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Best food choice for my collie pup?

  • 23-10-2014 1:08pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭


    Okay, I've asked this so many times, but it's been a LONG time since dealing with a pup, and as Shadow was a very picky dog, we didn't have many options on food.

    He is three months old, only going on what I have been told he is relatively full collie (ie mum and dad are both border collies, but not necessarily full collie themselves).

    We are most certainly on a budget so we're trying to get a balance between good quality and reasonable price per weight of bag.
    I've been looking at Burns and Hills - any good? I've not used either before! At the minute he is on the crappy Tesco stuff (that's what his foster family were giving him and it was an impulse decision to adopt him as he was perfect so we didn't have food prepared) so he will be on that still for about another week when I can afford to buy a large bag of something better.


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,009 ✭✭✭SingItOut


    Burns would be a lot better quality, stay away from hills . The reason I say that about hills is while studying nutrition in college and for my old job we were shown the actual ingredients of certain foods and hills was one of the worst, closely followed by royal canin. Burns is around the €60 mark I think for puppy food, Clinivet is another good food option and was €56.99 for the bag when I used to buy it. I'm currently feeding gain elite to my collie and terrier, it's 49.99 for a 15kG which lasts my two just over a month. The terriers coat is so much softer and her gland problem has stopped on gain, she is the fussiest eater but loves gain elite. My collies coat is gleaming and she's always complimented by passers by for it, she has a lot less tear stains on Gain Elite. I know all about the Crappy tesco stuff, I had to feed my collie on crappy pedigree for the first few days as we got her from the rescue last minute, Never again! Yellow poos, smelly farts, upset stomach! Yuck!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    SingItOut wrote: »
    Burns would be a lot better quality, stay away from hills . The reason I say that about hills is while studying nutrition in college and for my old job we were shown the actual ingredients of certain foods and hills was one of the worst, closely followed by royal canin. Burns is around the €60 mark I think for puppy food, Clinivet is another good food option and was €56.99 for the bag when I used to buy it. I'm currently feeding gain elite to my collie and terrier, it's 49.99 for a 15kG which lasts my two just over a month. The terriers coat is so much softer and her gland problem has stopped on gain, she is the fussiest eater but loves gain elite. My collies coat is gleaming and she's always complimented by passers by for it, she has a lot less tear stains on Gain Elite. I know all about the Crappy tesco stuff, I had to feed my collie on crappy pedigree for the first few days as we got her from the rescue last minute, Never again! Yellow poos, smelly farts, upset stomach! Yuck!


    Oh my GOD the POOS! Opie did one out in the yard an hour ago and the SMELL FOLLOWED US IN! His farts are horrendous as well! I've heard good things about Gain alright, is that on zooplus or where would I look into it? Would there be sense in ordering one of the smaller test bags and then a bigger one if he likes it? He's very food driven so I imagine he'd eat next to anything!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 115 ✭✭Karen91


    Burns would be alot better, stay away from hills, I was giving my pomeranin hills and I could tell she was'nt getting the nutrients she needed she was suffering from flaking skin and she was on all sorts of supplements to try and improve it. I made the choice to put her on canagan and I could not believe the difference in her skin she now is free of supplements, so yeah stay away from hills. Burns would be the better option i have heard good things about it. I would suggest canagan country game but it would be expensive to feed to a larger dog like a collie.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 886 ✭✭✭bb12


    wow! can't believe you all pay that mad money for dog food! i've had collies (full bred) all my life. only trip to the vets any of them ever had was to get spayed/neutured. healthy boundless energy dogs that have always been fed just regular dog food that i'd pick up @ circa €12-15 a 15kg bag with any leftover dinner of the day thrown in . and when they were puppies, they got said food mashed up with milk to soften it. they all live to around 14/15 years old without any problem. i currently have 3 of them, all aged 9 years old and act about 2! €60 for a bag of food! LOL!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    bb12 wrote: »
    wow! can't believe you all pay that mad money for dog food! i've had collies (full bred) all my life. only trip to the vets any of them ever had was to get spayed/neutured. healthy boundless energy dogs that have always been fed just regular dog food that i'd pick up @ circa €12-15 a 15kg bag with any leftover dinner of the day thrown in . and when they were puppies, they got said food mashed up with milk to soften it. they all live to around 14/15 years old without any problem. i currently have 3 of them, all aged 9 years old and act about 2! €60 for a bag of food! LOL!!!

