Pedigree (is it really that bad)

Mrs Garth Brooks

I have a five year old dog and over the years i have tried her on the better brands of dog food: burns, royal canin, hills, eukanuba, and loads more but every single bag, she spits them out. She doesn't eat them. I don't mind spending the money on her but its just a waste of money, she never eats them. Now they're all the bags of food which has been recommended as the best but the best just wont do.

She is quite happy eating pedigree. And its better for my pocket too. The dog is on diet and losing weight and i think the vets are just out to get money from me because their food is better. I think its just a whole lot of money racket.

What do people think of pedigree or is there another type of food i can try?

morganafay

My vet told me pedigree (and whiskas) were fine to feed my pets . . . I'm sure the more expensive ones are better, but she said it was fine, they're not going to get sick from it or anything.

paultf

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

She is quite happy eating pedigree. And its better for my pocket too.

What do people think of pedigree or is there another type of food i can try?

Recently when I was talking to my vet about nutrition she said Pedigree was OK. But I have since learnt that alot of vets aren't up to speed with the different dog foods out there and they wouldn't be great nutritionists - I don't think they spend much time on it in college. I asked my vet about Arden Grange and she never heard of it!

Similar story with pet stores - my local pet store owner sells Pedigree and Bakers and thinks they are great foods. But yet when I asked him about Orijen he never heard of it!

There are loads of dog foods out there. Its just a matter of searching. I can understand your frustration - your dog not eating foods you give him - but in the long run I wouldn't keep my dogs on Pedigree or similar foods.

I have mine on Burns. Others that are supposed to be good: Orijen, James WellBeloved and Arden Grange.

morganafay

paultf wrote: »

Recently when I was talking to my vet about nutrition she said Pedigree was OK. But I have since learnt that alot of vets aren't up to speed with the different dog foods out there and they wouldn't be great nutritionists - I don't think they spend much time on it in college. I asked my vet about Arden Grange and she never heard of it!
.

That's probably very true, like human doctors . . . well my sister who's a doctor and who eats no vegetables and yet tells me I'll be deficient in nutrients because I'm vegan :rolleyes:

Sigma Force

I guess it's not the worst thing you can feed your dog and plenty of dogs do well on it.

Initially I stopped using it because one of the stink it produced ie doggy farts and not very solid poos.

If my dogs had the choice they would wolf down ped chum, esp. tinned stuff but one of mine can't eat the stuff she'd be sick from it. Mind you she got her paws on some white bread the other day and had the runs for two days after.

I just found with any dog it made them honk and have been lucky in that my dogs were never fussy eaters. Saying that dog and cat owners tend to give in to their dogs have been trying to convince my parents to switch to the same brand we use it's just cheaper in the long run and since all the rest eat it it'd make sense but they just give in and feed extra treats etc. same with their cats one of which is overweight.

Mine do best on Burns pork and potato poo wise it's the only food I've tried so far that agrees with our dog with the sensative tum. Suprisingly is actually works out cheaper, I know I sound like a parrot but I used to feed ped chum or Bounce etc. and for one dog (collie) it cost 10 old pounds a week just for her. I can feed my 3 dogs for 10 euro ish a week now on the Burns because I buy the 15kg bag and am now saving a further 7 euro each time I buy a bag coz I order from zooplus.co.uk

I couldn't afford the price for tinned food, haven't worked out what it would cost to feed ped chum dry but it has additives and if I was going cheaper I'd go with Red Mills which is only 24.99 for a 15kg bag.

lorebringer

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

I have a five year old dog and over the years i have tried her on the better brands of dog food: burns, royal canin, hills, eukanuba, and loads more but every single bag, she spits them out. She doesn't eat them. I don't mind spending the money on her but its just a waste of money, she never eats them. Now they're all the bags of food which has been recommended as the best but the best just wont do.

She is quite happy eating pedigree. And its better for my pocket too. The dog is on diet and losing weight and i think the vets are just out to get money from me because their food is better. I think its just a whole lot of money racket.

What do people think of pedigree or is there another type of food i can try?

Pedigree is the nutritional equivalent of feeding fast food and ready meals all the time - plenty of dogs do well on it but my opinion is that it can't be good for their long term health. Just like lots of people do well on a diet lacking in fruit and veg, but it eventually catches up with them. I have asked a few vets about it and while some are not very clued up on the subject, most would not recommend feeding it (or similar foods).

The reason your dog doesn't like the other foods that you have tried her on is the exact same as why children who are used to instant chips etc. don't like veg - they are not used to it. Have you tried to gradually change over so that your dog gets used to the new tastes (and textures if you are changing from wet to dry)? It will prevent the initial "shock" of eating something new and also prevent any dodgy belly reactions.

