Aldi Earls dog food

Nody

muddypaws wrote: »

What do you mean chicken meal flour? Its chicken meat meal, which is ground up, dried chicken.

Sorry I was thinking bone meal (my wife is finally coming around to the idea of raw feeding so spending way too much time reading about dead animals and differences between wild and tame quality, what to mix in the grinder etc.). Anyway; it's still poor quality meat (but better than derivatives in general) and in terms of quality it's around the same level as this one which is 90c / kg (add 10c for the slightly better meat quality) which is the basis for my pricing.

Into The Blue

Thanks all for the replies..
plenty of food for thought!!

o.O

andreac

Have a look at the other thread about the Rottweiler and his skin condition. And people wonder why we dont recommend to feed this food....

maggiepip

Nody wrote: »

Poor. Wheat as primary, Chicken meal as secondary (you never want meat as meal) and then on beet pulp etc. and only 22% protein. If it was being bought around 1 EUR / kg it's priced about right; anything beyond that is probably overpriced.

And to save people time here's the summary information:

Meat as meatmeal is just basically dried meat so the moisture has been taken out of it. Dont think theres anything terrible about it.

Nody

maggiepip wrote: »

Meat as meatmeal is just basically dried meat so the moisture has been taken out of it. Dont think theres anything terrible about it.

See my above post; this one is from Wikipedia.

Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a product of the rendering industry. It is typically about 48–52% protein, 33–35% ash, 8–12% fat, and 4–7% moisture. It is primarily used in the formulation of animal feed to improve the amino acid profile of the feed. Feeding of MBM to cattle is thought to have been responsible for the spread of BSE (mad cow disease). In most parts of the world, MBM is no longer allowed in feed for ruminant animals. However, MBM is still used to feed monogastric animals. It is widely used in the United States as a low-cost meat in dog food and cat food.[1]

This one is from www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Of course, not all meat meals are created equal. Some are of very high quality while others are positively awful.
It all boils down to the stew’s contents — the raw materials. And one critically important principle…
No meal product can ever be better than the raw materials that were used to make it.
Better meals are typically made from the meat of clearly identified sources. Low-grade meals come from anonymous materials like slaughterhouse waste and spoiled supermarket meats — even diseased or dying cattle — or dead zoo animals.

Avoid dog foods containing any meat meal that:
Includes the words “by-products” in its nae
Fails to identify the specific source animal:
Here are some examples of inferior meat-based protein ingredients. Notice the generic nature of the phrases:
Meat meal
Animal meal
Chicken by-product meal
Meat and bone meal
Glandular meal
Poultry meal
Blood meal

When you see ingredients like these in any recipe, it’s a sign you’re probably looking at a lower quality dog food.

It is not as good as normal meat; it's not as bad as derivatives but it's in no way a quality product. Oh and if you're really not sure why that might be bad enjoy this article.

boomerang

But there's no flour in bonemeal? It's just ground bone.

A named meat meal (e.g. lamb meal, duck meal, chicken meal) is the next best thing to seeing the meat source listed as say 'chicken' or 'fresh chicken' in the ingredients.

knipex

I have had mixed results with Marcus muhle. One dog thrived on it but another lost weight. Royal Canin had a similar effect. .

Have them both on nature's way now and both thriving. Different dogs different results..

maggiepip

Also America has different regulations that I dont know too much about, but all dogfood produced in the EU must come from animals fit for human consumption, the byproducts of these animals must be classed unfit for human consumption but they are still coming from healthy animals. Derivatives and by-products in dogfood can simply be innards too like heart,lung etc which are actually good for dogs, the trick is trying to find out exactly what they actually are. You certianly dont get dying sick animals put into European dogfood.

muddypaws

maggiepip wrote: »

Also America has different regulations that I dont know too much about, but all dogfood produced in the EU must come from animals fit for human consumption, the byproducts of these animals must be classed unfit for human consumption but they are still coming from healthy animals. Derivatives and by-products in dogfood can simply be innards too like heart,lung etc which are actually good for dogs, the trick is trying to find out exactly what they actually are. You certianly dont get dying sick animals put into European dogfood.

Would you ever go away with your sensible posts

boomerang

maggiepip wrote: »

Derivatives and by-products in dogfood can simply be innards too like heart,lung etc which are actually good for dogs, the trick is trying to find out exactly what they actually are. You certianly dont get dying sick animals put into European dogfood.