    And I had a border collie fed on that crap for 11 years until he died from aggressive stage 4 lymphoma. So not really your place to claim that the food is keeping your dogs healthy.
    And it definitely isn't your place to laugh at other people's feeding choices for their dogs.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 886 ✭✭✭bb12


    ShaShaBear wrote: »
    And I had a border collie fed on that crap for 11 years until he died from aggressive stage 4 lymphoma. So not really your place to claim that the food is keeping your dogs healthy.
    And it definitely isn't your place to laugh at other people's feeding choices for their dogs.

    so, you've had one dog die of cancer and i've had about 10 which haven't. i think i prefer my odds.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    bb12 wrote: »
    so, you've had one dog die of cancer and i've had about 10 which haven't. i think i prefer my odds.

    And as a woman of science, I know what is better for my dog.

    So, onwards to the people who actually have advice - any other stories or experiences with Gain?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭cocker5


    Hi Shahabear,

    I fed my cocker Burns for about 5 years and he did really well on it. I did substitute with a handful of all bran once per week (as it not very high in fibre), plus salmon oil a little each day and a tin of sardines once per week in oil.

    I’ve moved him onto taste of the wild for the last 2 years and find it excellent… I feed him boiled chicken (or beef / salmon / turkey)with veg (carrots, swede, peas, broccoli etc. and luposan pellets and salmon oil) each morning and 90grams of taste of the wild each evenings and he’s the fittest and best has ever been if you can push to taste of the wild id def. give it a go!

    best of luck

    ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭cocker5


    bb12 wrote: »
    wow! can't believe you all pay that mad money for dog food! i've had collies (full bred) all my life. only trip to the vets any of them ever had was to get spayed/neutured. healthy boundless energy dogs that have always been fed just regular dog food that i'd pick up @ circa €12-15 a 15kg bag with any leftover dinner of the day thrown in . and when they were puppies, they got said food mashed up with milk to soften it. they all live to around 14/15 years old without any problem. i currently have 3 of them, all aged 9 years old and act about 2! €60 for a bag of food! LOL!!!

    you know dogs aren't supposed to have milk?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭cocker5


    bb12 wrote: »
    so, you've had one dog die of cancer and i've had about 10 which haven't. i think i prefer my odds.

    so youve had 10 dogs who havent died of cancer... with the food your feeding them they must all still be alive and doing well?? they must be like 20 or 30 now?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,274 ✭✭✭cocker5


    bb12 wrote: »
    wow! can't believe you all pay that mad money for dog food! i've had collies (full bred) all my life. only trip to the vets any of them ever had was to get spayed/neutured. healthy boundless energy dogs that have always been fed just regular dog food that i'd pick up @ circa €12-15 a 15kg bag with any leftover dinner of the day thrown in . and when they were puppies, they got said food mashed up with milk to soften it. they all live to around 14/15 years old without any problem. i currently have 3 of them, all aged 9 years old and act about 2! €60 for a bag of food! LOL!!!

    it’s all about choices in life, a 15kg bag of food for €15, I can only imagine how amazing that was in nutrition value…
    Personally I wouldn’t feed my dog a poor quality dog food same as I wouldn’t feed kids McDonalds and take aways every night, in life you pay for what you get, if you pay very little you get very little in return. cheap is cheap for a reason.

    the OP’s dog getting cancer may have little to do with his food it could be genetic, environmental anything etc.
    I feed my dog very well (better than myself sometimes) I hope and pray he doesn’t get cancer but if he does I'll still know I did my best for him and he deserves it…


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,611 ✭✭✭muddypaws


    I'm currently feeding my working huskies the Gain Recordbreaker, it is high in protein and fat, so not saying its suitable for dogs that aren't working hard, but they are doing well on it. It seems to have a high meat content, am paying €27.95 for 15kg at the moment. I was really happy with a food I found in the UK, Quest, specifically for working sled dogs, but would need to order a pallet to get it here, and don't have the cashflow, or the mouse free storage.

