You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
What do all you dog owners feed your dogs?
James Wellbeloved or Burns for a six year old female Dobermann.
My ma breeds and shows, probably the best kennel of the breed in the country, 20 dogs atm, she feeds a VAT free greyhound maintenance complete food. Costs about £7 a bag. Dogs look really well on it and she wouldnt feed it if it didnt suit them.
My dog get Iams, he has a skin complain and when we adopted him he was on canned rubbish. As well as making him fart like a trooper I don't think it was helping him. He loves the Iams, but then he literally eats any food except lettuce, and because he's small it lasts ages. He has a lovely gloss coat, is well built, sparkly eyes and loads of energy so must be ok.
Wilsons and Wagg Worker - around £11 for a 15kg and 17kg bag respectively. Have used them both for around 20 years with good results and no 'wind'.
Burns, and loads of fresh (cooked) veg...
Our working cocker was on James Welbeloved and it seemed to help with a squitty bum issue she had when a puppy. £40 a bag is proper steep though and at the moment she's on a cheaper brand but may change back (not for squitty bum reasons).
We feed our Lab, and Bernese Mountain Dog, Arden Grange.
What dog?
makes a big difference with activity levels etc
Springers should have very different food compared to mastiffs for example!
[url= http://www.petscorner.co.uk/dogs/dog-food-dry?brand=522 ]Symply[/url]
Dog food reviews says it's good and Dottie enjoys it so all good.
[url= http://www.best-dog-food-review.com/68005/index.html ]Clicky[/url] for dog food reviews. Others are available.
I'll get completely flamed for this, but our dog eats better than us I reckon with this stuff: [url= http://www.lilyskitchen.co.uk/ ]http://www.lilyskitchen.co.uk/[/url]
This morning, she had Goose and Duck feast with Fruits, a small portion of boiled rice, and some kibble.
iams.
for a very sleek and slender 4yr old labby bitch.
We've pretty much always used Berrimans for our Lurcher and Tumbler, never had a problem with it. Had a dally with Autarky for a while which was pretty good too, just difficult to get hold of.
Vet always comments on how well they look and how good their teeth are.
Both the dog & cat are fed science plan.
The dog will eat anything really but the cat won't!!
He was on pedigree chum when we adopted him, but he is noticeably more active and has a better coat with the science plan.
From what i've read James Wellbeloved is also good stuff.
we feed our bull terrier minced tripe and biscuit mixer, its what she was on at the rescue kennels.. she loves it. sometimes she gets fresh tripe from the butchers.
the ex-GF used to give my spaniel james wellbeloved. now my housing outgoings have doubled i'm reluctant to spend that much. we're moving over to wagg VAT free at about 11 quid. seems happy enough.
compared the ingredients and couldn't tell the difference. want to look after my dog but i'd need a pretty convincing case to get me to send 4 times as much on her food.
We use skinners, salmon variety. 5 year old GSD. Lovely shiny coat.
James Wellbeloved - 6yo Male Dobermann
Tesco own brand 5 y.o lab
Royal Canin for the two Labs. Damned expensive but they've been on it since they were pups and anything else makes them fart like troopers but they do look well on it.
Morrisons own dry. Dog is an 11(ish) year old Pointer/cross. Bit of extra cod liver oil on it to help with his joints but he's fine on it and has been for a few years now.
My dads 2 great danes, they are fed a mix of good dry food and whole rabbits. One of the chickens escaped so that got eaten too. Really not amused by that but think it was a very quick death.
Nature Diet for 2 Bernese Mountain Dogs, we get it direct from them but it's also in Pets at Home.
Whatever is on offer in the supermarket!
Feed our ridgie blocks of prize choice raw meat we get from pets at home. Come frozen and various flavers: lamb, beef, chicken, rabbit. Add some mixer biscuits into it aswell. Two to three times a week we also give him half a side of lambs ribs ( sometimes more if he has a show coming up, depending on his condition ) Giving him the lamb bones reduces the amount of times he has to have his glands emptied because the bones help to push out the gunk.
Pointer with a delicate stomach - she has [url= http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=7896 ]Skinners Ruff & Ready[/url].
It's the only thing we've found that keeps the fart level off the geiger counter.
(oh, of course if C_G reads this we also feed her raw fillet steak twice a week 😉 )
Our boys get -
Chappie Biscuits
Chappie Meat (once or twice a week) Lab loves it!!
Labrador Pero
Liver and Mash (Homemade)
DezB
Tried my two on the Skinners on the recommendation of a colleague and had to leave the back door open for 3 days, Still got 1/2 a bag here 😐
James Wellbeloved for ours.
