Canagan Dog Food

pulliptears

I feed my Scottie Canagan, and the late Westie and Scottie before him were also changed to this from Arden Grange.

Personally Murphy loves it, he's energetic, his coat is beautiful soft and shiny, poo's nice and firm etc I chop and change him between the flavours so he doesn't get as bored with the same thing.
I've persuaded my Mum to go over to it from Royal Canin and her Shih Tzu is thriving on it as well.

dawnie1972

thank you all - sent off for a trial bag of Fish 4 Dogs to see how they get on with that (as its slightly cheaper and I can buy it locally).
Pulliptears - great to hear from you - how are you? Still miss my little man every day - been 10 months now :-(

pulliptears

dawnie1972 wrote: »

thank you all - sent off for a trial bag of Fish 4 Dogs to see how they get on with that (as its slightly cheaper and I can buy it locally).
Pulliptears - great to hear from you - how are you? Still miss my little man every day - been 10 months now :-(

If you message Canagan they will send you trials as well

I'm ok thanks. I lost Bob the Westie very suddenly in November last year. He was coming up for 14 but had been reasonably healthy. It transpired he'd got several tumours and his body just stopped working. We were devastated, especially as it was less than 2 years since we'd lost Jack the Scott as well.
After initially saying 'thats it no more' I did come around and we collected Murphy the scottie the day before Christmas Eve.

Murphy seems to be a mix of both Bob and Jack. As mad as Jack was but as laid back as Bob at times. He's a lovely little thing and I'm so pleased I relented because he's filled a huge hole in our lives. I still miss my boys like mad too, don't think you ever forget them.

Here's Murph looking very unimpressed with his Star Wars hoodie I had to have sent specially from the USA for him

dawnie1972

Awww he's lovely. I've had a couple of "near misses" where I've nearly added to the family - just after Milo passed I went to a local rescue that I know the owner of, and as I drove into the car park there sat at the kennel gates was a tan staffi puppy, we had lots of cuddles but I sensibly came away to think about it and decided against it. And then I recently saw a dog on a facebook group (in a rescue), tan staffi, called Milo, had been in the pound, has a bad scar across the top of his head where they believe he's been hit with a large sharp object, and apparently he's like an autistic child, he will be the eternal puppy as he cannot retain information (possibly due to the head injury). Still pondering that one (the rescue will wait as long as it takes for the right home).

YORKSHIRELASS

Aww, thats one cute doggie.

Just going back to the original question - my terrier suffers with quite a severe pollen allergy. We have tried absolutely everything since we got him 3 years ago: food supplements, hayfever tablets, creams, shampoos, oils, even locally produced honey. We rub him down after every walk to get rid of the pollen and wash his bedding regularly. We have never tried Canagan but have tried other foods that are supposed to be beneficial for allergies.

Nothing works, except keeping him inside which is tough when you are a little terrier who loves to be out and about. When its really bad we have to limit the time he spends in the garden and walk him on a farm track trying to keep his contact with grass to a minimum. We find Johnsons Skin Eze Cream is the only one that soothes his skin and you can apply this liberally without doing him any harm.

Our vet was great and said we could spend a fortune having tests done and it might may no difference. She said with some dogs you just have to find a way to manage it as best you can. He had steroids once early on but they really didnt agree with him and thats not a solution long term.

Its horrible and I have to manage my dogs love of being outside with seeing him scratching himself to bits. I sometimes wish it was September because all the itching stops then.

Paradigm

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

The OP stated the allergies are seasonal so, if she's on the same food year round and it's only at certain times (ie if the grass or whatever external factor causes the problem) then switching foods will have little / no effect


I'd be reluctant to change food unless I knew that there was nothing in the new food that she might be intolerant to or the problems could actually get worse


From a very quick look there are several things (depending on which one you choose) in it that dogs can be allergic to - peas (this is fairly common), potato etc

I agree, up to a point. But even with seasonal allergies (eg tree, grass pollen) a change of diet can have some benefits, if only to make the symptoms less acute.

I have (had) very bad hay fever (grass), so bad that I had tests to see if it was made worse by certain foods... caffeine was found to cause a reaction & I was advised to remove it from my diet. I did & the result is that it's now 70-80% better.

Of course, tests on the NHS are free...not so at your local vet!

If my dogs were to suffer from any kind of allergy one of the first things I would be looking at is the food I'm feeding. It may not be the cause but it could certainly be a factor.

Edit: A quick flit round the interweb seems to suggest that adding Omega 3 from fish oil to the diet can work wonders with itchy, dry coats. Avoid omega 6 though, could make things worse.

harveybobbles

Mine are on Symply, but they do like Wellbeloved.

Edan is a good food, but limited where you can buy it.

I like mine to have wheat free, gluten free.

If cost could be an issue, have a look online: Pet Supermarket, VioVet, etc.

pulliptears

harveybobbles wrote: »

Mine are on Symply, but they do like Wellbeloved.
.

I believe Canagan is made by the same people who make Symply, though weirdly scores lower on what dog food than Canagan does.

http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

dawnie1972

Thanks for your replies. I was given a bottle of Vets Kitchen Healthy Skin Supplement to try which has quite a strong fish smell, so I added a teaspoon to her food but I placed it separate at the side of her dish so that it didn't affect her eating her food - she has taken it fine and is now having it every day - her skin doesn't appear as dry and flakey anymore and she's not itching as much. I also spoke to my vet (who I am lucky to be personal friends with) and he suggested a Scalibor collar - it was following my comment "I just wish I could find something to stop the midges biting her" and he replied "you can, the scalibor collar" - have read all the reviews and am going to try one - about £12 and the collar last 6 months.
Yorkshirelass have you seen the all-in-one suits that Equifleece do - might mean that you can take your dog out with her skin being almost completely covered.

JobieLou

Canagan is a good food with high meat content. But the matter of fact is, its produced by symply to gain more money. Symply dog food is more than adequate for your animals. It is a real meat and grain based food, removing all cereal allergins; which cause the itching, smelly flatulence and paw chewing etc. But for your animal to gain the full benefit of the food you also have to remove all cereal based food and from their diet, including that cheeky bit of toast in the morning. To add to the last point, if you read all ingredients in the treats, you'll be surprised how much cereal is in them!! If the animal is still having issues I would then consider moving to canagan, as its completely grain free.

That's my personal view, also the symply treats you can buy. Its just canagan in a treat box!!

Another fun fact. In the ingredients
Derivatives of meat = all the animal not used. So we use chicken feet and pigs ears and cows ears/ trotters so what does that leave? Eyes, beak etc

Meat meal = the actual carcass, so the bones and left of fat\meat all ground down and put into the feed

Also working dogs food, no different to other foods. Its only classed as working dogs because it can be sold without the VAT