best dog food

natxxx1

Hi
I am wanting some advice on the best food to give my dog.
I currently feed him dry food and this suits our lifestyle and the dog likes it too.

Unfortunately every time i enter a pet food shop they give me different advice and im at a loss.

He's currently on Iams senior which he likes, but someone told me its actually got some controversial ingredients in and isn't as good for him as i was led to believe.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I want to feed him well but don't want to waste good money on poor quality dog food.
:money:

krlyr

Try www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk - you can search by rating and budget. Bear in mind that the cost of a bag doesn't necessarily reflect the cost of feeding, a more expensive bag of food may be better quality meaning you feed less of it. Cheaper foods tend to be bulked out by filler and you may need to feed twice as much of something that's not quite half the price.

IMO, Iams is a premium priced food but not premium quality ingredients, I think you could do much better for the same price (or perhaps even less). Iams Senior ranks at a 2.1 out of 5 on the above website, as a guideline, so look at 3 or 4 star foods in the same budget.

Markus Muhle, for example, is a cold pressed food that is very nutrition-dense. You feed a much smaller amount, so although a bag is around £40 (though 15kg vs Iams' 12kg), the cost per day works out very similar (AADF estimates 49p a day for a 16kg dog, vs Iams at 46p a day). Marks Muhle is near the very top of the scale, ranking at 4.5 stars out of 5.

krlyr

I wouldn't worry too much about feeding a senior food either - studies showed that it is quality of protein that helps an older dog more than quality, so low protein diets aren't necessarily the most beneficial. I would pick a better quality adult food over a lower quality senior one.

teddysmum

I use Fish4Dogs, which has no cereal filler, just fish, potato , pea flour, beet , fish oil and vitamins.


It's expensive, but I buy when there is one of their regular offers and in bulk, as they give a large discount based on amount spent.


I would never use Iams/EuKanuba because of the controversy over their animal experimentation.

gettingready

Orijen - if you want the absolute best, there is no better food.

Look at reviews of Orijen on the link above, free delivery from https://www.zooplus.co.uk

People working in/running pet shops do not always know much about nutrition for pets, same about most vets...

teddysmum

They are trained to just promote the products which they stock.


Some years ago, one of my dogs developed allergies and the first trial was food. The vets gave me samples of Royal Canin, which Teddy loved, but was very expensive. However, when I asked the vet nurse what they would have suggested , if he had refused the Royal Canin, she said they would recommend JWB; same ingredients but a fraction of the price.

natxxx1

Thanks everyone - much appreciated

Babbawah

Threads like this one help identify the type of person who like dogs from the type of person who likes owning dogs.

We are only just beginning to get through to the types who feed their pets on supermarket tinned trash that not only is their dogs behaviour pattern imprinted in 10,000yrs of evolution but also their diet.

I know people who would ignore you & cross the street if you didn't feed your dogs on raw food !

RachRubyD

My pooch is raw feed but that's not for everyone I totally understand. I buy mine prepackaged because am to lazy to get the percentages and so on right and also it works out cheaper for me to buy pre-packaged and mines only a little one so it's not that much a month and she loves it.

Does your dog has any issues with joints (as they are a senior) or skin issues or just allergies in general to food? Just so I know what to recommend. If your dog ok with most proteins and isn't intolerant to grains such as rice or oats then there is loads of brilliant and cheap dog foods out there.

On the top of my head some really good ones are Eden, Millies Wolfheart and Orijen, you also have Acana, Canagan and Taste of the Wild. These are you top foods which high protein content and very low grain (normally rice or potato if anything) and fanastic supplements included. You will be looking at around £50-£60 for 15kg but as with most high end foods, you feed less because its better quality food.

Feeding the supermarkets own food most of the time works out the same as feeding high end food. This is because you have to normally feed about 3x the amount of the supermarket (or any other poor quality food brand) to get the nutriments they need and to fill a dog up. And what goes in must come out haha.

If your on a budget Skinners Duck and Rice, Salmon and Rice and Turkey and Rice is brilliant for the price. Another is Fishmonger (if your dog likes fishy dry food) and i've just found another small uk company that looks brilliant (am looking for a friend who has a small budget but a dog with skin issues possibly related to cereals like maize in dog food). Anyway most of the food only contains rice or oats and meat with good supplements. This is a one for a senior dog and it has great joint supplements. Another company that looks promising is pooch and co as well.

hmc

We are on simpsons grain free for the 11 yr old and 1 yr old. Rates pretty high on aadf

Rev

I feed raw. Not for everyone. But one of my dogs has skin issues and stomach issues. And raw works best for him. Else I'd probably feed commercial.

Dry food I have to agree with the above. Orijen is ingredients wise the best available. But it's very rich and doesn't agree with all dogs. There's UK made foods that are just as good. Like millies wolfheart. Simsons 80/20 or their normal grain free range.


Also when looking at dry food. Don't look at the bag price. Because it can seem extortionate. Look at how much your dog need to be fed per day for their weight. Then work out how much it costs to feed per day. This gives a better idea of actual cost.


Wet food. IMHO the best is pets at homes own brand wainwrights. Yes there are better, organic foods etc. but wainwrights is 70% meat and cost £10 for 12 trays. Lilies is around £2.70 per tin and not worth the extra IMHO.


All depends on what you want in a food really.

Look for a good that has a named meat as the first ingredient. And not 'fresh' meat if it's dry food. That's a neat little trick but a lot of companies list fresh meat before it's dehydrated. Once it's dehydrated that actual meat content is a lot lower than stated. Whereas if it's 'meat meal' it's meat after it's been dehydrated. So the listed percentage is the actual amount of meat in the food. So meat first and try and find a food with as little fillers as possible. Especially maize etc. as they're just fillers. All they'll do is come out the other end.