puppy food

I'm worried we are giving Lola bad food. We are giving her bakers complete puppy mix, she has no issues with it what soever and has solid poos (sorry). But just reading some headlines that these types of food aren't good. Any advice. Please

Purina pro one is a great food

The bakers one we have is made by Purina. I really don't want to mess up raising this little hell raiser haha

We eukanuba with our baxter

It is a bit rubbish to be honest. Take a look at this site to help you decide.
http://www.dog-food-review.co.uk/pet_food_review.htm#.VILkpMlFCBZ
We feed James Welbeloved. We get the 15kg bag and it works out at about 60p per day.
Pete

Here is another link to help you decide

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dry_food

If and when you do change foods do it gradually. Add about 20% of the new food to the old food and increase slowly over about 7 days or you will upset the pups stomach.

Thanks for the links guys. I will def change lexis food I think. She is currently on Waggs complete x

Purina/bakers/wagg - in fact most foods that can be bought in a supermarket are very poor quality. As suggested, a food comparison site may be helpful

I feed nature diet, which IMO is the next best thing to raw. Bug also gets a few raw meals a week (tripe, offal, muscle meat, meaty bones etc). I wouldn't feed dry at all, but that's my personal choice.

I use dry on my vets recommendation. So I will stick to that but I do give her tripe as a treat now and then or a can of pedigree chum x

Vets are wonderful people - but 90% of them aren't trained in nutrition, and mostly just try to sell what they're commissioned to, unfortunately. Most are also not qualified to give behavioural advice, though they still try. Brilliant at what they are trained to do, though. Pedigree is very low quality too, unfortunately

Aww ok I will look into a better one. Thanks xx

Another vote for James wellbeloved wet and dry food.

Yep, Bakers and Waggs are terrible foods, all chemicals and gunk. They should be banned. Have a look here for decent rated foods

http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

If you want to continue with dry then Applaws is worth looking at, it ticks all the boxes

http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0186/applaws-puppy-small-and-medium

Would these bad foods make them hyperactive

Exactly what I was going to ask would it effect/affect (I never know I) behaviour? Also. Can any one reccomend a good food that doesn't break the bank. I currently pay £6 for 10 kilo of Wagg x

Yes, it would make them very hyperactive, plus they wouldn't be getting the right nutrition and this would cause health problems down the line. You can always spot the dog on Baker's, it's running round in circles like a loon with its eyes swivelling and its tongue hanging out.

Regarding the price... I don't know a great deal about dried food but it's like anything else. Good food isn't cheap and cheap food isn't good. £6 for 10Kg gives you an indication of the horrors that form the ingredients. Admittedly Applaws is quite expensive but if you look at the AADF site it tells you an estimated cost per day.

Yeah I knew it wasn't the best but I didn't think it was bad for her ;-( thanks xxx

I'm looking at symply dog, I can get a 12kg bag for £44. Would I still feed the same amount? X

From my experience you tend to feed less of the better quality foods - so it might work out roughly the same there will be guidelines on the pack though, and you will know if you're feeding the right amount by her body condition.

Have a read:

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/dog-food-ten-scary-truths/

I'm actually horrified. So I should really feed her meat rice and veg? Or high quality kibble? I use dry coz my vet told me it keeps her glands empty because harder poo pushes and entries them? X

We use Burns, which I thought was quite a good one, mind you one of links given shows its not.. I think I need to have a rethink !

You can get firmer stools from feeding bone, you don't need to feed dry for that. Bug has no problems with teeth or anal glands - yet before I took her in, she needed a dental age 2 due to poor diet!

I'm sure there are some dry foods out there that are okay - I've heard good things about Eden. You could look into nutriment? It's a fairly low price, practically ready made raw diet for fairly low price - roughly 97p a day for a staffie. A few people on the forum have also had good results from nature diet (myself included) and Wainwrights trays. I order nature diet from berriewoods wholesaler (online) and it works out at about £1 a day, though I'm now leaning towards nutriment myself.

A typical week for Bug meal wise would be;
Mon am 3/4 tray nature diet Mon pm Fresh tripe and sweet potato
Tues am 1/4 tray nature diet, fresh lamb heart Tues pm 3/4 nature diet, raw brocolli
Wed am raw meaty bones Wed pm 3/4 tray nature diet
Thurs am 3/4 nature diet Thurs pm fresh tripe, sweet potato, green beans
Fri am 1/4 nature diet, fresh lamb heart Fri pm 3/4 tray nature diet, raw broccoli, raw carrot

Bug also has banana every morning (my OH gives it to her when he's making smoothies), and a handful of fruit if I'm having some - obviously avoid all the toxics (grapes, raisins, onions, garlic) but she loves strawberries, blueberries, apples, carrot, broccoli, sweet potato. Goats milk is good for pups too. I vary it from week to week - dogs mostly need meat, veg is best puree'd but we give it to bug mostly because she likes it! She's covered nutritionally by her other food. Rice is just a filler really - it doesn't have much to offer nutritionally.

I make bugs treats also, she has sardine loaf for training (sub tuna for sardines)
http://www.bdws.co.uk/2012/12/15/tuna-loaf-dog-treats/

And for chews she has fresh marrow bones, pig trotters (fresh/raw).. Never rawhide/roasted bones. Honestly, when you get used to it, it's so easy!

A good quality food is essential. I was told you can get JWB from amazon for £38, 15kg. According to the guidelines, our girl with an estimated adult weight of 18/19kg, is 250g per day. That works out at about 63p per day.
I also think it's important to weigh each meal.
Pete

Wow thanks guys. Lexi is months and 21 kg but lean as hell (we excersise a lot. Unfortunately I am not lean as hell lol) I will deffo look into a better food after ready horror stories all morning now. I don't measure either I giver her a scoop full and if she doesn't eat it when she walks away from the bowl it gets out back in the bag x

9months* just ordered a load of nature diet and will deffo be making her some treats x

I occasionally give Bo a dessert made from natural pro-biotic yoghurt, Rowse honey and topped with raspberries. He loves it. I have the same.

Guys I picked up some chicken liver today can I give her that? If so raw or cook it? And how much? Xx

Awesome news feeding them raw will be fine, just give her a small amount to start with as they can be quite rich! Every dog I know LOVES liver! Apart from Bug lol!! She spits it out

I'm so grateful for this web page. It's unbelievable how little I know. We are going out shopping tomorrow for a whole new diet to introduce to pup!! Thank you everyone for the advice!!

Lexi has just had rice, liver, chicken thigh fillets carrots and peas xx

We use blackhawk for dry and also give raw meat of some sort either chicken chicken necks kangaroo pieces or beef mince. Sometimes I add a scrambled egg or instead of dry he has wholemeal pasta or brown rice. Going to try sardines today. Have just followed our breeders instructions re food and Ziggy going great at 5 mths!

James well beloved the sensitive one did nothing for ruby with her skin

Skin problems can come from various things, my friends terrier is allergic to dust mites in the house. Not always food related, and there's still a load of other preservatives in dry food that could cause a flare up - which is why I would switch a dog with skin problems to raw

The purina pro one salmon and rice seems to really help with her skin, she itches alot less, and I dont always like the thought of feeding raw due to bacteria, what food would you recommend?

Got Baxter some lambs heart from the butchers yesterday, we gave it too him raw and he loved it

Rachel.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for showing me the way on a good diet for Lexi.

She has been having sweet potato, rice, carrot. Liver and chicken and nature diet trays (which she inhales and the smell so much nicer that can wet for don't they!?).

She already seems a bit happier listening more etc.

Thanks so much every1 for this brill advise on this brill site x