Looking for cheaper dog food suggestions

thetope

Cannot recommend CSJ highly enough http://csjk9.com/ Prices range from about £12 for a 15kg bag to £20-odd and they will also deliver. If you email them they will give you tailored advice on which type might suit your dog best and will also send you some free samples to try too. I live in northern ireland and even with the delivery surcharge to NI it still works out very reasonable and our three dogs are absolutely thriving on it and bursting with health.

killywillykaz

Hi folks,
Would just like to add Nutrix Petfoods into the mix - not as good as the really premium ones (ie. Orijen, Acana) but do have a totally grain free variety available, which I prefer to feed my 4 on. Their prices are very reasonable, and their customer service and delivery is always excellent as well
Just as a rough rule of thumb, I was always told to check that the first 2 out of 3 ingredients listed on dog food should be a good quality protein source - very interesting to see how many so-called premium petfoods have cereal listed as the first ingredient!

Hintza

thetope wrote: »

Cannot recommend CSJ highly enough

Looks interesting thanks.

OnAndUp

Also on VetUK you only have to spend £19 for free P&P on food purchases at the mo - usually £39.

CSJ is good too although best if you have a local supplier cost wise.

SarahLou

FAO Rev:

Irrespecive of what the reviews say, Dr Johns and Supadog are fine for our dogs - one of ours has a delicate stomach and can react badly towards other foods but is fine with either of those. (Chicken varieties only).

Many foods (including the big-brand names) will say "Chicken" (for example) but when you look at the ingredients it just states "Meat Derivatives" (unless they state 100% chicken or free from any red meat, you can't be sure if the food has ever even seen a chicken!)

Just something to consider - in the case of our collie, anything but chicken and she has deli-belly!

Protein content is ridiculously high in many foods (for your average pet dogs, you really don't need to go over 20% - in fact 16-18% is recommended by the majority of vets and pet nutritionists). For working dogs or pregnant !!!!!es then obviously this has to increase. The likes of Bakers tend to be way up at the 22%-ish range. And are full of artificial colourings.

Rev

SarahLou wrote: »

FAO Rev:

Irrespecive of what the reviews say, Dr Johns and Supadog are fine for our dogs - one of ours has a delicate stomach and can react badly towards other foods but is fine with either of those. (Chicken varieties only).

Many foods (including the big-brand names) will say "Chicken" (for example) but when you look at the ingredients it just states "Meat Derivatives" (unless they state 100% chicken or free from any red meat, you can't be sure if the food has ever even seen a chicken!)

Just something to consider - in the case of our collie, anything but chicken and she has deli-belly!

Protein content is ridiculously high in many foods (for your average pet dogs, you really don't need to go over 20% - in fact 16-18% is recommended by the majority of vets and pet nutritionists). For working dogs or pregnant !!!!!es then obviously this has to increase. The likes of Bakers tend to be way up at the 22%-ish range. And are full of artificial colourings.

Sorry, don't mistake, if Dr Johns is good for your dogs, then great. But the ingredients speak for themselves.

Cereals, meat & animal derivatives, minerals, oils & fats. With EEC permitted antioxidants.

The first, and therefore main ingredient is cereals, doesn't say which, so it'll obviously be the cheapest they can find at the time of making. And the only meat content is meat and animal derivatives, and as you pointed out, god alone knows what that is. So you're basically buying a bag of unknown cereal flavoured by god knows what bits of 'meat'. Not something I'd want to spend my hard earned cash on.

Protein is dependant on the source. If it's from a good source, IE meat, then the dog will be fine. Orijen is widely considered the best dog kibble available (I have spoke to several nutritionalists who also think this) and the protein in that is 40% plus. If it's from cereals etc then it will be a concern as the dogs digestive system will convert that to sugar and become hyper. Dogs on a raw diet are known to be calmer and the protein levels will be much higher with that. But the protein is from a source the dog can use and digest properly.

Same goes for supadog really

Wheat, Chicken Meal (14%), Wheat Feed, Poultry Fat, Hydrogenated Chicken Liver (Gravy min 2%), Peas, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Preservative Potassium Sorbate, Coloured with Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine, Ponceau 4R, Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Patent Blue V

Wheat is a known allergen to dogs, and not something you want to be the main ingredient in your dogs food. Better meat content that Dr. Johns. But then more wheat, and added salt? Why?

Like I said, all just my opinion based on two years worth of research I've had to do to find out what's upsetting my dogs tum. Speaking to various nutritionists etc.

