Can anyone give me some food advice

[poiuytrewq]

It’s occurred to me that although I analyse horse food labels I’m not very clued up on dog food.
With Doug he had allergies so it was just a case of finding a food that was good for his skin and using it, regardless of how well made it was.
Cecil currently eats Royal Canin mini starter food, it’s a food for feeding bitches and puppies up to 1 with an adult weight of under 10 kg. It’s what the mums owner used.
Is it a good food? I’m happy to stick with it, although see they sell a mini puppy which isn’t starter and easier to get (locally)
Can anyone suggest a good dry food brand for a growing small breed puppy or point me in the right direction of what I should be looking for please?

 

[Odyssey]

I'm afraid Royal Canin isn't a very good food, and is vastly overpriced for what it is. You're basically paying top dollar for a brand name that has done well because of its association with vets. For a dog that has health problems such as kidney problems that require a certain formulation, veterinary diets can be invaluable, but otherwise you can get much better food for the price.

Ideally you want meat or fish as the first ingredient, if it's meat/fish meal, it's going to be a much higher proportion of the food than fresh, which is about 2/3 water. I like to add some wet food as a topper to make it more interesting and nutritious. The only wet food I've used is Butchers Tripe Loaf, which despite being a supermarket brand is actually very good, I don't think you can't get anything better for the price. I believe Naturo which is also available from supermarkets is good too. I don't think it's necessary to feed a specific puppy food, it's more marketing than anything. Puppy food just tends to be a bit higher in calories and protein. Buying a decent brand is much more important. I avoid anything that has beef, chicken, soya or wheat, dogs are commonly sensitive to these ingredients. Chicken fat is usually ok though, which is in lots of kibble. I generally stick to lamb, duck, fish or turkey based kibble.

I always recommend the allaboutdogfood website, which also has a very helpful forum. It has some good articles, and a very useful dog food selector tool. You can find reviews on almost every brand. Brands I like in the better quality bracket are Autarky white fish or turkey and potato. Canine Choice, Markus Muhle, Lukullus, Millie's Wolfheart and Nourish, though there are many more that are equally good. In the cheaper, high grain bracket Skinner's Field and Trial lamb, duck or salmon with rice is probably one of the best. Harringtons which is available in supermarkets is pretty good. Jolleys and Pets at Home own brands like Wainwright's and Step Up to Naturals are usually good too. Sorry this is so long, but it's hard to sum it up concisely. Dog food really is a minefield, and there's so much choice it's mindboggling! Just ask if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them. I'm a bit of a dog food geek, as you can probably tell! ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I'm afraid Royal Canin isn't a very good food, and is vastly overpriced for what it is. You're basically paying top dollar for a brand name that has done well because of its association with vets. For a dog that has health problems such as kidney problems that require a certain formulation, veterinary diets can be invaluable, but otherwise you can get much better food for the price.

Ideally you want meat or fish as the first ingredient, if it's meat/fish meal, it's going to be a much higher proportion of the food than fresh, which is about 2/3 water. I like to add some wet food as a topper to make it more interesting and nutritious. The only wet food I've used is Butchers Tripe Loaf, which despite being a supermarket brand is actually very good, I don't think you can't get anything better for the price. I believe Naturo which is also available from supermarkets is good too. I don't think it's necessary to feed a specific puppy food, it's more marketing than anything. Puppy food just tends to be a bit higher in calories and protein. Buying a decent brand is much more important. I avoid anything that has beef, chicken, soya or wheat, dogs are commonly sensitive to these ingredients. Chicken fat is usually ok though, which is in lots of kibble. I generally stick to lamb, duck, fish or turkey based kibble.

I always recommend the allaboutdogfood website, which also has a very helpful forum. It has some good articles, and a very useful dog food selector tool. You can find reviews on almost every brand. Brands I like in the better quality bracket are Autarky white fish or turkey and potato. Canine Choice, Markus Muhle, Lukullus, Millie's Wolfheart and Nourish, though there are many more that are equally good. In the cheaper, high grain bracket Skinner's Field and Trial lamb, duck or salmon with rice is probably one of the best. Harringtons which is available in supermarkets is pretty good. Jolleys and Pets at Home own brands like Wainwright's and Step Up to Naturals are usually good too. Sorry this is so long, but it's hard to sum it up concisely. Dog food really is a minefield, and there's so much choice it's mindboggling! Just ask if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them. I'm a bit of a dog food geek, as you can probably tell! ?

