Which brand of dog food to pick?

Stheno

andreac wrote: »

It might suit your dog, but any food that has cereal as the first and main ingredient is a big no no in terms of quality. Why isn't the first ingredient meat then?? It's not a food id recommend if it's high in cereal. Cereal has no place in a dogs diet so I wouldn't recommend any food with that as the main ingredient.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree, after trying multiple foods for years, it's worked for my dogs, and especially the ones with sensitive stomachs, so I'm happy with it, they are healthy, I can afford to feed it comfortably, and can supplement with good quality treats.

At this stage I'm not going to change, having finally found a food that is good quality, particularly in terms of the meat used, and works for my dogs

smileyj1987

To the OP I have a dog who has hip dysplasia and its a very bad case of it . Her hips are that bad the Vet said I will have to get her put asleep in the next two years . The Vet recommended that dry food to me but told me to feed the dog once a day with the dry feed and then feed the dog on vegetables and a small bit of boiled meat for dinner . I have to say it has worked for my dog and she lost abit of weight because we need to keep her as thin as possible to limit the pain . The vet also recommended cod liver oil twice a day to ease the joint pain . So I would say while you trying to pick out the food to feed the dog start giving your dog cod liver as soon as you can .

andreac

Stheno wrote: »

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree, after trying multiple foods for years, it's worked for my dogs, and especially the ones with sensitive stomachs, so I'm happy with it, they are healthy, I can afford to feed it comfortably, and can supplement with good quality treats.

At this stage I'm not going to change, having finally found a food that is good quality, particularly in terms of the meat used, and works for my dogs

As i said, if it agrees with your dog thats fine and thats great that it does.

But this food is not a high quality, high meat content food. Its a food made up of mainly a cereal which is quite poor in terms of quality and its not one i or many here would recommend as a good quality food.

There are plenty more brands with meat as there first and primary ingredient and id highly recommend any of those before one with cereal as their first ingredient.

Millem

Ok autarky have a variety of foods below is the one I am looking for which contains no maize
http://www.dodsonandhorrellpetfood.co.uk/autarky-adult-salmon

andreac

Millem, that looks quite good actually.

Millem

andreac wrote: »

Millem, that looks quite good actually.

Yes I think so too. But I can't find a supplier here.

ISDW

Jollyes in NI sell Autarky, if anyones near the border

Stheno

Millem wrote: »

Yes I think so too. But I can't find a supplier here.

Ask the petfood express guys if they can get it for you, as a supplier they probably can, I've done it before with foods that weren't listed but were part of the same company a supplier used.

DBB

I'm sure I saw Autarky for sale in the pet shop in Virginia, Co. Cavan, but not sure have they the one you're looking for. Worth a call if you're anywhere nearby?
As for cereals in foods, all of the foods I've seen recommended here so far, with the exception of Orijen and Taste of the Wild, have cereals or a non-meat (e.g. potato) as their first ingredient! Okay, some have rice rather than maize, but rice is still cereal, which makes these foods no better than each other, from a nutritional perspective.

boomerang

I use potato in Boo's recipes all the time. Far superior carbohydrate than corn, pasta or rice. It's high fibre, vitamin-rich, high water content and for a dog with kidney issues, low phosphorus. Cooked pearl barley is good too. I know dogs don't need carbs but that's not to say they are detrimental to their health, apart from the carb sources that dogs can't digest sufficiently well. I'm still not convinced that dogs need a carb-free, high protein diet.

