Food brands, where to buy etc ?

Hello everyone, put vinnie in his cage for the first time last night, covered it over with a blanket and put his toys in with a pillow for sleeping on and paper next to it for any wees!! He did well, whined for about 10-15 mins then heard nothing from him untill we woke up this morning !

Anyway atm im just feeding him puppy food, tinned and dry by "Butchers"
Also the occasional meal of chicken and rice etc..

I've read up on these barf diets etc and i dont really want to put him on raw meat or if i do then not every single meal, im a bit unsure as to what are the best brands etc of food and where to get them from ( Im in england ).. I don't mind spending abit of money if its the best he can have, could anyone who have older staffs or have had a few tell me the best foods and where to get them for their doggy?

Muchas gracias!

Moo is on Fish4Dogs and I reccomend it, I but online at www.chemistdirect.co.uk

I posted the following on another of your threads, perhaps you didn't see it.

Galadriel wrote:...Bakers is probably one of the worst foods out there. If you want something that's a similar price then Skinners Field and Trail is a lot better.

If you can afford it then something like Orijen, Applaws, Fish4Dogs or Acana would be ideal if you want to feed dry.

There are also plenty of mid quality, mid priced foods like Arden Grange, Wainwrights, Simpsons, Vitalin, James Welbeloved, Natural Dog Food Company, Burns etc.

Bakers, Wagg, Alpha, Chappie, Harringtons, Eukanuba, Pedigree, Purina, Hills, Iams, Winalot, Royal Canin and supermarket own brand foods are all to be avoided.

Have a look at www.whichdogfood.co.uk for help choosing a food.

Once you've chosen your food, make sure you change over gradually, over a period of a week or so to avoid an upset tum (unless of course the Bakers is causing a runny bum, in which case, I'd probably just swap straight onto a better food.)

I think you said you were feeding Bakers in the other thread.

I find you get the best deals if you buy online. Chemist direct do Fish4Dogs cheap and I've just got a good price on some Applaws from Millbry Hill.

If you're feeding dry then like Janey I'd recommend Fish4dogs. Palatable, good ingredients & reasonable price. Also, being fish, it's less likely to cause tummy upsets.

Butchers isn't great, btw. Change it if you can.

I have butchers & bakers galadriel

Ordering some fish4food off their site thank you!

Bakers is the pits! Butchers isn't all that far behind it!

Yep, Butchers is another I'd avoid too!

What makes butchers for eg. worse off than others? fat content? ash?

Low meat content, too many fillers, too many additives! Any dry food that has colour added to appeal to the human eye should be avoided like the plague. A dog doesn't care what its food looks like as long as the taste & smell are good.

We have always used Arden Grange and have never had any problems ,we tend to give them a mix of the Salmon and the Chicken and the older dogs sometimes have a bit of Arden Grange tinned mixed in theirs.
The Salmon gives them a great coat.
Some dry foods seem expensive on the shelf but when you work. Out the cost per meal it is a small price to pay.

Caryll wrote:Low meat content, too many fillers, too many additives! Any dry food that has colour added to appeal to the human eye should be avoided like the plague. A dog doesn't care what its food looks like as long as the taste & smell are good.

What Caryll said!

A good quality food should have a high and quality meat content, little or no grains, no artificial additives.

When you look at the ingredients of dog food, items are listed in descending order of how much of each ingredient is contained in the food.

The ingredients should also be clear.

For example, if you look at Bakers Complete Puppy:
Cereals (25% ), Meat and Animal Derivatives ( 26% Meat in the Chunk, 4% Beef in the Brown Kernels), Vegetable Protein Extracts, Oils & Fats, Various Sugars, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Minerals, Vegetables ( 4% Vegetable in the Green & Yellow Kernels). with Colourants, Antioxidants and Preservatives.

It mostly contains unclear grains, then unclear meat and animal derivatives, many more unknown items, sugar(!!), colourants and god knows what kind of preservatives.

Then look at something at the other end of the spectrum, Orijen Puppy:
Boneless Fresh Chicken, Chicken Meal, Boneless Fresh Salmon, Turkey Meal, Herring Meal, Russet Potato, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Sweet Potato, Peas, Boneless Fresh Turkey, Fresh Whole Eggs, Fresh Chicken Liver, Boneless Fresh Lake Whitefish, Boneless Fresh Walleye, Sun-Cured Alfalfa, Pea Fiber, Boneless Fresh Herring, Organic Kelp, Pumpkin, Chicory Root, Carrots, Spinach, Turnip Greens, Apples, Cranberries, Blueberries, Licorice Root, Angelica Root, Fenugreek, Marigold Flowers, Sweet Fennel, Peppermint Leaf, Chamomile, Dandelion, Summer Savory, Rosemary, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Enterococcus Faecium. Total Meat Content: 80%.

It tells you exactly what's in it, doesn't contain unnecessary colourings or sugars which can be harmful, uses natural preservatives like rosemary, has a high percentage of high quality meat protein etc.

If you have a look at the ingredients page - http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog_food_ingredients_br.php - on which dog food, it explains a bit more about ingredients and what's good and bad

We have just switched Rocky over to Barking Heads dry food kibble, the ingredients are as follows. Since Rocky has been on this food he seems a lot calmer in himself. We get it from a local garden centre at the same price as online:

Boneless Chicken*, Dried Chicken*, Brown Rice, Oats, Barley, (High Omega 3) Trout, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavours, Sunflower Oil, Lucerne, Seaweed, Tomato, Carrot, Hip & Joint Care Glucosamine 350 mg/kg, MSM 350mg/kg, Chondroitin 240 mg/kg)

*total 50% Chicken

Has anyone ever tried Pero Staffie specific food ?

nsgdm1 wrote:Has anyone ever tried Pero Staffie specific food ?

No but I wouldn't use it personally.

The ingredients are as follows:

Fresh British Chicken (min 26%), Maize (min 26%), Poultry Meat Meal, Oats, Beet Pulp, Refined Chicken Fat, Whole Linseed, Brewers Yeast, Egg Powder, Minerals, Fish Oil, Glucosamine Sulphate, Chondroitin Sulphate, Vitamins, L-carnitine.

Too much cereal IMO and the main bulk of that cereal is maize which isn't one of the 'better' cereals. It also doesn't contain enough meat IMO, although chicken is listed as the first ingredient, a lot of that is water as it's listed as fresh so really the first ingredient should be maize.

Total protein listed for Pero SBT is 22% so considering the high grain content, a good chunk of that protein will be in cereal form so no where near enough quality protein for me I'm afraid.

thanks, ive orderd vinnie some orijen puppy hopefully he'll enjoy that!