Best dry dog food available in Ireland?

Dtp1979

Cortina_MK_IV wrote: »

I suppose the simple answer is not knowing any better. Even on my first trip to the vet for vaccinations she asked what he was fed on and I told her RC and she replied, "that's fine"

Well you know better now. Have a read through this thread. My dog is on acana now. You cannot buy better dog food than this and it's cheaper than RC.
By the way, vets reccomend it usually because the shelves are stocked with it in the reception area

tk123

Dtp1979 wrote: »

ou cannot buy better dog food than this

There's plenty of better foods than Acana?! It's big brother Orijen for example, ziwipeak etc etc etc

Dtp1979

tk123 wrote: »

There's plenty of better foods than Acana?! It's big brother Orijen for example, ziwipeak etc etc etc

Maybe on par but not better

tk123

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Maybe on par but not better

Orijen is better quality than Acana - the company who makes them both tell you that on their own website.

Dtp1979

tk123 wrote: »

Orijen is better quality than Acana - the company who makes them both tell you that on their own website.

Thanks for that info. Any idea price comparison between the 2 for a 13kg bag?

tk123

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Thanks for that info. Any idea price comparison between the 2 for a 13kg bag?

No sorry I raw feed and only use dry food for treats so get the smallest bag possible so it doesn't go to waste - I wouldn't keep it longer than 6 months. Our last 2kg bag of champion grain free cost €10 and lasted 5 months!

Cortina_MK_IV

From zooplus.ie: 13kg Acana (puppy large breed) = €59.99.
Orijen 13kg (puppy large dog) = €81.99.

samo

Cortina_MK_IV wrote: »

From zooplus.ie: 13kg Acana (puppy large breed) = €59.99.
Orijen 13kg (puppy large dog) = €81.99.

I have a nearly 9 month old retriever and she did very well on Acana though could be a bit picky and could take it or leave it (I switched her over from Burns after getting her from the breeder after spending an entire weekend reading up on foods and settling on Acana as the best compromise given price and quality).

That said though, having gotten another new arrival we recently switched her to champion grain free, this is around €49.99 for 12KG so a small bit cheaper (not much in it I know as just rechecked the prices!) but she LOVES it, absolutely hoovers it up and not a kibble piece left (gently transitioned from what was left of the Acana to the champion grain free).

http://www.dogfooddirect.ie/modules/shop/products/champion-grain-free-puppy-with-chicken-sweet-potato-carrots-and-peas-12kg/

We were also down with Carnivore Kelly's and long term plan on switching her to RAW so have been introducing some of their ready made chubs. The guy there was really helpful and a lot of info on the various foods and said if yo must give dry then you are doing them a massive favour with grain free as well as some good quality scraps. A combo of chubs and champion grain free seems to be going down very nicely, her coat is gleaming, grand in the toilet department, meals always finished, long term if you have the time and inclincation RAW is well worth considering as Retrievers can be a bit prone to sensitive tummies too so its worth getting it right no matter whether you go with a really decent quality dry food or else RAW.

tk123

Samo are you calling into Dogfooddirect or ordering online? It's always cheaper to buy from their depot so if you're calling over to kellys anyways DFD is not too far away in Park West My dad works out that way and has collected stuff for me loads of times - they always round it down! He even got a €10 off a high K-9 bed for me lol :pac:

heyday30

One of my dogs has a dodgy belly. I feed them both burns sensitive.
They are thriving and love it.

samo

tk123 wrote: »

Samo are you calling into Dogfooddirect or ordering online? It's always cheaper to buy from their depot so if you're calling over to kellys anyways DFD is not too far away in Park West My dad works out that way and has collected stuff for me loads of times - they always round it down! He even got a €10 off a high K-9 bed for me lol :pac:

Yep, got it a bit cheaper calling into the depot - good to know about the beds and stuff, I need to haggle more!!

Have to pay a visit soon for more of the RAW

54and56

Hi,

I'm feeding my 50% Newfoundlander and 50% Northern Innuit Mix (not sure what's in the mix but it seems from communication with the peson I got the pup from that the mother was a cross of Northern Innuit and H57) Markus Mühle NaturNah http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_...aturnah/128238 which seems to be going down very well.

The packaging says to feed adult dogs 1.2% of their body weight but that young and growing dogs may need up to 2.5% of their body weight per day.

My dog is just 9 months old and weighs 29KG. According to some dog weight predictors I've referenced e.g. http://www.enpevet.de/CalculateWeight.aspx it looks like she will hit 34KG at 81 weeks i.e. adulthood. It's been concsistently predicting this weight since she was about 12 weeks old so she seems to be growing "normally".