Feeding your dog cheap supermarket food is the equivalent of you eating McDonalds everyday - no offence to anyone who does.
Chudleys Original for Ted (four year old working Springer) and a 50/50 mix of Chudleys and wet feed for Ralph (two year old working Cocker).
Feeding your dog cheap supermarket food is the equivalent of you eating McDonalds everyday
This is what our vet said to us about Bakers and the likes... when we got ours as a puppy she'd been on Bakers, and the vet told us to get her off it asap. The salt levels and additives were way too high.
We moved onto science plan, which she didn't really take too. Then moved onto the lily's kitchen stuff.
For breakfast she normally gets 1 weetabix with a bit of water mashed into it. Then a small handful of kibble, and a treat just before I leave for work.
Then for dinner, she has 1/3rd can of Lily's, handful of boiled rice, and a half handful of kibble. Then maybe a couple of small biscuits in the evening.
Being a border terrier she doesn't eat a huge amount. I think if we had a bigger dog, there'd be no way I could afford to feed her the Lily's food.
Depends which supermarket I end up in really. Our lurcher / terrier X gets half a tin of meat (Pedigree, Bakers, Winalot) with a large scoop of dried stuff (whatever's half decent and on offer). He also gets a packet of liver or lungs each week, which is cut into strips, fried and doled out over three or four days.
Several biscuits on his walkies too, and a dentastick every night, which he still goes completely mental for 🙂
dentastick every night, which he still goes completely mental for
Ours does too, it's her favourite treat - although I try to limit how often she has them. Maybe they're like crack for dogs.
how, exactly?
most dry dog food appears to be mainly rice.
what makes james wellbeloved better?
genuinely interested to know.
2 year old Border Collie, he gets Burns and regular fresh chicken wings to clean his teeth.
My cat has dry food from [url= http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/ ]Orijen[/url] and raw food from [url= http://honeysrealdogfood.com/index.php ]Honey's (formally Darlings)[/url].
To all dog/cat owners, the Orijen is really high quality dry food...look into it...especially cat owners, because it contains no cereal.
Maybe they're like crack for dogs.
Yep - Mrs Removed says I have turned the dog into an addict 😀 It's the only time he's really, very annoying. About half an hour after his food, he'll come and sit in front of me, just staring. He then starts squeaking, very softly. Eventually, this gives way to demanding, sharp, high-pitched barks and I fetch his dentastick.
Perhaps it's time for him to go cold turkey...
We used to use Burns for our two Collies, until we ran out on holiday last year and bought a bag of Wilson's Complete Working Dog food - the dogs love it and it seems to be much the same stuff as Burns, only less processed, as it looks more like meusli rather than little crunchy cubes. It also has the advantage of being £1 per kilo, rather than £3 per kilo for Burns or James Wellbeloved.
The only downside we've discovered to using it is that I have to mop up behind them in the garden straight away, as the magpies love picking apart their poo for the bits of undigested cereal!
Thanks chaps. In answer to above question, we haven't bought the dog yet but it's looking like being a Lakeland terrier.
16mth old Border Terrier
James Wellbeloved - on the principle that it has few/less sugars and additives [can't quote without looking at packet]
and the occasional tin of redic exp Lily's Kitchen, but this is only when my wife passes a certain shop....
But he doesn't eat much and it seems to last for ages!
Perhaps it's time for him to go cold turkey...
Haha, Molly always has her's before I leave for work. She gets so excited as I put on my hi-vis jacket as she know's I'll be buggering off soon and she can have her dentastix... never had a dog so excited to see me go 🙁
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix, Bannana, Natural Yogurt.
Lunch - Carrot or 2
Tea - Either Tuna/Sardines/Chicken/Mince with Brocolli, Cauliflower, Courgette, Rice with Barley or Pasta
Evening Snack - Apple
How much do you guys pay for the James Wellbeloved kibble?
Although Molly loves the Lily's stuff, I think we could move her kibble onto something a bit less expensive (£50 for 7.5kg).
Seriously, consider Chudleys. Last sack of Original we bought was under 13 quid and it's a good working dog food. It also has lots of bits of stuff in to keep them interested, although Ted has taken after me and barely tastes it as it is inhaled.
£50 for 7.5kg
Wow!
I feed my collie a working dog food that has no colourings or additives and it's £12 for 15kg.
To be fair, that 7.5kg will last us about 4 months - as we only use the kibble in addition to her other food. However, yes, it does seem rather expensive 😯
I have a Whippet who will be 15 in March.