The only thing is, all parts of the animal are used for human consumption (in the case of beef) so generally what offal is put aside for the pet food market is not very wholesome - e.g. it has the lesions/infections/the parasitised bits cut off and the good parts kept. Bit gross, but doesn't mean the meat isn't safe for our dogs to eat.

At least to the best of my knowledge.

Theimprover

Ye must think I am a right pain in the hole.:rolleyes:

What are these ingredients like?

24% protein

omega 3 & 6 oils to promote healthy skin healthy and shiny coat
Ingredients (in descending order by weight)
Cerals, Meat And Animal Derivatives, Derivatives Of Vegetable Origin, Fish And Fish Derivatives, Oils And Fats Minerals Contains Bht And Bha Antioxidants
Nutritional analysis

Protein 24.00%
Oil 10.00%
Fibre 3.60%
Ash 9.00%
Moisture 10.00%
Vitamin A 12,000i u/kg
Vitamin D3 2,000i u/kg
Alpha Tocopherol 80i u/kg
Copper 15mg/kg

andreac

Awful. You shouldnt have to ask as you can see the first ingredients are cereals and then derivitives. We have been talking about this all along in this thread?

Theimprover

cocker5 wrote: »

AndreaC is right really poor dog food ...

Ingredients cereals, animals derivatives , sodium chloride ...
Aldi food would better and aldi dog food is of really low quality.

Any dog food where the first ingredients are cereals and derivatives , is pure muck I'm afraid!

I don't see anywhere where it states any actual meat / protein !

All the foods I have looked at have these are the first ingredients, and do you know why?? Its because they are listed in descending order by weight so been pure muck because they are listed first is a load of baloney, every bag food I have looked at have these ingredients.

andreac

The first ingredient should really be meat., Stay clear of anything that says Cereals first, then derivitives. This has been mentioned over and over in this thread.

andreac

Theimprover wrote: »

All the foods I have looked at have these are the first ingredients, and do you know why?? Its because they are listed in descending order by weight so been pure muck because they are listed first is a load of baloney, every bag food I have looked at have these ingredients.

Then you are looking at very cheap foods.

Theimprover

andreac wrote: »

Awful. You shouldnt have to ask as you can see the first ingredients are cereals and then derivitives. We have been talking about this all along in this thread?

But the reason that they are listed first is that they are listed in descending order by weight

Theimprover

Them ingredients above is from Red Mills- working dogs

muddypaws

boomerang wrote: »

The only thing is, all parts of the animal are used for human consumption (in the case of beef) so generally what offal is put aside for the pet food market is not very wholesome - e.g. it has the lesions/infections/the parasitised bits cut off and the good parts kept. Bit gross, but doesn't mean the meat isn't safe for our dogs to eat.

At least to the best of my knowledge.

I didn't think that any animal that had died of illness or natural causes, couldn't be used in the human food chain at all, so they wouldn't have any bits to cut off that has lesions/infections etc as the animal would be disposed off in a different way?

This is why the premium foods cost more than the value ones, as they use better quality meat, in the 'super premium' foods it is human quality.

muddypaws

Theimprover wrote: »

All the foods I have looked at have these are the first ingredients, and do you know why?? Its because they are listed in descending order by weight so been pure muck because they are listed first is a load of baloney, every bag food I have looked at have these ingredients.

But you're kind of arguing against yourself there, if they are listed in descending order by weight, then the first ingredient is what there is most of in the food. A food that has mostly cereals and filler will not have that much nuritional value to your dog.

Having said that though, it depends who is making the food, and how they find ways to get round EU regulations, as some manufacturers weigh the meat before they take the water out, so it will appear to have a higher meat content than it actually does.

Also, if it just says cereals, and doesn't actually specify what cereal, then how do you know what is in the food, and whether or not they change the cereals with different batches, depending on what is available to them at the time?

marknine

I have been feeding him the Earls Aldi food with the last 2-3 months with a small tin of tuna mixed in with it and he likes it only as I can not afford to be feeding him the RC as my circumstances have changed some what and with the Mal joining us it would be just way too much expense.