Don’t apologise! That’s exactly the kind of reply I wanted. I’m just off to work but will look into all those suggestions later or tomorrow.
I suspected Royal canin wasn’t the best and yes it’s quite expensive £10.99 for 1kg. I wouldn’t mind sticking to it if it were amazing but if it’s not then time to look elsewhere while I have some left to mix with new.
Thank you! I’ll probably be in touch

 

[Odyssey]

Don’t apologise! That’s exactly the kind of reply I wanted. I’m just off to work but will look into all those suggestions later or tomorrow.
I suspected Royal canin wasn’t the best and yes it’s quite expensive £10.99 for 1kg. I wouldn’t mind sticking to it if it were amazing but if it’s not then time to look elsewhere while I have some left to mix with new.
Thank you! I’ll probably be in touch

You're welcome. £10.99 for 1kg - wow! ?

 

[splashgirl45]

when i got my little terrier puppy she was the runt of the litter and very small so i went on to the allaboutdogfood website and ended up with wolfworthy 80 20, its for all ages.. its raw in the form of a kibble. its not cheap but cheaper than you are paying but fine for my budget as she is small.. you order it online and they post it, really easy , better than having to go to the shops and finding things out of stock..

 

[fankino04]

I love Skinner's for mine and they do their duck and rice for juniors too.

 

[Sandstone1]

I use wainwrights, pets at home own. I find it pretty good fro the price.

 

[poiuytrewq]

You're welcome. £10.99 for 1kg - wow! ?

Haha! At the time I thought a tenner, that’s fine. Then it arrived and I realised, weight for weight, I usually buy 15kg bags which would make it £150 ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

when i got my little terrier puppy she was the runt of the litter and very small so i went on to the allaboutdogfood website and ended up with wolfworthy 80 20, its for all ages.. its raw in the form of a kibble. its not cheap but cheaper than you are paying but fine for my budget as she is small.. you order it online and they post it, really easy , better than having to go to the shops and finding things out of stock..

I did come across this the other day. Never seen it before so nice to have a review.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I love Skinner's for mine and they do their duck and rice for juniors too.

Is it little bits? I do quite like skinners and my older dogs have the brown maintenance food which they both do really well on, there is a gundog lady locally that calls and takes orders then delivers which is incredibly handy!

 

[fankino04]

Is it little bits? I do quite like skinners and my older dogs have the brown maintenance food which they both do really well on, there is a gundog lady locally that calls and takes orders then delivers which is incredibly handy!

Yep just small size kibble. Noodle has done great on their adult stuff, Ashkii was prone to a dodgy belly every now and then but was much better on this too, we do add a bit of chappie just so I could do only chappie if he was having a bad belly day and now noodle has some too just to mix her meds in at tea time.

 

[SAujla]

I use simpsons premium and my pup does well on it (good poos lol but her weight is good). I would agree with recommending looking on allaboutdogfood though

 

[Odyssey]

when i got my little terrier puppy she was the runt of the litter and very small so i went on to the allaboutdogfood website and ended up with wolfworthy 80 20, its for all ages.. its raw in the form of a kibble. its not cheap but cheaper than you are paying but fine for my budget as she is small.. you order it online and they post it, really easy , better than having to go to the shops and finding things out of stock..

Having a small dog is a huge advantage when it comes to buying dog food. I have a large greyhound and can't afford the top quality stuff, unfortunately. Ideally I'd like to feed him something with a very high meat content like Wolfworthy. Some kibble only contains about 10% meat or fish! ? Reading labels can be quite an eye opener!

 

[Odyssey]

I use simpsons premium and my pup does well on it (good poos lol but her weight is good). I would agree with recommending looking on allaboutdogfood though

I've used Simpsons in the past, thought it was very good, and one of the best for the price

 

[Odyssey]

Haha! At the time I thought a tenner, that’s fine. Then it arrived and I realised, weight for weight, I usually buy 15kg bags which would make it £150 ?

Yes, that is rather extortionate, still can't get over the price. That would last my dog 2 days, so £5.50 a day. ?