Price wise, Pedigree (or any of the supermarket brands) tends to not work out much cheaper, if at all, because you end up feeding the dog a larger amount of food compared to the higher quality brands. It can feel very steep paying €60 for a bag of food but the bag will last a very long time, as opposed to buying a smaller bag (or tins of) a cheaper food which doesn't last as long. Generally, your pocket won't suffer if you are feeding a more expensive food because it tends to work out around the same price per day/week etc. to feed your dog. Some foods are overpriced for what you get, but this is the situation with everything (from dog food to human food!) - if you shop around, and do the research, and find a decent food that is good quality for the money you pay you won't get ripped off.

Lastly, just looking at the ingredients list for Pedigree compared to (just as a sample) Orijen the quality difference is very dramatic - Pedigree contains lots of grains, by products and artificial chemicals (dyes, preservatives etc.) while Orijen uses whole foods and has a high meat content, without the fillers etc. Obviously, it's all down to personal choice but I know which one I would prefer to feed my dogs.

Pedigree
Grains (min. 4% rice, min. 4% wheat, min. 4% maize), meat and animal by-products (min. 4 % poultry in brown kibble), oils and fats (min. 0.2% fish oil), vegetable by-products (min. 3% sugar beet pulp), minerals, vegetable protein extracts, vegetables (min. 4% carrot in orange kibble, min. 4% beans in green kibble).

Vitamin A (8,100 IU / kg), vitamin D3 (810 IU / kg), vitamin E (180 mg / kg) copper as copper-(II)-sulphate (11 mg / kg), group B vitamins (130 mg / kg), iron (0.01 mg / kg).
With antioxidants (BHA, BHT propylgallate), dyes (Annatto, copper-chlorophyll) and preservatives (potassium sorbate), EC additive


Orijen
Fresh chicken (boned), Chicken Meat, dry turkey, russet potato, fresh salmon (boned), sweet potato, peas, fresh white fish (boned), fresh perch (boned), chicken fat, chicken liver, salmon meal, fresh turkey meat (boned), fresh eggs, fresh herring (boned), sun-dried alfalfa, salmon oil, chicory root, seaweed, squash, carrots, spinach, beets, apples, cranberries, juneberries, blackcurrants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, fennel, mint leaves , chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savoury, rosemary extract, sea salt, high-quality vitamins (vitamin E, choline chloride, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin B1, vitamin B12, folic acid, biotin), minerals (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese, copper, selenium), Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium.

Chicory root (Cichorium intybus) 700 mg, mg Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) 500, angelica root 350 mg, Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) 350 mg, Marigold flowers (Calendula officinalis) 350 mg, Fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare) 350 mg, peppermint leaves ( Mentha x piperita) 300 mg, Chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita L.) 300 mg, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) 150 mg, savoury (Satureja hortensis) 150 mg

Jack B. Badd

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

I don't mind spending the money on her but its just a waste of money, she never eats them. Now they're all the bags of food which has been recommended as the best but the best just wont do.

Hi OP, not really the answer to the question you asked but if you're left with loads of bags of food that won't be eaten you could give them to a local dog shelter - most will quite happily welcome donations of food.

peasant

The main issue with pedigrree food is this:



It looks good to us ...which means that there is a lot of stuff in there just for looks (and smell) that the dog doesn't need and which could potentially be harmful

doggiewalker00

I used to feed my first dog on pedigree,shed refuse to eat anything else.(im convinced they put something to make it addictive)

Now I feed mine Jwb and they scoff it down like mad.

doggiewalker00

you could try a human food diet,vegies,rice,pasta,grilled chicken,turkey.

If its good enough for us its good enough for them.

lrushe

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

I have a five year old dog and over the years i have tried her on the better brands of dog food: burns, royal canin, hills, eukanuba, and loads more but every single bag, she spits them out. She doesn't eat them. I don't mind spending the money on her but its just a waste of money, she never eats them.

How long have you tried giving her the new food? Don't feel bad if she doesn't eat it on the first or even second day, don't give in and feed her anything else. A healthy dog won't starve itself and in my experience come day three or four they are tucking into their new food.

caseyann

I dont know how true this is,but our dog got cancer of the stomach.He was full breed doberman pincher.The vet told us pedigree chum is very rich and can cause illness in dogs.
This is a link to tell you whats in your food and what to look out for on the label.
http://www.5stardog.com/dog-food.asp

Mrs Garth Brooks

What do people think of the cheaper bags of dog food e.g. red mills, gain, arkwrights, beta? Are they all better than the food in the shops like pedigree and bakers? Has anyone tried their dog on wagg? I picked up a bag of it to try and the dog seems to love it even more so than than the pedigree. Well she scoffs it anyway which i have never seen her do with dry food before.

paultf

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

What do people think of the cheaper bags of dog food e.g. red mills, gain, arkwrights, beta? Are they all better than the food in the shops like pedigree and bakers? Has anyone tried their dog on wagg? I picked up a bag of it to try and the dog seems to love it even more so than than the pedigree. Well she scoffs it anyway which i have never seen her do with dry food before.

