Advice on best quality dog food

tylerdylan

Hi Guys
I am feeding my little guy pedigree dry puppy food.But I was just looking on doogiedoor and there was some concerning posts about how low quality most commercial brands of food are!Would any of you have any sugguestions of a really good food.....or is pedigree a really good food!
He does not love his food..but will eventualy eat it.But of course I am a little shocked at the things that really go into dog food!
Any thoughts/recommendations very welcome.
thanks so much

Our man in Havana

I feed my 9 on bakers complete they love it & do nice firm poops!

Bessacadia

Hi there- I totally agree that Pedigree is foul stuff, I certainly wouldn't give it to my dog.

I feed him on Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice, which is considered to be a premium dry kibble. It is expensive - I pay €62 for 15kg, but it does last 5/6 weeks, so in reality it is not so bad.It is also available for puppies, but I know it's hard to find here in Ireland.

Failing that, the only other food I would consider feeding my dog is Purina Pro plan.And always the lamb varieties as many dogs are or can become allergic to chicken, believe it or not.

Both excellent foods, just that Nutro is a little bit more excellent! I get many many compliments about my dog,he is in fantastic shape, very shiny coat,just looks fantastic!
http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncdogpuppy.asp


http://www.proplan.com/dog_products/products_dog_dry.aspx

Rabies

€62 for a 15kg bag :eek: Jebus!
We buy Pedigree or Brandy. Think the brandy is about €17-€18 a bag.
Have an adult St Bernard, 4 month St Bernard, 3 month Irish Wolf Hound and a little terrier. When the other two are fully grown we will be using a good bit of feed a week.

tylerdylan

Thanks guys....
some really good suggestions.I think I will try the pro plan the nutra nature
seems a Little :eek: expensive...I would hate to get him used to it
and then find out we would be eating value mince while he had steak!!

But again tks for all the replies.

Bessacadia

tylerdylan wrote:

Thanks guys....
some really good suggestions.I think I will try the pro plan the nutra nature
seems a Little :eek: expensive...I would hate to get him used to it
and then find out we would be eating value mince while he had steak!!

But again tks for all the replies.

I know:D
We eat a lot of jacket potatos and pasta in this house, but my dog(black lab in case you were wondering)gets the best!

Doper Than U

I highly recommend Hills food, though the prices may seem steep, you actually feed less food, it works out cheaper than tins of Pedigree.
Also, the..umm... faecal matter is of better quality. I won't have my dogs on anything else having seen the transformation in my now 14 (15 in a month) year old dog with severe digestive problems. She'd be dead by now if it wasn't for that food, no lie.

Nala

Just don't buy IAMS, they are reported to use cruel methods of animal testing for their products.

Look

And here

Bessacadia

Doper Than U wrote:

I highly recommend Hills food, though the prices may seem steep, you actually feed less food, it works out cheaper than tins of Pedigree.
Also, the..umm... faecal matter is of better quality. .

I totally agree, with the super premium foods you do actually feed less (quantity) and the poo is great- less often, more solid, smaller and I think less smelly too:D

Zombienosh

neev wrote:

Just don't buy IAMS, they are reported to use cruel methods of animal testing for their products.

Look

And here

:eek:
again, :eek:
i had no idea....... that makes me sick

Bessacadia

It is shocking. Iams/Eukanuba, steer well clear.
Makes me sick.What else can I say:mad:

flynnc

i would feed pro plan as well i know boardwalk pets store does it and you could ask them to order the nutro food for you

Bessacadia

flynnc wrote:

i would feed pro plan as well i know boardwalk pets store does it and you could ask them to order the nutro food for you

Don't bother asking them to order Nutro - they won't! I was living in Parnell St and wanted it, they wouldn't get it for me so I fed Pro Plan. I have since moved to Mullingar and begged a pet shop to order it for me, but I even had to contant the sales rep myself and book the appointment!

I have it now, but they make a song and dance of it apparently there aren't that many people( sorry to say this, in Ireland ) who are willing to pay the higher price of a top quality dog food.

I have a black labrador, full pedigree, champion line, and I bought him in England (before I moved to Ireland) for £500 which is approx €700 and people here are SHOCKED that I paid so much for just a DOG!!!!!

