# Any experience of Trophy dog food??



## Beagle (Apr 1, 2010)

Hi folks,

Our beagle puppy is now 14 weeks old and doing beautifully! When we first got him he was on Beta puppy food, soaked with a bit of butchers loaf added. I wasn't a big fan of the low protein levels of Beta so (after tons of research) very gradually moved him over onto Wainwrights puppy which he now has soaked with a bit of natures diet added. Its clearly better than Beta but would still like to move up more in terms of quality.

We've just started puppy classes and our trainer recommended a few different dry foods (the usual good ones, orijen, AG etc) and also said that she fed all her dogs on Trophy and was a big fan of it.

I've trawled the forum but only found one mention fo Trophy from ages ago which was a question rather than an opinion, so please, has anyone ever fed it and what do you think?

I'm quite keen to try it but really want some opinions first!

The ingredients in the puppy food are:
Supreme Basmati Rice (min. 43%), 
Chicken Meat (min. 30%), 
Oats (min. 10%), 
Chicken Oil, 
White Fish Meat (min. 5%), 
Brewers Yeast, 
Salmon Oil, 
Vitamins & Minerals, MOS. 
Antioxidants added: Tocopherol Rich Extracts of natural origin (Vit E).


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## MilliesDad (May 10, 2010)

I've fed my dog on Trophy Premium Puppy food since she was 12 weeks old. She has done very well on it and has now moved to Premium Active. 
She was originally on a well known commercial brand and has intermittent watery stools and went about 8 times a day. When she was used to Trophy her stools were more compact and firmer and she only went about 3 times a day.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

My friend used to live by where trophy is made and alwayd fed her cat it, said it was great stuff. But it seems to have gone up in price a lot since then.

Looking at the puppy food they seem pretty expensive, the ingredients don't look any better than Skinners puppy or Arden Grange puppy, yet it's about £10 more.

That said, I know a few people who have said its great stuff, just seems expensive for what it is to me.


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

i havent ever used it or really have any experience of it at all. it seems ok ingredients wise, but maybe not so easy to get a hold of as other foods of a similar quality.

my beagle is 15weeks and he has been on Arden Grange puppy pretty much the whole of his life. he loves it and he looks great on it. can thoroughly reccommend!!


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## Roo (May 28, 2009)

Beagle said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Our beagle puppy is now 14 weeks old and doing beautifully! When we first got him he was on Beta puppy food, soaked with a bit of butchers loaf added. I wasn't a big fan of the low protein levels of Beta so (after tons of research) very gradually moved him over onto Wainwrights puppy which he now has soaked with a bit of natures diet added. Its clearly better than Beta but would still like to move up more in terms of quality.
> 
> ...


Take a look at the range from The Natural Dog Food Company. 100% natural with no synthetic added vitamins. To compare, this is their puppy chicken :

British Chicken Meat Meal (min 29%), Fresh British Chicken (min 26%), Brown Rice ( min 20% ), Mixed Vegetables & Herbs (min 9%), Barley, Linseed, Refined Chicken Oil, Brewers Yeast,. Protein 25%, Oil 11.5%, Fibre 2.5%.

Yorkshire covered by Holmfirth Bailey / Homepage ( they offer FREE delivery ), or The Natural Dog Food Company  where good health comes naturally


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Roo said:


> Take a look at the range from The Natural Dog Food Company. 100% natural with no synthetic added vitamins. To compare, this is their puppy chicken :
> 
> British Chicken Meat Meal (min 29%), Fresh British Chicken (min 26%), Brown Rice ( min 20% ), Mixed Vegetables & Herbs (min 9%), Barley, Linseed, Refined Chicken Oil, Brewers Yeast,. Protein 25%, Oil 11.5%, Fibre 2.5%.
> 
> Yorkshire covered by Holmfirth Bailey / Homepage ( they offer FREE delivery ), or The Natural Dog Food Company  where good health comes naturally


Again, that looks expensive for the price, Orijen is only a few £ more and has zero fillers, no rice etc.


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## Beagle (Apr 1, 2010)

Thanks very much for all your thoughts guys!

Ducky, I am quite tempted by AG and its always great to know it's suited another beagle so well (and your boy is clearly doing brilliantly on it!).

Lyceum, I do hear what you're saying about the small difference in cost with Orijen and I agree and it does make me think about going with a brand that has such a high reputation and used by so many, rather than a brand that very few have heard of!

With regards to using less fillers though, my pup will be going to work with my OH when he's older and so is likely to be doing more exercise than a typical 'pet' dog most days - so do you think that the extra carbs from the fillers might be a useful thing to have?

