Puppy Food

pawsies

You really need to look at your own dog and do a bit of trial and error. Mine have been on Tesco value before (and loved it!), no problems or differences as to when they were on orijen (which they did prefer, mostly because it has more meat content).

However we can't tell you don't feed this or that because every dog is an individual and so is different

faded_flowers

Wheat, Meat Meal, Wheatfeed, Chicken Meat Meal (min 10% in chicken kibble), Maize Gluten, Poultry Fat, Maize, Digest, Peas (min 4% in pea kibble), Linseed, Lucerne, Beet Pulp, Minerals, Yeast (0.08%), Citrus Extract (0.03%) & Yucca Extract (0.01%)

- 'Meat meal' means you will be getting whatever meat is cheapest at time of production, so your dogs diet will change from bag to bag. Notice also that the 'chicken meal' is only in 'chicken kibble', so only a portion of the actual whole meal.

I don't even know what 'wheatfeed' is, though google seems to suggest a waste by-product of making flour. Tasty...

Personally I'd be looking for a food with meat as the first ingredient, and a stated meat that means the recipe won't change between bags. Consistent diet usually equals a happy tum, and good quality meat is more easily digested. The better foods will have more like 20% + meat content.

Dollardog

I took my friend to fetch a poodle pupaout 18 months ago now. When we fetched her, she was being fed Asda adult dog food and her stomach seemed very bloated, she looked like a barrel. She went to the vets for a check up and the vet was horrified at what she had been fed on. She was recommended at the time to change to James Wellbeloved although as spmeone has said earlier, they have now been taken over by Pedigree so its probably not as good as it used to be. She had been left with a very sensitive tummy due to the bad feeding while she was so young and lots of things tend to make her sick.
Personally, I would never feed a dog with Bakers due to all the colouring, cereals and additives.
I feed my dog with Arden Grange and he does very well on it.

Rev

Yes dogs eat the whole animal given the chance but that includes the good stuff and the bad stuff. The real meat, offal and the crap parts.

They also don't eat cereal.

Bad food has just the crap parts, which is why it's bad. There's nothing good in there to make up for the nasties. Plus it's bulked up by cereals. And anyone who thinks its fine to feed a dog beak flavoured maize every day needs their head checking.

It's not about price, it's about quality. Skinners puppy goof or adult food (the salmon and rice or duck and rice) are great budget foods. Pure foods too, just rice, peas and meat. No maize, no beaks, no bums.

There's plenty of quality budget foods around.

redrufus

I personally always recommend that people feed a higher quality food when your dog is a puppy and growing. One thing you would notice if you swapped from wagg would be the amount of waste you would be picking up out of your house or garden, a food like Arden Grange or skinners as previuosly mentioned, contains more digestable goodness therefore less waste! What breed is your puppy? You will probably find with these foods too that you actually need to feed less than you you do the wagg so it won't work out that much dearer.
I also think a better value food whilst the dog is young is easier on the dogs sensitive digestive system and may also help with toilet training with the dog not needing to excrete so much waste.
Good luck with your puppy

nonnatus

I echo all the others!

Bakers and Wagg full of rubbish and E numbers that produce lots of Poo and very hyperactive hounds.

Spend a little more money on something "mid-range" like Burns Puppy food and the difference is staggering. Puppy calms down, is able to focus on tasks and produces small, solid Poo's that don't stink the house out.

I know which I prefer, but it's your choice OP. The cheaper stuff won't KILL your dog, but the expensive stuff makes him much more pleasant to live with

roxalana

Can I hijack this thread?

We are now the proud owners of an 11 week old Jack Russell chihuahua cross! We rehomed him off a young family who had underestimated how much work a puppy is and we didn't know he was a cross at first as he looks entirely JRT.

He is my first dog and I want to make sure we are feeding him well for his health and happiness, but I also don't want to bankcrupt ourselves.

We inherited his food from his previous owners and he seems to be doing well on it (Royal Canin Junior) but I'm guessing it is quite expensive as the previous owners seem to have been talked into alot at Pets at Home...

I'm not aware of any particular sensitivities and I've read this thread and others like it but I'm still abit lost!

I can see Skinners and Burns foods get a lot of votes, and some people like Wainwrights. My dog book suggests starting dogs on a chicken and corn diet before trying lamb and rice and other variations but I'm really struggling to compare. When we initally looked at getting a dog ages ago I know James Wellbeloved was getting a lot of votes but I understand people don't really think the changes are good?

I want to stick to dry food (not wet or raw) and I want him to be healthy, happy and not turn into a no.2 factory or be stinky.

I know everyone will have an opinion, but could someone let me know where Royal Canin fits in for price and quality compared to the others and if it is a super pricey one, let us know what would be cheaper without compromising too much on quality?

sunflower_2

roxalana wrote: »

I know everyone will have an opinion, but could someone let me know where Royal Canin fits in for price and quality compared to the others and if it is a super pricey one, let us know what would be cheaper without compromising too much on quality?

i use royal canin giant junior for my dogue de bordeaux. it was recommended by the vet when he was a puppy as we were feeding him bakers :eek:

there are a lot of bad reviews about royal canin to be honest - most saying it isnt worth the price tag and isnt full of fantastic ingredients.
but my dogue seems happy with it so i will stick with it.

pets at home often do special offers (3 for 2 on the 5kg £19.99 bags) or a huge 15kg bag for £43 (usually £55ish).
i tend to stock up when they have the offer - or order online from another supplier at approx £43 for the large sack.

15kg will last me about 3 weeks - yours will obv last a lot, lot longer

Kinski

It's a false economy to buy a cheaper food, the ingredients of the likes of Orijen are better than most of the commercial foods, you feed less of it than you would a cheaper food so it works out cheaper to feed a good quality food. I know it's expensive to buy initially but if you can afford it it's worth getting. With a raw diet there is absolutely no smell from my dogs and what comes out of the other end is very very small as the dogs body is using most of what's going into it so there is hardly any waste and what there is doesn't smell that much. The only problem with raw is that you need a good bit of freezer space if your buying it ready prepared from a company which is what I do.

elsien

I'm still happy using JWB. Mutt gets colitis, so although I could possibly get another good food cheaper (they do seem to have gone up a bit of late), it suits her and I'm working on the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" theory.
I'd be curious to know whether the ingredients really have changed, or whether people have now just got a downer on it just because it's pedigree. Either way mutt's still scoffing it and is happy and healthy, so we're sticking with it.