What decent dog food?
Discussion
Mac (8 month lab) has issues with dog food.
He started out on Supadog brand dry food. He was always a bit "soft" with that.
So we slowly introduced him to James Wellbeloved turkey & rice dry food. A bit better, but still soft and quite ill every couple of weeks.
So we tried a wet food (Pedigree) - just gave him a bit and it was a complete disaster, he was ill for over a week.
He has now been on a bland diet (chicken and rice) for a couple of months, and has been completely fine. He has loads of energy, very bouncy and a very shiny coat. But it's a PITA to cook all the time, and very expensive.
So I compared the ingredients and nutritional values of some of the most expensive dry dog foods, and decided that Eukanuba looked reasonable (plus our German Shepherd with digestive problems did great on Eukanuba for years)... He had 6 pieces of dry Eukanuba (about 10grammes) with his chicken and rice last week and within hours there was diarrhea and vomit everywhere. He didn't really recover and went to the vet today with a bad bout of colitis.
Thing is... When he eats "real" plain food, he is absolutely fine! We've fed him all sorts of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, corn-based pasta, wheat-based pasta, bread, even some haggis... And he's been fine with all of it! So if he does have some allergy, we can't find what it is.
I know there are special sensitive/prescription dog foods out there, but for me that's a last resort. I'd really like him eating something that's normal and easy to buy either online or in the shops (and from a big enough company that it won't disappear).
Price is no object, because it can't possibly be as expensive as what he eats now, plus all the vet bills!
Are there any readily available dog foods out there at any price that just have good quality ingredients?
He started out on Supadog brand dry food. He was always a bit "soft" with that.
So we slowly introduced him to James Wellbeloved turkey & rice dry food. A bit better, but still soft and quite ill every couple of weeks.
So we tried a wet food (Pedigree) - just gave him a bit and it was a complete disaster, he was ill for over a week.
He has now been on a bland diet (chicken and rice) for a couple of months, and has been completely fine. He has loads of energy, very bouncy and a very shiny coat. But it's a PITA to cook all the time, and very expensive.
So I compared the ingredients and nutritional values of some of the most expensive dry dog foods, and decided that Eukanuba looked reasonable (plus our German Shepherd with digestive problems did great on Eukanuba for years)... He had 6 pieces of dry Eukanuba (about 10grammes) with his chicken and rice last week and within hours there was diarrhea and vomit everywhere. He didn't really recover and went to the vet today with a bad bout of colitis.
Thing is... When he eats "real" plain food, he is absolutely fine! We've fed him all sorts of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, corn-based pasta, wheat-based pasta, bread, even some haggis... And he's been fine with all of it! So if he does have some allergy, we can't find what it is.
I know there are special sensitive/prescription dog foods out there, but for me that's a last resort. I'd really like him eating something that's normal and easy to buy either online or in the shops (and from a big enough company that it won't disappear).
Price is no object, because it can't possibly be as expensive as what he eats now, plus all the vet bills!
Are there any readily available dog foods out there at any price that just have good quality ingredients?
The above brands are good for commercial feeding. A raw (BARF) approach may be beneficial, but it may not be your thing.
A food I frequently get dogs onto is Nature Diet. Dogs love the meaty food (it's a firm meaty texture), plus it's free from any bad stuff, UK sourced and made. Well esatablished and easily availabale from pet supermarkets.
Be sure your dog's food is free from cereal based ingredients as these can agitate the stomach.
Stop any extras at this time until you find a brand that does suit him.
Good luck.
Nick
A food I frequently get dogs onto is Nature Diet. Dogs love the meaty food (it's a firm meaty texture), plus it's free from any bad stuff, UK sourced and made. Well esatablished and easily availabale from pet supermarkets.
Be sure your dog's food is free from cereal based ingredients as these can agitate the stomach.
Stop any extras at this time until you find a brand that does suit him.
Good luck.
Nick
Raw meat is out of the question... Mac might enjoy it, but I won't when he jumps up and licks my face!
I will have a look at the suggestions above. I was looking at "Orijen" earlier, which is the only one I've found so far that you don't need to be a chemist to understand the ingredients! In fact for anyone interested, here are the top 10 (by volume) ingredients for comparison with a much more common brand:
Orijen
Deboned chicken (25%)
dehydrated chicken (17%)
deboned salmon (10%)
dehydrated turkey (7%)
dehydrated herring (7%)
russet potato
peas
sweet potato
deboned turkey (3%)
whole eggs (3%)
Pedigree
Ground Whole Corn
Meat and Bone Meal
Corn Gluten Meal
Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)
Wheat Mill Run
Ground Wheat
Natural Poultry Flavor
Wheat Flour
Salt
Potassium Chloride
I will have a look at the suggestions above. I was looking at "Orijen" earlier, which is the only one I've found so far that you don't need to be a chemist to understand the ingredients! In fact for anyone interested, here are the top 10 (by volume) ingredients for comparison with a much more common brand:
Orijen
Deboned chicken (25%)
dehydrated chicken (17%)
deboned salmon (10%)
dehydrated turkey (7%)
dehydrated herring (7%)
russet potato
peas
sweet potato
deboned turkey (3%)
whole eggs (3%)
Pedigree
Ground Whole Corn
Meat and Bone Meal
Corn Gluten Meal
Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)
Wheat Mill Run
Ground Wheat
Natural Poultry Flavor
Wheat Flour
Salt
Potassium Chloride
This is an excellent resource http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
We feed our labs ( now 10 and 12) JWB from puppies and they've been great on it. I think it strikes a good balance between quality and value
We feed our labs ( now 10 and 12) JWB from puppies and they've been great on it. I think it strikes a good balance between quality and value
I would say try Royal Canin Hypoallergenic(DR21), our vet(won petplan vet of the year) put our Ava on it as she had terrible Colitis when we rescued her, she was skin and bones, blood in poo, mucus slime over poo, poor girl was in a terribe way, we put her on this stuff, about £65 for 14 kilo bag and she gets two meals a day of just this, no treats whatsoever. In addition she got half a sachet of Pro-Kolin Entertogenic powder by Protexin, this worked wonders and over time we have managed to get her off this onto James Wellbeloved White fish and rice with half a sachet of the powder in each meal.
