Best food/diet for a German Shepherd

tankgirl1

Hi there

I must admit that I haven't read the whole thread

However, GSD's can be very prone to irritable bowel disease, so I think your choice of diet is v important. James Well Beloved do an excellent range, including a large breed dry food, and they are all hypoallergenic.

In an ideal world this is what I would recommend to clients, but of course cost is always an issue. A low cost alternative is Chappie - a bloody brilliant food, and vastly underated! However, as a GSD owner, you may have to be prepared to fork out for a hypoallergenic diet in the future.

As others have said - please steer clear of Bakers, Pedigree Chum etc!

I hope that helps!

booter

Hello OP - just spotted the thread. My first GSD was fed on a mix of chicken and wet tinned with mixer and this mostly suited her fine although she was sometimes prone to cysts (vet said from too rich a diet!) Although she was a bit of a thief and would sneak steal butter or defrosting meat from the kitchen surfaces at night occasionally! My 2nd GSD was trickier. She started on Eukanuba but this didn't agree with her. We tried a variety of dried foods, and in the end, Chappie complete suited her (for around 6 years). Then after recurring bouts of cystitis, and then a twisted gut (which she miraculously survived!) the vet advised us to feed her wet food only. As she also had IBS, he told us the best for for her would be Chappie tinned, mixed with a little bran. So, in a way, she paid us back for the vet's bills - no expensive food for her! Because of the stomach problems, we had to feed her little and often, usually 3 or 4 times a day and we had to be very careful she didn't overeat because of her stomach and so she didn't put on weight (hips and arthritis!) However, the vet said little and often suits most dogs.

On another note, please be aware of GSD Myelopathy - I don't want to be a scare monger, and it doesn't happen to all dogs, but this disease hit my beautiful girl hard and I'd never heard of it. Both myself and the vet assumed it was the arthritis. I now tell all GSD owners I come across about this - sorry if I sound preachy, but please Google it just to make yourself aware. Enjoy your GSD and make happy memories!

Wannabedebtfree

Good morning,

I've just spotted the thread. I have two 5yo GSD's and feed them Wagg Dry and Sainsburys wet food in jelly, or Butchers (except the tripe mix which goes through them!).

I've tried several types of food over the 5 years and they seem to go for the above more than anything else.

They have snouts for treats, and have a dentastik to go to bed with!

With these two they'll have chicken, beef, tomatos, cabbage, and have been known to sneak the odd tomato, strawberry and runner bean off the plants - sometimes I think they're vegetarian...

Personally, I think if the dog enjoys a particular brand, let them have it, there is no point telling the dog that you've spent x so it must be good and they must eat it, if they don't like it, they won't eat it.

undaunted

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds wrote: »

So for nutritional purposes should I look at feeding her just a dry complete food or is the mix of wet and dry that I give her ok?

Although I can't afford to spend a fortune on food, I would rather buy her something decent to eat than be feeding her rubbish

I had a look online to try and find the best/worst dog foods but it seems that the most readily available and widely known brands are the worst?

We tend to go to Tesco or Pets at Home for food as they are local, so it would be handy if any food recommended was available there.

Again everyone has an opinion - some believe it unneceessary or that feeding completely dry (even if only say once per week) is good for the teeth. Personally I'd rather give a bone & mix in chicken or other meats, liver, kidney etc with complete foods as I wouldn't want to eat dried food all of the time.

At the cheaper end of the market you have the likes of

Dr Johns Gold & Vitalin Active (extruded kibble) with a higher % meat than many. Chappie is said to be good for sensitive stomachs & has a reasonable meat / fish content

Wagg is perhaps likely to be available in both stores, low in artificial additives but doesn't have so much meat. Harringtons is their "posher food", ie a better meat contents etc / more expensive

The likes of Burgess supadog (about 14% meat), skinners, Wafcol etc will sit in between pricewise. Pets at home also do their own brand stuff - some with a good meat content

At a higher price range the likes of Burns, James well Beloved, Royal Canin etc.

Butchers do a good meat & tripe content range in tinned products (but read tins carefully as they also do a more recent lower meat content range). The nearer the front an ingredient is listed the more of it there is (hence whilst there are use for & cereals in a dogs natural diet - from stomach contents of other animals - foods with cereals as the first ingredient are less desirable)

I prefer a better meat content product but don't necessarily be fooled meat is meat, but animal derivatives is basically anything you can't eat!

Some other peoples views here http://www.pet-food-choice.co.uk/pet_food_review.htm

Zooxanthelle

Just thought you might like to know the people who invented Arden Grange actually breed GSD too, Needless to say all their dogs are on it and seem to be in lovely condition.