She gets a mixture of soft complete dry food and any tin of food as long as it is in gravy. We buy which ever is on offer at the time.
This is what our vet said to us about Bakers and the likes... when we got ours as a puppy she'd been on Bakers, and the vet told us to get her off it asap. The salt levels and additives were way too high.
...and then he directed you to the range of high quality pet foods available from their reception!!!
Woody - Member
DezB
Tried my two on the Skinners on the recommendation of a colleague and had to leave the back door open for 3 days, Still got 1/2 a bag here
Ha! That's what we're like with anything else. Woman in the pet shop said we should try something else, but it's certainly not doing her any harm.
How much do you guys pay for the James Wellbeloved kibble?Although Molly loves the Lily's stuff, I think we could move her kibble onto something a bit less expensive (£50 for 7.5kg).
We get ours from [url= http://www.gjwtitmuss.co.uk/james-wellbeloved-adult-dry-dog-food/pid1621/cid799/james-wellbeloved-duck-38-rice-adult-dog-15kg-3kg-extra-free.asp ]here[/url] Prezet, delivery is really quick (and free I think), and its only £42 for 18kg which lasts our two dogs a month-ish.
Edit: more like 6 weeks in fact.
...and then he directed you to the range of high quality pet foods available from their reception!!!
Actually, no. We were quite capable of going to the pet store all on our own...
Cheers @skywalker - think I'll grab a small bag, see if she takes to it. Being kibble, I can't imagine she'll notice any difference!
You should try [url= http://www.barkingheads.co.uk/ ]Barking Heads[/url]. We've had fantastic results with our 3 boxers.
All the figures show fewer 'fillers' and more protein for your £.
They also get raw chicken wings (6 each per day)
Our Springer and Tibetan Terrier are on James Wellbeloved fish and rice kibble and they seem to love it.
We buy one of the large bags which lasts us a good few weeks.
[url= http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a77_1209105871&p=1 ]Family members?[/url]
2 Chocalate Labs
Pero Labrador life ,
Tried the James Wellbeloved, but my two prefer Iams, supplemented by some fresh meat most days (trimming from the kitchen) plus some vegetables. They both love carrot, broccoli, and cabbage, but don't stand too close if they've eaten a lot of the latter.
Mrs Doubleu's Dad is a vet, so she was insistent that Jeff, our Bernese Mountain dog, be on Hill's Science Diet.
Gave him pretty loose bowels though periodically. Not had a problem since we tried a few others and eventually settled on Purina Pro Plan. I guess Jeff must have doggy IBS... You nay be better off finding one that suits your dog rather than fixing on a particular brand.
Burns
Currently 'Meaty Special' - £11 for a 15kg bag from the local pet shop. Used to get them posher stuff when they were new, but they eat frogs and deer turds and stuff, so what's the point.
Mrs Doubleu's Dad is a vet, so she was insistent that Jeff, our Bernese Mountain dog, be on Hill's Science Diet.
A lot of vet's seem to recommend that, probably down to good aggressive marketing by the manufacturers. IMO it's not the best of foods, but certainly not the worst.
A friend who is a vet said that the amount of time they have to spend covering dietary requirements of our canine friends is minuscule, so unless they have done additional study in their own time, tend to fall back on Hills.
Kibble is a recent 'convenience' food. Some of the brands are good, others are pretty crap. Go back 30-40 years or so and you'd probably find that up to that era most dogs were fed on a diet of scraps, offal and leftovers
Despite stocking Hills, ours promotes a good varied diet, a 'bit of this and a bit of that' approach.
So our dog gets all-sorts from chicken frames (raw), blitzed veggie / fruit scraps, random meat (raw and cooked), veal knuckles, rabbit, tripe, heart, liver, venison bones, sprats, tuna etc etc.
Plus the odd handful of Country Value Greyhound in his tug-a-jug.
He does really, really well on it, and it works out very cheap.
Mine has (which is a 3 year old Spinone/Lab cross) James Welbeloved anything else seems to give him liquid shits.
If he has an upset stomach this gets topped up with Chappie which seems to sort it out.
Nature's Menu (tins) + Burns dry food.
When we picked up Benny from the Dogs Trust, they gave us a huge bag of Arden Grange dog food, quite posh stuff. Then, looking slightly furtive, the woman handed me a tin of Morrisons wet dog food. “He likes a bit of this mixed in”.
