dog food?

bird up

just wandering did anyone ever try iams dog food?

lorebringer

Yep, and it gave my dogs (one in particular) bad scuts. Even my "factory stomach" dog got very shiney and sloppy poo. Wouldn't recommend it at all.

jen_23

I wouldn't personally support iams <snip>

ghost_ie

First tried iams about 3 months ago as part of the search for a dried food that the middle dog would eat - tried just about every other complete food on the market with no success. She wolfed it down the first day and is still doing so . All 3 dogs love it and it has had no detrimental effect on any of them.

cosnochta

jen_23 wrote: »

I wouldn't personally support iams <snip>

+1

I would definitely agree with Jen. Would not like to support them
<snip>

billi62

have a 4 month old german shepherd bitch and not sure what dried food to feed her. any suggestions please.

crotalus667

billi62 wrote: »

have a 4 month old german shepherd bitch and not sure what dried food to feed her. any suggestions please.

Since plan / royal canine

boomerang

Absolutely not - no way, Jose - just Google it.

lorebringer

billi62 wrote: »

have a 4 month old german shepherd bitch and not sure what dried food to feed her. any suggestions please.

Can of worms!

My personal recommendations are - Royal Canin (they do a breed spacific food for GSDs), James Wellbeloved, Arden Grange, Burns, Orijen (pricey but very good), Hills or Acana. Most pet stores sell some decent brands, as do vets. Steer clear of supermarket brands (Pedigree etc.) because they are not good quality. With dog foods, you generally get what you pay for so a big bag (15kg) of food can cost well over €50. There are also some cheaper foods out there that are not bad, Red Mills Leader comes to mind, for the price they are. If you do your research and feed your dog the best food you can afford your dog will really benefit!

billi62

Thanks for the advice.

seamus

From what I've heard in general, there are similar rules for dog food as human food - the more advertising you see for a particular brand, the less nutrition the food contains. Consider how much advertising both Pedigree and McDonalds do for example.

You can feed your dog a good quality food for a tenner a week, which is next to nothing when you think about it really.

babystrawberry

jen_23 wrote: »

I wouldn't personally support iams <snip>

I have heard terrible things about IAMS to be honest in realtion to their animal testing policies

Personally muself I would recomend James Well Beloved

ISDW

I don't know the whole story of IAMS, but just googling something certainly is not guaranteed to give you the truth. There are two sides to every story and knowing the organisation involved in this along with IAMS, I am (:D) more than inclined to believe there are a lot of untruths in it. I know we are not allowed to discuss the other organisation on here, so I have used no names, but they also appear in the google search.

ISDW

babystrawberry wrote: »

I have heard terrible things about IAMS to be honest in realtion to their animal testing policies

Personally muself I would recomend James Well Beloved

BUt perhaps you should consider where those terrible things come from?

tk123

whatever you do OP don't go buying a giant bag of new food to save a few quid when trying a new brand or you'll be left with it if it doesn't agree with the dog!

morganafay

ISDW wrote: »

BUt perhaps you should consider where those terrible things come from?

But if PETA say that they IAMS so certain tests, then mustn't that be true? Otherwise they'd be sued . . .

crotalus667

morganafay wrote: »

But if PETA say that they IAMS so certain tests, then mustn't that be true? Otherwise they'd be sued . . .

It would appear not , if they use a 1/100th truth they tend to get away with it plus they have more than enough to pay for any lawsuite ,peta have a habit of out and out lying along with supporting convicted terrorists (any one can check that out as they are a registered charity their books have to be open)

Graces7

All this is why we feed raw food.

billi62

Good advice but I did go out a buy the a big bag of Royal Canin. Fortunately she's taken to it along with the raw diced beef. She's better fed than I am!!

happypuppy

Just wondering if you could advise me too. I originally used Royal Canine which he wouldn't eat then tried Arden Grange and now on Orijen which at first he seemed ok with but is really fussy and not eating it well at all unfortunately as its the most one I want him to eat

The pet shop recommended Royal Canin Mini Sensible because its for fussy eaters, has anyone any experience of this?

andreac

happypuppy wrote: »

Just wondering if you could advise me too. I originally used Royal Canine which he wouldn't eat then tried Arden Grange and now on Orijen which at first he seemed ok with but is really fussy and not eating it well at all unfortunately as its the most one I want him to eat

The pet shop recommended Royal Canin Mini Sensible because its for fussy eaters, has anyone any experience of this?

How long do you give the dog to get used to the food?

You need to stick with it for at least 4-5days. Most dogs will turn their nose up at something new until they used to it and realise its all they are getting.

Dogs are not fussy, we make them fussy eaters by chopping and changing foods, adding extras and so on.

Pick one food and stick with that for about a week.

Offer the food and nothing else, no treats, scraps etc, the food only. Put it down, leave it for 15 mins or so, then take it back up whether eaten or not. Do not offer anything until next mealtime, no treats etc.
The dog will soon learn that it gets nothing bar the food it has been offered so will eat up, but it could take a few days to get them eating properly.

I have a dog who went 3 days without a single bite of food, because he was holding out for something tasty to be added in (all my fault for starting it in the first place), so he gave up after 3 days and realised it was all he was getting and started eating properly.

