Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:34 am Post subject: Food advice please
Peppa is 1 year old in a couple of days and has been on Royal Canin Labrador Junior since about the age of 5 months after having had the food the breeder had fed her on then the 1st one I tried didn't agree with her.
I'm paying £39 for 12kg if I manage to get it off the web or the local pet shop (pets corner) charge £47 for it! That lasts one month.
To be honest i'm finding it too expensive and add on the monthly cost of flea/worm treatments and the pet insurance i'm spending a fortune a month and need to buy something cheaper and having read up on what others have said on RC it doesn't seem the best anyway. Peppa seems to have the same experience others have said, one day her poos are nice and solid, the next they can be loose and sloppy. I give her absolutley no other treats or food what so ever apart from a Bonio at lunch time. She is fed the RC twice a day, morning and evening. Her coat is great however and something people always comment on.
Another issue to throw into the mix is that she has always had something to go to the vets with. She has had 4 ear infections and 2 eye infections in the 9 months we've had her and with all the tests that have been done still no answers have been thrown up including blood tests for allergies. It appears to be a skin issue that can't be got to the bottom of.
I'm now thinking that a change of food may also be worth a try but everyone says something different as to what to feed:
James Wellbeloved
Skinners
Arden Grange
Science Plan (even more expensive than RC!)
Pedigree Chum
Bakers
Winalot
Burns
etc etc
I know Bakers and Winalot are 'supermarket' brands and lots on here slate them. Howver my wife for example had a golden retriever and that was fed Bakers all its life and lived a long happy life and hardly ever went to the vet.
What I am looking for is a good quality food that is not charging the earth and so far Skinners seems to be the one to go for?
Also should I look to get her off chicken based food and go for lamb and rice to see if it helps with her ear/eye/skin issues?
With my wife and parents saying I spend far too much on dog food a month when there are much cheaper alternatives when we have lots of other things the money could be spent on i'm finding it a mine field trying to decide what to give her. Winalot or Bakers are nice and cheap in the supermarket but as far as i'm concerned they are cheap for a reason and don't want to risk Peppa having more issues than she already has.
Bracken came to me on Beta - I wouldn't recommend that.
I switched to Arden Grange and loved it. However, I did go through a stage of finding it difficult to keep weight on Bracken with it. Whether that was actually due to her going through and growth spurt and being out of coat etc, I'll never know. Arden Grange was relatively pricey though. I was able to get it for £25 a bag, but that's a lot cheaper than it really *should* be.
So, I moved to Skinners. This has been invaluable now I have two dogs. If I'd been buying Arden Grange at the retail price, one sack of that is double the price of Skinners near enough. So, I can feed 2 dogs for the price of 1 now on Skinners.
I feed the duck and rice. No particular reason for that, other than that's what was recommended. If you go for Skinners though, I'd defo recommend that. As you say, an alternative from Chicken might be worth a try to see if has any bearing on the recurrent ear/eye infections? Skinners has no nasties and is hypoallergenic. I can get 15kg for £20. If I buy 3 or 4 sacks at a time, I get it for less than £20 a bag.
Cost was a factor for me too. I'm just not prepared to spend £50 on a bag of dog food when I can get something just as good at a fraction of the price.
I'm currently feeding Barking Heads, its costing £25 for 12kg bag which I buy via a wholesaler. Its a low waste product which they've done well on. They have only been on it a couple of months.
In the past I've used both JWB and Skinners for both of the boys when they were pups, but mainly they have been fed on Burns.
Burns is another low waste product. The boys did extremely well on it. I fed Burns Active which comes in an 18 Kilos bag (15kg, with 3kg free) Vat free. I worked it out to be 61p a day per dog. Again though we got it from the Wholesaler so probably paid a little less than that.
I would reccomend any of those feeds and probably Arden Grange on top of that.
If money really is a big consideration another food worth thinking about it Autarky - costco sell it for £12 a bag of 15 kg. Its a good compromise.
Is there an animal feed wholesaler near you? I get such tremendous deals from the one nearest to us that I don't order food from anywhere else now.
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Berry is on SupaDog Active which at my local pet foodstore is £15 for 15kig, it's brilliant, lasts her a good 6 weeks whereas the 5kg Bakers bags barely lasted 2 weeks at £8 a bag.
I'm not against Bakers as Berry was fine on that, glossy coat, not 'hypo' like some reports etc. I believe every dog is different and its about finding the right food for your dog, but cost is an issue so I'm glad I stumbled upon SupaDog - it has loads of different flavours and has different kinds e.g. active dog, working dog etc.
i'm with mo. I feed skinners field and trial duck and rice. I get mine for 17 quid a bag. There are plenty of places on line like vetuk that sell with free del if you buy 2 bags. Most local pet stores can order it in for you. If you have a local horse feed place or farm type shop, might be worth trying there too.
The field and trial bit in the label - just means no vat so don't think you can't use just because you've not got a working dog.
Skinners also do a hypo allergenic salmon and rice which is good.
Steer well clear of bakers and pedigree chum. Any dog food which has colourings in puts me right off! You also need to feed more of it to get same nutrients, so ends up with lots of poo and not so cheap!
____________ Sam, Coal & Finn
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I have had several dogs (and know of others) that are fed on Burns, to good effect. I am not currently feeding it to my two as I can afford to feed them on Acana and Origen, but if my financial circumstances changed, they would be on Burns (supplemented with vitamins (from fresh and/or cooked fruit and veg) and omega 3,6 & 9) so long as it semed to suit them.
Personally, if a food has maize, wheat or soya as main ingredients (these may not be listed as the first ingredient on the packet, but will be divided up into maize starch, ground corn, soya fibre, wheat germ, etc, etc) I wouldn't feed it to my dogs.
Many thanks for the such quick replies. £20 or undewr for 15kg of Skinners that is just what i'm looking for but where do you get it for that? I'm searching on line and most seem £25 or more plus a fiver delivery!
I do have a local horse feed place but they seem to be expensive for a wholesale outlet. Actually just called them they can order Skinners in and for 15kg bag of the fielkd and trial duck and rice its £16.81!!! They said the Lamb and rice would be about the same. I'm stunned
That sounds to be the one for me then with what people have said and with it being hypo allergenic etc. However do I go for the Duck or for the Lamb?
Never tried the lamb, but can vouch wholeheartedly for the duck
£16, wow, that's a great price!
Boots farts a bit on Skinners, but Bracken doesn't at all. I'm not even convinced it's the Skinners that makes him fart though - I think it's things like rawhide chews and bonios that do it. The aroma around here is definitely a bit sweeter when he's had less in the way of chews.
Don't just look at the sack price as a fair comparison. I pay £42 for a 15kg sack of Burns and feed 200g per day because they recommend 10g per kg of dog. If I was to feed a cheaper brand I may well need to feed 300g or more per day so the sack wouldn't last as long and I would have more poo to pick up.
In a dog food I am looking for something with a clear list of ingredients, meat that is real meat and not just all the waste products, no unnecessary additives, no fillers, no salt, wheat or maize.
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