Food for the Dog

pokerkingsni

Hi, we have a 7 month old collie cross called Winston. He's a rescue dog and he's fit and healthy. I was wondering what i can add to his diet to improve his overall health. He get dry food at the minute and i want to keep him on that, im looking for advice on things like fruit, eggs etc to add to this diet.

I've heard people saying fruit is good for them, cooked chicken as well, eggs are good for the coat.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

Sigma Force

Just a good balanced dry dog food and a few times a week a chewy treat to help keep teeth clean like pigs ears or those white bones filled with mushy stuff thing they are called calcium bones in the pet shop.
With a good quality dry food you don't need to add extra stuff. But if you want to give something else as a treat the occasional carrot or fresh chicken etc. is ok although some dogs find raw veg hard to digest.

Some foods many people like for their dogs are

Red Mills..red pack
Burns
Nutro
Hills
Royal canin

You can also make up a dog meal buy boiling a cup of brown or white rice along with a grated carrot and a grated courgett. Drain and mix it with some cooked chicken or beef or turkey mince. You can mix in a tablespoon of marmite for extra flavour.

Pigs ears are hugely popular with my collie, she's not a glutton like the other dog but she loves nothing more than running up to her kennel with a pigs ear and scoffing it.

carwash_2006

Arden Grange is another very good dog food. It seems to be extremely popular with the dogs too. My pair have always had a healthy appetite, but were never the type to go crazy for their food, since I switched them to Arden Grange I have been getting mobbed as soon as I let them back in after their morning run.

ValerieR

My dog is not the glutton type either, except for human food that is ! :P

I give him Science Plan Adult Chicken which I order from an online shop and he seems to like it.
Every evening, after dinner, he gets a DentiStix and occasionally a rawhide delicacy ... However, his greatest past time is to steal and eat carrots from people's backpockets at the horse-yard!!! :pac:

ValerieR

orchidsrpretty

I give my dog some cod liver oil every day. It seems really great for her coat, makes it smooth and shiny, and she loves it too:)

Vel

I give my dog a tin of sardines in his dry food once or twice a week. Most dogs love them and they are great for their coat. They stink a bit though:eek:

lakes

i feed my dog Red Mills, i mix an egg wit it in morning & i mix sardines in the evening! its great for there coat & she loves it! its only way she will eat the food tho!!

Nailz

I cut up any left over bits of meat as a treat sometimes, but I normally feed it Cesers.

Balfey1972

only mix the yolk of the egg and not the white with the food. Pasta and brown rice can be added for a bit of variety too. Sardines and oils mentioned above are good too.

Caroline B

we feed dry food - science plan available online is reasonable, in fact a lot of the brands online are pretty good value for 15kg. for extras we feed oil and an egg over their food once a week for their coat. we also feed them a piece of fruit and veg a week (apple, broccoli etc-carrot not so good). we also get free marrowbones from the butchers, these are big cow bones filled with marrow. not all butchers do their own carcasses though so sometimes you have to shop around. raw meat is fine too, mince they love as an occasional treat. id love to feed mine on just raw meat and bones, like the BARF diet: http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/product_care.shtml

pokerkingsni

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I'll be giving him the cod liver oil and a egg for his coat to keep it nice and shiney. I was advised to give him some pineapple to stop him eating poo, which he was doing far too much. so far he's loving the pineapple. See how the eating habits go.:eek:

Cheers.

leopardus

There is a site, dogfoodanalysis.com, which reviews a huge range of dog foods and also explains the various ingredients and what to look for/avoid when looking at a food.
The only six star food available in Ireland is Orijen (from zooplus.ie).
It's pretty interesting looking through some of the supposedly premium dog foods and reading the reviews!
"Arden Grange - 3 star
Royal Canin - 2 star
Nutro -2 star
Hills - 2 star
Burns -3/4 star"

carwash_2006

I only found Arden Grange in the 4 star. It's a pity the Orijen isn't more widely available.

Honey-ec

You can feed raw eggs whole - just give them the entire egg and they'll eat the shell and all.

Grapes and onions are toxic to dogs, so make sure you're not feeding them.

Dogfoodanalysis.com can be a good site when it comes to deciding between foods, however, it should be noted that it is owned by boxerworld.com, an EXTREMELY pro-Raw site.

I'm not saying that the info on DFA is wrong - it's not, but their opinion on ALL commercial dog food is coloured by a pro-Raw bias.

jenjo23

I use James Well Beloved, Had my puppy on Red Mills, but he had awful gas.

Apparently some dogs suffer the same as ppl when it comes to cereals (wheat etc), JWB is a non cereal based food and it has worked a treat.

artieanna

oooh I was feeding my shetland collie bakers choice complete dry feed and she has awful bad skin (common I believe in collies) but I've just seen on the dogfood analysis site that its not good stuff at all and can cause skin problems.

I thought I was feeding my girl a good quality feed, I am so annoyed...

I am going to change her feed but which of the good foods are available in the west of ireland??

carwash_2006

You should be able to get arden grange or james wellbeloved from a pet shop. Ask them about it if you don't see it.

If they don't have or won't get it for you you should be able to buy it online.

They may not be 5* but they are way better than Bakers. ANy Lamb and Rice food should help with skin issues.

pokerkingsni

artieanna wrote: »

oooh I was feeding my shetland collie bakers choice complete dry feed and she has awful bad skin (common I believe in collies) but I've just seen on the dogfood analysis site that its not good stuff at all and can cause skin problems.

I thought I was feeding my girl a good quality feed, I am so annoyed...

I am going to change her feed but which of the good foods are available in the west of ireland??

Yeah i was too, only just got round to looking at that site:

"This food receives a 1-star rating simply because there is nothing lower."

And i was feeding him this. Time to change.

Thanks for posting that site up leopardus.

anniehoo

Had a quick browse through dogfoodanalysis.com...find it very hard to believe the likes of Eukanuba/Iams and Science Diet only get 1*ratings...some of the 6* food id nearly eat myself! Hmmm...

leopardus

Dogfoodanalysis.com can be a good site when it comes to deciding between foods, however, it should be noted that it is owned by boxerworld.com, an EXTREMELY pro-Raw site.

I totally agree, I think any review/ recommendation needs to taken with a 'pinch of salt'. The thing I really like about the site is that it gives very good descriptions of what the various ingredients in dog food are, allowing you to assess a dog food yourself by looking at the list of ingredients and guaranteed analysis.

I've started to change my dog from Royal canin (Maxi) to Orijen. The dog loves it, it smells delicious; I have seriously considered giving eating it myself!! Check out there website
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
Some dogs don't seem to take to the food, maybe it has something to do with the high protein levels?

pokerkingsni

leopardus wrote: »

I've started to change my dog from Royal canin (Maxi) to Orijen.

Do you order this from the UK? Couldnt find anywhere in Ireland selling it.

I'd change to this food if i could get it.

michelleans

You can order it from zooplus.ie

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/orijen