What do you feed your dog

smokin ace

Shanao wrote: »

Is the very first ingredient just listed as chicken? Cos that would put me off it. If the first ingredient is just stated as chicken or fresh chicken, then that ingredient is 80% moisture so it isn't actually as high in meat as it states it is.

yes the first one just states chicken but the next one is chicken meal so that makes up for any lack of any real meat from the first plus dont forget about the rice the third but if anyone looks at there bag of nuts no matter how expensive the very first ingredient will not say what percentage of it is moisture or real meat

andreac

smokin ace wrote: »

yes the first one just states chicken but the next one is chicken meal so that makes up for any lack of any real meat from the first plus dont forget about the rice the third but if anyone looks at there bag of nuts no matter how expensive the very first ingredient will not say what percentage of it is moisture or real meat

Em, yes it does actually.

Shanao

smokin ace wrote: »

yes the first one just states chicken but the next one is chicken meal so that makes up for any lack of any real meat from the first plus dont forget about the rice the third but if anyone looks at there bag of nuts no matter how expensive the very first ingredient will not say what percentage of it is moisture or real meat

That's why the first ingredient should be listed as dried or meal, these mean that there is no moisture left in the meat so the exact percentage listed is just that. The food I use for example is 35% meat, and all three meat sources are listed as dried so that is the amount that is in it.

smokin ace

andreac wrote: »

Em, yes it does actually.

i have yet to see a bag of dog nuts that states the ingredients like this

chicken - 15%
chicken meal - 10%
rice -10%

and i only use these percentages as an example

Cherry Blossom

Dog food ingredients:

Grains - Maize, Barley, oats etc - dogs are not able to metabolise grains properly in the same way that we do, it is hard for them to digest they are used as 'bulk' - Rice or potato is better.

Meat derivatives - Made up of slaughtered horse meat and the left overs from meat for human consumption(ie virtually no nutritional value and mostly just fat, skin and hair, also bruised meat which can't be used or which has failed quality control)

Animal derivatives - Dead, or diseased, disabled or dying before slaughter. (basically the contents of the dead animal collection van including livestock which has had chemicals and medication pumped in to it during veterinary treatment for whatever it was that killed the animal, roadkill, and any animals that were pts at the vets, lethal injection and plastic bags included)

I'm sure this clarifies why these 'ingredients' don't make the best quality dog food.

Shanao

Here's how the meat content in the food I'm feeding is listed, straight from the back of the bag-

Dried Black Angus Beef- 20% (min)
Dried Babary Duck- 9% (min)
Dried Menhaden Herring- 5.5% (min)

smokin ace

i know dogs will eat anything anyway. i suppose its everyones choice really, though budget usually dictates unfortunately
Once a dog is exercised housed fed and watered and checked regularly and in good physical condition then i don't believe its a major issue
i might not afford the best for them in people eyes here but i certainly buy the best i can afford if people can feed nuts to there dogs that costs €50-€70 per bag fair play to them but i know i cant along with many other people and a dog fed on a €20 bag of nuts could be in as good condition if not better as a dog fed on a €60 bag also it's not all about price and top of the range nuts it's about whats right for your dog

andreac

I totally agree. When people ask for advice on dog food i usually ask what their budget is and try and get as good quality as possible in that price range.

I try feed the best i can too, i certainly cant afford to fork out 50-60 euro on a bag of food so i try to get a good one in my budget.

bryaner

Costs us around €10-€15 per month to keep our Shih-Tzu going on royal canine and she thrives on it..

Edit: But I could imagine royal canine for a big dog would be a killer.

Shanao

My OH gives out to me for looking for good deals on meats and the like, and always says: 'you realise we spend more on dog food than we do for ourselves' Once they're happy and healthy though, that's the main thing. If I meet one more person however who just got a pup that the breeder fed on bread and milk, and has every intention of feeding them the same, I think I'll scream.

Cherry Blossom

smokin ace wrote: »

i know dogs will eat anything anyway. i suppose its everyones choice really, though budget usually dictates unfortunately

It's a matter of working out how much you can afford every month and getting the best quality for your money. It isn't always as simple as comparing a 15kg bag of one with 15kg of the other as you may well be feeding up to three times the amount of a low grade food for the dog to get enough nutritional value from it. I image people would feel like they are starving their dog when changing from low quality to high quality and people often post that their dog doesn't like the expensive food because they aren't eating it. I think what is actually happening is that they are feeding far too much of it because they are giving the same amount as the low quality food. I guess some people just aren't that trusting of this but hopefully a few will take the plunge to giving it a trial run after reading this thread.

It's easy for me to say, it's not that big a deal when your dog weighs in at 7 kilos

Zapperzy

For the past year or two Iv been feeding james wellbeloved turkey & rice, I just switched over to Whites lamb & rice today. I also feed naturediet wet food.

keno-daytrader

Zapperzy wrote: »

For the past year or two Iv been feeding james wellbeloved turkey & rice, I just switched over to Whites lamb & rice today. I also feed naturediet wet food.

Why did you leave James Well Beloved? Im thinking of feeding this to my new pup.

