# can you reccomend a good dog food? and reccomend food to steer clear of



## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

Hi guys,

Been reading a few posts on dog food, but I couldn't really find what I was looking for. Apologies if this is a common question, tell me to find it myself if you like lol.

I've got a 2 and a half year old Border Terrier x Patterdale Terrier and am currently feeding him a mix of tinned and dry food - currently tescos own or winalot tinned food and Wagg dry food. However I am aware that nutritionally these are probably not all that great. I also give him a tin of sardines about once a week/once a fortnight as I was told it's good for his coat. He rarely gets 'human' food (unless the grandparents are babysitting!), bar the occasional bit of left over meat

A local pet shop gave us a sample of burns a few months back, and although he seemed to like it, (as I'm sure you all know) it's very expensive! If money wasn't an issue I would happily buy him that, but this credit crunch means funds are a lot tighter than they used to be, so we are cutting back on a lot (food for us too not just him! LOL).

So, I'm looking for a dry food that's not too expensive, but good nutritionally. Would prefer to be able to buy it locally, but I'll order online if need be.

Also do you guys think if I did buy something like Burns, I could mix that and a cheaper dry food together?

Also are there any foods that you would absolutely steer clear of?

Thanks in advance,

Rach


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## haeveymolly (Mar 7, 2009)

Burns is an excellent food i have fed it for a few years now and wouldnt feed anything else, yes it does seem expensive but was i was feeding cheaper food i dont think it last me as long as you have to feed more, health benefits are a consideration as well, we fed burns when my first dog had d.c.m was on 13 tablets a day burns actually cut the cost of these meds from £120 per month to £97 as he was able to cut down on some meds as we and our vet had tried to do for months as he was on the max doses and as the condition only gets worse they could not up his meds. Our youngest now 15 month has had burns since she was 5 weeks and t.b.h she is/had been the calmest of the 3 so there are lots of benefits feeding burns.


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## noogsy (Aug 20, 2009)

hi when i first found out my dog had difficulties 
i researched diffrent foods
what you look for is if food is for human consumption,
ie the companies cant just chuck any old horse meat in
or mankie stuff that has come of supermarket shelves and is ot of date
what the percentage of meat is,
you should look for a high percentage.
you look at the amount of possible allergens,
also check if animal testing is done by the animal food company
also worth checking who owns the company.
ie MARS monster company:blushing:
if i were you i would go to the nearest big farm animal feed place.
not high street.
and ask the people what is the diffrence with the foodsand ask about offers:blushing:.
i get 5 bags of food and the sixth bag free.
all these things help.
i hope i have helped.
noogsy x


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

Naturediet  is one of the only commercial dog foods i will feed my dogs

I'm not a fan of dry at all now, since looking into it more closely (thanks to a really good debate on this forum some months ago), so am not in a position to advise.

I am also a big fan of raw or barf diets


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## oldDoubletrouble (Sep 21, 2009)

billyboysmammy said:


> Naturediet  is one of the only commercial dog foods i will feed my dogs


You took the words right out of my mouth


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## Roo (May 28, 2009)

I feed my 2 Border Terriers 'Whites Premium' & they thrive on it.


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## LucyJ (Jul 3, 2008)

try some comparison sites such as Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble


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## james1 (Sep 21, 2008)

Burns lover here too. Id get him of supermarket stuff its no good. Buy it on line and save petrol and cash  Just do a good google search for best prices


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

Hiya I have my two older dogs (12 years and 11 months) on Gelert Country Choice chicken and rice dry. It's made in Wales so not sure if it's available in England and elsewhere but it's £17 for a 15kg sack and has 65% chicken and rice.

My 10 week pup is currently on Wainwrights turkey and rice dry. I can't think of the meat content off the top of my head (think it's 20%) but am sure someone else can. A 15kg sack costs me £30 from pets at home 

I sometimes give them wet and when they do I feed nature diet (senior for the older dog and junior for the other 2).

They also have raw bones and raw meat (pigs liver, tripe, mince etc) 

Edit to add I would never go anywhere near bakers or pedigree. Nasty stuff!!


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## Robertdavid (Aug 4, 2009)

If you wanted to go the whole way and try a bone and raw food diet, have a look at Natural Instinct - High Quality Natural Dog Food - their foods only contain meat bone fruit and veg. Minimum order £29 for 10kg and no delivery charge. They also sell bones too and its all from smithfield in London, so good human grade meat.


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

Wow thanks for all the replies guys  I always thought that the supermarket stuff wasn't the greatest but didn't realise it was frowned upon quite so much. 

I used to feed him bakers meaty meals or chunks, whatever they're called, for a while and noticed him made him a bit hyper! so I was put off that anyway.

sequeena - where do you buy that food from? I'm in south wales 

Definately going to get him on some better quality food asap!


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Wow thanks for all the replies guys  I always thought that the supermarket stuff wasn't the greatest but didn't realise it was frowned upon quite so much.
> 
> I used to feed him bakers meaty meals or chunks, whatever they're called, for a while and noticed him made him a bit hyper! so I was put off that anyway.
> 
> ...


Hi  If you're anywhere near port talbot there is a small independant pet shop where beach hill used to be (sorry I forget the name right now) that sells it.

I've never seen it in [email protected] but if you have any other pet shops ... or even a warehouse near you they might stock it.

