurt
She loves it, and everyone comments how young she looks for her age, which we can only put down to her diet.
Breast feed it! 😯
She loves it, and everyone comments how young she looks for her age, which we can only put down to her diet.
Or just genes.Our last boxer lived to the ripe old age of 15 & was very active right up till the end,diet was exactly the same as the one we've got now(see above)
I'm guessing you don't have kids FunkyDunc 😯
Nothing wrong with a [i]Good Quality[/i] complete dog food. Some good example above - James Wellbeloved, Hills, Eukanuba, Royal Canin. As with anything you tend to get what you pay for. Yes, most dog will find the cheap own brand stuff very pallatable (lots of salts/sugars help that!) but I wouldn't recommend reading the ingredients!
Dry food's easier to handle & store and tends to be better for dental health etc.
Either: Mince/Chicken/Sardines or Tuna with..a mixture of rice & barley or pasta with...
brocoli/cauliflower/courgette or carrot
Breakfast: 2 weetabix, bannana, natural yougurt
its a dog right?
wainwrights she's on now £30 a bag
Ingredient(s):
Turkey Meat Meal (min. 26%), Rice (min. 40%), Whole Grain Barley (min. 10%), Potato Protein, Refined Poultry Oil, Whole Linseed (min. 4%), Sugar Beet Pulp (min. 4%), Low Allergen Poultry Digest as Gravy, Alfalfa, Monosodium Phosphate (min. 1%), Natural Seawood (min. 0.5%), Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Methionine, Marigold Extract, Yucca Extract, Rosemary Extract.
Typical Analysis:
Moisture 8%, Protein 23%, Oils and Fats 10%, Fibre 4.5%, Ash 7.2%, Vitamin A 12000iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1200iu/kg, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), 600iu/kg, Copper (Cupric Sulphate) 12mg/kg. Contains Tocopherol rich extracts of natural origin. Vitamin E and C as EC permitted antioxidant. No added colourants, flavourings or preservatives.
Burns £40 a bag
contains Brown Rice, Chicken meat meal, Oats, Peas, Chicken Oil, Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Minerals and Vitamins, Natural antioxidants vitamin E and Rosemary oil
Analysis: Protein 18.5%, Oil 7.5%, Fibre 2.2%
James Weelbeloved £35 a bag
Rice, Duck Meat Meal, Organic Oats, Whole Linseed, Duck Gravy, Duck Fat, Alfalfa, Sodium Chloride, Natural Seaweed, Calcium Carbonate, Chicory Extract, DL-Methione, Yucca Extract, Threonine, JWB Special Ingredients.
Typical Analysis:
Moisture <10%, Protein 21%, Oils and Fats 10%, Fibre 4%, Ash 7.5%.
How the hell would you know whats best?
Ours are on beta complete and they get all the table scraps as well. I heard somewhere that the best diet for a dog is scraps and stuff as that is what their stomachs etc are designed for. Dunno how true that is thought.
My last dog had sh1te trouble though and i think he was recommended by the vet to get Burns.
I'm guessing you don't have kids FunkyDunc
The first ones on its way at the end of March....
i second James Wellbeloved, or burns. Cheap option is Chappie, the only cheaper dog food that doesn't have aditives that will make them go crazy!
Don't buy Iams, they are owned by a company that tests on animals, not to be too righteous about it, but does seem odd that people who I imagine like or love animals would but from them.
My two pence worth anyway.
I suppose it's down to your dawg! When Edison was a pup,
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he got a real sh1te through a straw thing going for a while on Royal Canin. Vet put him on Science Plan and he started doing bricks almost instantly.
Some make them fart, some make them hyper!
I know one labrador that has been prescribed Chappie, the cheapest of the lot, purely due to having a weak digestive system.
Ho hum,
Just so long as I can scoop it up in a bag and leave it on a branch for the next biker, you know, head height when they're really committed on a blind bend
The first ones on its way at the end of March....
Congratulations! 😀 Oh and be prepared for a grumpy dog when the little one arrives.
Autarky working dog food - all natural, £23 a bag, VAT free.
whats the difference between a working dog food and a normal dog food?
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James Wellbeloved with a tablespoon of natural yoghurt all the way, scooping it up is a joy as never any problems ooozing through fingers (covered by a bag of course!)
whats the difference between a working dog food and a normal dog food?
Slightly higher protein i think
anagallis_arvensis - I wouldn't get too bogged down with the specific ingredients unless you're trying to solve a particular problem. All those are fine foods. When I say cheap stuff I mean the £15 for a 15kg bag types. I get a bit worried when ingredients like "meat derivitives" are mentioned - floor scraping generally! Also, the required amounts per dog are often less with better quality food, and Fibre tends to be more soluble meaning less residue (Pooh)
As mentioned, it's really a question of finding a food that suits your dog and sticking with it - good body condition and healthy coat are a reasonable guide (and pooh consistency for that matter 🙂 )
Yep - working dog food tends to be higher protein & higher calories. Not needed and often detrimental for your average pet.
