Natural (but commercially prepared) foods for small dogs

Snowy Celandine

Snowy Celandine

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I am sure that I will get lots of people telling me to feed a raw food diet but I really don't want to so I am looking for the best, as in most natural, commercially prepared dog food for small dogs. Any advice? I have kept my new puppy on the food that the breeder was giving her but would like to gradually swap her over to something more natural. She wants to eat my whippet's food but it is far too big a kibble for her to tackle and I am worried about her choking.
 
Thanks Morag4 :) I was thinking of Lily's Kitchen, Applaws, James Wellbeloved or Barking Heads. My other dog is on James Wellbeloved.
 
I like applaws, both wet and dry. Also fish4dogs is excellent, that is my alternative when I can't feed raw. And if you only have a small dog and don't want to feed raw because of the "rawness" of it, have a look at K9 Natural freeze dried raw - best of both worlds!
 
What about pre prepared raw like natural instinct?
If its kibble your after id feed fish for dogs, or ziwipeak (if I could afford it!!!!!)
if I wasnt on my tablet I'd link to an excellent foods list good, bad, ugly from another forum, but I havent worked out how to do that yet!!!
 
Natural Instinct is.....natural! Top choice.

Barking Heads is not good quality, IMO, way too many unnecessary fillers. Avoid anything made by Purina or from a supermarket.

Fish for dogs, yes, but better (just my opinion) is Orijen or Acana and as they're little dogs, it won't break the bank. Applaws sounds good.
 
Ooops, sorry. Many thanks dollyanna :) I have requested a sample of the Applaws so I hope pup likes it. I think I will gradually swap whippet girl over too if she will tolerate it. She's got a very delicate digestion so I have to be careful.
 
Hi,

Last Friday, I started my dogs on this...

http://www.naturaldogfoodcompany.com/product/lamb-brown-rice/

And I could not be happier. It was the ingredients that did it for me and the quality of them. It has been 6 days of feeding today as they don't get fed until late afternoon, but the differences are astonishing.

They were on what I would call an ok dry dog food before from countrywide with a good specific meat protein as the main ingredient and good secondary's, but still some fillers. They have been getting a chicken wing or chicken neck, each 4 days a week, a fish head once a week and a little turkey mince the other two days but at the moment, we don't have the ability to feed entirely raw so I wanted the next best thing.

Before last Friday, each dog would poo 3-4 times a day, sometimes 5. That's a lot of poo to pick. Within 2 days, that had dropped to 1-2 poos a day each. The poos are tight but not hard, no horrid colours, textures or smells...yep, it doesn't smell nearly as much or as horrible as it used to.

In the last week, they have all become really happy to eat. Not excited, but happy, waggy tails and they sit and wait while I put it on the floor and when I say they can eat, they eat it all, tails wagging and then when finished, there are 4 dogs on their backs rubbing around on the floor making stupid noises...it's lovely to see. Before...The JRT would get hyper when his food came out, but never finish it. The Lab x Rottie would inhale it and the collies would eat a little and leave the rest. Now, they all finish everything and they are not hungry, because they get their raw portions in the morning. The JRT is no longer hyper.

Actually, he is no longer hyper when I pick up the leads for a walk. Excited and happy, yes...but hyper, not in the last 5 days which is fab!

The little collie could be a grumpy sod with the pups sometimes, but he is much more tolerant and has been engaging with them a lot more this week and no grumpiness :)

Now...it is £54 for a 15kg bag (£58 delivered) BUT...you feed a lot less because of the quality of it. It's still what I would call a decent size dinner, but the amount of the old stuff they needed to keep them at the right weight was just too much food, which is why three of them would never finish it. It's perfect now.

It costs me £2.61 per day for all four dogs on this food and that includes their chicken wings/necks/fish heads/mince. I don't take anything off the amount of the dry feed as they get very good walks and are very active.

Their coats were fantastic anyway, but they are all looking just a little shinier. The lab x rottie was the only one with a slight dog smell (you had to bury your face in her back to smell it, but it was there)...now she has no smell.

The little collie Stig has never had bad breath, so no probs. Hollie is a 14/15yr old collie so has awful old dog breath and the pups breaths are truly disgusting...because they like to eat poo. Not anymore. No poo eating since last Friday and their breaths are so much better. They can pant in my face now and I can cope easily with it...before it made me want to boak!

I've always tried to do my best for them within our budget and have been very much put off so called amazing dog foods because some manufacturers (Iams, Science Plan etc.) promote themselves as amazing, but are awful, so I've always been a bit dubious...then I found this.

To be honest, it was between this feed, a feed by a company called Eden which is very good and Orijen, which is fab, but this is the one that caught my eye. I ordered it at 3:30pm last Thursday with a 1-3 day delivery and they were on the doorstep when I got back from the morning walk at 09:30.

I could honestly not be happier. I love weighing their feeds out every afternoon because they are just so happy to have it and they all come and thank me after they've had a good rub and roll :)
 
Fides, I think the biggest Applaws bags are 12.5 kg. I am going the other way and wanting small bags though because the pup, whilst enthusiastic about her food, is definitely never going to be a big eater!

Glad your dogs are doing well on their new diet -GG- :)
 
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