dog food

rottie 11

Can anyone recommend a good but not too expensive puppy food , i am using gain at the moment and its ok but would like to know if there is a better food for around the same price

andreac

What's your budget for a big bag of food?

rottie 11

andreac wrote: »

What's your budget for a big bag of food?

30-40 euro id pay for 15 kg bag . Im paying 30 for gain

rottie 11

andreac wrote: »

What's your budget for a big bag of food?

30-40 euro id pay for 15 kg bag . Im paying 30 for gain

Hooked

rottie 11 wrote: »

30-40 euro id pay for 15 kg bag . Im paying 30 for gain

We switched our now 8 month old to markus Meule from zooplus and now have his 3 year old brother on it.

Really happy with the value for money and ingredients... Both dogs doing great on it.

2 x 15kg bags cost around 75 and you feed far less (per dog weight).

Millem

rottie 11 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good but not too expensive puppy food , i am using gain at the moment and its ok but would like to know if there is a better food for around the same price

Is this the gain dog food?
http://www.petconnection.ie/acatalog/Gain_Big_Dog_Puppy_10kg.html

Sam Kade

rottie 11 wrote: »

30-40 euro id pay for 15 kg bag . Im paying 30 for gain

Crazy money, spot 22 €15 for 15 kg you can blend it if until your pup can eat it whole.

andreac

Not crazy money at all. Any of the cheap dog foods are made up of cereals and crap ingredients and very little meat at all which is not good for your dog.
Nothing wrong with wanting to feed good quality food to your dog.

Sam Kade

andreac wrote: »

Not crazy money at all. Any of the cheap dog foods are made up of cereals and crap ingredients and very little meat at all which is not good for your dog.
Nothing wrong with wanting to feed good quality food to your dog.

I wouldn't agree with you nothing cheap about €15, do you mean cheaper. I've fed pups with that food and they are fully grown now and healthy out.

The rule about feed stuffs is that if it's in the bag it's got to be on the tag, if it's on the tag it doesn't have in the bag. I deal with cattle feed and know how they use cheap ingredients to bulk up feed and sell it at a premium.

tk123

Sam Kade wrote: »

The rule about feed stuffs is that if it's in the bag it's got to be on the tag, if it's on the tag it doesn't have in the bag.

Eh what??!

Slaneypetfoods.ie and dogsfirst.ie for BARF OP if you don't want to feed dry food.

andreac

Sorry but that doesn't make sense. Have you ever looks at the ingredients of cheap dog food? 15euro for 15kg is cheap and is cheap for a reason. Just have a look at the ingredients and you will see for yourself. I wouldn't ever recommend feeding a food that has cereals and Derivitives as their main ingredient ��.

andreac

It's the other way round, they use cheap fillers to bulk it out so they can sell it cheaper with very little meat content, hence being cheap.

andreac

The op has asked for a better quality food to be recommended, not a cheaper lower grade one...

VonVix

andreac wrote: »

I wouldn't ever recommend feeding a food that has cereals and Derivitives as their main ingredient ��.

That's one thing that puts me off buying any particular food item for my dogs, if it says "meat and/or animal derivatives" derivatives of what meat and what animals?!

Sam Kade

andreac wrote: »

Sorry but that doesn't make sense. Have you ever looks at the ingredients of cheap dog food? 15euro for 15kg is cheap and is cheap for a reason. Just have a look at the ingredients and you will see for yourself. I wouldn't ever recommend feeding a food that has cereals and Derivitives as their main ingredient ��.

Do you know exactly what meat is in your dog food? Have a read of this about royal canin

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/royal-canin-medium-dog-food/

andreac

Yes that's royal canin, I don't feed that and I don't rate it at all.

Sam Kade

andreac wrote: »

Yes that's royal canin, I don't feed that and I don't rate it at all.

So what meat is in your dog food other than reading meat on the ingredients list? What brand do you use?

andreac

I use clinivet. It's made with chicken. Sorry but the ingredients that are on the bag are what's in it. I don't understand why you are trying to say there's other stuff in it??

muddypaws

If a food doesn't have meat as its first ingredient it doesn't mean that it has a lower amount of meat in it than a food that does, the company may weigh it in its dry form, and the other company in its hydrated form, so that when the water is taken out of it, it actually has less chicken in it than you think. Lots of tricks to fool people. However, if you buy a bag that costs around €15 for 15kg, then you are not getting a high meat content, and chances are, whatever meat in the food is not of a high grade. Under EU law, animal derivates has to be used, it doesn't mean beaks, feet etc, its just a term used in the industry.

I'm not anti-raw feeding, but I do always find it amusing that people rant about the use of the word derivates in dry food, but then happily feed necks, hearts, livers etc to their dogs. What is the difference?

falabo

muddypaws wrote: »

If a food doesn't have meat as its first ingredient it doesn't mean that it has a lower amount of meat in it than a food that does, the company may weigh it in its dry form, and the other company in its hydrated form, so that when the water is taken out of it, it actually has less chicken in it than you think. Lots of tricks to fool people. However, if you buy a bag that costs around €15 for 15kg, then you are not getting a high meat content, and chances are, whatever meat in the food is not of a high grade. Under EU law, animal derivates has to be used, it doesn't mean beaks, feet etc, its just a term used in the industry.

I'm not anti-raw feeding, but I do always find it amusing that people rant about the use of the word derivates in dry food, but then happily feed necks, hearts, livers etc to their dogs. What is the difference?