    I've never fed it myself, but CSJ is fed by a lot of collie owners in the UK, again, not widely available here, but there are a couple of stockists, mainly agility people. They do a huge range of food, so if you look into it, don't be put off by the really cheap end of their food.

    Most of the smaller food brands are all made in the same factory, either to their own recipes, or to a recipe recommended by the factory and then packaged in their own bags.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,009 ✭✭✭SingItOut


    ShaShaBear wrote: »
    Oh my GOD the POOS! Opie did one out in the yard an hour ago and the SMELL FOLLOWED US IN! His farts are horrendous as well! I've heard good things about Gain alright, is that on zooplus or where would I look into it? Would there be sense in ordering one of the smaller test bags and then a bigger one if he likes it? He's very food driven so I imagine he'd eat next to anything!

    Ugh that brings back memories alright! I don't think it's online, I buy mine from petmania because it's easier for me. I think gain is available on dog food direct but it's the Gain original which isn't as high quality as the elite range. I've never seen gain doing sample bags but some of the petmania stores have the food to sample in store.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    SingItOut wrote: »
    Ugh that brings back memories alright! I don't think it's online, I buy mine from petmania because it's easier for me. I think gain is available on dog food direct but it's the Gain original which isn't as high quality as the elite range. I've never seen gain doing sample bags but some of the petmania stores have the food to sample in store.

    It seems to be on sale in a pet store just up the road from me, so we're going to have a snoop there when we do our grocery shopping on Friday. Means we could try get a smaller bag maybe just to keep him going until we can afford the bigger one? That way if he doesn't like it or it doesn't agree with him, I'm not out a fortune :P


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 886 ✭✭✭bb12


    cocker5 wrote: »
    it’s all about choices in life, a 15kg bag of food for €15, I can only imagine how amazing that was in nutrition value…
    Personally I wouldn’t feed my dog a poor quality dog food same as I wouldn’t feed kids McDonalds and take aways every night, in life you pay for what you get, if you pay very little you get very little in return. cheap is cheap for a reason.

    my point is that through my experience of owning lots of dogs over my lifetime and feeding them on the regular dried food, it hasn't done any harm. they've all lived to their natural old age without any ailments. all happy, healthy, normal weight dogs with gleaming coats. i've had friends who have gone out and spent 60-80-90 euro on dry feed for their labs etc and ironically in a lot of cases, these dogs ended up at the vets a lot more frequently that mine have, including having to have cruciate and joint ops etc etc...

    i understand people who have competition animals might want to feed expensive food for extra energy etc, but for the ordinary run of the mill dog owner i see no problem with the average cheaper dog food.

    i hate it when people go on about feeding expensive dog food because this turns a lot of potential dog owners off and god knows, there are a lot of strays and rescues out there who could do with a good home, even if they only get fed cheap dog food!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,009 ✭✭✭SingItOut


    ShaShaBear wrote: »
    It seems to be on sale in a pet store just up the road from me, so we're going to have a snoop there when we do our grocery shopping on Friday. Means we could try get a smaller bag maybe just to keep him going until we can afford the bigger one? That way if he doesn't like it or it doesn't agree with him, I'm not out a fortune :P

    Exactly , the 3KG is about €15 for adult small dog I think (I haven't bought the smaller bag so not sure of price) so I'd imagine the puppy food would be a little more pricy, but not as bad as paying for a 15kg and your pup hating it!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    bb12 wrote: »
    my point is that through my experience of owning lots of dogs over my lifetime and feeding them on the regular dried food, it hasn't done any harm. they've all lived to their natural old age without any ailments. all happy, healthy, normal weight dogs with gleaming coats. i've had friends who have gone out and spent 60-80-90 euro on dry feed for their labs etc and ironically in a lot of cases, these dogs ended up at the vets a lot more frequently that mine have, including having to have cruciate and joint ops etc etc...

    i understand people who have competition animals might want to feed expensive food for extra energy etc, but for the ordinary run of the mill dog owner i see no problem with the average cheaper dog food.

    i hate it when people go on about feeding expensive dog food because this turns a lot of potential dog owners off and god knows, there are a lot of strays and rescues out there who could do with a good home, even if they only get fed cheap dog food!!

