Dog Food Questions - merged

Jummy

Bella our springer is on James WellBeloved Junior mixed with a bit of Cesars wet food.
She also has the odd tin of tuna/sardines,veg,chicken.
Pets at Home regularly have JWB on offer so i stock up.

moomin5

My greyhounds are on wainwrights (Pets at Home) salmon & potato dry complete, its quite similar to JWB but cheaper. They've done really well on it and seems to suit their digestion. I often chuck in some tinned sardines/mackeral in tomato/oil.

I tend to avoid any food with wheat in as my boys came with quite dandruffy, dry coats and wheat intollerance can effect the skin, also avoid those foods with cereal as the top ingredient or any dodgy colourings/preservatives.

thomas18

Just a reminder that 'pets at home' current offer of 3 for 2 on their purina beta 3Kg bags, ends on the 22nd August.

http://www.petsathome.com/find/keyword-is-purina+beta/product-is-V00074

missrabbit

I feed my mini schnauzer on Natures Diet dog food and I have to say she absolutely loves it! Its a wet food but has no no artificial additives, preservatives or colourings in it (as the breeder we bought her from advised us against getting food with colourings in as this can turn schnuazers beards a funny colour!). Also this is a British company and the people who run it are amazingly helpful. Its tested using in home testing so no nasty animal testing - which I think is fab.

When we first got Molly - she was fed on James Wellbeloved which at first she loved - however after only a few months she had constant diariha (sorry!) and wasn't very keen on eating it. She was also being sick quite often. I came across Nature Diet on the net and so sent them an enquiry explaining her breed etc and the problem. They sent me back an A4 long email full of help and suggestions and were so friendly and helpful. I ordered a case of it and have never looked back as she hasn't had any more problems since!!!

It costs approx £13 for 18 sachets and she eats one a day.

PS...sorry for the long rant but I just love this company!

suki1964

missrabbit wrote: »

I feed my mini schnauzer on Natures Diet dog food and I have to say she absolutely loves it! Its a wet food but has no no artificial additives, preservatives or colourings in it (as the breeder we bought her from advised us against getting food with colourings in as this can turn schnuazers beards a funny colour!). Also this is a British company and the people who run it are amazingly helpful. Its tested using in home testing so no nasty animal testing - which I think is fab.


PS...sorry for the long rant but I just love this company!

Totally have to agree with Naturediet. If any of my dogs have been poorly I feed them this and they all started life on it. Shnuazers and westies seem to do really well on this - esp those that have bad skins

frankie55

I'm a big fan of Burns, started with the mini bites as a pup and she now likes the Venison and Rice. Only a small dog she get 100gr a day and I often mix in a little tinned fish, our meaty left overs or some Naturesdiet to keep her interested. I only use Burns treats also, I find that if I give her any other treats, especially supermarket ones that her silent farts become deadly!! and she gets smelly breath, also the product at the other end is less smelly and is well formed and easy to poop scoop.

lala1974

Hi everyone

We've been feeding our 13wk Lab puppy Bakers Complete but can't help but feel bad for him. Its must be so boring to have the same food day in day out and I can tell that he's not all together impressed with it .

Anyway, this morning I gave him tea and toast (Dear old Dad used to treat all of our border collies to it) and he LOVED it - cleared the bowl out in one go!

So what I wanted to know is:

What do other people feed their dogs as an alternative to complete food?
Does anyone have a secret recipe that their dog loves that they would like to share?
Whatever happened to the idea of the dog eating all of the family scraps?!

foreign_correspondent

I feed a dry food (Wagg, which is a good price, but not Bakers as it is full of artificial colours so not great for some dogs) and add scraps to it.

It is important to remember that some humsn foods can be toxic for dogs (chocolate, grapes, onions, raisins, macademia nuts, etc) and others may not suit dogs (some dogs are wheat or lactose intolerant). Others (cooked bones) are dangerous - but raw bones are ok. Others are not ideal as they are high in fat, salt or sugar, but many fruits, veg and meats are fine.

I give my dog left over veggies, meat, raw or cooked, rice, cooked spuds, raw carrots, apple and have just found out she is rather partial to cooked beetroot!

She would sell her granny for the odd leftover chip or prawn cracker too, but obviously I only give her these in moderation! (she tends to try her whole repertoire of tricks to cadge a prawn cracker - she starts off with sit then beg, then lie down then roll-over, then looks very dissapointed if these fail to have the desired effect!)

suki1964

Ok, dogs dont need a change of feed every mealtime, they are happy with a food that they will eat being fed morning noon and night every day of their lives.

They are dogs - they dont have the same thought processes as we humans do.

A complete food is just that - complete. Start adding to it and you mess with the balance and you get a fat dog

And a dog certainly doesnt need tea and toast in the mornings (dogs actually develop a lactose intolerance and you can make him very very ill )

Toast and butter is like feeding a couple of big macs to a child on top of its three meals a day


So stick to a complete (maybe think about changing to a premium brand rather then a supermarket brand) and feel free to add vegigies - raw or cooked in unsalted water, and if you must - the tiniest bit of left over meat ( my spaniel will get say like HALF a sausage snipped real small or a tablespoon of mince or cold chopped chicken),

Go easy on adding meat - to much protein for a dog can make them bounce of walls (as can the colours and additives in bakers)

Dont feed them human processed food - its not good for them - full of salt, fat and sugar. Also look up on what foods are actually dangerous to dogs - bigger list then you are possibly aware

Emmabeth

I feed my dogs a raw diet and much of that I can get cheap in bulk, or free.

Its not for everyone and it doesnt suit some dogs (though i feel those are in the minority), but I would definately find a better food than Bakers, its awful stuff!

There are much better foods around, Nature Diet, Orijen, Natures Menu are three i would happily feed to my dogs, i just find raw is better, and cheaper.