Gain Dog Food?

SullDog

Hi Guys! I'm posting here for the first time to ask if anyone has had any experience with 'Gain Elite LifeSize - Big Dogs Puppy' food. I have an 8 month Bull Lurcher and am looking to start feeding him a good quality dog food. I was recommended Gain by my local pet shop but just thought I'd ask around to get opinions.

Just for your information the ingredients are:

Dried Chicken & Turkey (min 27%), Rice (20%), Wholegrain Maize, Dehulled Oats, Poultry Fat, Maize Gluten, Sugar Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Fish Meal, Egg, Linssed, Fish Oil, Sodium Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides (0.3%), TruCal Milk Mineral Complex, Glucosamine HCI (300mg/kg), Methylsulphonylmethane (300mg/kg MSM), Products from processing plants

Nutritional Information

Crude Protein 27%, Crude Oils & Fats 14%, Crude Fibre 2.5%, Crude Ash 7.9%, Calcium 1.5%, Phosphorus 1.1%, Omega-3 Fats 0.8% and Omega-6 Fats 3.8%.

bluejelly

Hi OP, I have a 9 month old lab pup and used to feed her Gain Elite big dog puppy nuts (can't remember if 'lifesize' was in the name). She did really well on it. I recently moved her onto gain elite for larger dogs, based on info I read on this forum about when to move from puppy nuts. Both my dogs are doing really well on gain elite if that's any help.

thehouses

Gain Elite Lifesize is excellent in my opinion (€30 deals are often available for 15KG bags especially if you negotiate). I am not convinced that the dearer alternatives are better to be honest.

It might be worth considering raw dog food, many argue that it is a more natural alternative to processed dog food. Have a look at dogsfirst.ie and slaneypetfoods.ie if you like. You can get these foods frozen and thaw them out for the next day. My local vet is not convinced on raw food, but opinions can change with time of course as new information comes to light.

All three of the above are produced in Ireland which is a plus for me!

SullDog

First off thanks for the replies! From the information in your replies and from what I could find online Gain Elite seems to tick all the boxes. My little chap is a rescue dog and was originally fed Tesco Complete Dry Food (not that its done him any harm) but I want to wean him onto something more high quality while he's still a pup.

thehouses I'll definitely look into raw food over time but as with your local vet mine is also not 100% on board with the feeding of raw food. When mentioned I was told the bacteria in the raw meat could pose health risks to both me and my dog and that my pups teeth could get damaged or could potentially choke on a stray bone.

As for the Gain Elite, being produced in Ireland was one of the plus sides to my interest in it as I try as much as I can to support Irish produce whenever I can! Also at the moment petshoponline.ie has 20% off all Gain Dog Foods so I think I'll try him on it and see how he gets on!

Nody

SullDog wrote: »

thehouses I'll definitely look into raw food over time but as with your local vet mine is also not 100% on board with the feeding of raw food. When mentioned I was told the bacteria in the raw meat could pose health risks to both me and my dog and that my pups teeth could get damaged or could potentially choke on a stray bone.

Get a new vet because your vet appears to be quite clueless (at least in regards to food). First of all raw feeding is more healthy and leads to healthier dogs than any artificial (and all kibble is very much artificial) feeding (this includes avoiding allergies developed from the kibble dust and the allergens in it such as wheat etc. to being able to target exactly how much fat they get etc.). Secondly in regards to choking it's also possible with kibble and with dogs esp. you want them to eat bones (i.e. raw chicken wings/legs depending on their size etc., never ever cooked!) to help keep their teeth cleaned AND to keep their anal glands empty. The choking hazard comes with them not chewing them up properly (and if you serve bones they should always be supervised for it anyway).

Finally the most common scaremongering relates to salmonella (feeding raw eggs/chicken) yet all the known cases of it has come from kibble (that's right, salmonella from feeding kibble not the other way around!). Of course the fact you're dealing with raw meat means you need to be sanitary about it (i.e. meat should be kept cool, areas to be kept clean etc.) but that's no different than how you'd handle your own meat! I could go on but honestly there's several threads on the topic in this forum alone to get you all the information you need.

thehouses

I won’t be going as far as getting a new vet anyway! My vet is extremely knowledgeable and is perhaps just not convinced at this point in time about the raw diet. (No need to jump to conclusions unfairly!).

