Advice needed

cutestdogowner

Hi there!

I just got a small terrier cross and she is a good quite well behaved dog. She is at the right weight for her age and size but I am feeding her a lot of different types of food from week to week but I was told that this is very bad for her digestion and she has a lot of problems going to the toilet and this is apparently one of the factors? I have been told that I should stick to one brand as changing will make her stool loose and she will defecate a more Is there anyone who can suggest a good quality food but something that is not expensive? Please help as I dont want to be a bad owner!!!!!! I have posted this on a few sites to get as much help has I can!!

Thank you!

star-pants

Changing dogs food regularly without changing over carefully will upset their stomachs and in turn their digestion/toilet going.
If you're changing food you need to do it over a good few days, start off with say 2/3rds old food, 1/3rd new, and slowly change it over the days to increase new food, decrease old food. This gets them used to it, and it gives their insides time to adjust.

What breed of dog have you and how old is it?

cutestdogowner

Hi there,
She is just over a year old and she looks like a black fox terrier but she is a mix of a few different types of terrier!

star-pants

Well different food can suit different dogs.
I've two Lhasa Apsos and I feed them Royal Canine (they do a range).
Other decent ranges are Burns / James Wellbeloved / Arden Range / Orijen(more expensive though)/ Eukanuba / Hills. Others may have recommendations for a terrier, but good quality dry food is the best way to go.

cutestdogowner

Yeah I was on another forum and I was talking to a few people and they recommended the same food but Ive been sitting here all day researching different brands against quality of ingredients and price and maybe you could check this out.. I found this site earlier and noticed that the food that they have though there isnt much of a selection seems to have the same ingredients of Arden Grange chicken and Rice but it seems to be cheaper? Maybe you would have a look cause I could be missing something!!!

http://www.ecopet.ie/ourshop/prod_618948--EcoDog-15Kg-Premium-Adult.html

The average price that I could find online for the AG if i remember correctly was around €45 But this seems to be a tiny bit cheaper and every penny helps I guess but I would appreciate a second opinion from someone who knows a bit more then I do!

morganafay

Some dogs do fine on cheap food, like from Lidl or Tesco or whatever, but some dogs are just more sensitive. It is good to give dogs variety so they don't get fussy, but since yours seems to be sensitive to food changes, maybe for her it's good to stick to one good quality food.

WHIPIT

cutestdogowner wrote: »

Hi there!

I just got a small terrier cross and she is a good quite well behaved dog. She is at the right weight for her age and size but I am feeding her a lot of different types of food from week to week but I was told that this is very bad for her digestion and she has a lot of problems going to the toilet and this is apparently one of the factors? I have been told that I should stick to one brand as changing will make her stool loose and she will defecate a more Is there anyone who can suggest a good quality food but something that is not expensive? Please help as I dont want to be a bad owner!!!!!! I have posted this on a few sites to get as much help has I can!!

Thank you!

A good dog food is expensive approx 25 - 30 euro for about 3.5kg to 5kg. there is no way around it. I have a german shep and i have to us a good dog food and it does make a big big big diff to them. You dont haave a big dog so this will last a while, also the good dog food they eat less and do not crap as much, also when they crap it is solid. Buy the good food it will work out at about a euro a day for your dog, not that bad

cutestdogowner

Hi Whipit, Can I ask which dog food you are feeding your shep? Im interested to hear what most people are using now?

Blueprint

I'm feeding Orijen, which I get from Zooplus (www.zoplus.ie although sometimes the .co.uk site is cheaper for Orijen)), it's a brilliant food and doesn't actually cost any more than buying small bags of Supermarket brand names like Pedigree every week or two, as a 13.5Kg bag lasts my dog around 3 months. The Red Mills Leader range is meant to be quite good too if you want an Irish brand. And so is Burns, which most vets stock.

It really doesn't cost very much to feed a small dog even the best food you can buy and is well worth it as you'll save in vets fees in the long run.

Oh and my guy is a Terrier too.

anniehoo

OP what would be your budget? You'll get a mixed bag of responses here. If you have the money id go for the Royal Canin,Orijen brands but to be honest Pedigree Chum dry is fine in my eyes. It is a complete dogfood,despite what others will say and will provide your dog with all the necessary nutrients he requires. It mightnt necessarily have the "best" quality products in it but it is satisfactory.

