Best complete dry food?

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zigzag

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Hopefully will be getting a rescue greyhound soon, will obviously keep him/her on the food they are used to, but want to change to a dry complete food, which are the best theses days? Been 3 1/2 years since I had a dog :D
 
Good old Chappie for me - not extortionate, easily available and good quality. My hugely underweight rehomed Cavalier and my very old (18) JRT thrive on it, both dry and a little bit of tinned to enhance it.
 
Wainwrights for us, I tried him on Orijen and he wasn't that keen on it. When he was a puppy Wainwrights was the only food he'd eat. He appears to have grown out of his fussiness (case in point: Olives, he'll eat one to make a point because he's asked for it but clearly hates them!).

I do think there are probably better feeds that he should be on, but at a cost of about £10 a month and readily available from two stores that are open until 8pm a short drive from my house, I'm happy to keep him on it.

Ok, now I feel guilty for not feeding him the best money can buy...
 
I feed Acana light & fit to my lab who has a tendency to be a bit intolerant to some ingredients. He looks well on it and stomach good.
It's expensive though! If I could get away with not feeding it I would, skinners duck & rice was always my dry food of choice, unfortunately to fattening for this dog!
 
my 4yo rottie has been on skinners duck n rice for nearly a year now.

his activities are long walks,
fun agitily at club once a week
popping a few jumps most days at home
sleeping (lol)

he seems very good on it with a nice coat and has a tin of sardines about every other day. x
 
All my dogs have been fed on chappie tinned food. My westie was 14 when she went and JRT was 17 and my scottie is almost 12. I don't like dry dog food full stop. Why do you have to feed dry?
 
I have had two lurchers who are notorious for getting the runs, one of which came out of rescue kennels with severe incontinence. We went through all the premium dog foods, some had explosive results and settled on Aden Grange. If you buy the 12kg online its not extortionate although Waitrose stock it and I have used it for the past eight years.
 
Dry can be soaked to increase water intake.

Chappie dry, along with many others from the supermarkets, contains E320 and E321-studies have said they are carcinogenics, aka BHA! It's also very low protein.
 
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Oh well my dogs have had a long and happy life on chappie not many dogs live till they are 17 without health issues. And my westie was 14 again without health issues until she became older. My scottie again no health issues. Many westies suffer from skin allergies and we never had a problem. Interesting as everyone has an opinion but I always say the best people to ask are those that have dogs that have lived a long and healthy life.
 
Kaylum said:
Oh well my dogs have had a long and happy life on chappie not many dogs live till they are 17 without health issues. And my westie was 14 again without health issues until she became older. My scottie again no health issues. Many westies suffer from skin allergies and we never had a problem. Interesting as everyone has an opinion but I always say the best people to ask are those that have dogs that have lived a long and healthy life.
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the wet food is a good food, vets will recommend it as a low protein low allergen food especially for older dogs-it is basically fish and rice or chicken and rice-the dry food is pretty bad though full of rubbish
 
I've always worked on the basis that as dogs have evolved as scavengers, then what they eat, isn't really that important. I'm sure that there will be those who are horrified at that, but mine all get Dr. John's Silver (it's low protein), and the dog which lives indoors also gets kitchen scraps. All adult dogs when they're doing nothing (during the summer for instance), get fed 6 days a week. Dogs in full time work, or bitches in pup are fed accordingly.

OP, if you acquire your retired greyhound, then the advice may be that you don't give it its freedom. Most seem to be lead about and that's about it, which is a pity but dogs which are out of training all so often have never had their freedom, and when released aren't too sure what to do with it. All so often, recall is none existent! As your dog will most probably not have the need for energy supplying high protein feeds, and as it will in all probability have been neutered, then in your shoes, I'd stick with a low protein feed (16-18%) and give the gut a rest for one day a week. A retired greyhound will probably still be a relatively youthful animal, so the need for expensive high protein feeds probably wont exist.

As a disclaimer; 'You've asked for advice, and the above is mine. Whether you choose to accept it is entirely up to you'!

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
I've always worked on the basis that as dogs have evolved as scavengers, then what they eat, isn't really that important. I'm sure that there will be those who are horrified at that, but mine all get Dr. John's Silver (it's low protein), and the dog which lives indoors also gets kitchen scraps. All adult dogs when they're doing nothing (during the summer for instance), get fed 6 days a week. Dogs in full time work, or bitches in pup are fed accordingly.