For almost everything else you have written I agree with (salmonella being the exception - see Pete's video below). I was just about to post a reply to the OP along the lines of on reflection I would challenge some of the rationale against raw food presented by both our vets. I can't see raw food posing a threat to people and one of the sellers I mentioned uses human grade ingredients. Dogs seem to be more resistant than people to bacteria and bones should be okay for them as long as they are not cooked from what I can see. In fact proponents of raw food argue that this type of diet aids dental hygiene!

It is up to each of us to consider the facts fairly and get plenty of advice to see what is the best way to go. Pete the vet spoke about this topic on his show 13 months ago if you want more information:

http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am_video.php?locID=1.65.74&video=75428

borderlinemeath

Most vets don't really give too much regard to nutrition. The majority of the training they get is from the sales reps of the brands they sell in their surgery. In fact, most veterinary courses are sponsored by the major commercial food companies so they indoctrine vets from the get go and while there is debate as to whether raw/fresh feeding is better, the dry food companies will do their best to scaremonger their customers and clients into thinking that it's a very dangerous thing to do, because of cross contamination or choking on bones * etc while the biggest risk IMO would be if somebody didn't do proper research and didn't balance the diet or included too much of one ingredient.

* Dogs (or cats) can choke on anything, be it a bone, a stick, a ball, or even kibble if it went down the wrong way. There's a risk with everything, not just bones.

As far as Gain goes, I personally don't like it. The portion sizes are quite big so in turn the poos are big, and I've yet to pick up a gain poo that didn't stink to high heaven and they wouldn't be the most solid either! I've picked up a LOT of poos of various different brands and I inwardly groan when I see a dog coming with a bag of gain!

I have to say it's quite ironic listening to Pete the vet in one breath recommend denta sticks as part of a meal and in the next talk about obesity being the biggest problem for pets. They're one of the most fat laden, full of shiite treats on the market!

tk123

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I have to say it's quite ironic listening to Pete the vet in one breath recommend denta sticks as part of a meal and in the next talk about obesity being the biggest problem for pets. They're one of the most fat laden, full of shiite treats on the market!

Isn't that spot sponsored by Pedigree though? I remember my mum telling me about that clip saying even she knew it was a load of rubbish lol! Why didn't he have some 'high quality diets' there with him instead of overpriced low grade foods?

borderlinemeath

tk123 wrote: »

Isn't that spot sponsored by Pedigree though? I remember my mum telling me about that clip saying even she knew it was a load of rubbish lol! Why didn't he have some 'high quality diets' there with him instead of overpriced low grade foods?

Dunno, I never watch breakfast TV! And in particular I'd never watch anything with Mark Cagney, he always comes across as a bit slimy and smug to me, I could never warm to him!

thehouses

I don't think too much of the Pedigree Dentastix or their food for that matter either! So that is a good thing you noticed in the ad! But in fairness to him he was only recommending them as a small part of the diet if you use them (less than 10% if I remember correctly). Rawhide chews seem to work better on teeth as some dogs gobble down the Dentastix in a few bites.

Knine

I'm not a fan of rawhide either. It can cause blockages & last week a young lady almost lost her Border Terrier from bloat after eating one. Bloat is not just confined to large breeds.

Give me a nylabone any day even if they are a lot more expensive.

Gael23

Our dog used to love Dentasticks as a treat, he saw them as an edible toy most of the time!
I personally am not a fan of raw but everyone has there own opinions on it. I don't think an ordinary household can have the facilities to do it and it can work out considerably more expensive.

On Gain Elite, I think its a middle of the road food, better than the likes of Pedigree/Bakers but not as good as Burns/JWB and so on. Having said that it gets a decent bit of praise on here and it comes at an affordable price too. My only criticism is that the feeding amounts are just as much as Pedigree.
We fed Pedigree last time and he lived to 15 on it and when its time to get another Gain is certainly one we'll be looking at.

Knine

Gael23 wrote: »

Our dog used to love Dentasticks as a treat, he saw them as an edible toy most of the time!
I personally am not a fan of raw but everyone has there own opinions on it. I don't think an ordinary household can have the facilities to do it and it can work out considerably more expensive.

On Gain Elite, I think its a middle of the road food, better than the likes of Pedigree/Bakers but not as good as Burns/JWB and so on. Having said that it gets a decent bit of praise on here and it comes at an affordable price too. My only criticism is that the feeding amounts are just as much as Pedigree.
We fed Pedigree last time and he lived to 15 on it and when its time to get another Gain is certainly one we'll be looking at.

Burns is not that great for the price. If I had stuck to the feeding guidelines my dogs would have ribs showing. I don't use any of the guidelines & never have. I go by the condition on the dog. I increase or decrease the food as needed. I have used Gain & did not have to feed any more of it then Burns or JWB etc. I found it a really good food.

