what dog food to use?

poppydog83

Hello one and all.
As you know my family consists of 3 dogs. At the moment they are being fed on a dog food called gusto,but we need to change their food. 1 of the 3 has really bad breath and another 1 is starting to get bad breath. They all have denta sticks and are now having a raw hide spearmint flavoured breath freshner. Also a couple of them are now starting to struggle a bit when going to the toilet,but when trying other dog foods before we have found some made them have really loose poo's or they get quite constipated. Who feeds what dog food to their dogs? any advice would be great

Hcollie85

The dogs used to have Bakers, and not dont know the name but a huge bag of the other food

I think Bakers dog buiscuits are good

Heather
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poppydog83

cool,i think poppy was on bakers when we first had her,or was it iams?????.......cant remember

Hcollie85

They used to be on pedigree
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jabbro

Phoebe has Vitalin original, and Katie has various makes of tinned dog food (she soon goes off of them) and a dried mixer too.
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Dog: Katie
Rabbit: Buffy and Georgie
Hamster: Kipper

minimaisy

Hi,
One of my girls has just gone onto JWB adult food, which she loves!

My other girl is on Autarky puppy, which she also loves! Very Happy

Twig

Iams and pedigree are low quality foods, you should try and look for a better quality mix which uses meat, not 'meat and dervitives' and preferably doesn't have cereals in them. Because I feed raw, I can't be of any use, but I'm sure someone else can help. Smile

poppydog83

ok,sorry to sound stupid,but what r derivitives?

Twig

Its basically very poor quality 'meat' such as grizzle, bone, fur, hooves, eyelids and whatever else they can use as prime cuts go out on the human market.

This article is quite informative:
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1

VickienBubs

Bubbles has a pouch of Pedigree Real Meals for small adult dogs each morning and night. Since he was a tiny puppy he got bored of the same food after around 2 weeks and i had to keep changing his diet but since he's been on the Real Meals - about 3 weeks - he's been fine (famous last words!!). It looks good enough for humans to eat with the peas/carrots/pasta etc!!! x
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Where would I be without my Bubbles....? My little boy makes me so proud!

Violette

I feed Meg James Wellbeloved too. It is a good quality complete food, which uses proper ingredients, not derivatives, artificial additives, preservatives, etc. It also cuts out many ingredients that cause dietary intolerances.

I don't think it is completely organic, but it seems to do the job for us - and is less expensive than some totally organic foods. Meg (and previous dogs) had digestive trouble on some of the major manufacturers foods (pedigree, iams, bakers, and supermarket own-brands), but we have never had any trouble with them on JWB. I have also found their advice line very useful with a few dietary queries I had at various times.

At the minute, she is still on adult maintenance, but as she is now almost 8 I am thinking of changing her to the senior - but not sure as she is still extremely active.

coliel

hi
i feed merlin burns - this seems great has just simple ingrediants like chicken brown rice and seaweed - that is it!!! no coulering, aditives nothing but good stuff. i still give merlin porridge with a raw egg mixed in for breakfast and then burns for tea he is 6 months old so we have just dropped the lunch and will stick to the 2 meals for ever now.
if you are thinking of changing dog food i would definatly try burns but it is expensive i spend £24 a month just for one dog and that is only for 1 meal!!
but i think its worth it!!
love coliel

Violette

Yes, I think Burns is one of the truly organic ranges I was mentioning. A good food.

How does Merlin take his porridge? Meg gets it too, but likes it the Scottish/Irish way, with a little salt and butter. Won't touch it the "sassenach" way with milk and sugar!

coliel

hi
i am a bit mean and make it with no suger or salt!!
how ever i do use only full milk and make a big pot that every one eats including dog and kids.
merlin gets his after we have eaten ours and the ferret has leftovers. it also has had the chance to cool nicly i then add a raw egg and mix it in but i only do that about 3 times a week now and obviosly only for the dog!!
my mum and dad always did it when we were kids and still do i must admit all the humans stir in brown suger or honey in to theirs so any left overs gnasher getts has the brown sugger and hony too but poor merlin just has it plain!!
love coliel

heidilovescows

We use high quality food which has at least 20% meat content, not meat derivitives (mmm endtrails and hoofs). I think the best available is Pets at Home own brand as they use high quantites of meat, though it is really expensive if you've got more than one mouth to feed. At the minute, we are using Beta dry food. This is one of the best available at a better price. (I have 4 doggies to feed most with hefty appetites, GSD, Rottie x Lab, Springer and JRT). Wagg and most of the 'supermarket' available brands should be avoided as they are made up mostly of ash and carbohydrate-y-ness which dogs can struggle to digest properly.

I home-make all treat biscuits, so i know what is going into them.

Sorry if my views contradict/offend anyone elses, it's just my opinion.

Heidi