# Whats really wrong with foods like Bakers/pedigree and waggs ??



## JennieJet (Jun 19, 2009)

Hi, I am really interested in knowing what is really wrong with dry dog food such as bakers or waggs ?? We are on a budget and our lab puppy has a fast motablisim ( excuse spelling) so she has to have double the normal amount of food to keep her weight up. A normal 15kg bag only lasts about 3 weeks tops so at £30-£40 a go its working out very expensive. My neighbour feeds all three of her dogs on bakers and she swears by it and my other friend loves waggs.........are these foods REALLY that bad ??? Surely if they cause harm / ill health they wouldnt be allowed to be sold ??? ( I am new to all this , sorry ) ....would putting my puppy on one of these really do her any harm ? Please I would really loves some thoughts ...thanks xxx


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

**** and tobacco are bad for our health and still sold so cant use that argument  

In my eyes why feed an animal who needs meat a diet of less then 4% of "meat" which half the time can be hoofs, tails, bones and the rubbish thats left over in the food rather then actual meat they also have added colours e.t.c which isnt very good for anyone or anything

Skinners is pretty good food and cheap, i use one that is good which is £17 delivered a 15kg bag it has 20% chicken in it e.t.c


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## EmzieAngel (Apr 22, 2009)

I think it's because these foods have a low meat content and have lots of additives in, so basically it's like giving a kid smarties. These foods can send dogs hyper.
Although some dogs do, do well on it.
My lab used to be fed pedigree wet food, until I found out what was in it, we've now changed to Nature Diet and although he's still a hyper lad, he's a lot calmer than what he was.


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## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

I think the products you mention are full of artificial colourings, preservatives etc and are not very good for dogs, very hard to digest and can make them hyper!

Now your pup needs the best food you can afford which will help support her growth. Also the more expensive food can actually work out cheaper in the long run - quite often the dog does not need so much food as it is more easily digestible and also if it helps keep dog healthier then it could mean less visits to the vets.

Now there are some very good foods out there that are not going to bnreak the bank - apparently Pets At Home have their own brand which is meant to be a good quality product. Also Arden Grange has a good reputation and you can find that on e bay for very reasonable prices.

PS pics of your pup is a must!


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## JennieJet (Jun 19, 2009)

gorgeous said:


> I think the products you mention are full of artificial colourings, preservatives etc and are not very good for dogs, very hard to digest and can make them hyper!
> 
> Now your pup needs the best food you can afford which will help support her growth. Also the more expensive food can actually work out cheaper in the long run - quite often the dog does not need so much food as it is more easily digestible and also if it helps keep dog healthier then it could mean less visits to the vets.
> 
> ...


Hi, I have just bought a bag of pets at home own brand today and I am trying that as it is slightly cheaper...I was just curious as why to stay clear of the said brands ......my puppy needs double food as she was underweight and when checked by vet and breeder was told to double her food. So as you can imagine a normal bag of food doesnt last long and is costing us a fortune ( i would put a photo on if I knew how ?? )


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## lozza84 (Jul 19, 2008)

i agree with what everyone has said here, Milly is on JWB which i find to be reasonably priced  i heard skinners is good for working breeds like labs and collies


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## kelseye (Aug 16, 2009)

i feed our dog on bakers two boxes a week cost 13 quid
i feed the ferrets on whiskers adults and they have 14 tins a week cost 15 quid
the kitten had whiskers meat and buiscuts and that cost 9 quid a week
and they have never been ill of there food of had runny poos so must be ok for them as they eat it as soon as its put down


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

JennieJet said:


> Hi, I have just bought a bag of pets at home own brand today and I am trying that as it is slightly cheaper...I was just curious as why to stay clear of the said brands ......my puppy needs double food as she was underweight and when checked by vet and breeder was told to double her food. So as you can imagine a normal bag of food doesnt last long and is costing us a fortune ( i would put a photo on if I knew how ?? )


It could be the quality of food that is causing the weight problem. Its false economy. There is very little decent nutritional value in cheap foods such as Bakers and Pedigree. What is in there, is from artificial or unnatural sources. Not the mention the colourings and chemicals that can cause all manner of behavioural and medical problems.