I suppose the list of foods you gave would be better than the supermarket foods. They would be mid-range in quality.

The only experience I have of those foods is of Red Mills Leader. Although the dogs liked the food, they went to the toilet more frequently and their poos weren't great.

OP, you said in your first post you tried alot of diffent foods and your dog didn't like them. Some of them are really good foods like Royal Canin, Burns, etc.

Some people say if you find a food that suits your dog stick with it. Maybe the Wagg food might be the one for your dog.

Jinxi

What about Beta? Just got new puppy and I'm feeding her beta puppy food under the illsuion that its better than pedigree??
Is this maybe why her farts are particularly noxious and why she is defecating 3-5 times a day?

Graces7

doggiewalker00 wrote: »

you could try a human food diet,vegies,rice,pasta,grilled chicken,turkey.

If its good enough for us its good enough for them.

Our thoughts exactly.... We never use any of these foods. Some of the ingredients are so far out..

doggiewalker00

If you find your dog is okay on a paticular food,thiers is no need to change it.when you change a dogs food it takes its stomach a while to get used to it(which is why dogs will often get sick and have diarria when you do,you have to do it gradually.

the only reason I suggest Jwb is its got 4 different flavours if your worried your dogs getting bored on the same flavour(and not have to worry weather it agrees with them or not),and its great for firming up stools.

Jinxi

Surely dogs are not designed to eat rice/wheat/vegies etc. which is what is in all dog foods.
I read a bit on feeding your dog a raw diet(raw meat and bones) and it says that their digestive system has not evolved from that of their wolfey days.
Also it said that feeding them on this food cuts down tartar build up and develops muscles in the neck and jaw that feeding dog food doesn't!

baaaa

Jinxi wrote: »

Surely dogs are not designed to eat rice/wheat/vegies etc. which is what is in all dog foods.
I read a bit on feeding your dog a raw diet(raw meat and bones) and it says that their digestive system has not evolved from that of their wolfey days.
Also it said that feeding them on this food cuts down tartar build up and develops muscles in the neck and jaw that feeding dog food doesn't!

Yep,I feed mine the raw diet.Nearly everytime I'm out with him he gets admired-sleek coat,no fat,pure white teeth and lots of energy.
Dogs are not meant to eat cereal in shapes from a bag ,all kibble is fast food for our convenience.
Vets will happily recommend kibble because they know they'll profit off the animals ill health in the long term.
Do people actually believe that an animals diet should be cereal shapes from a plastic bag,really?:eek:

crotalus667

Jinxi wrote: »

why she is defecating 3-5 times a day?

thats normal

Ollchailin

God I never knew that Pedigree is supposed to be that bad! We have our beautiful King Charles for 14 and a half years now & we've only ever fed her supermarket dog food as well as some bread & meat that we've had at home. She's only ever been sick around 4 or 5 times in her 14 years & considering her breed are notorious for being sick I guess I'm just surprised at the views people have about supermarket dog food.

It makes sense I suppose though that if it's cheap it probably isn't the best, just like a lot of human food. Maybe we've just been really lucky with our little lady- despite slowing down a lot in the last year or so, she's still in good health- our lack of knowledge about dog food luckily hasn't harmed her!

evilmonkee

IMO Pedigree is not the best to be feeding, personally I like the high quality, human grade feeds eg. Orijen, unfortunately these can be hard to come by, mostly needing to be bought online and delivered, which means you may run out.
Homemade diets/Raw food diets require a lot of knowledge about dog nutrition and a vet who knows a lot about it too (its not actually thought in vet college!!!).
As has been said swapping food too often/quickly can upset a dogs stomach. Every option has its downside, the main thing to remember is that making sure your dog is eating, maintaining a healthy weight and not showing any food allergies /related problems is your primary goal. If they're happy eating Pedigree and throwing up everything else I say stick with Pedigree.

baaaa

It's not that hard to give them their correct diet(aka raw diet),all you need is 2 freezer drawers,a butcher and a bit of reading.
The problem is that most dogs appear to be healthy on the kibble until they're 4/5 but then the diabetes(from the starch in the cereal)hits and they get fat quick and have all the associated health problems.
All those sad obese dogs waddling around?That's from being fed cereal all their lives.