OP, if you acquire your retired greyhound, then the advice may be that you don't give it its freedom. Most seem to be lead about and that's about it, which is a pity but dogs which are out of training all so often have never had their freedom, and when released aren't too sure what to do with it. All so often, recall is none existent! As your dog will most probably not have the need for energy supplying high protein feeds, and as it will in all probability have been neutered, then in your shoes, I'd stick with a low protein feed (16-18%) and give the gut a rest for one day a week. A retired greyhound will probably still be a relatively youthful animal, so the need for expensive high protein feeds probably wont exist.

As a disclaimer; 'You've asked for advice, and the above is mine. Whether you choose to accept it is entirely up to you'!

Alec.
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The rescue I'm getting him/her say to allow them to run free (once the recall is established!) so he/she won't be on the lead all the time, their dogs go into the kennels to be assessed/neutered etc then go into foster homes where recall/toilet training etc is done and stay in foster homes until their forever home is found,
 
Freedom has been the making of our newly acquired saluki. I don't think she had been let off the lead, ever. Fortunately we have a lot of safe grazing so she can gallop. It was interesting to see the change; the first few days she'd run and run, try and clear fences, generally behave like a loon. I think once she realised freedom was a permanent thing, she calmed right down. After 6 weeks we have a lovely loyal girl who follows like a lamb, can potter around the yard and lanes, and just has a bit of a run now and then. Her previous owners couldn't recall, so I worked on this with treats but I truly believe the off lead exercise was what did it. She'll recall from anywhere now, I think because it's not a big deal and there will be lots more off lead again soon.

As for the original question, I wish there was a definitive answer because I seem to spend half my life worrying about what to feed the dogs! We are on raw at the moment but I am thinking of switching to a good quality dried for convenience (and feeling bad about even thinking about it!) so will be interesting to watch this thread.
 
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Nudibranch said:
Freedom has been the making of our newly acquired saluki. I don't think she had been let off the lead, ever. ........ ; the first few days she'd run and run, try and clear fences, generally behave like a loon. I think once she realised freedom was a permanent thing, she calmed right down. After 6 weeks we have a lovely loyal girl who follows like a lamb, can potter around the yard and lanes, and just has a bit of a run now and then.

Her previous owners couldn't recall, so I worked on this with treats but I truly believe the off lead exercise was what did it. She'll recall from anywhere now, I think because it's not a big deal and there will be lots more off lead again soon.

.........
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What a refreshing post! It never fails to surprise me how allowing a dog a degree of expression resolves so many problems. Not always, I understand, but often.

Your lines; 'I think because it's not a big deal and there will be lots more off lead again soon', will have a dog accepting that a 'return' is not a return to capture, but a mere breather!!

Well done you, and salukis aren't always the easiest of dogs.

Alec.
 
Nudibranch, there are some fabulous dried foods out there, I don't think anyone could argue with that! Just do your research and get what you think is best for your dog's needs. Don't feel bad about it!
 
OP I recommend either Orijen or Applaws as a dry food. Neither have any grain (why would you feed a dog grain?) and are basically human grade meat and vegetables. I personably poach some minced lamb and carrots and give a dollop of that with the food to make it a little more interesting.

I can't understand why anyone would feed such a rubbish food as bakers or skinners or anything else packed with additives packed with fillers, but then again, plenty let their children eat rubbish too. To the 'my dog lived until it was 20 and I only fed it (insert names of cheap cr*p here) food' gang, I would point out that my 90 year old mother seems to have survived on 60 fags a day with a diet of chocolate and sherry as far as I can see, but it is NOT something I would recommend. The exception proves the rule. Feeding isn't all about longevity, it is about quality - children could live on macdonalds (I suppose, never had either) but can they concentrate in class, run about all day etc.

A dog doesn't eat much, provide it with the best you can.
 
My big dog is on CSJ silver, he is a very active dog who I have struggled to keep weight on in the past and he does very well on this. The pup is currently on Wainwrights puppy, although is currently on rice and scrambled eggs as he has very loose stools following his jab/wormer (I know that diarrhoea in a pup can turn serious very quickly, however he is still perky, eating and drinking well and peeing/pooing at normal times so I am monitoring the situation. If anything changes he will be straight to the vet).
 
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