DBB

Can't say I'd have any objection to spuds as the non-meat component, there's no doubt it's good stuff! And I'd have no objection to a bit of carb in the diet either... My own troop here are on low carb as I need to get, or keep weight off them. But they're getting carbs nonetheless.
The problem I have with most of the foods listed above is that the carb/cereal component exceeds the meat, sometimes by a huge amount. The better ones, a few of those listed, use spud instead of cereal, a distinct improvement, but again, the spud makes up more of the food than meat does. It can't be right, for a normal, healthy dog!

boomerang

Agreed DBB. My lady generally gets 50/50 with some green veggies thrown in. I suppose my main point would be that there is no great harm in feeding a good quality commercial food, if you don't have the time or means to feed a homemade or BARF/RMB diet. It takes me a huge amount of fore-thought, planning and cooking to maintain Boo on her home made meals, so Josie gets Skinners (soaked) with some goodies usually thrown in like an egg, some chicken, some sardines, etc. I honestly don't feel she's losing out that much. In her later years I will definitely go down the home-prepared route with her though. I just can't commit to it right now and many people are the same.

meoklmrk91

Another + for skinners, my fella loves it and the price is amazing, very happy with his coat condition, weight etc.

DBB

boomerang wrote: »

I suppose my main point would be that there is no great harm in feeding a good quality commercial food, if you don't have the time or means to feed a homemade or BARF/RMB diet.

Can't argue with that either, but I think that people aren't really thinking the dry food thing through: one person recommends X and disses Y whilst another recommends Y and disses X, and when you look at the ingredients of both, they're almost identical. When it comes to most dry foods, the ingredients of each are just not that great.
For people who just can't do the raw diet, some (but very few, relative to the amount available) dry foods are pretty good, but it takes a bit of research to find out which ones. Even at that, you'll always get posters here who've had a bad experience even with the foods that are nutritionally pretty good!
I find it hard to recommend pretty much any dry food because my heart just isn't in it any more, but at the same time, I have to recognise that not everyone wants to/can feed raw, and need to know the alternatives which work for them. That's life! It's also important that owners know both the benefits and drawbacks, whether dry or raw... I guess it's all about making an educated choice, on way or t'other.

so Josie gets Skinners (soaked)

You may have answered this before (is it something to do with teeth?), but why do you soak it? Just curious!

boomerang

I don't have a scientific answer for it, DBB, but I do have a few reasons:

I think it is unnatural, unpleasant and possibly deleterious to the dog to feed it food with a very low moisture content. The dog then gets thirsty and has to compensate by drinking lots of water. I don't think that's right, and it might even have a negative impact on the dog's health over the time. If I was living on cream crackers alone I'd be pretty miserable having to constantly slake my thirst!

It slows down dogs like Josie that inhale their food, so they don't regurgitate their food only to eat it again. (Lovely!)

It increases the feeling of satiety, which is especially helpful if you are cutting back on the food a fraction to encourage weight loss.

Sentimental reason: It means I can give them a warm meal on days like today, by using hot water or heated up stock.

I haven't seen any deterioration in the condition of the dogs' teeth or gums since we started soaking the food. I give Plaque Off in the food and rub Dentisept chlorhexidine paste on their gums a few times a week.

They do miss out on the opportunity to have a good gnaw and crunch, which I think is essential to a dog's wellbeing! (Not that dry food fulfils that need, anyhoo.) Much to my regret I can't give raw meaty bones any more as Boo can't have them and it would be unfair (and could be the source of a row) if I only gave them to Josie. So I make do with tripe sticks and the sensitive 'stars' chew sticks from Maxi Zoo. (They're good and hard, and have no nasty ingredients/colours/preservatives.) They do get a raw lamb shank each, on state occasions!

timelord13

I have a 13 year old Jack Russell who is often mistaken for a much younger dog. I found Royal Canin mini mature made a big difference to her energy & stamina. It is expensive but it's working so well for her, In my opinion it's worth it.

planetX

boomerang wrote: »

Sentimental reason: It means I can give them a warm meal on days like today, by using hot water or heated up stock.

I do this too - my dog gets his breakfast soaked a little warm water, and sometimes an egg on top. He used to pick at the dry food on its own, but now he dives in.
I feed raw for dinner, but I'm thinking of switching the meals around as he's going a bit crazy with energy in the evenings - even after a busy day of walks. It seems to be giving him a rush:o

angeldaisy

Just a question about Skinners food from Amazon. I've been looking at getting this food, but it looks like p&p is £13stg is that right?? Bringing the price to just over £30 per 15kg.

tk123

angeldaisy wrote: »

Just a question about Skinners food from Amazon. I've been looking at getting this food, but it looks like p&p is £13stg is that right?? Bringing the price to just over £30 per 15kg.