Being unemployed im on a very tight budget. I still manage to cut corners elsewhere, sacrifice and buy a decent food for two dogs.

In the long run, you will get out, what you put in.


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## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

JennieJet said:


> Hi, I have just bought a bag of pets at home own brand today and I am trying that as it is slightly cheaper...I was just curious as why to stay clear of the said brands ......my puppy needs double food as she was underweight and when checked by vet and breeder was told to double her food. So as you can imagine a normal bag of food doesnt last long and is costing us a fortune ( i would put a photo on if I knew how ?? )


are you feeding your pup the puppy food or adult food?


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## jenniferx (Jan 23, 2009)

I think it comes down to- 

1, Ingredients and what is believed that dogs need nutritionally. 
The additives, preservatives etc.. are not popular. Meat content not thought to be high/good enough. 

2, People's experiences 
Dogs have been hyperactive, badly behaved on certain diets and it is attributed to ingredients. 

However that said we have two geriatrics who have had mixed diets over the years- the staple of which has always been the foods that everyone says are "crap" and they are robust, healthy and fit 13 year olds. One of them has literally only ever been to the vet once in his life for ill health and that was for a scratched cornea when he ran into brambles. People might not believe that but it's true and I have no intention of changing as a result. Their mother was on the same dog foods and was 19 when she died. Maybe I have been lucky and my dogs have good genetics anyway- they are also exercised a lot and have been their whole lives so I think that is really important too.


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

I feed burns and I looked at cheaper brands recently - (credit crunch  ) 
But when I looked at the amount of food I needed to feed it came out more expensive in the end, so I stuck with Burns.
At the end of the day we can only feed the best we can afford. I used [email protected] puppy food and it was fine. I hope your girl enjoys her new food.

I try to avoid food with artificial coulourings etc - my dogs do get the occasional naughty dog treat, but then I occasionally east fast food and smarties as well


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## slakey (May 9, 2009)

Zeus is on Bakers Complete and has been since I can remember, and as of recently he's been passing wind really badly and it makes me gag, and normally trumps do not make me gag.

Take a look at CSJ that's what I'm hoping to change to.


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## Snoringbear (Sep 26, 2008)

Nonnie said:


> It could be the quality of food that is causing the weight problem. Its false economy. There is very little decent nutritional value in cheap foods such as Bakers and Pedigree. What is in there, is from artificial or unnatural sources. Not the mention the colourings and chemicals that can cause all manner of behavioural and medical problems.
> 
> Being unemployed im on a very tight budget. I still manage to cut corners elsewhere, sacrifice and buy a decent food for two dogs.
> 
> In the long run, you will get out, what you put in.


I agree with this, the major ingredients are cereal based which offer poor nutritional value to the dogs. You really need something that has a named meat product as the major ingredient. You would need to feed far less of a decent food as it's nutirtional value is much higher.


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## james1 (Sep 21, 2008)

JennieJet said:


> A normal 15kg bag only lasts about 3 weeks tops so at £30-£40 a go its working out very expensive.


How does 15kg of kibble last 3 weeks?? what kind/how many of dogs do you have? and how much are you feeding them?

edit: only read the above post but yes I agree.... for example - if youve ever been to Mcdonnalds youll know you have to order a massive amount of junk food to fill you up, 1 burger just makes you feel empty- its the basic same principle with kibbles - the better the quality the more full they feel - the less chewing they do and consequently the less you give them.


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## canuckjill (Jun 25, 2008)

Always read the labels you can compare them on the internet. I feed something not available over there I believe its called Summit by Petcurean they make GO and NOW. It's reasonably priced I tried the GO and NOW but they preferred the SUMMIT its not quite as good as the other 2 but still a good food....Jill


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

I feed Chappie, £16 for a 15kg sack and it lasts one of my large dogs 50 days. It's easy for them to digest too and they do well on it.