Put it like this, id love to be able to eat organic free range chicken etc everyday but i simply cant afford it so make do with the best i can. I wouldnt feel guilty if this is all you can afford.

cutestdogowner

High blue print,

Thank you but I have checked out the orijin and as Anniehoo has said I cannot afford to be able to keep up with the prices of orijin and I was told that their prices have gone up also.. But thank you! Im not sure either if I want to go with pedigree as I dont think that for the price your paying your really getting something that could be as healthy and fresh as other dog foods that may not even be in the premium bracket ya know? Just that I know a friend who tried to actually trace the food back to the farm where it comes from, like the adds say. And he wasnt able to get the information that they claim to be able to produce!

WHIPIT

cutestdogowner wrote: »

Hi there!

I just got a small terrier cross and she is a good quite well behaved dog. She is at the right weight for her age and size but I am feeding her a lot of different types of food from week to week but I was told that this is very bad for her digestion and she has a lot of problems going to the toilet and this is apparently one of the factors? I have been told that I should stick to one brand as changing will make her stool loose and she will defecate a more Is there anyone who can suggest a good quality food but something that is not expensive? Please help as I dont want to be a bad owner!!!!!! I have posted this on a few sites to get as much help has I can!!

Thank you!

You sent me a mail asking what i us. Royal Canin

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Blueprint

No problem cutest, you feed what you can. However, I'm afraid that there isn't a really cheap super food out there, as we'd all be feeding it if there was!

I'm on a very limited budget, but find that I can afford the roughl 60c a day that Orijen costs to feed my dog - it really isn't such a huge amount once you break it into how much it costs per portion. (He's on aprox 100g a day, despite being 12.5 kilos, as he tends to gain weight with more.)

LisaO

I was feeding Orijen to my 2 dogs - labrador & older JRT for a good while but changed partly due to cost but also because both dogs were drinking excessively during the evening after eating?

Am currently using Red Mills Leader Supreme, which isn't a cheap-cheap food but seems to be reasonable value, looks & smells good & dogs like it.

Tony H

I have a 30kilo golden retriever and at the moment he's on James Wellbeloved ,(large kibble)
At the moment its around 40 sterling for 18kilos on zooplus.co.uk , its a great food and he's thriving on it , he has also been on orijen , arden grange and burns , and found all of them good as well ,

If you do order from zooplus give it a week for it to arrive .

Magenta

anniehoo wrote: »

OP what would be your budget? You'll get a mixed bag of responses here. If you have the money id go for the Royal Canin,Orijen brands but to be honest Pedigree Chum dry is fine in my eyes. It is a complete dogfood,despite what others will say and will provide your dog with all the necessary nutrients he requires. It mightnt necessarily have the "best" quality products in it but it is satisfactory.

Put it like this, id love to be able to eat organic free range chicken etc everyday but i simply cant afford it so make do with the best i can. I wouldnt feel guilty if this is all you can afford.

I second this OP. I would love to drive a Rolls Royce but I get where I want to go in a banger. The same with your dog's food. You do not have to spend a fortune to have a happy healthy dog.

namurt

Every dog is different but I give our two Aldi dog food (about €8 for 10kg/15kg, can't remember which but a big bag anyway) and they're both doing really well on it. Had one of them with the vet last week and she recommended I increase her quantity a little bit but other than that it was all good. Have already seen a difference over the week.

cucoigcrice

Hi, Just letting you know what i feed my dog it is a chicken and vegetable dry food and it has different kibble inside, its WAGG 15kg. My dog who is a terrier aswell loves this food and it seems to be agreeing with him. This food is around 10 sterling per 12-15kg bag and it lasts me over a mounth probably around 2 months.
I wouldnt feed your dog a variety of food as in chicken and ham etc as this is when then become fussy they may begin to eat only the chicken or ham etc. But you could add a little bit of veg etc if there was any left from your dinner. Definately keep your dog on the one variety of dry food. OP with german shepherds had said that expensive foods are best but personaly i think you can get cheaper foods just as good plus german shepherd have many problems withe bowels this is why they require specialised food etc.