I feed a lot of raw food & don't have any special equipment.

Gael23

Knine wrote: »

Burns is not that great for the price. If I had stuck to the feeding guidelines my dogs would have ribs showing. I don't use any of the guidelines & never have. I go by the condition on the dog. I increase or decrease the food as needed. I have used Gain & did not have to feed any more of it then Burns or JWB etc. I found it a really good food.

I feed a lot of raw food & don't have any special equipment.

People do say that about Burns, that its full of rice and not a whole lot of meat.
Im just going by the feeding guidelines on the bags but maybe i reality its different. We never went by feeding amounts that much either, we just gave heim what we felt he needed. The protein content in Gain seems to be quite a bit higher than many other foods, 29% for Puppies and 25 for adults but I don know enough about it to know if thats either good or bad.
It is a very affordable food having said that. Whats it like in terms of quality? The ingredients seem ok.

Knine

We have one large dog among our gang & took ages to find a food to suit him. He is fed only Gain & is a top winning showdog with a coat to match! So the quality is really good.

Gael23

Knine wrote: »

We have one large dog among our gang & took ages to find a food to suit him. He is fed only Gain & is a top winning showdog with a coat to match! So the quality is really good.

Sounds good alright, its one i'll be considering when its time to get another dog. I do think the protein content is on the high side in the small dog version though

tk123

Gael23 wrote: »

Sounds good alright, its one i'll be considering when its time to get another dog. I do think the protein content is on the high side in the small dog version though

Why are you worried about protein levels - do you think it'll cause problems?

Gael23

tk123 wrote: »

Why are you worried about protein levels - do you think it'll cause problems?

I'd just be a bit concerned that it would cause dogs to grow too quickly but maybe I'm wrong

Knine

My large breed pups get adult food as I find they grow slower & mature nicer. It is very important they don't grow too fast as I don't want lanky adults. Even the Borders are moved onto adult fairly young.

Gael23

Knine wrote: »

My large breed pups get adult food as I find they grow slower & mature nicer. It is very important they don't grow too fast as I don't want lanky adults. Even the Borders are moved onto adult fairly young.

Some people say puppy food isn't needed at all. I don't entirely agree with that but maybe its not needed as long as the manufacturers suggest, which is generally 9-12 months. I think smaller kibble sizes are probably best for the first couple of months, although maybe thats not the case for large breeds. Ive had a quick look at other foods and with the exception of Burns, the all seem to be 27-30% so maybe thats what young pups need.

tk123

You need to look at the source of the protein and forget the percentages - i.e. is the protein coming from a good quality meat source or other ingredients like cereals/crappy fillers. My friend is planning on switching her ever allergic dog to GAIN because she was told he needs a 'low protein diet' for his allergies and he's to have no meat at all. So rather than give him a clean diet with good quality cereal free diet of which there are tons of dry foods readily available she's going to pack him full of rice and maize = allergy central. Protein percentages are imo the old fashioned way to - things have moved on and there's a wealth of information available from impartial websites as apposed to purina and co. As a side over the last few weeks I've stopped feeding rice in my dogs meals (i used to mix a hanful in to their 2-3kgs of veg mix) and Lucy's mucky ear has cleared up - this week I banned it from treats and threw out their bag of Markus Muhle to replace it with Champion grain free from dogfooddirect.

Gael23

Cereal free is quite expensive and would be more than we could spend but ideally it is probably the best option. Markus Mheule looks like a good one too but I think thats only suitable for adult dogs. Our dog always loved rice, whenever he was sick we would give him boiled chicken and rice, or maybe just rice on its own with some sort of gravy/sauce for flavour. In fact that was one of the last meals he had before he died

tk123

The cereal free ones have come down in price - the champion one I have is €10 more a bag than Gain for example. I could have gotten cheaper ones again online but I got a notion to throw the MM out so got the champion one the next day lol Lucy tried to jump up and pull it down off the counter and she wouldn't really be that food motivated so it must smell tasty to them :pac: Also bear in mind your new dog mightn't take to the same things your old dog did so you're best to have a shortlist of foods - hopefully you won't need it(!)

andreac

Yes champion do a grain and cereal free food for less than 50 euro so depending on size of your dog it could last over a month which isn't too dear when you think about it.
One of my rotts has been switched to a raw diet with a back up of the champion grain free high meat 50% content dry when we might not have enough raw or if we are staying over somewhere else like kennels etc.
Seeing a big improvement already.