I have boxer dog and I buy the Aldi cat food that comes in 12 cans for €5.89 as it is cheaper than the dog food. I mix it with Aldi or Lidl mixer and my dog loves it. It works out way less than a €1 a day to feed him. So its one can of the Aldi catfood plus mixer and he is as happy and healthy as can be.

Theimprover

marknine wrote: »

I have been feeding him the Earls Aldi food with the last 2-3 months with a small tin of tuna mixed in with it and he likes it only as I can not afford to be feeding him the RC as my circumstances have changed some what and with the Mal joining us it would be just way too much expense.


I have boxer dog and I buy the Aldi cat food that comes in 12 cans for €5.89 as it is cheaper than the dog food. I mix it with Aldi or Lidl mixer and my dog loves it. It works out way less than a €1 a day to feed him. So its one can of the Aldi catfood plus mixer and he is as happy and healthy as can be.

:eek::eek::eek:

Nody

Theimprover wrote: »

All the foods I have looked at have these are the first ingredients, and do you know why?? Its because they are listed in descending order by weight so been pure muck because they are listed first is a load of baloney, every bag food I have looked at have these ingredients.

Then start looking around for a better shop to buy the dog food in; here are a few brands to look for:
Taste of the wild

Ingredients:
Lamb, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, rapeseed oil, egg, roast lamb, tomato pomace, natural aromas, salt, choline chloride, mixed tcopherols (natural preservatives and source of vitamin E), dried chicory root...

Acana

Dehydrated chicken meat (40%), rolled oats, fresh chicken (no bones), peas, brown rice, chicken fat, fresh king salmon (boned), chicken liver, fresh whole eggs, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon oil, pumpkin, chicken cartilage, apples, carrots, turnip green, cranberries, rock pears...

Lily's kitchen

Organic Fresh Chicken 26%, organic rice, organic barley, organic oats, organic rice protein, organic fishmeal, organic brown lentils, organic gravy, organic flaxseed, organic whole sunflower seeds, organic sunflower oil, minerals, organic chicken oil, organic carrots...

Lukullus

Ground beef jerky (28%), ground wholegrain rice (26%), dried and ground trout (6%), cold-pressed rapeseed oil (5%), dried seaweed, dried alfalfa, beet pulp, rice germ, dried herbs (3.5%), dried pears (2%), dried apples (2%), ...

Nutrivet

erring (min. 13%), salmon (min. 11%), cod (min. 9%), sardines (min. 9%), potatoes, peas, oils & fats (chicken), (min. 7%), dehydrated mackerel (min. 7%), dehydrated pollock (min. 5%), dehydrated whiting (min. 4%), bass (min. 2%), dehydrated seabream (min. 2%), dehydrated hake (min. 2%), dehydrated chicken (min. 2%), powdered eggs (min. 2%), salmon oil (min. 2%), fish oil (min. 2%)...

Orijen

Fresh chicken (boneless) (22%), dried chicken meat (15%), fresh chicken liver (4%), fresh whole herring (4%), fresh turkey meat (boneless) (4%), dehydrated turkey meat (4%) fresh turkey liver (3%), fresh whole eggs (3%), fresh boneless free Zander (3%), fresh whole salmon (3%), fresh poultry hearts (3%), chicken cartilage (3%), dried herring (3%), dried salmon (3%), poultry liver oil (3%), re

Markus Muhle

Ingredients:
Poultry meat meal (28%), wholegrain corn flour, brown rice meal, game tripe meal (8%), rice germ, game bone meal...

And that's only grabbing a few examples from Zooplus Irish shop which is limited in what it has by comparison; if you can give an idea on what you're willing/can spend for a 15kg bag we can narrow it down a lot easier

marknine wrote: »

I have been feeding him the Earls Aldi food with the last 2-3 months with a small tin of tuna mixed in with it and he likes it only as I can not afford to be feeding him the RC as my circumstances have changed some what and with the Mal joining us it would be just way too much expense.

Same goes for you Marknine, RC is overpriced for what's in it; give us a budget reference on a 15kg bag and lets see (and tuna is not really good due to the heavy metals in the fish).

Rommie

marknine wrote: »

I have been feeding him the Earls Aldi food with the last 2-3 months with a small tin of tuna mixed in with it and he likes it only as I can not afford to be feeding him the RC as my circumstances have changed some what and with the Mal joining us it would be just way too much expense.