He was quite underweight when we got him (and apparently had lost weight whilst he was in the Dogs Trust), so he was on 3 meals a day. We quickly discovered that, despite being ravenous, he [i]would not touch[/i] the Arden Grange stuff. Tried him on a few different things – Bakers for a couple of days, but he went mental and… well, a bit sloppy. Looked at reviews, saw that Bakers was widely reviled and Chappie was quite popular, so he’s been on that ever since and it’s sorted him out. We’re currently giving him a mix of the Chappie wet and dry stuff.
We’d like to put him on the more nutritious higher quality stuff, but we’re worried he won’t eat it/it’ll give him the runs. Is there anywhere that does smaller tester packs?
Burns here now, he used to get working dog (dry) food from the local stables supplier (can't remember the make), but as he gotten older.. he's 12 now, he simply doesn't need the energy.
He has rawhide chews for his teeth, and a Pedigree Jumbone as a treat once a week... funniest thing ever was watching the TV ad for these, as there supposed to last the dog all day in the ad, he can destroy one in less than 5 minutes.
Any dog owners using wet food, I'd suggest you try the dry stuff, simply to make poo picking an 'nicer' experience
We’d like to put him on the more nutritious higher quality stuff, but we’re worried he won’t eat it/it’ll give him the runs. Is there anywhere that does smaller tester packs?
Some brands do testers, some don't, usually 400g bags for a couple of quid:
Orijen: http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=793&pf_id=50348
Green Dog: http://greendogfood.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=39
As kibble's go, our dog found the more expensive brands 'boring' and would often just leave them. The only one he did enjoy as a full-time food was Royal Canin. If / when you do decide to switch his food over, do it gradually over a week or so, especially if his tummy is sensitive.
used james wellbeloved fro my chow chow for few years , now use Harringtons, currently £14.95 a BIG bag from Asda (rollback)
i have a 6 year old whippet.....such a fussy eater, he wouldnt eat dog food at the time of weaning....we had to give him scrambled egg just to get him to eat.... hes funny with his eating times : wont eat his tea time meal till 9 or 10pm at nite...so funny... anyway he is on winalot and a mixer biscuit with..likes grated cheese and loves chicken and scrambled eggs.
We feed our 3 yr old Vizsla Orijen. It is very expensive but he looks good on it, has solid poo and very rarely guffs. I did have a 'moment' about the cost earlier this year and tried to switch him to different brands but guffs went up and he then went off his food so we are back to the worlds most ££ dog food. He looks good on it and quite frankly he's worth it.
Ours was on science plan from being a pup with a handful of veg thrown in. For the last few weeks we’ve been trying a RAW diet, it’s not for the squeamish and takes a bit of effort (and a spare chest freezer) but the dog seems to love it and we aren’t getting anything like as much coming out of the back end.
My dog has expensive tastes. We have tried loads of the above but the one she likes the best is Lilys Kitchen/ Symply mix. It's the food that she gets really exited for.
We have found Orijen and Akana foods to be equivalent in cost to Wellbeloved. This is based on cost per meal, there is so much protein in it that you feed less. A 13 kg bag of either lasts a couple of days longer than the 15kg Wellbeloved food. We keep him off anything with barley in it as this causes skin conditions. (Wellbeloved did put some in their formulation when Mars took over, I'm not sure if this is still the case).
25kg Dalmatian who's 5, thinks he's 18 months still, and eats like a turbo-charged vacuum cleaner!
We've tried Orijen which was very good but spenderific, so looking for a cheaper grain free alternative we found [url= http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/dogs/dry_food/high_prairie_canine_formula/ ]High Prairie by Taste of The Wild[/url], it's American but can be bought on the internets, it's still spendy in comparison to some of the regular brands but as Sandwich said above the cost per meal is not all that different as you have to feed them a lot less. Plus I like the idea of my hound eating Bison and Venison.
There is a British brand which is 75% meat, and no cereals, [url= http://www.applaws.co.uk/dog_dry.php ]Applaws[/url], but a total chicken diet proved to be Barney's craptonite.
met these guys recently. switched our lab to this food from James Wellbeloved.
Meet all same standards and concepts as JW, but £18 delivered rather than £40...
9 Month old Cocker. Gets a 50/50 mix of Orijen and Wainwrights. I spent ages looking into food and because we want him to eventually run with the bikes, they seemed to offer the best in turns of meat based protein.
Also gets a few Markies, a Dentastick, a raw carrot, bit of raw hide and a fish block.
Still costs less than £2 a day, which to be honenst is less than a take out coffee so bargin if it gives him a good diet.
[b]My dog has expensive tastes.[/b] We have tried loads of the above but the one she likes the best is Lilys Kitchen/ Symply mix. It's the food that she gets really exited for.
I know what you mean...
[IMG] 
[/IMG]