Anyway he is worth every penny I have ever spent and I don't begrudge any of it, so there is no way on this earth I would consider giving him anything but the absolute BEST.

Here are some pics, one when he was 4 months old, and one done a few months ago in the garden.....

tylerdylan

Wow what a fabulous dog.You must be sooooo proud

Bessacadia

Why thanks, I am!

But apart from being just the best looking dog in existence:D he is just part of the family - I love him as much as I do my children. He has the sweetest, most gentle nature, is loving, intelligent,friendly, protective, is a great kisser and I adore him more than words can say.

hadook

I feed Royal Canin "large" & "medium" adult to my lot, the foster dogs get Bakers Complete.

They all have porridge for brekkie though.

fenris

Arden Grange - our German Shepherd is a very fussy eater and our Lab has an arse from hell, Arden Grange seems to sort both, much reduced effort on poo patrol in the back garden, as poo now comes in dark rapidly drying not to smelly variety instead of huge steaming stinking mountains (shows how much of some foods is pure filler)

Our man in Havana

We have 9 as I said & a 15kg sack of bakers lasts a week - Bakers is also made by purina.

We have 1 Lab
1 Lab x newfoundland
1 rottweiller
1 setter x ridgeback
2 gun dogs english setter crosses
& 3 terriers

1 sack per week - all my dogs are in tiptop shape!

Bessacadia

Bond-007 wrote:

We have 9 as I said & a 15kg sack of bakers lasts a week - Bakers is also made by purina.

Yep - it is made by Purina, but is not of the same quality as the Pro Plan range..... though I think if I had 9 dogs they would be getting toast!!(joking - I cannot IMAGINE having 9!!)
My babe sleeps on my bed - more than 2 would crush me

bertisfan

I feed my rott and bullmastiff royal canin. But they both fart a lot so I'm condidering changing!. Is arden grange really worth trying? how much is a 15kg bag?

SuzyS1972

I feed mine Burns Organic food
Excellent stuff and while €56 euro for a large bag seems excessive you only feed half the quantity of the cheapo foods so it lasts me about 2 months for 3 terriers
They get 100mls a day each which is only a coffee cup !

The amount of poo's they do is dramatically less than when they were on cheap food and their coats shine like mad.
The little westie man has not had a rash nor irritated skin since my mother changed to this too !

peasant

Personally I don't trust all these big name companies on all the claims they're making re superior ingredients and "organic" and all that.
Most of these brands all get stirred up in the one big couldron, packaged into different brand type bags with the odd ingredient added or taken away (or not) and then get shipped and warehoused all over the world.

We feed "local" Red Mills Winner (20€ for 15 kg) It seems to be reasonably good quality, the dogs are doing well (poo is nice and compact too) and its fresh from the factory and hasn't spent weeks already getting shipped and stored.

Unless there are medical indicators telling us otherwise we'll probably stick with this for a while.

fits

Peasant, Do they have a really shiny healthy coat with it? Windiness?

I have my two on pro pac, which is an american food, (unaffected by latest recalls btw). Your comments on buying local are making me think though.
I wouldnt lump Burns in with the other big dog food companies either, dont know why, it could be clever marketing, but the food is reasonably local and they seem to have a very high attention to quality and their customers. I also know a lot of people extremely happy with the food (where their dogs had problems previously). It completely turned around an emaciated lurcher I rescued in January in the space of a week as well (she'd been on different food for two weeks previous to that)

Here's a link to my current food

http://www.propacpetfood.com/dogs/index.tp...=20020102154825

Here are the ingredients
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Gluten Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Flaxseed, Yeast Culture, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine Hydroxyanalogue, Vitamin E Supplement, D-activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3), Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Zinc Proteinate, Manganous Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Magnesium Proteinate, Copper Proteinate.

Crude Protein, not less than 25%
Crude Fat, not less than 12%
Crude Fiber, not more than 3.5%
Moisture, not more than 10%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids, not less than 1.7%
Omega-3 Fatty Acid, not less than 0.2%

peasant

fits

Coats are fine and digestion is good (upsets occasionally happen when we throw something else in, like the odd left over potatoe, rice, meat cut offs etc)

Your food sounds good, but I like the fact that the Winner only has 20% protein. Ours get too hyper on high protein food.
Also Winner is gluten free, which is good for Harvey as gets diarrhea pretty badly on food with gluten.