Jinxi

What do you need to know about raw meat diet. Is'nt it just a few bones and a whole meaty chunk about every other day? Where would you get the info. My puppy is on beta at the mo but we are going to switch her once she stops growing(didn't want to take the chance until then...trying to mimick regurgitated meat isn't my cup of tea;);))

baaaa

If you go outside this website into the internet there it be.

evilmonkee

Just to make it clear I am not against the raw food diet, if closely monitored and fed properly it works as well as many other diets and often much better for dogs who suffer allergies. But people seem to forget is that dogs are natural omnivores, they do mostly eat meat and bones but need other nutrients which is why they (and wolves) eat other foods apart from meat (in the wild). Before deciding on a raw diet you need to know your dogs requirements based on age, breed, size, medical conditions, dental conditions etc. There are lots of great sites if you do a google search but be sure to cross reference the info you get, then (if possible) print it out and bring it and your dog along to a vet who agrees with the raw diet. Holistic vets and ones with nutritional education can advise you best on a raw diet.

Wisco

I've found that in a lot of cases Beta is better than Pedigree, but not always. Perhaps if your pup has the runs, etc, you might consider a change. I wouldn't advise a quick change though- gradually introduce new food over space of 1-2 weeks.
Also, as for the post about vets not being great on nutrition, I've found that nurses often learn more and are more up to date with diets- you might ask one of them for advice if your practice employes qualified nurses.
I would definitely say that the initial spend on a bag of food pays off in the long run. I know €60 or whatever for a 15kg of good quality food seems like a lot at first, but it usually works out cheaper per day of feeding and your dog is often healthier too.

Wisco

baaaa wrote: »

It's not that hard to give them their correct diet(aka raw diet),all you need is 2 freezer drawers,a butcher and a bit of reading.
The problem is that most dogs appear to be healthy on the kibble until they're 4/5 but then the diabetes(from the starch in the cereal)hits and they get fat quick and have all the associated health problems.
All those sad obese dogs waddling around?That's from being fed cereal all their lives.

I would say that it's more from having owners who don't walk them enough or don't really have a lifestyle suited to owning a dog. My dog has been fed commercial food his entire life and I also get compliments about how shiny, lean, and fit looking he is. But I don't overfeed and he gets a good level of exercise.

Graces7

Ollchailin wrote: »

God I never knew that Pedigree is supposed to be that bad! We have our beautiful King Charles for 14 and a half years now & we've only ever fed her supermarket dog food as well as some bread & meat that we've had at home. She's only ever been sick around 4 or 5 times in her 14 years & considering her breed are notorious for being sick I guess I'm just surprised at the views people have about supermarket dog food.

It makes sense I suppose though that if it's cheap it probably isn't the best, just like a lot of human food. Maybe we've just been really lucky with our little lady- despite slowing down a lot in the last year or so, she's still in good health- our lack of knowledge about dog food luckily hasn't harmed her!

Your dog;s health is testimony to the fact that cost has little to do with the quality or else of dog food, surely.

That is all you need to know.. There was a post here on another thread from someone who was horrified that their vet had suggested LIDL dog food. That is a good brand ..

Sometimes it seems that some think that unless we are paying high prices we are not caring for ourselves or our dogs?

We live simply ourselves and rarely use any processed or tinned food. It costs less but is sound; same for our pets.

On a pension there is less choice; but to be honest it would be the same if we were millionaires.

Yes we feed mostly raw; we are blessed with a butcher who saves good scraps for us. And the dogs thrive on it. Teeth and all. And yes it is more natural,

Graces7

Wisco wrote: »

I've found that in a lot of cases Beta is better than Pedigree, but not always. Perhaps if your pup has the runs, etc, you might consider a change. I wouldn't advise a quick change though- gradually introduce new food over space of 1-2 weeks.
Also, as for the post about vets not being great on nutrition, I've found that nurses often learn more and are more up to date with diets- you might ask one of them for advice if your practice employes qualified nurses.
I would definitely say that the initial spend on a bag of food pays off in the long run. I know €60 or whatever for a 15kg of good quality food seems like a lot at first, but it usually works out cheaper per day of feeding and your dog is often healthier too.

Yes re vet nurses.. but would never - could never - pay that for a bag of dog food.... Cost does not mean quality. Just means advertising hype that you are helping pay for.

We use eg ASDA right price for ourselves and our pets; simple packaging etc.

Sittingpretty

Graces7 wrote: »

Yes re vet nurses.. but would never - could never - pay that for a bag of dog food.... Cost does not mean quality. Just means advertising hype that you are helping pay for.

We use eg ASDA right price for ourselves and our pets; simple packaging etc.

You see it's all relative really as to how expensive dog food is. If I were to feed my dog on Pedigree, she would need about 4 tins a day going by her weight & nutrition requirements. This would cost me on average about €5 a day which is €150 a month.

We pay €60 for a 12KG of Royal Canin and it lasts about 5 weeks so that's a saving right there.