Are you choosing amazon as the seller (on the left)?

Millem

angeldaisy wrote: »

Just a question about Skinners food from Amazon. I've been looking at getting this food, but it looks like p&p is £13stg is that right?? Bringing the price to just over £30 per 15kg.

It is free delivery to Ireland. This is the link you need
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skinners-Field-Trial-Duck-Rice/dp/B003EGMHL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354403020&sr=8-1

You should subscribe and save as you will get 10% off, you can cancel subscription straight after if you want! It will cost £20.69 if not it will cost you £22.99. It is free delivery to Ireland, if you order today you should get in Thursday/Friday.

angeldaisy

Millem wrote: »

It is free delivery to Ireland. This is the link you need
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skinners-Field-Trial-Duck-Rice/dp/B003EGMHL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354403020&sr=8-1

You should subscribe and save as you will get 10% off, you can cancel subscription straight after if you want! It will cost £20.69 if not it will cost you £22.99. It is free delivery to Ireland, if you order today you should get in Thursday/Friday.

Brilliant. Thanks for that

CleoD

Check out dogfoodanalysis.com for any food you may think of feeding your dog.

Dog food ingredients are listed in order of what weighs the most. Dogs are naturally carnivores so as a general rule having meat as the first ingredient is important. It's recommended that at least two of the top five ingredients are meat. It is also better to have this in a meal form (i.e chicken meal is better than chicken). Meat by products should be at the bottom of the label. Corn is not meant to be fed to dogs and corn gluten meal is a big no no (Royal Canin has this and is also full of fillers).

I use Orijen, its is entirely grainless and meat covers 10 of the ingredients. It is the only food on dogfoodanalysis.com that is available in Europe that has its 6 star review. It is an expensive food to buy, however I feed my boxer less of this than any other dry food I have given her, so it works out as great value for money and lasts ages, and she is at her healthiest that she has ever been. Unfortunately I cant advise on the arthritis aspect, but my firiend was advised to feed her dog with a grain free kibble which included meat and fish (it was her that recommended Orijen to me and after research I gave it a shot)

However every dog is different and your dog mightn't take to a particular food the way other dogs do. Use dogfoodanalysis.com as your base, and include a bit of research. Unfortunately if you want the best for your dog, money sometimes cant be a factor. Getting a good dog food will save hugely on vet bills, but just because a kibble is expensive doesn't necessarily mean its best (RC is a great example of this)

mistress_gi

ISDW wrote: »

The issue is, that you are looking or a specific arthritic food, and you're not going to find that anywhere except a vets, the prescription ranges by the food companies are only sold at vets.

However, theres no reason why a different kind of diet can't help a dog with arthritis, fish oil, green lipped mussel extract etc can help, along with other things. For the overweight issue, just cut down on the amount given, and obviously, the weight loss will help with the arthritis.

actually zooplus.ie now sell jills j/d which is good for dogs with joint issues, could give that a go

tk123

mistress_gi wrote: »

actually zooplus.ie now sell jills j/d which is good for dogs with joint issues, could give that a go

The OP stated in their opening post that they could see Hills is crap and wanted a better quality alternative...

mistress_gi

sorry didn't realise that!

Millem

jh79 wrote: »

skinners on amazon is good quality and value

Absolutely agree. Since switching my old lab onto it she bounces around the place. Her coat has also improved. She also gets a supplement called arthriti aid and tinned fish added into food as a treat.

doubter

I have been feeding Chappie now (dry nuts) soaked in water for the past 4 month. I find it great, the coats shine and they are full of energy. Healthy gums, very little 'piles' but decent normal size poo's. Its only recently available in Ireland, but I've known it form Germany and switched straight away. Love it.