Gremlin

James Wellbeloved, with a bit of boiled checken thrown in to make it more appetising.

portgirl123

about 3 months ago switched from RC to whites dog food. Find it every bit as good as all the leading brands, poops are less and more solid and over €20 cheaper than the Rc. can only order on line but dilievery is free and here the next day

marley123

We feed our small dog on Royal Canin Light & our pup on Beta Large Puppy Breed...

ppink

I thought some of you may find this interesting. A friend of mine was talking about a show on tv he saw about buying big bags of dog food and the mites that could be living in there and end up causing problems for your dog with itchy skin etc.
the recommendation from that program was apparently not to buy big bags of food if they last a long time.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/grains-in-dog-food-1/

Zapperzy

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Why did you leave James Well Beloved? Im thinking of feeding this to my new pup.

No reason really, he does very well on that food, it's just whites is cheaper. Obviously if he doesn't do well on whites I'l change him back but by looking at the ingredients the two are very similar.

Daisy!

Red Mills Leader Supreme. Suits him really well and all the guys in the pet shop (one trained as a behaviourist) said it was a very good food.

He was on Bakers until recently, can't believe I fed him that muck but I didn't know any better

superfish

I just came across this http://paulinechang.com/questions-and-answers-on-dog-eating-dirt/ it could explain why my dogs are so healthy and glossy on the redmills

Smeefa

My fellah's epilepsy is set off by artificial colours in food so we feed him what we eat. He got salmon and potato

If there's not enough left for him he gets that dunnes tinned crap.. There's colours and all sorts of E numbers in a lot of dog food - It's actually ridiculous the dog doesn't give a toss what the food looks like!

Sigma Force

We feed Burns have done for years, tried other various foods but this works for our lot esp. as one has a sensative tum. It's blooming expensive though but the dogs are in great nick because of it. They get a treat every day (have to be careful with the dodgy tum) Bonio, a carrot, sardines or whatever.

Their poos are WONDERFUL! lol

ABajaninCork

Mine gets Burns Lamb & Rice or Pork & potato. I've ordered a small bag of the duck variety to see how he gets on with it.

He also gets hearts/liver/chicken/fish with brown rice to vary his diet. Usually gets a half teaspoon of cod liver oil on his food daily.

TYJ

Food

Cocolola

Orijen Adult, 80% meat and 20% fruit and veg and 0% grain. I order a 7 kg bag from zooplus.co.uk for about €40 and it lasts just over 2 months with my 14 kg boy so it works out at around a fiver a week which is brilliant. It always bugs me when people give out to me about buying such 'expensive' food while they're paying a fortune for a two kilo bag of Pedigree which is gone in no time :mad:

"INGREDIENTS Fresh boneless chicken*, chicken meal, fresh boneless salmon*, turkey meal, herring meal, russet potato, peas, sweet potato, fresh boneless turkey*, fresh whole eggs*, fresh chicken liver*, fresh boneless lake whitefish*, fresh boneless walleye*, sun-cured alfalfa, pea fiber, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium.

* DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen."


Oh I hope nobody here is going to burst my bubble and point out something bad about it that I might not be aware of he does love it and does really well on it.

Karma25

Whites Premium is what I used just changed two months ago when we switched from the puppy food. She was on pedigree chum puppy dry food and her poo's were all sorts of shades of brown. Now there solid and generally stay the same colour.

For treats, I bake my own peanut butter (without sugar)and honey cookies. She gets choc drops for training.

kylith

White's Chicken and get on fantastically on it. Had them on Pedigree recently when I ran out of White's and it was awful; hyper dogs, one with a really itchy tail, and the poo doubled.

ha-ya-said-what

Arden Grange - chicken and rice

Tried pretty much every other food on the market (well not the likes of lidl, tesco, pedigree) regardless of price and it's the only one all 4 dogs didn't react badly too and they eat it no bother. Even managed to get the latest edition a spoilt/fussy pekingnese to take to it noooo bother and he loves it more than his old food!

barbiegirl

Our two are on Robbies and love it :-)

kmmh58

I have changed my puppy's food to Real Nature, sold in Maxi Zoo. We had her on Burns but she went off this and the poops were messy. She is a red setter puppy by the way.

It has passed the 1st test, she wolfed it down. Can I get your opinion on this please?

Ingredients: dried Black Angus meat (min 20%), brown rice, dried Barbary Duck meat (min 9%), whole grain maize, dried Menhaden Herring (min 5.5%), millet, amaranth, fresh green herbs, blended algae, wild salmon oil, blended vegetable oil (cold-pressed), blackstrap molasses, dry peat, Yucca schidigera extract, fennel seeds, bilberries, egg yolk, blossom honey (cold extracted), silica, mussel concentrate, calf bone protein, green mineral earth (Terra Natura), trace elements, vitamins.

Average analysis: crude protein 28.55%, crude fat 10.90%, crude ash 7.39%, crude fibre 2.77%, moisture 11%, calcium 1.19%, phosphorus 0.98%, sodium 0.36%, magnesium 0.11%.

Additives/kg: vit A 12,000 IU, vit D3 1,200 IU, vit E 240 mg, vit B1 4.2mg, zinc 144mg, iron 240 mg, manganese 58mg, copper 12mg, vit C 170 mg, vit B2 8.4mg, vit B6 5mg, vit B12 50mg, biotin 250mcg, folic acid 0.42mg, niacin 25mg, pantothenic acid 9.6mg, choline chloride 1,500mg.