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## lady_r0gue (Jul 22, 2009)

this might make disappointing reading for some of you, it did for me... Uncaged Campaigns: Pet food and animal testing

I quite like wagg, if I'm forced to buy dog food from the supermarket it seems good value and dog thrives on it; at the moment we're giving him harringtons and am trying some pretty amazing stuff called "taste of the wild" (with bison, venison, blueberries and raspberries?! at the moment for dry, and the remainder of my supply of chappie (don't want to buy it any more, ditto JWB after reading above) and butchers bones and raw meat a 2-3 times a week.

mind both wagg and harringtons contain maize and the taste of the wild as far as I can see is shipped from the USA... bloody hard doin the right and ethical thing by our furry friends isn't it :/ I do tend to shop around a lot


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## Kinski (Apr 4, 2009)

JennieJet said:


> lab puppy has a fast motablisim


Is it your vet that's told you that or is it because your dog is bouncing of the walls, if it's the latter then it will probably be the food that's causing it, the cereal in dog food turns into sugar and that's one of the things that sends dogs nuts. It's amazing what a change to a better quality food can do for a dog, there is a guy in our park with a gorgeous collie pup this pup was making a right pest of it's self by bouncing on other dogs, he was also in danger of seriously being told where to go by the dogs. Turns out the pup was on pedigree, I managed to talk him into changing the food over, I met him a few days ago and he says the difference in the pup is amazing it's calmed right down.

Terri


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## My2Girls (Oct 5, 2009)

I would probably suggest doing your research (as i did recently) basically go in to some where like pets at home look at the content / ingredients of the dry food and how much you would need to feed your dog (the better quality normally equals feeding less quantity) then price them up and buy the best that you can afford for your budget, everyones budgets varies so wether that means you are buying the pets at home premium food or something more expensive like burns, arden grange etc etc

Just give your dog the best you can afford.

Hope this helps x


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## JennieJet (Jun 19, 2009)

Kinski said:


> Is it your vet that's told you that or is it because your dog is bouncing of the walls, if it's the latter then it will probably be the food that's causing it, the cereal in dog food turns into sugar and that's one of the things that sends dogs nuts. It's amazing what a change to a better quality food can do for a dog, there is a guy in our park with a gorgeous collie pup this pup was making a right pest of it's self by bouncing on other dogs, he was also in danger of seriously being told where to go by the dogs. Turns out the pup was on pedigree, I managed to talk him into changing the food over, I met him a few days ago and he says the difference in the pup is amazing it's calmed right down.
> 
> Terri


hi, no def not because she is hyper as she isnt really hyper at all...everyone tells me we have an "adult" puppy as she is so calm etc ...She was on iams but now trying the pets at home food as its slightly cheaper.......not a lot ..will see how we go on that but my have to change to a cheaper one at a later date


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## Kinjilabs (Apr 15, 2009)

JennieJet said:


> Hi, I have just bought a bag of pets at home own brand today and I am trying that as it is slightly cheaper...I was just curious as why to stay clear of the said brands ......my puppy needs double food as she was underweight and when checked by vet and breeder was told to double her food. So as you can imagine a normal bag of food doesnt last long and is costing us a fortune ( i would put a photo on if I knew how ?? )


Just changed my two old dogs to pets at home brand and they love it!


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## welshdoglover (Aug 31, 2009)

Kinjilabs said:


> Just changed my two old dogs to pets at home brand and they love it!


I've never thought about using [email protected] brand, is it dry or wet food you feed?

I do rave about their evening primrose oil shampoo, it's lush!


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## JennieJet (Jun 19, 2009)

welshdoglover said:


> I've never thought about using [email protected] brand, is it dry or wet food you feed?
> 
> I do rave about their evening primrose oil shampoo, it's lush!


Hi,its a dry food and is a very good quality food with a good high meat content etc.......def worth looking into if you want to xxxx


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