If you can't find anywhere that stocks it you can buy online;
Gelert Pet Nutrition for Dog Food , Puppy Food and General Pet Nutrition 
It's much more expensive online though - £30 for a 15kg bag


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

sequeena said:


> Hi  If you're anywhere near port talbot there is a small independant pet shop where beach hill used to be (sorry I forget the name right now) that sells it.
> 
> I've never seen it in [email protected] but if you have any other pet shops ... or even a warehouse near you they might stock it.
> 
> ...


Wow I actually live in port talbot, I actually live about 3 minutes walk from that pet shop! I get him regular treats fom there, and sometimes pick up small bags of dog food, but never fancied lugging a massive bag of food home with me (it would be seriously lazy to drive there!). Will pop in tomorrow and have a look (taking the bf with me for the carrying duties)! Thanks!!


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Wow I actually live in port talbot, I actually live about 3 minutes walk from that pet shop! I get him regular treats fom there, and sometimes pick up small bags of dog food, but never fancied lugging a massive bag of food home with me (it would be seriously lazy to drive there!). Will pop in tomorrow and have a look (taking the bf with me for the carrying duties)! Thanks!!


OMG!  Small world!! I used to live on the estate - across from the red dragon as it happens! Just moved to Baglan though. I've probably seen you around!


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

sequeena said:


> OMG!  Small world!! I used to live on the estate - across from the red dragon as it happens! Just moved to Baglan though. I've probably seen you around!


Very Small world, I'm actually from Baglan, but moved into sandfields/aberavon when i bought my house last year!


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Very Small world, I'm actually from Baglan, but moved into sandfields/aberavon when i bought my house last year!


Haha typical!!  if you ever see someone out with a black GSD it's probably me


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

Lol. Whereabout do you normally go for walks? I usually just head to the beach, the bit by the pier you can go on all year round.


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Lol. Whereabout do you normally go for walks? I usually just head to the beach, the bit by the pier you can go on all year round.


When I was on the estate I went to the beach too both on the pier and on the beach (on the smaller one between may-october though). I also liked to go to vivian park and western avenue park 

Now I'm not sure where I'm walking!! I often go to the park but I also walk up by the rugby field lol


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

sequeena said:


> When I was on the estate I went to the beach too both on the pier and on the beach (on the smaller one between may-october though). I also liked to go to vivian park and western avenue park
> 
> Now I'm not sure where I'm walking!! I often go to the park but I also walk up by the rugby field lol


Aw I take him to vivian park if I dont fancy getting sandy lol. He loves it over there!

You should try walking up the mountain, you could walk for hours. my dad often takes Decks up there - he lives at the top though near blaenbaglan school, so there's a path up that way not far from the house. Its a good walk though, you can end up by the res, or if you walk east then you'll come to a farm (if i remember rightly).

If you live by the rugby club you should be able to join a path from around there too - but i don't know exactly where. There's a electricity pilon (sp?) around there somewhere so possibly around there if you know where that is?


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Aw I take him to vivian park if I dont fancy getting sandy lol. He loves it over there!
> 
> You should try walking up the mountain, you could walk for hours. my dad often takes Decks up there - he lives at the top though near blaenbaglan school, so there's a path up that way not far from the house. Its a good walk though, you can end up by the res, or if you walk east then you'll come to a farm (if i remember rightly).
> 
> If you live by the rugby club you should be able to join a path from around there too - but i don't know exactly where. There's a electricity pilon (sp?) around there somewhere so possibly around there if you know where that is?


Oh you mean the bwlch road? I was walking earlier behind some houses and it looked like a small forest. It was just before the boarding kennels and there was a pylon up there so I probably wasn't too far away.

I've not long lived on the mountain so I have to get used to all the uphill walking pmsl!


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

sequeena said:


> Oh you mean the bwlch road? I was walking earlier behind some houses and it looked like a small forest. It was just before the boarding kennels and there was a pylon up there so I probably wasn't too far away.
> 
> I've not long lived on the mountain so I have to get used to all the uphill walking pmsl!


That probably was the mountain. I've always thought of bwlch road as the one off the main hill towards blaen baglan. Never really had a name for the mountain path i'm on about Lol.

Aw i know its a killer, so glad i live on the flat now lol! Its great when it snows up there though!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...27745,-3.815598&spn=0.001385,0.00339&t=h&z=18

don't know if that link will work (or if i'm allowed to link :S) but thats the pylon I'm on about. you can follow the little path and see where you can end up.

Edit: If you look near penrhiwgoch then you should see the pylon.


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> That probably was the mountain. I've always thought of bwlch road as the one off the main hill towards blaen baglan. Never really had a name for the mountain path i'm on about Lol.
> 
> Aw i know its a killer, so glad i live on the flat now lol! Its great when it snows up there though!
> 
> ...


Oh yes you are right!! I live by old road/willow way so I think I'll be heading up that path later


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## rachy86xx (Sep 24, 2009)

sequeena said:


> Oh yes you are right!! I live by old road/willow way so I think I'll be heading up that path later


Ah fab i know! I'll keep an eye out for you when i'm in the area lol.


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

rachy86xx said:


> Ah fab i know! I'll keep an eye out for you when i'm in the area lol.


Brilliant


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