Dog Food Questions - merged

you_wicked_gay

kit wrote: »

Hiya

My dog eats the complete dry dog food - can anyone suggest one that is good quality but fairly cheap? She is currently eating 'Oscars' but my vet doesnt rate it highly.

Also, are there any good, cheap online stores that deliver? I like to buy the 15k bags to save trips and delivery is easier than carrying it!

My cousin has a boxer that had stomach troubles and the vet told her the best food you can feed a dog is Chappie. It's free from all the crap you find in Pedigree Chum (avoid this brand like herpes!!)

You say you tried your dog with Chappie but it upset your dogs stomach. This could be from the sudden change of food. If you plan on changing a dogs food you need to introduce the new brand slowly with their usual food to avoid tummy upsets. Chappie really is the best you can buy for dogs, it helps settle their stomach.

Brands I'd avoid are Pedigree Chum because of all the additives and lack of actual pure meat/veg content, most of their 'meat/veg' is substitute stuff. Also avoid Iams/Eukanuba, they're pricey as well for tiny bags, but they also test their ingredients on animals - rubbing it in their eyes, ears, skin etc

However I have 5 dogs and they're fed on Bakers Complete Puppy. They eat this fine no problems. I have 3 chihuahuas and 1 jack russell/chihuahua cross so they have to have either puppy or small bite dog food.

You can get 15kg sacks from Pets At Home and they're around £25 a sack - depending on brand. However I get mine from my local pet store in town - they deliver straight to my front door for free on any day I wish. Try checking out your local pet stores - they're very helpful.

Hope this helps x

you_wicked_gay

Also - instead of buying overpriced dog treats like i used to, give your dogs a raw carrot stick, or chunks of raw potato. Also fruit, cooked pasta, rice, egg, minced meat and beans go down well.

My dogs love raw veg and it's better for them than those awful processed dog treats you find on shop shelves.

DanceInThe_Dark

you_wicked_gay wrote: »

It's free from all the crap you find in Pedigree Chum (avoid this brand like herpes!!)

Pedigree Chum MAKE Chappie

you_wicked_gay

DanceInThe_Dark wrote: »

Pedigree Chum MAKE Chappie

Pedigree Chum is just a dog food name, it's Pedigree Masterfoods aka Mars Inc that makes Chappie - which is a little disturbing :eek:

The vet told my cousin to use chappie as it isn't hard to digest and is gentle on the stomach - but I guess the best thing to feed your pets is a fresh food diet so you know exactly what is in their food.

I read that alot of companies use large percentages of ash and nicotine in their pet foods which worries me

If anyone wants to know brands to avoid, i look them up:

Brands to Boycott

As mentioned above, the main culprits for cruel and unethical animal testing are the major international 'pet' food businesses.

• IAMS / Eukanuba owned by Procter & Gamble
• Hills Science Diet owned by Colgate Palmolive

The majority of pet food brands available in the UK are produced by two animal testing companies - "Nestlé Purina/Friskies" and "Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc)."

• Nestlé Purina/Friskies: Alpo, Bonio, Felix, Go Cat, Gourmet, Omega Complete, Proplan, Spillers, Vital Balance, Winalot.
• Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc): Bounce, Cesar, Chappie, Frolic, James Wellbeloved, Katkins, Kitekat, Pal, Pedigree Chum, Royal Canin, Sheba, Techni-cal (US & Canada), Whiskas. Pedigree also manufacture Thomas rabbit food and Trill bird food.
  
  NB Techni-Cal (Europe) although not owned by Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc) is still a company to boycott as they have not signed up to the BUAV No Animal Testing Standard.

So far, none of the supermarkets have pledged to produce their foods without unethical testing processes.
All the other brands of food have so far failed to sign up to the 'No Animal Testing Pet Food Standard'. This means they cannot or will not ensure that their products do not contribute to harmful systematic testing processes.

belfast_child

:beer: :beer: :j

i have 4 dogs and have always fed them bakers complete. 2 overweight 2 not. is bakers not a good food? a friend once fed her dog wagg complete and it looked like pure rubbish and smelt of woodshavings. is chappie food the best? and is it a dry complete food? thanks

kit

belfast_child wrote: »

:beer: :beer: :j
is chappie food the best? and is it a dry complete food? thanks

I do not agree that Chappie is a good food. It is cheap and upset my dogs tummy badly (ie liquid not solid coming out the 'other' end!). :eek:

There are lots of suggestions for good foods in this thread.

you_wicked_gay

belfast_child wrote: »

:beer: :beer: :j

i have 4 dogs and have always fed them bakers complete. 2 overweight 2 not. is bakers not a good food? a friend once fed her dog wagg complete and it looked like pure rubbish and smelt of woodshavings. is chappie food the best? and is it a dry complete food? thanks

I feed my 5 dogs bakers too and haven't had any problems with it. It's the best I've found so far

It's a shame pet food companies can't make decent food instead of loading it with water, salt, sugar, additives, meat substitutes etc

you_wicked_gay

kit wrote: »

I do not agree that Chappie is a good food. It is cheap and upset my dogs tummy badly (ie liquid not solid coming out the 'other' end!). :eek:

There are lots of suggestions for good foods in this thread.

Chappie is good to settle an upset stomach, or for dogs with sensitive stomaches - but this is probably down to the fact it's a 'supermeat' which basically means it's ground into a mush therefore easy to digest. It stinks though.. :rotfl:

the_greed

I was wondering if anyone can recommend me a good food for my thirteen wekks old springer/lab cross. I have been feeding her Bakers complete puppy but have read that it has a lot of additives. My puppy has an itchy coat as well. I bought a small bag of James Wellbeloved puppy food today but it is rather expensive and am thinking of the future. My 6 year old lab eats Dr Johns blue but we do have to watch her weight although her coat is really soft and she is in excellent health. I would like something natural so that both of them could eat the same food when the puppy is older. James Wellbeloved appears excellent but at £38 per 15kg bag it is expensive. Is there anything similar in ingredients and cheaper. Thanks in advance.

you_wicked_gay

the_greed wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone can recommend me a good food for my thirteen wekks old springer/lab cross. I have been feeding her Bakers complete puppy but have read that it has a lot of additives. My puppy has an itchy coat as well. I bought a small bag of James Wellbeloved puppy food today but it is rather expensive and am thinking of the future. My 6 year old lab eats Dr Johns blue but we do have to watch her weight although her coat is really soft and she is in excellent health. I would like something natural so that both of them could eat the same food when the puppy is older. James Wellbeloved appears excellent but at £38 per 15kg bag it is expensive. Is there anything similar in ingredients and cheaper. Thanks in advance.

I feed all my dogs bakers complete puppy and haven't had any problems with it. When they were younger I added a little warm water or warmed puppy milk to soften the bakers and make it easier for them to chew/digest.

James Wellbeloved is made by the same company that makes Pedigree Chum so I'm not sure it can be that good

If you want a more natural diet for your dogs, try googling for organic pet food/suppliers - I'm sure there are plenty out there