# Best dog food.



## LouLatch (Jul 2, 2012)

Hello,

My Cocker spaniel has put on some weight and have only just realised that I have been feeding him a working dog food (it only states this in the small print on the back of the bag). 

I know it can all depends on the dog as my staffie if fine on this working dog food.

I have given myself a headache looking at other brands of dog food and was just wondering if any of you had any suggestions.

Thanks!


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## Lola71 (Feb 23, 2011)

Molly does well on Applaws or Arden Grange. 
There are some good 'stickies' about dry, raw and wet foods on here that have loads of info in which will probably be really helpful when it comes to feeding.


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## Yomper (Sep 17, 2011)

How much does your dog weigh out if interest and how much are you feeding him? I been prattling on about burns dog food for a while now and no im not a burns mad fan but if you want to get your dog back to optimum weight then regular exercise along with the correct measurement of burns would be my choice. I would say my cocker spaniel was an excellent weight at 13.5 kilos BUT once we changed to burns he lost 0.7 of a kilo and is so much more healthier with it.

arden grange in a lot of there food they have quite a large amount of maize which is a really poor if not the poorest filler. i used arden grange for quite a while thinking it to be quite a quality brand but have been corrected.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Working dog food is fine. It's the same as none working, just vat free. Skinners duck and rice is working dog food, but many pet owners here feed it.

When you say what's the best, do you have a budget?

Based solely on ingredients. The best dry food is orijen, nice £65+ price tag to match the super premium ingredients. 

Everyone will have suggestions based on what they feed their dogs.

My advice would be to look at the dog food index (there's a wet one and a dry one), anything in green from those is great. Orange is mid range and red is to be avoided, take a look at that and decide whch suits your needs and budget.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Yomper said:


> How much does your dog weigh out if interest and how much are you feeding him? I been prattling on about burns dog food for a while now and no im not a burns mad fan but if you want to get your dog back to optimum weight then regular exercise along with the correct measurement of burns would be my choice. I would say my cocker spaniel was an excellent weight at 13.5 kilos BUT once we changed to burns he lost 0.7 of a kilo and is so much more healthier with it.
> 
> arden grange in a lot of there food they have quite a large amount of maize which is a really poor if not the poorest filler. i used arden grange for quite a while thinking it to be quite a quality brand but have been corrected.


Any food that's 60% rice will get weight of your dog because the rice will come out the other end.

I'd go arden grange over burns any day, simply because if I did feed dry food, I'd point blank refuse to pay £45+ for a food that's 60% rice.

Burns duck and rice - price £46



> Ingredients: Brown Rice (min 65%), Duck meat meal (min 20%), Oats, Peas, Duck fat, Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Minerals & Vitamins


Skinners duck and rice - pricce £20



> Whole Brown Rice (40%), Duck meat meal (20%), Naked Oats, Peas, whole linseed, Sunflower Oil, beet pulp, Minerals & Vitamins


Only difference I see is more rice and some seaweed. Is seaweed and an extra 20% of something your dog can't digest worth and extra £26??


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## soulful dog (Nov 6, 2011)

Lyceum said:


> Working dog food is fine. It's the same as none working, just vat free. Skinners duck and rice is working dog food, but many pet owners here feed it.


At the same time, there's been a small number of people who have posted (me included) that when feeding Skinners Duck & Rice their dogs have been putting on weight. While I can get Applaws at a good price, I'm currently mixing the two to see if that helps!


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

I have noticed that Pets at home do a 25% fat free dry in their Waiwrights food. Don't know whether that is any good though. But worth a look.


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## LouLatch (Jul 2, 2012)

Thank you all for your help!! , you have all given me something to think about.

Yomper - He weighs 14.6kgs but I think he should be about 1kg lighter as he has alot a build up of fat in his chest and he is only 3yrs old. I had the vet check it out as was worried. I am feeding him 130g a day at the moment as was told to feed him 10g per kg a day, this is wainrights and he is not losing anything. I was feeding him alot less when he had the working dog food.

Lyceum - I was thinking around the £30 mark for 15kgs, the Burns is just too expensive but want him to have the best quality for my budgit.

Bobbie - Am trying him on the wainrights at the moment but hes not loosing any weight and it doesnt agree with my other dog very well, would like to find a food they can both have.

He gets walked between 1hr and 1.5hrs a day so he gets planty of exercise, although he does just like to plod about where as my staffie is always in 5th gear!