I have boxer dog and I buy the Aldi cat food that comes in 12 cans for €5.89 as it is cheaper than the dog food. I mix it with Aldi or Lidl mixer and my dog loves it. It works out way less than a €1 a day to feed him. So its one can of the Aldi catfood plus mixer and he is as happy and healthy as can be.

Please stop feeding cat food to your dog! It can cause havoc with their liver and kidneys as the protein levels in cat food is far higher than dog food due to cats being obligate carnivores. The nutritients will be completely out of balance for a dog. Along with high fat levels which again are bad for him. Even if you can't afford anything other than aldi food, at least put him on the dog one

boomerang

muddypaws wrote: »

I didn't think that any animal that had died of illness or natural causes, couldn't be used in the human food chain at all, so they wouldn't have any bits to cut off that has lesions/infections etc as the animal would be disposed off in a different way?

This is why the premium foods cost more than the value ones, as they use better quality meat, in the 'super premium' foods it is human quality.

It would depend on what the animal died of and if it were localised. For instance if they had liver fluke, they would just jettison the liver. Or if a TB lesion, that'd be cut out but it wouldn't follow that whole animal would be discarded for pet food, AFAIK. After slaughtering, vets check the organs and pass/fail them and the animal. Sick cattle get sent to the factory so they must have some value or the vet would just pts and they'd go to the renderers.

JoannieG

I've a Malamute and a Malamute/GSD cross. They eat Chudley's Working Crunch. €22 for 15kg bag that lasts for 12/13 days. They love it and are thriving on it.

Whispered

I'm feeding a 27kg and a 17kg dog. I looked at the Markus M food and it was going to be my next buy. I had been feeding raw but it was working out very expensive because I wasn't buying in bulk. Once I looked into bulk buying it I've cut costs considerably. I'm feeding my two for 40 - 45 a month raw with veg and potatoes. Might be worth considering.

Theimprover

muddypaws wrote: »

But you're kind of arguing against yourself there, if they are listed in descending order by weight, then the first ingredient is what there is most of in the food. A food that has mostly cereals and filler will not have that much nuritional value to your dog.

Having said that though, it depends who is making the food, and how they find ways to get round EU regulations, as some manufacturers weigh the meat before they take the water out, so it will appear to have a higher meat content than it actually does.

Also, if it just says cereals, and doesn't actually specify what cereal, then how do you know what is in the food, and whether or not they change the cereals with different batches, depending on what is available to them at the time?

I was thinking the same myself while I waited for a reply lol, was'nt thinking when I wrote

Into The Blue

Some really good posts on this thread, that the title wouldn't lead you to.

Would it be an idea to rename it "boards pet food debate"? Or some such?

muddypaws

Into The Blue wrote: »

Some really good posts on this thread, that the title wouldn't lead you to.

Would it be an idea to rename it "boards pet food debate"? Or some such?

Oh there are loads of them on here already.

Into The Blue

muddypaws wrote: »

Oh there are loads of them on here already.

Oh right Ted.

Theimprover

Whispered wrote: »

I'm feeding a 27kg and a 17kg dog. I looked at the Markus M food and it was going to be my next buy. I had been feeding raw but it was working out very expensive because I wasn't buying in bulk. Once I looked into bulk buying it I've cut costs considerably. I'm feeding my two for 40 - 45 a month raw with veg and potatoes. Might be worth considering.

I have considered it and I will do a bit of pricing around when we go do our shopping, my wifes mother was telling us that they be selling off a lot of the meat at certain times in tesco for half nothing but is it not a lot of work preparing raw? I suppose its not as your not cooking it, and would you give raw veg too and boiled potatoes??

Whispered

I get it from a place in clondalkin. I'm not sure if I can mention the name? They also deliver - free over 40 and €5 delivery under 40.

Aldi currently doing 800g chicken legs for €2, tesco 1kg for €2.40. You'd need more variety though which is where the meat place comes in.

To be honest you'd be as well of checking out the raw feeding thread as I'm still relatively new to it. Loads of good advice in it!

justbored

This post has been deleted.

