Yet another dog food thread...young greyhound and senior collie + JRT

mosi

After many years of dog ownership, my parents have finally become convinced of the benefits of premium dog food brands.
For the past few months, they have been feeding their dogs Pro Pac dog food, as I won a load of it a while back in a raffle. They are almost finished the bag, and recently got a small bag of Science Plan for seniors from the vet for the oldies. I've heard that Science Plan isn't the best for the price though, so they've asked me to suggest suitable food for the dogs.

Regarding the greyhound, he is about a year and a half, and has been slow to put on weight since they adopted him last winter. He has filled out a bit though but could probably do with a bit more weight. I'm wondering what other grey and lurcher owners feed theirs? I'm open to most brand reccommendations, although I've heard that Burns isn't great for keeping weight on.

The two oldies are both 14. The collie has a touch of arthritis while the JRT remains very spritely. Neither has weight issues.

Brands I've been looking at include JWB, Husse, Arden Grange and Luath. I'd also be interested in looking at Maxi Zoo's own products, and am open to other suggestions.

Of course, I'm looking at different types of these brands - senior for the old boys and regular for the grey...however, would it be recommended to put the grey on a puppy food for a while to help him fill out more? Flip side of that is, I have heard that it is best not to feed them too high a protein diet. Kind of confused here :eek:

planetX

I found my lurcher was too thin on Burns. I'm switching to cheaper food now - but for the past 4 months I've been feeding him on Clinivet Junior. It was a big jump in protein from Burns and it's done him nothing but good - he's filled out, his coat has become really shiny and the important bit.... his behaviour didn't change for the worse. If anything he's more chilled out, probably because he's not so hungry anymore.

Inexile

I used to have my other dogs on a cheaper food but switche some yeas ago to a quality food. Once I made the switch I could see the differnce within days. Howevever, hounds seem to be different.

Retired greys need a low protein food about 18 - 22%. If they have too much protein they may just bounce off the wall!

I feed mine on a cheap food, Wagg Worker, and it seems to agree with her. Previously I feed her what I fed the others at the time (a €50 for 15kg bag) but her stools were rather runny. I foster hounds and I noticed the the foster hounds were doing better on the cheaper food than my lady so I switched and things improved. I also add some pilchards, or sardines to one of her meals each day and she hoovers it all up and is in fine form.

Hounds can take a while to fill out, just a day or two off food and you can see the difference. If your hound is eating well then I would continue with it and just add some egg, pasta, potato and/or fish to the feed.

Other friends of mine feed their dogs on Arkwrights (about €15k per bag) another hound owner I know has theres on Beta and they are all in great nick . I think hounds can be trial and error !

mosi

Cheers guys. It's a bit of a minefield, especially when you hear mixed reports about all the different brands. Will prob be best off sending away for a few samples and seeing what suits best!

lorebringer

You are going to need to buy 2 different foods (one of the small joys of having dogs of very different ages) - one for the oldies and one for the younger greyhound.

Personally, I find the James Wellbeloved fantastic for both adult dogs and older dogs. It's about €55 per bag but it really does last ages and I find it very easy to regulate my dogs weight on it.

Another food that I find good (and was very surprised I liked it) is Select Gold from Maxizoo - they have a really big range and there is something for every dog.

Burns food is good but I found it difficult to maintain their weight.

TBH, Pro Pac is also a great food and would be grand for your dogs to be on long term.

Many brands do a "high energy" version, for dogs that need a bit of filling out. You wouldn't need to keep your dog on this food though, just until the dog gets to a good weight and then maintain it with a regular adult food (unless, he then lost the weight, in which can he would need the higher calorie food regularly). Taller dogs can go though a gangley stage, where they are a bit skinny for their own good, but most will fill out given time (and food!) so don't worry too much about him being a bit thin! It's ok to switch brands too - there is no need to stick religiously to one brand - we switch it up quite often and none of the dogs are any worse for wear. Just be sure to gradually switch over (increasing the new food slowly) to prevent any dodgy bellies!

mosi

lorebringer wrote: »

You are going to need to buy 2 different foods (one of the small joys of having dogs of very different ages) - one for the oldies and one for the younger greyhound.

Personally, I find the James Wellbeloved fantastic for both adult dogs and older dogs. It's about €55 per bag but it really does last ages and I find it very easy to regulate my dogs weight on it.

Another food that I find good (and was very surprised I liked it) is Select Gold from Maxizoo - they have a really big range and there is something for every dog.

Burns food is good but I found it difficult to maintain their weight.

TBH, Pro Pac is also a great food and would be grand for your dogs to be on long term.

Many brands do a "high energy" version, for dogs that need a bit of filling out. You wouldn't need to keep your dog on this food though, just until the dog gets to a good weight and then maintain it with a regular adult food (unless, he then lost the weight, in which can he would need the higher calorie food regularly). Taller dogs can go though a gangley stage, where they are a bit skinny for their own good, but most will fill out given time (and food!) so don't worry too much about him being a bit thin! It's ok to switch brands too - there is no need to stick religiously to one brand - we switch it up quite often and none of the dogs are any worse for wear. Just be sure to gradually switch over (increasing the new food slowly) to prevent any dodgy bellies!

Yeah, I'm looking at a regular adult or large breed food for the grey and a senior food for the old boys. It would be ideal to go for the different varieties of the same brand, for ease of ordering if nothing else!
I've heard lots of good things about JWB. Actually, when my folks first got the grey, he wouldn't eat dried food so he was fed the JWB wet food mixed with the ProPac kibble until he got used to the dry diet.
The ProPac was working out fine, but my parents' have found it hard to get hold of. They ordered it at a local vets (not their own vet) that was listed as being a stockist on the ProPac site, but they never heard anything back:(