 

[splashgirl45]

Having a small dog is a huge advantage when it comes to buying dog food. I have a large greyhound and can't afford the top quality stuff, unfortunately. Ideally I'd like to feed him something with a very high meat content like Wolfworthy. Some kibble only contains about 10% meat or fish! ? Reading labels can be quite an eye opener!

have a look on the all aboutdogfood website, i am sure there were some similar to wolfworthy on there but cheaper. i also checked as many reviews as i could to get an idea of quality and if other dogs ate it ok. my 10 month old has been a bit picky after her phantom pregnancy and was losing weight so i replaced her evening meal with james wellbeloved grain free as she had been interested in my old dogs food which is the senior one...my old girl has been on JWB all her life so i wont change it but i give her a handfull of WW to give her a bit extra she is collie cross so maybe do something like that for your greyhound if you want to boost his food..

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I guess it depends on your budget which is why the all about dog food website is so useful.

All of mine are on CSJ complete tripe. It's not the best food but is a reasonable middle ground food for the price. My three like it and it produces, nice and firm poos.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I love that website! I’ve been hooked.
I’m stunned at some of the supermarket foods, Sainsbury’s do one called “complete nutrition” which scores 3% nutritionally!! How can this be allowed. I’ve never used food like that anyway but it’s just so misleading.
I like the sound of Millys Wolfheart and see I could give the same food to Cecil and the two older ones. Quite like that idea. There is a fairly local stockist, oddly I’ve been through the village a zillion times and had no idea there was a pet food place there. I’ll give them a call for a price.

 

[twiggy2]

Best dry food i have found is millies wolfheart, you can email them for advice and they will tell you the foods they recommend

 

[Spotherisk]

Is it little bits? I do quite like skinners and my older dogs have the brown maintenance food which they both do really well on, there is a gundog lady locally that calls and takes orders then delivers which is incredibly handy!

we feed Field &Trial (which is the working version of Skinners, ie no VAT), adults are on duck and rice, pup is obviously on puppy!

 

[Nasicus]

I like Akela, they do an itty bitty kibble too!

 

[druid]

A few things to think about....

The food your dog does well on is the "best" food. Not all dogs do great on raw, grain free or the cheap sacks from the local garage. But many do.

If you are going grain free (I feed GF to about half my dogs) - avoid anything with high amounts (over 5%) of peas or legumes. These are (potentially) linked to nutritional dilated cardiomyopathy. They are used to give the impression of higher protein levels while skimping on meat. Research still being done but I just wouldn't be comfortable risking it with my own when there's lots of GF options with lower levels so an easy job to avoid

Allaboutdogfood - use it as a starting point but be aware that the author very much has an agenda and has no animal nutrition degree or accredited training (I believe he has a zoology degree). Do your own research - chicken meal might not sounds as tasty as "fresh boned chicken breast" but gram for gram it has more nutrition!

Your vet does not really care what you feed as long as your dog is healthy, happy and not fat! We aren't paid or tied to any of the big manufacturers. These are usually recommended as they are easy to source, have nutritionists on staff and have targeted diets for specific issues as needed. (I have one dog on a Eukanuba diet, none on Hills, RC or Purina for full disclosure)

Basically, feed what your dog enjoys and keeps him healthy while not breaking the bank for you!

 

[skinnydipper]

On the subject of food.

Another study looking at heart disease and diet but this time, instead of looking at the diet of dogs who had been diagnosed with DCM, it looked at the heart function of healthy dogs fed a variety of diets.

Higher levels of troponin were found in the blood of dogs fed grain free or food with pulses, legumes or potatoes in the top 10 ingredients.

(Troponin is released into the bloodstream when there is damage to the heart muscle)

Journal of Internal Veterinary Medicine, February 2021

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jvim.16075


and this makes interesting reading

December 2017

Mineral analysis of complete dog and cat foods in the UK and compliance with European guidelines

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17159-7

 

[poiuytrewq]

Another query, I was actually given a bag of Wainrights turkey puppy food. It scored fairly well on the website so I started mixing the Royal Canin with it. He loves it and is eating up perfectly… but farting like a trooper ?‍ Should I stop or it it maybe just the change over?