My question is at the moment I'm feeding her about 600 grams per day but the 2.5% recommendation would equate to 850 grams per day.

I'm sure there's no black and white about this but I'd appreciate some input from you guys. Should I up her feed to 850 grams given she is growing (and she's been on 600 grams for two months) or should I leave well alone??

SpringerKY

Have a very fussy, extremely energetic 18 month Springer spaniel who I cannot add weight to no matter what I do (have been to vet, he is healthy). He is skinnier and smaller than my other springer who is about 9 months old and will eat anything and everything in his way.

Can anybody recommend a dry dog food to put weight on? He has previously been on burns and most recently tried Josera High energy and Josera puppy food. Also if there are any supplements for weight gain? Very quick and agile springer but needs to be a bit broader.

Hope somebody can help.

mymo

I had awful problems getting weight on my Tibetan terrier when he was younger (up to about 2years) my vet told me to make up a casserole type food using chicken thighs any legs, some veggies (I used carrots, broccoli, butter beans or similar, green beans, peas, turnip, whatever I had) and rice, just add water, no stock, pick out all bones once cooked, mix meat in well, and mix it in with regular food.
It freezes well, my fella love it done with mince beef too, cheap fatty stuff is best, and my friend gave me rabbit (left over from restaurant) and I used cheap Turkey too.
It did work, he was very underweight, skin and bone at one stage, but very lively so vet wasn't worried. (I would check with your vet for a health issue just in case.)
He's 7 now and will eat anything, normal weight.

snor

Very interesting thread. I have my King Charles cavalier on Royal Canine also. Was lead to believe it was a good feed but from reading this thread it's not!

My guy is a fussy eater and prone to weight gain. He is 4.5years. Has a heart murmur but not on any meds yet. Any food recommendations please? Many thanks.

adamshare01

Gain Elite feed.

Springwell

snor wrote: »

Very interesting thread. I have my King Charles cavalier on Royal Canine also. Was lead to believe it was a good feed but from reading this thread it's not!

My guy is a fussy eater and prone to weight gain. He is 4.5years. Has a heart murmur but not on any meds yet. Any food recommendations please? Many thanks.

Anything grain free, Purizon, Wolf of the Wild, Taste of the Wild, Purizon, Orijen, Champion Grain Free. If finances don't stretch to that (understandable, many of us find them pricey) then a good quality kibble with easily digestible ingredients - Marcus muhle, Lukullus, Taste of The Wild regional diets.

Hope that helps.

Springwell

adamshare01 wrote: »

Gain Elite feed.

Dried Chicken & Turkey (min 30%), Rice (20%), Wholegrain Maize, Dehulled Oats, Poultry Fat, Maize Gluten, Sugar Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Fish Meal, Egg, Linseed, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides (0.3%), TruCal Milk Mineral Complex, Products from Processing Plants.

Lots of filler grains which are hard to digest for dogs, especially maize.

Knine

Springwell wrote: »

Dried Chicken & Turkey (min 30%), Rice (20%), Wholegrain Maize, Dehulled Oats, Poultry Fat, Maize Gluten, Sugar Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Fish Meal, Egg, Linseed, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides (0.3%), TruCal Milk Mineral Complex, Products from Processing Plants.

Lots of filler grains which are hard to digest for dogs, especially maize.

Still actually a very decent brand of food for it's price compared to Royal Canin etc. I have used this very successfully with top winning dogs.

odckdo

My dogs get a kibble which has rice and are doing alright. (They also get a good wet food.)

Just wondering is there any need to move to grain free if your dog is not allergic?

When I look at the ingredient lists for most of the grain free foods there is alot of potato and the fresh meat after cooking is down to 20%.

I am trying to keep food costs down but does anyone have a proper link that could convince me that grains are really bad and I need to change?

EDIT reading the Orijen white paper. Orijen 80% meat, 20% fruit & veg, zero grain has 25% carbs but for comparison TOTW or dogfooddirect Champion Grain Free have carbs in the early 40s. I feed Zooplus Greenwood's which has white rice, brown rice, oats giving carbs in late 40s.

SpringerKY

Thanks Mymo, Going to do that. In Aldi can get packs of drumsticks and tighs for about €2 so will stock up and add in some mince and chicken breast too. Have also just bought a 15kg bag of Lulluks dog food of zooplus and some bovine fat powder too. Hope he will fill out now and reach his true potential!

muddypaws

odckdo wrote: »

My dogs get a kibble which has rice and are doing alright. (They also get a good wet food.)