Give the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic(DR21) a go, it worked wonders, worth every penny, try petplanet for it.
Give the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic(DR21) a go, it worked wonders, worth every penny, try petplanet for it.
Jill450se said:
I'll probably get shot down in flames for suggesting this, but you could try Chappie. Worked a treat for our pup and I now mix it with some dry food and she's happy and healthy with boundless energy!
All dogs are different though.
Not at all Chappie is a very useful diet for many dogs and we often advise it. For now though I think the OP should stick with the type of food the dog can digest so meat no cereal for now.All dogs are different though.
Our dog gets Natural Instinct - meat, with a small amount of carrots and things added to balance out the nutrition. She's doing really well on it - she's much happier since we swapped her from a dry food with tinned dogfood diet (this is what she was on when we first rescued her).
Natural Instinct foods are made with 100% natural ingredients and it comes frozen, so you just put it in the freezer and defrost it when you need it. They also do stuff like bones, tripe and liver treats.
Natural Instinct foods are made with 100% natural ingredients and it comes frozen, so you just put it in the freezer and defrost it when you need it. They also do stuff like bones, tripe and liver treats.
Orijen is very good. I'd feed it to mine. You may have supply problems as its still gaining ground.
rasputin said:
Raw meat is out of the question... Mac might enjoy it, but I won't when he jumps up and licks my face!
I will have a look at the suggestions above. I was looking at "Orijen" earlier, which is the only one I've found so far that you don't need to be a chemist to understand the ingredients! In fact for anyone interested, here are the top 10 (by volume) ingredients for comparison with a much more common brand:
Orijen
Deboned chicken (25%)
dehydrated chicken (17%)
deboned salmon (10%)
dehydrated turkey (7%)
dehydrated herring (7%)
russet potato
peas
sweet potato
deboned turkey (3%)
whole eggs (3%)
Pedigree
Ground Whole Corn
Meat and Bone Meal
Corn Gluten Meal
Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)
Wheat Mill Run
Ground Wheat
Natural Poultry Flavor
Wheat Flour
Salt
Potassium Chloride
I will have a look at the suggestions above. I was looking at "Orijen" earlier, which is the only one I've found so far that you don't need to be a chemist to understand the ingredients! In fact for anyone interested, here are the top 10 (by volume) ingredients for comparison with a much more common brand:
Orijen
Deboned chicken (25%)
dehydrated chicken (17%)
deboned salmon (10%)
dehydrated turkey (7%)
dehydrated herring (7%)
russet potato
peas
sweet potato
deboned turkey (3%)
whole eggs (3%)
Pedigree
Ground Whole Corn
Meat and Bone Meal
Corn Gluten Meal
Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)
Wheat Mill Run
Ground Wheat
Natural Poultry Flavor
Wheat Flour
Salt
Potassium Chloride
That Orijen certainly looks good. But what a price - I need three bags a month.
Fish4Dogs looks good as well, but we use the JWB meat/fish and veg food - their top end product.
Ask yourself one question - would you eat the contents having read the label ? I have been known to try dog food on trade stands - watch the staff's faces, just after they have said its 'so good its fit for human consumption' ! Best if you have some drink to hand, to wash it down with.
Fish4Dogs looks good as well, but we use the JWB meat/fish and veg food - their top end product.
Ask yourself one question - would you eat the contents having read the label ? I have been known to try dog food on trade stands - watch the staff's faces, just after they have said its 'so good its fit for human consumption' ! Best if you have some drink to hand, to wash it down with.
ClassicMercs said:
That Orijen certainly looks good. But what a price - I need three bags a month.
Fish4Dogs looks good as well, but we use the JWB meat/fish and veg food - their top end product.
Ask yourself one question - would you eat the contents having read the label ? I have been known to try dog food on trade stands - watch the staff's faces, just after they have said its 'so good its fit for human consumption' ! Best if you have some drink to hand, to wash it down with.
Prob cheaper than the frequent vet visits due to the explosive vomiting and diarrhoea.Fish4Dogs looks good as well, but we use the JWB meat/fish and veg food - their top end product.
Ask yourself one question - would you eat the contents having read the label ? I have been known to try dog food on trade stands - watch the staff's faces, just after they have said its 'so good its fit for human consumption' ! Best if you have some drink to hand, to wash it down with.
I've been on a stand offering pet food containing human quality ingredient. I've welcomed people who have wanted to eat it. Most like the taste
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