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## Yomper (Sep 17, 2011)

Hi
Every dog is different and its very hard to say which is best as none of us are experts just going on experiences. arden grange for oscar was ok but he did have more runny poo on and off and smelly ears on that. we then tried barking heads which was better tasting but still same as arden grange. i totally agree with the 54% rice content in the kibble which sounds bad but in the moist it has 20% rice and we feed 55/60g kibble/moist
I won't go into a long spill about the so called fresh lamb content in arden grange kibble but when you work it out its pretty poor meat content on there other flavours. arden grange also has beet pulp which some dogs are allergic too. you also forgot duck fat in the burns but not in the arden grange
if your dog is overweight slightly aim to feed him for the correct weight he should be not less so i think your 10g a kilo sounds right although with burns it would be slightly less than that as it has quality contents compared to some others. haven't tried wainwrights or applaws but that could be another good choice i would have to go weigh up the ingredients as i can't remember them. it works out on burns for our spaniel about 85p a day to feed oscar so no bank breaker. i want to go homemade myself but me and the misses are still at odds about that as its her that is banging on about the burns more than me but oscar has much cleaner ears/eyes and solid poo


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I "think" but havent checked the difference between Burns and Skinners may also be the oil content, Skinners being higher (for working dogs). That would account for less weight loss on Skinners


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

LouLatch said:


> Thank you all for your help!! , you have all given me something to think about.
> 
> Yomper - He weighs 14.6kgs but I think he should be about 1kg lighter as he has alot a build up of fat in his chest and he is only 3yrs old. I had the vet check it out as was worried. I am feeding him 130g a day at the moment as was told to feed him 10g per kg a day, this is wainrights and he is not losing anything. I was feeding him alot less when he had the working dog food.
> 
> ...


Take a look at the dry food index, it has prices too, look at cost per day to see the true cost of the food. Orijin is expensive per bag, but the feeding amount is tiny and will last you the same length of time as three bags of crap food if you see what I mean.

So check the index and go with what's best for your budget.


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

Hey,

These are the links to the posts people are talking about;

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/189896-dry-dog-food-index.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/194976-wet-dog-food-index.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html

I feed Acana with is about £45, but you feed less, and is very good quality. I would always promote it, but we are thinking about changing to raw


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## LouLatch (Jul 2, 2012)

Thanks everyone!
The Dog food index is really helpful.


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## Simonlejeune (Oct 17, 2012)

Well please dont write me off until you have read what I wish to say.... lol

I am British and have invented a dog food for those that want to feed "the absolute best". I believe that BARF is the best but the meat sources need to be assured in some way so they dont contain e-coli type bacteria... or other things.
Having said that I searched the forums and picked up every complaint about dog food ingredients I could in order to invent my products. here is some info that we give to dog owners that most manufacturers won't

Dear Dog Lover,
In November 2011, I looked on the web for a good food for my rescue puppy who had just recovered from a very poorly tummy. I went to buy the brand I had chosen from my local Independent Pet Shop. The owner (Phil) was very passionate about dog nutrition. He understood my choice but explained The ingredients and their ratios were far more important for my dogs welfare than the marketing information I had been reading . 
Further conversation and investigations left Phil and me with three unanswered questions: 
1. Why did dry dog food brands not fully declare their recipe quantities?
2.	Was every ingredient and ratio always formulated exclusively for a dogs best interests?
3.	Why words on labels were often unexplained e.g., Animal & Animal Derivatives left us wondering: Which Animals? What are Derivatives? Why not reveal this information?
The result of this meeting between two like minded, dog loving people is, Moorlands Pet Foods. We believe that your dogs health, wellbeing, vets bills and longevity are related to what it eats. Dog nutrition is a highly complex subject so it took us nine months to develop our recipes. 

Pet food Labelling - words/phrases and what they REALLY mean
	Chicken Flavour  The product can quite legally contain NO Chicken at all. i.e. Freshly Selected & Prepared Chicken or Chicken Meal  Chicken meal is Chicken carcasses/chickens processed into a calcium & protein rich powder.
	Contains Chicken / With Chicken  the product legally only has to contain 4% Chicken
	High in / Rich in / With Extra: Chicken  legally the product only has to have 14% Chicken.
	Chicken / Chicken Dinner/ Chicken Menu  the product only has to be 26% Chicken.
(However: Moorlands Chicken and Rice actually contains: 37% Freshly Selected and Prepared Chicken and just 15% Chicken Meal: A total of 52% Chicken!!!)
	Grain / Cereals - can mean any grain and/or any cereal and in any ratio allowing manufacturers to change the constituents at will from batch to batch without informing you.
	Corn / Maize - has less nutritional/energy value than meat according to the USDA National Nutritional Database. It is a substantially cheaper ingredient to use than named meats. 
	Animal Fats / Animal Meals / Animal Proteins - legally allows manufacturers to feed animals of their choice to your dog in any ratio they wish. Once again manufacturers can change constituent sources and types from batch to batch without informing you. We wonder why?
	Animal Derivatives / Vegetable Derivatives - are waste products from processing animals/vegetables and can include animal heads, hooves or feet/ rotten or rotting vegetables. As well as being from unidentified meat sources.

So all I ask is check the ingredients... I have testimonials with names and addresses available if you are interested and please call me on 07733773387 any time if you think I can help in any way.

Kind regards

Simon


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