Just wondering is there any need to move to grain free if your dog is not allergic?

When I look at the ingredient lists for most of the grain free foods there is alot of potato and the fresh meat after cooking is down to 20%.

I am trying to keep food costs down but does anyone have a proper link that could convince me that grains are really bad and I need to change?

EDIT reading the Orijen white paper. Orijen 80% meat, 20% fruit & veg, zero grain has 25% carbs but for comparison TOTW or dogfooddirect Champion Grain Free have carbs in the early 40s. I feed Zooplus Greenwood's which has white rice, brown rice, oats giving carbs in late 40s.

Absolutely no need to move to grain free, as dogs can digest grains. All sorts of claims are made, but no science to back them up Of course if you feed a very cheap food, it will have a high level of cheap fillers, but using a food with meat and rice, grain etc is no problem at all.

As my vet says, she hasn't seen a case of rickets in dogs for a long time, it used to be quite common, a coincidence that this has come about at the same time as the increase in the use of kibble? I think not.

If you have a food that you are happy with, that your dog eats and does well on, stick with it.

Stephenc66

I am in agreement with Muddypaws if your dog is healthy and well on a food that they like stick with it. The only other thing I would suggest is that you monitor it as they get older.

DBB

Hmmm... I don't think it's quite fair to say dogs can digest grains... They probably can to a very small extent, very small. And only if the grain has already been broken down somewhat by cooking or digestion in a prey animal. And some breeds are better at it than others. Dogs are better at digesting carbs than wolves are, but these are vegetable-based carbs rather than grain-based. I don't think we know enough yet about the influence of gluten on the carnivorous digestive system, and the long-term effects on organs like the liver, damage which is insidious and hard to point the finger at one cause, to be assuming that feeding a cerealy diet to dogs is okay. For the record, rice is very benign, so if I had to feed a cerealy diet, I'd opt for rice as the only cereal in it.
My vet only commented last week that she has seen more cases of rickets in the past couple of years than ever before.

odckdo

I don't know. I have looked and looked for some concrete evidence online and can't seem to find anything either way.

Orijen I think are the first and probably the best grain free food. On their website they state over and over how dogs can't digest grains. They even have a so called white paper on the subject.

One thing that puzzles me is that they also make Acana. Yet some of the Acana foods have 30% grains (oats). Acana say oats are acceptable as they are low GI. Alright they are catering for a different market by keeping costs down but how can Champion Pet Foods harp on about grain free on the one hand but yet market Acana?

Also all the entry level grain free foods use potato or sweet potato. I am no expert but nutritionally sweet potato seems good and would have around the same GI as oats. So why haven't Acana used sweet potato instead of oats if grains are so hard to digest? It can't be a cost thing as Acana is expensive anyways.

DBB

I wouldn't expect any pet food manufacturer to be squeaky clean when it comes to ethics, marketting and profit
The human food companies are bad enough, and much more tightly regulated.
For the record, oats are a more benign grain than wheat or barley from a gluten point of view... Some people with gluten intolerance can eat oats with no major impacts. I'd guess, and it's only a guess, that oats are a lot cheaper than spuds or sweet potatoes... Which brings me back to my point about ethics and profit!

lalalady

Getting a cocker pup soon, will be 12 weeks old. Can you please recommend a food and training treats?

lalalady

lalalady wrote: »

Getting a cocker pup soon, will be 12 weeks old. Can you please recommend a food and training treats?

Any advise please?

odckdo

lalalady wrote:

Getting a cocker pup soon, will be 12 weeks old. Can you please recommend a food and training treats?

Food wise Cocker's are generally good eaters and not that fussy. So you should have a good selection to choose from. There is no specific food for the cocker breed.

There are good suggestions on this thread and they would all have good puppy versions.

It really depends on whether you want to buy locally or online and what your budget is? A 12kg/13kg bag of grain free food would start at around 50 euro whereas a good meat & rice 15kg bag could be got for around 35 euro.

lalalady

odckdo wrote: »

Food wise Cocker's are generally good eaters and not that fussy. So you should have a good selection to choose from. There is no specific food for the cocker breed.

There are good suggestions on this thread and they would all have good puppy versions.

It really depends on whether you want to buy locally or online and what your budget is? A 12kg/13kg bag of grain free food would start at around 50 euro whereas a good meat & rice 15kg bag could be got for around 35 euro.

Thanks odckdo, I am open to online or store. how much long would a 12/13kg bag last for an adult Cocker? Would you advise grain free to start or see how things go?