Rev

killywillykaz wrote: »

Hi folks,
Would just like to add Nutrix Petfoods into the mix - not as good as the really premium ones (ie. Orijen, Acana) but do have a totally grain free variety available, which I prefer to feed my 4 on. Their prices are very reasonable, and their customer service and delivery is always excellent as well
Just as a rough rule of thumb, I was always told to check that the first 2 out of 3 ingredients listed on dog food should be a good quality protein source - very interesting to see how many so-called premium petfoods have cereal listed as the first ingredient!

Just looked at these as my boy is rice intolerant so always looking for grain free food.

Some of them look good, but some are deceptive. They use fresh meat. Which in dehydrated dog food isn't a good thing. They state the content before dehydration, once the moisture has been removed you're looking at about 3% meat content. And in the duck, the fresh meat is the only meat source, so the food will, in total, have about 3% meat content. Not good at all. The salmon grain free seems a little better but it doesn't state the % of salmon meal.

You want meat meal (not meat and animal derivatives), which is the meat after it's had the moisture removed and so will give a true representation of how much meat is in the food.

The others look okay though, the ones that use meat meal. Or have meat meal AND fresh meat. But given that those come in 12kg bags, not 15kg, it makes it a little expensive, but doesn't look a bad food at all.

Arden Grange lamb and rice is about £28 per 15kg and is a little better than the above IMO.

I have just decided to try mine on Simpsons, about the same price as the above, but the grain free has a higher meat content. So defo worth a look if you want grain free.

Rev

thetope wrote: »

Cannot recommend CSJ highly enough http://csjk9.com/ Prices range from about £12 for a 15kg bag to £20-odd and they will also deliver. If you email them they will give you tailored advice on which type might suit your dog best and will also send you some free samples to try too. I live in northern ireland and even with the delivery surcharge to NI it still works out very reasonable and our three dogs are absolutely thriving on it and bursting with health.

I've heard good things about the CSJ herbie nuts. For the price, looks okay. I never tried it because the postage they charge meant I'd be paying almost as much for it to be delivered as I would be for the food itself. But if you have a local stockist I'd say it's worth a look.

Kinski

Rev wrote: »

Sorry, don't mistake, if Dr Johns is good for your dogs, then great. But the ingredients speak for themselves.

The first, and therefore main ingredient is cereals, doesn't say which, so it'll obviously be the cheapest they can find at the time of making. And the only meat content is meat and animal derivatives, and as you pointed out, god alone knows what that is. So you're basically buying a bag of unknown cereal flavoured by god knows what bits of 'meat'. Not something I'd want to spend my hard earned cash on.

Protein is dependant on the source. If it's from a good source, IE meat, then the dog will be fine. Orijen is widely considered the best dog kibble available (I have spoke to several nutritionalists who also think this) and the protein in that is 40% plus. If it's from cereals etc then it will be a concern as the dogs digestive system will convert that to sugar and become hyper. Dogs on a raw diet are known to be calmer and the protein levels will be much higher with that. But the protein is from a source the dog can use and digest properly.

Same goes for supadog really



Wheat is a known allergen to dogs, and not something you want to be the main ingredient in your dogs food. Better meat content that Dr. Johns. But then more wheat, and added salt? Why?

Like I said, all just my opinion based on two years worth of research I've had to do to find out what's upsetting my dogs tum. Speaking to various nutritionists etc.

Well said, I feed one of my shelties on Orijen which is a fantastic food and actually works out less expensive to feed than some of the cheaper foods, my other sheltie has kidney failure and is on a special diet that is a right load of old crap. The likes of Dr. Johns what ever colour it is is something I would never feed my dogs it really is a very bad food. The one thing you missed out Rev is the eec permitted antioxidants, they might well be bha and bht which a lot of experts believe can cause cancer, they are banned in human food but the pet food industry is still allowed to use them unfortunately.

Rev

Kinski wrote: »

Well said, I feed one of my shelties on Orijen which is a fantastic food and actually works out less expensive to feed than some of the cheaper foods, my other sheltie has kidney failure and is on a special diet that is a right load of old crap. The likes of Dr. Johns what ever colour it is is something I would never feed my dogs it really is a very bad food. The one thing you missed out Rev is the eec permitted antioxidants, they might well be bha and bht which a lot of experts believe can cause cancer, they are banned in human food but the pet food industry is still allowed to use them unfortunately.

Orijen didn't suit my two. One became a huge scavenger the other lost a lot of weight, but when I upped his intake, he got the runs. It's all about the individual dog. But I will always try to keep them on good food.

I currently feed wainwrights wet, it has about 5% rice, which my older dog seems to manage. Anything more, including prescription diets, burns, chappie (crap I know, but good for sensitive tums- for some reason) goes right through him. Hence me looking for a grain free kibble.