Rommie

justbored wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

A lot of corn and wheat in it as they are far up the list. Surprised to see duck fat being used in there? The main thing for me though is dehydrated 'meats', what meat exactly? If you have a dog who's allergic to a certain type of protein, there's no way of telling if it's in there or not

abutler101

Hi. We are feeding our dog (short legged jrt) with red mills star dry food with sheep/cow offal that I get cheap from a local butchers or raw chicken. We feed about 50/50 food and meat. I'm just wondering if it is ok to feed cheaper food with high cereal content if half his diet is made up of raw meat? thanks

boomerang

I would be wary of feeding too much offal - liver in particular.

Theimprover

Is there a thread on raw feeding? cant find a specific thread

Nody

Theimprover wrote: »

Is there a thread on raw feeding? cant find a specific thread

Enjoy.

glic83

Anyone living around limerick that would be interested in splitting an order of MM, I only have one dog so wouldnt be ordering 2 x 15kg bags , but the price is good when buying two bags.

jopax

Hi, just want to say thanks to all the posts for valuable information. I have a gsd and was feeding her aldi dog food not realising how bad it was.
Am just back from pet shop with leader adullt red mills large mills for her. The earls is going in the bin.
I am so glad to know that know, Id hate to think we were neglecting her.
Thanks again.

muddypaws

jopax wrote: »

Hi, just want to say thanks to all the posts for valuable information. I have a gsd and was feeding her aldi dog food not realising how bad it was.
Am just back from pet shop with leader adullt red mills large mills for her. The earls is going in the bin.
I am so glad to know that know, Id hate to think we were neglecting her.
Thanks again.

Hope you haven't thrown it away just yet Mix the new food in with the old food to start, gradually increasing the new food, and decreasing the old, so that your dog gets used to it without an upset tummy

jopax

muddypaws wrote: »

Hope you haven't thrown it away just yet Mix the new food in with the old food to start, gradually increasing the new food, and decreasing the old, so that your dog gets used to it without an upset tummy

Thanks for that muddypaws, will do!

Theimprover

Mods any chance of making this thread sticky or at least change the title, lot of good info on here.

DBB

There are loads of dog food threads here that using the search function will find, simply loads of them, several appear every week.
We've also been told we need to reduce the number of stickies we already have, and meanwhile get regular requests to sticky threads on other subjects too.
So, I'm afraid the search function will have to do for now

Into The Blue

Consolidate all existing/future food threads into a megathread?
I'm getting a card for off topic posting, amn't I?

Theimprover

Into The Blue wrote: »

Consolidate all existing/future food threads into a megathread?
I'm getting a card for off topic posting, amn't I?

Exactly, Surley it makes perfect sense to consolidate them all into one, I see someone else started a new thread about dog food, it's a no brainer imo.

DBB

Into The Blue wrote: »

Consolidate all existing/future food threads into a megathread?
I'm getting a card for off topic posting, amn't I?

No, you're not. No need for any drama.
There are so many food threads, and I really mean there are dozens, if not hundreds of them, combining them would be an unholy mess.
There have even been attempts to start megathreads from scratch, and we might look into this again, but again they, and all the spin-offs from them, tend to turn into a huge mess that users who want to find out right now what food to get for their dog, don't seem to always want to read, so they start another one. Then we end up with a lot of disjointed threads to join together, and we're back to square one.
So it seems to me that the search function will serve the same purpose.
Now let's get back on topic.

Into The Blue

DBB wrote: »

No, you're not. No need for any drama.

Forgot the :pacman: face!!
Cheers.

DBB

Theimprover wrote: »

Exactly, Surley it makes perfect sense to consolidate them all into one, I see someone else started a new thread about dog food, it's a no brainer imo.

And you started this thread despite the fact that what you wanted to know has been posted about in big food threads here before!
The fact that you didn't realise there was a raw feeding "megathread" suggests to me that you didn't use the search function, so didn't find the megathread, or wouldn't have found a dry-feeding megathread, and didn't find the vast number of other food threads, so you started your own thread.
Which pretty much proves the point I'm trying to make!

spongebob89

Just wondering what the difference is with the Markus Muhle naturNah and the senior

The naturNah has 25% protein which is more than the senior which has 22%
and the same fat 10% and the naturNah is €10 cheaper!

I have an overweight 10yo staffy that needs to loose a few kg and Markus Muhle best fits my budget but I'm wondering is the senior thing just a gimmick because the naturNah is cheaper and has more protein content. Which one should I buy ???