    But you are being misled. It's not more expensive, because you feed much less of the "expensive" stuff to your dog than you would of the cheap stuff. Shadow would go through a cheap 15kg bag of food in about 2-3 weeks. His Taste of The Wild bag (same weight) lasted almost two months. Quality over quantity. It's a larger initial purchase but over time it is money saved. Unless you have personally fed your collies both kinds of food for a reasonable length of time, you can't claim that they are just as healthy as dogs who are fed better. Dogs on more expensive food do not statistically end up at the vets more often. Anecdotal evidence and all that :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 996 ✭✭✭Léan


    Hi ShaShaBear,

    I've a 3 year old GSD X who's a very fussy eater but also has a very sensitive tummy. I've had him on Simpsons Premium for about the last 9 months and he's thriving on it (i previously fed Orijen which I felt was a little too rich and plus it's so pricey).

    I feed him the Fish 80/20 and mix in a bit of their Salmon/Chicken and Potato or some other variant.

    The poos are solid and regular (sorry! has to be said), no bad breath, good mood, great coat etc..

    It's about €50 for a 12 kg bag. Typically this lasts us about a month/month and a half. I usually buy it from Petfoodexpresstoyou, i know they were sending out samples for a while there too which could be worth looking into. I just noticed it's available on Zooplus and Amazon too.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 638 ✭✭✭ferretone


    Any chance you'd consider feeding raw, or just fresh cooked? I know starting out it seems like a lot more hassle, but I've found it honestly easier than dealing with the results of feeding kibble. For example, my mother refuses to change from kibble, and her dog, a saluki-cross just over a year old, that she has had since February, eats a good-quality grain-free brand, and still struggles with the fall-out from the giardiasis infestation that it took so long to sort, despite repeated vet treatments.

    A friend of ours used raw feeding to sort that out in one of her rescues, and it only took a couple of months to have really good, solid poop, and no more excessive farting. Mum's dog still tends to have rather sloppy, green ones, that we have to hose the garden after we pick them up so the grandkids can play there, and they are still plagued with the stinky farts in the house, and especially in the car.

    And once you get your system sorted out, I really don't find raw feeding that much hassle. We've even extended it to the cats, well half-and-half, with good kibble in the morning and raw in the evening, and I have to say it has made it much easier to live with indoor kitties :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    ferretone wrote: »
    Any chance you'd consider feeding raw, or just fresh cooked? I know starting out it seems like a lot more hassle, but I've found it honestly easier than dealing with the results of feeding kibble. For example, my mother refuses to change from kibble, and her dog, a saluki-cross just over a year old, that she has had since February, eats a good-quality grain-free brand, and still struggles with the fall-out from the giardiasis infestation that it took so long to sort, despite repeated vet treatments.

    A friend of ours used raw feeding to sort that out in one of her rescues, and it only took a couple of months to have really good, solid poop, and no more excessive farting. Mum's dog still tends to have rather sloppy, green ones, that we have to hose the garden after we pick them up so the grandkids can play there, and they are still plagued with the stinky farts in the house, and especially in the car.

    And once you get your system sorted out, I really don't find raw feeding that much hassle. We've even extended it to the cats, well half-and-half, with good kibble in the morning and raw in the evening, and I have to say it has made it much easier to live with indoor kitties :)

    We did consider it honestly, our only issue is we have a tiny fridge-freezer that barely holds our own groceries week to week, as well as squeezing in 12 formula bottles for the baldy pup. Just wouldnt have the space to prep the raw feeds, but we are hoping to get our own bigger fridge eventually!


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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,790 Mod ✭✭✭✭DBB


    ShaShaBear wrote: »
    the baldy pup

    :o:D


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