Goodness, I put sooooooo much more thought into the pup's food than I do my own! I had a bit of easter egg and a cup of coffee for breakfast this morning!!


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## love_my_pets (Feb 2, 2010)

My mum and dad used to feed our family dog Trophy dog food years ago and he did well on it! Had it from puppy and lived to 15 years of age, he had no illnesses or ever had a vet appointment! Dont know if its still the same now though?

Csj was recommended to me recently and i have put my two on it- they love it! It gets delivered to my door and are very reasonably priced.

I'd just say do what you think is right for your dog x


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## mothroth (Apr 29, 2010)

If you're looking for a high quality food delivered to your door - your'e better off with Oscar Pet Food. Much better quality and the service is way better... just my two peneth!
My local chap is excellent. Drops the bag off for me every few weeks - he's doing great on it too


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## richella2010 (May 11, 2010)

I'd recommend Oscar as well, good quality ingredients! A friend of mine suggested them and I've never looked back. They will come and show you the foods if you contact them - its like free meal for your dog to try.
''www.oscars.co.uk'' (they're on facebook too)


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Beagle said:


> With regards to using less fillers though, my pup will be going to work with my OH when he's older and so is likely to be doing more exercise than a typical 'pet' dog most days - so do you think that the extra carbs from the fillers might be a useful thing to have?


No, it's a common misconception, dogs don't need carbs. Their digestive system can't make use of them, their energy comes from protein, ie meat. So the higher the meat content, the better, as long as it's a good meet source that is.

Carbs are converted into glucose, which will give the dog a lovely sugar rush lol. Sure it'll give them energy, just like chocolate will give us energy, but a decent meat protein source is much better.

PS. I'm a big fan of arden grange myself, my boys did very well on it and the customer service is fantastic.

Still, at the end of the day, it's all about finding a food that suits your dog.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I wouldnt have said it was that much better than wainwrights to be honest:thumbup:


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## MilliesDad (May 10, 2010)

Fillers are used to fill out pet foods. A manufacturer does this mainly when using things like meat and animal derivitives and protein extracts. Because there is not much actual meat there they have to use fillers so that there is something for the dog to eat. A dog cannot use these fillers so what goes in mainly comes out of the waggy end. Therefore if you use a food containing cereals you will get more poo!! 
If your OH is planning to take the pup to work I'd feed a good quality food without fillers and the pup will get enough energy but less poo for your OH to clear up.
I know that Trophy pet foods do not use fillers, they only use human grade meat, where possible UK sourced ingredients and it is made in the UK. You know that you are feeding the best food with Trophy - I only have to look at my own dog and cats and have really seen the difference since they have been eating the food. Also, Trophy deliver to your door for free and you can try the food before hand - they will give you free samples. They also have lots of treats and accessories available too and all of their representatives are nutritionally trained and can offer all sorts of help and advice. 

Go to the Trophy Pet Foods web site for more information. They have been around for a long time but you don't see it in the shops as this inflate the price and because they use such good quality ingredients it would cost too much so they keep costs down by either having a person deliver to you or by supplying mail order. I can't praise the help that Trophy have given me enough and my animals are thriving.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I was an agent for Trophy for a while many years ago. There was not the same selection of foods then and no doubt it has changed a lot but certainly all the dog that were on it seemed to do very well.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

MilliesDad said:


> I know that Trophy pet foods do not use fillers, they only use human grade meat, where possible UK sourced ingredients and it is made in the UK. You know that you are feeding the best food with Trophy


I've just looked at the site, every single one of their foods has rice listed as the first or second ingredient, some have maize listed as the first ingredient, both rice and maize are fillers. One is 55% potato, £40 is pretty expensive for a giant sack of spuds with a bit of meat added. Some of them don't even tell you the percentage of maize, and those ones don't have meat until the third ingredient, that's just basically a bag of fillers.

The ingredients do look fine on some of their premium foods, I'd try my dog on it no problems, but please don't tell people they don't use fillers when they very clearly do.

If you want a food with no fillers at all, the only one I can think of is Orijen or raw, and even orijen has veg in, which I assume could be classed as a filler?


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## Beagle (Apr 1, 2010)

Lyceum if I ever need a private investigator - you're the person I'm coming to! Seriously though, i really do appreciate your help.

Thanks so much for all your comments folks, I have now decided to have a good look into Arden Grange and Orijen, see if I can get some samples and choose between those two - with a bit of natures diet mixed in and some raw chicken wings on occasion too.