Dogs arent stupid, they wont go hungry, trust me.They know we will feel sorry for them and offer them something that they really want and give in to them, but be strong and patient.

happypuppy

Hi
I have keep him on each of then for 3/4 months. I know i'm at fault for using treats to train etc as well

ISDW

morganafay wrote: »

But if PETA say that they IAMS so certain tests, then mustn't that be true? Otherwise they'd be sued . . .

I thought they were?

lorebringer

ISDW wrote: »

I thought they were?

All the bloody time! But because they are such a massive organisation, with massive finds, they sh!t all over anyone that comes up against them.

Penn & Teller did a "Bullsh!t" episode about PETA which is worth checking out...

rodneytrotter15

"James Wellbeloved, Arden Grange, Burns, Orijen (pricey but very good "

The above are all excellnt in my opinion but wayyyy overpriced compared to what you can buy in the US for $25...The first thing you need to do is look at the ingredients, the first ingredient should always be chicken meal, fish meal etc. Stay clear of anything that has chicked derivatives (sp) by products etc...most of this stuff is heads, beaks, feathers etc and not real chicken. We use www.mymaddog.co.uk However you really need to order in bulk, the last time we ordered it was 33 x 15kg bags of premium chicken and rice ( check out the ingredients ) and the cost is less than €20...My friend had his Mastiff on James Wellbeloved and reckons he is doing even better on mtmaddogs own brand. It's a family run business, they mill they're own food and for other maufactures. You can phone them and ask them any questions you like on their food and how it's. Believe me they are not too many places like this.

Jennyfer

I switched my boxer pup to Orijen about a month and a half ago, I had such a hard time trying to find a good quality food that didnt make her sick. She had been on a diet of brown rice, veg and chicken but although it didnt make her sick she was hugely underweight and her skin and coat were in fairly bad condition. Anyway I introduced the Orijen very slowly, mixing it with the rice veg and chicken, gradually taking out the chicken, then the veg and last the rice. It has made such a huge difference to her, she has put on weight, her coat looks fantastic and her poop is the way it should be. It is pricey but well worth it, for my dog anyway. I wouldnt say she loves it, she doesnt eat massive amounts just for the sake of it (which is good considering the price) but she eats what she needs and its doing her the world of good. I also add in some natural pro-biotic yogurt the odd time for a treat which she absolutely loves and my vet told me that it cleanses their digestive systems and kills off any bad bacteria that may be lurking about in there!

LucyBliss

Jennyfer wrote: »

I also add in some natural pro-biotic yogurt the odd time for a treat which she absolutely loves and my vet told me that it cleanses their digestive systems and kills off any bad bacteria that may be lurking about in there!

What a good idea! One of my dogs is a divil for tasting anything and everything she can find in the garden. She's a terrier cross; I suspect she'd be a good ratter because she has her nose in everything and never saw a hole she didn't like to stick her head into. The upshot of all this random munching is that she sometimes throws up in the house. Though as I recall, she spent last summer going for every snail she could find and didn't throw up once. Perhaps that's what's missing from her diet!
Anyway, am going to try the yoghurt to give her system a bit of a helping hand.

Son Of A Vidic

billi62 wrote: »

have a 4 month old german shepherd bitch and not sure what dried food to feed her. any suggestions please.

I've been there, my GSD is going on 7 and as strong as a tank. I got her food from my local vet, I can't remember it's name, but it was top-line and cost a fortune. It was a 15kg bag white bag with a green and red trim I think, sorry that's all I can remember. She got it for the first 18 months and it definitely gave her a great base for development. Whatever you do don't give her pedigree chum.

Jennyfer

LucyBliss wrote: »

What a good idea! One of my dogs is a divil for tasting anything and everything she can find in the garden. She's a terrier cross; I suspect she'd be a good ratter because she has her nose in everything and never saw a hole she didn't like to stick her head into. The upshot of all this random munching is that she sometimes throws up in the house. Though as I recall, she spent last summer going for every snail she could find and didn't throw up once. Perhaps that's what's missing from her diet!
Anyway, am going to try the yoghurt to give her system a bit of a helping hand.

Yes exactly what its good for, anytime my dog may have eaten something that might be upsetting her stomach I give her the yogurt and shes fine after! Just make sure its natural pro-biotic - any other ones will run straight through!

lorebringer

LucyBliss wrote: »

Though as I recall, she spent last summer going for every snail she could find and didn't throw up once. Perhaps that's what's missing from her diet!

Just a quick word - slugs and snails can carry lungworm so if your dog repeats this habit this summer please worm them against this. Your vet will have treatment. I have one that I have to do every year because she eats everything, including gross slugs. I do all of mine anyway each summer because I'm just paranoid about one of them getting lungworm!

sambor

billi62 wrote: »

have a 4 month old german shepherd bitch and not sure what dried food to feed her. any suggestions please.

Hi,
I have a 10 month old German shepherd bitch and I feed her Eukanuba. coat looks great and dog look happy, everywhere they try to sell me Royal but in my opinion eukanuba is much better. If u will save on food u will spend on vet