You don't pay VAT on working dog food I beleive, I can vouch for Autarky, god only knows why it's so much cheaper than comparatively nutritious foods. Both of our Luchers eat it and get on fine.
You can get it for around £18 per 15kg bag (round here) too.
[url= http://www.autarkyfoods.com/dog-adult.asp ]Autarky[/url]
Congratulations! Oh and be prepared for a grumpy dog when the little one arrives.
Our last Boxer was fine when we had kids,they drop lots of food see....Actually she was great with them & VERY protective,she wouldn't let any other dogs near them !
Dogs need protein and the average dog can cope with a 30% protein diet, it doesn't cause kidney problems or make them hyperactive. quite to opposite, if a dog doesn't get enough protein it goes 'hunting' (bugging you, going crazy or just generally misbehaving)
iams +1, with added pilchards to make it extra yummy! my two love it
Autarky in past and vastly cheaper than glenp pays, get it from Costco at about £12. Now using Chudleys at around £17 for huge sack, 15kg. I have 2 retrievers, oldest is now nearly 15 and never shelled out megabucks on Iams etc and all my dogs live for this long. At the mo' Chudleys have 'buy 6, get 7th free' at our WCF, Skipton
If you can get hold of it Pero Original, if not Chappie biscuits, dash of warm water if you want to spoil it.
For when they get the 2 bobs, can of Chappie Original and a bag of cheap mash potato - dries them up really nicely.
Our lad is on Arden Grange performance - loves it but it gives him the toots.
loves it but it gives him the toots.
can you prove that 😆
😆
I've got a mate who works at an abatoir so our working Malamutes get fed on the BARF diet (biologicaly appropriate Raw Food) along with Royal Cannin larger breed Puppy food (one's just turned 18 months, other is eight months).
You should see the looks I get when I drag a sack of cow legs and ox hearts into the cellar after it's been dumped on the drive! Never mind the mess from sawing up a cow shin that was walking about two hours earlier.
Our Greyhound has always had Beta, mixed with butchers meat. About £25
Now also have a Doberman puppy that is on Arden Grange which is about £40
The doberman has almost perfect poo!
she'll eat anything so whats the best food that is not too expensive?
Binners started a recent thread on here with a low-cost suggestion.
Price of Autarky in Surrey is similar to price of houses/beer etc it seems. I guess I could get it cheaper, but then I'd have to live somewhere else.
To the OP
You do realise that you can't just change a dogs food & hope for a smooth transition don't you?
Apparently they have enzymes in their gut which are tailored to the food they're getting & changing over-night will cause problems.
you need to slowly introduce any new food
Above is right - chop and change and expect mucho runnyness.
Iams is one of the very few with protein as the major ingredient. I figure a dog would be eating more meat than cereals etc so stick with Iams. We sling a few carrots in - they help keep his teeth really clean.
yes thanks uplink I realise that
I give mine this
http://www.oscars.co.uk/productselection.ikml?id=3&range=44
They deliver and she is in tip top shape. She also gets table scraps as a Sunday treat and a cuppa of an evening.
Had the same issue, as the op, loads of turds when the dog, Brian, below was on Bakers however moved him onto Skinners, which has improved the situation, his coat looks better and has a more relaxed nature to him, not hyper any more. Also he now eats less due to the food being better quality and therefore less turds. When on bakers he wasn't interested in food an now he eats his meals in one sitting.
http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/
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PS I think working dog food is VAT free..
+1 Arden Grange. Alfie and Charley eat it well, poo ok and they have excellent shiny coats, Alfie went qiute scurfy when we changed to Autarky for a bit, so went back to AG. Not worth going cheap and Arden is about 30-35 quid a 15kg bag. So not excessive.
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A number of the large brands do animal testing. If this is important to you, apprently Arden don't.
My boxer Ralph eats Royal Canin sensitivity control 60 quid for a 14kg bag. Very expensive but its transformed his guts.
Very little waste, Nice solid stools.
The stuff he used to be on would run right thru him.
Chocolate is one of the most hazardous foods to dogs. "The compounds in chocolate that cause toxicosis are caffeine and theobromine, which belong to a group of chemicals called methylxanthines," according to ASPCA Virtual Pet Behaviorist website. Dark baker's chocolate has higher levels of methylxanthines than white chocolate. Therefore, the darker the chocolate is, the more it is toxic.
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WTF ^^^ spam?
Who mentioned chocolate? But while on the subject graps, onions and garlic are bad too!