(cleaning a really long haired dog with "the runs" ...not funny)

But, all said and done ...there is no one food that suits all dogs.
We're lucky in that all three happily get along with the one brand.

andrawolf

Red mill is very good plus when I was on donedeal.ie. I found A link to them and if you have a puppy they will send u a free puppy pack. I live in the north and it came with in a week. my dogs loved it.

fits

I had noticed the protein.. it is quite high but I guess my dogs are pretty relaxed anyway. I vary between this kibble and a large breed kibble which is max 23% protein.

Some people criticise the quality of red mills, but if their horse feed is anything to go by, I'm sure it is fine. The factory is quite near my parents' house.

hotlips_h

I started using Red Mills as well, just because it's Irish. I like to support local business if at all possible. I use the Leader Supreme and my dog (labrador-x) loves it.

I used to use Eukanuba and see no difference in my dog's condition or the amount of poo produced since I changed.

The pet shop in Sallynoggin usually has it in stock or will order it in.

CrowdedHouse

Anyone ever try a brand called 'Dingos' Muesli? our girls seem to like it.
It's made in Kilkenny(so is Red Mills)I usually see it in Londis shops

They often get Pedigree or Bakers Complete but we recently got Purina Pro Plan Senior.

The pup was started on Pro Plan Puppy by the breeder and she gave us a big bag of it as a 'luck penny'.We were have trouble finding it so we got Burns Mini Bites instead.She also guzzled the Red Mills Leader sample we got.....and of course she robs the big girls food as well.......:D

Tabitharose

I started feeding my 2 nutro about 3 weeks ago - have noticed a vast improvement in their coats & the amount of cleaning up I have to do in the garden I order it from zooplus.ie so I don't even have to carry it home from the shops lol

artieanna

Tbh I don't feed my dog solely on dry manufactured foods as I have found it causes her to itch (pedigree chum was bad). Currently I give her a mix of potatoes, veg with two fistfuls of bakers choice. As a rough collie she seems okay on this. She has little or no gas and her poops are ok well as okay as poops go:rolleyes:

Annika30

I would recommend James Wellbeloved.

Annika:)

cowzerp

My rotty and lab eat pedro gold-17 euro a bag and they love it and look great-there poo is good and they are very healthy-i'd reccomend it...my rotty eats seroius amounts though!!

Doolie

Just so everyone is aware. All of the above test their products on Animals except Burns. I'm not advertising for Burns as such, I just don't like the idea of inflicting unnecessary pain on animals for pet food.

Strokesfan

Bond-007 wrote:

I feed my 9 on bakers complete they love it & do nice firm poops!

that's hilarious!! (I suppose we are the fools picking them up - the poops that is)

I feed mine Burns Dry Chicken and Rice Food - with half a tin of winalot for variety - they have lovely coats

neacy69

I have been feeding my Dog Nutro (the green bag for anyone who knows the stuff) for the past two weeks and have noticed a big improvement. Her cost is much more shiny and glossy with a lot less hair loss (possibly a coincidence). Her poops are much much more firmer, less smelly and less frequent and all in all her temperament has improved a lot.
I would reccomend it. I picked up a (will check size later) bag in Atlantic Homecare for around €27.50 because I had a voucher for €7.50 so retail is €35 I think...

EDIT: Previous to changing we were feeding her pedigree puppy dry food with bakers complete mixed into it with a couple of spoons of pedigree wetfood. We still use the bakers complete as a mixer to the Nutro

dsignr25

Annika30 wrote:

I would recommend James Wellbeloved.

Annika:)

I have to second the James Wellbeloved. Its the only food that my girl will eat. We tried everything from Red Mills to Royal Canine but they all gave her diarriah. After we put her on this we haven't had a problem since and she's alot healthier looking.

I found it a little harder to get than the more popular brands although - Our pet shop will only stock 7.5Kg bags of the Junior lately which cost roughly 32euro. Well worth it though:)

Lpfsox

Hi folks

Thanks for the tip re Nutro - have just ordered a big bag from zooplus for the hound. He's 13 and starting to slow down and had a tumour removed (and neutered at the same time) last week so I reckon a little bit of spoiling him is in order