You're forgetting to mention the colourings too ! Yuk.

muddypaws

falabo wrote: »

You're forgetting to mention the colourings too ! Yuk.

What do you mean?

falabo

muddypaws wrote: »

What do you mean?

sorry that comment was actually for andreac ...

tk123

muddypaws wrote: »

I'm not anti-raw feeding, but I do always find it amusing that people rant about the use of the word derivates in dry food, but then happily feed necks, hearts, livers etc to their dogs. What is the difference?

Ah come on now you are a bit anti-raw or at least anti-raw feeders who push their ideas? I posted the links to the raw suppliers because the OP has asked in 2 other threads about feeding meat.

What's the difference between derivatives in dry and raw/homemade? For me it's like asking the difference between a cuppa soup and a bowl of homemade stew - one is heavily processed and one is not. I know exactly what meat/veg I'm feeding my dogs and I what condition it's in when I'm feeding it to them. I can also see the affect it has on my dogs compared to certain brands of dry food in other dogs.

muddypaws

tk123 wrote: »

Ah come on now you are a bit anti-raw or at least anti-raw feeders who push their ideas? I posted the links to the raw suppliers because the OP has asked in 2 other threads about feeding meat.

What's the difference between derivatives in dry and raw/homemade? For me it's like asking the difference between a cuppa soup and a bowl of homemade stew - one is heavily processed and one is not. I know exactly what meat/veg I'm feeding my dogs and I what condition it's in when I'm feeding it to them. I can also see the affect it has on my dogs compared to certain brands of dry food in other dogs.

Yeah you're right, I'm not anti-raw, I am anti-raw evangelicalism, those who push it as the only decent way to feed a dog, yet cannot back it up with any scientific evidence. Usually the same people who push training methods based on science, who know that our pets are not wolves, are not even wild dogs, know how they have come to be domesticated, yet still push that raw food is natural and how dogs should eat. That is what I'm "anti", the same as I'm anti-punishment for training, as there isn't the science to back it up. If someone could point me in the direction of scientific fact, then great. However, I have seen a dog in this country that lost its entire pigment because it was raw fed, and wasn't getting the correct nutrients. Even the cheapest complete food has to legally contain what a dog needs to live. A few years ago when money was very tight, I got all of my food from the local butcher, but most of it was fat, my dogs did not do well at all, yet that was a raw diet. Just the same as there is good quality complete food, and not as good quality, so it is with raw food, and not everybody that feeds it looks into as much as they should, and feeds their dog appropriately. Yes, I think its dangerous that every time someone asks about food, even when they ask about a particular brand, that raw food is pushed at them, when nobody knows if they have the knowledge and/or the means to feed their dog properly and healthily.

You're being very disingenuous, there is no difference, derivatives are derivatives, I know people who happily feed chicken feet as part of the raw diet, yet imagine the outcry if it was revealed chicken feet were used in a complete food, it has nothing to do with processing, the point was made about derivatives. Great that you know what you're feeding your dogs, you know where the meat came from? You know what the animals were fed whilst alive? What chemicals were pumped into them? Unless you rear your own meat supply, you are as much at the mercy of food suppliers as those that feed dry food.

I see the raw diet as a fad, its really fashionable at the moment, give it 20 years, and you'll all be saying - that muddypaws had her finger on the pulse as you give your dog the pill that contains his food for the day :P

tk123

Again I posted meat links because the OP has asked about feeding meats in their other threads. I'm not a raw evangelist who needs to justify what they feed to everyone and this isn't a raw/homemade vs dry thread so I'm not going to derail the thread. I will say that my own vet is now recommending home prepared diets for dogs who have skin problems so times are changing in our practice at least.

OP have a look on zooplus.de (use Chrome browser if you don't speak german lol ) - there's tons of wet and dry foods to suit your budget. When I fed dry I fed grain/cereal free and I found with those foods I could chop and change without any upset tummies.

Cocolola

muddypaws wrote: »

... there is no difference, derivatives are derivatives, I know people who happily feed chicken feet as part of the raw diet, yet imagine the outcry if it was revealed chicken feet were used in a complete food...

Just on this point MP, I think the difference is that when you're feeding raw, you're feeding whole cuts of meat or whole carcasses, and something like chicken feet is used in addition to that. As in I'd feed a mix of the graw food (which has been prepared to contain some of the necessary nutrients), with some whole chicken legs etc. and then feed a few feet to give a bit of variety. The concern I assume most people have with finding chicken feet were used in a dry food, would be that the feet are the main source of "meat". If that makes any sense? Especially in the cheaper brands where the ingredients list contains words like "with chicken", "meat derivatives" and so on.

Well that's my take on it, I could be entirely wrong!

rottie 11

Im stil feeding him the gain , pic of the bag below. The ingredients are:
Dried chicken and turkey (min 27%)

Rice (min 20%)

Wholegrain maze, dehulled oats, poultry fat , maize gluten, sugar beet pulp, fish meal, chicken gravy, egg, linseed, fish oil , sodium chloride, fructooligosaccharides (0.3%)

Trucal milk mineral complex, glucosamine hci (300mg/kg), methylsulphonylmethane(300mg/kg MSM).

Products from processing of plants

Crude protein 27%

Crude oils and fats 14%

Crude fibre 2.5%

Crude ash 7.9%

Calcium 1.5%

Phosphorous 1.1%

Omega 3 fats 0.8%

Omega 6 fats 3.8%



Is that food ok? He is 4 months old. Thanks