Anyone else notice that some of the posters strongly recommending certain foods only joined this month, only posted on this topic and seemed reeeeeeeeaaallllyy clued up on their particualr food of choice?

Or am I just a cynical old mare?!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Beagle said:


> Lyceum if I ever need a private investigator - you're the person I'm coming to! Seriously though, i really do appreciate your help.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your comments folks, I have now decided to have a good look into Arden Grange and Orijen, see if I can get some samples and choose between those two - with a bit of natures diet mixed in and some raw chicken wings on occasion too.
> 
> ...


lol, thanks...I think lol. Seriously, I worry for how much time I spend looking at dog food these days lol. It's a blooming mind field.

I feed Skinners (Although currently swapping to raw), not amazing ingredients wise, but you have to find the food that suits your dog. I'm a big fan of Arden grange, their lamb and rice scores very highly on the independent review site a lot of people on here use to check ingredients.

Dog Food Reviews - Arden Grange Adult Lamb & Rice - Powered by ReviewPost

Several of my family members use it and their dogs are doing fantastically well. I only changed from it as the vet recommended putting Novak on an uncommon meat source, suck as duck. And I can't say enough about their customer service. And Orijen pretty much speaks for itself, you've only got to look at the ingredients. But it does come with a hefty price tag.

Have a look at prize choice free flow mince as well as naturediet, about £3 for a 2kg bag, most pet shops either sell it or can order it in, [email protected] sell it too. Defrost at needed and mix in a few spoon fulls with the dry. I do this so I know they're getting 100% meat, no fillers or crap. Plus it bumps up the meat content as Skinners is only about 20%.

P.S. I share your cynicism about certain posters, especially when you look at their previous posts, and oddly they're all exactly the same, hmm....


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## Roo (May 28, 2009)

.............kettle & pot methinks!!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Roo said:


> .............kettle & pot methinks!!


Eh?


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## victoriaj (Oct 21, 2009)

i have a 7 month beagle and have had so many problems with her stomach. we used to feed her orijen but found the protein levels just too high for her. she is now on skinners duck and rice for sensitive stomachs and her stomach finally seems to be settling down... she has a muzzle now to stop her eating dog poo while were out walking so hoping her belly will settle completely now


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## MilliesDad (May 10, 2010)

Lyceum - you need to get your facts stright! A dog does need carbs - soluable are best i.e. rice, maize, corn and a dog gets a lot of their energy from this. It is a common misconception that dogs should only eat meat - this is totally wrong. Also, pet food manufacturers would not be able to produce a dried food kibble without some form of carbs. The problem comes when a producer adds CEREALS to food. These are FILLERS and are used to pack out the food. The ingredients lists on this type of food will say somthing like 4% meat and animal derivitives (yuk) and therefore they have to add Fillers to pack out the food and mask the low quality of the ingredients. Therefore these type of foods contain a large amount of insoluable material - a dog cannot use these and therefore these pass through the gut and out the other end. If you use a dog food that is formulated with the right ingredients e.g Trophy then there will be less dog mess to clear up - I know because I have changed my own dog from Pedigree to Trophy and have the evidence to prove it! All food should produce waste matter of bits that cannot be digested. This is life. The problem comes when an animal has too much of the undigestible bits in its diet and not enough of that that can be digested. A dog needs a fully BALANCED diet. 
Also get your facts right, the Trophy food containing duck and potato costs £36. If you compare this to foods of similar quality (Hills, James Wellbeloved) it is extremely good value. Add to this the fact that it is made in the UK and has high quality ingredients that support British farmers then I think this is probably one of the best foods around.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

The dogs digestive system will convert rice, maize and corn to sugar as it can't digest them properly, that's where the energy comes from, they digest them too quickly and eng up with a spike in blood sugar. So these ARE fillers as the dog has no actual need for them, they'd be much better off getting that energy from the fat on meat and some fruit and veg. 

Read this thread if you have the time.

So my apologies, I'll change that, don't need carbs, they just don't need them from rice, maize and corn.

Anyone going from pedigree to any half decent food will see a change in waste, since pedigree is all fillers, so it all comes back out. So that's pretty much a moot point.

I can't see the duck and potato on the trophy site, just the duck and veg, so I can't comment. But the duck and veg is 55% veg and 25% duck, for me, that's too much veg, not enough duck, were it the other way around, great, or if there was only slightly less duck than veg.

So no, I don't think it's good value, especially not when you can get arden grange lamb and rice for about £24 per 15kg sack, which only 26% rice and 30% lamb, that to me seems much more balanced than trophy. And dogs need a balanced diet right? Not a one sided diet filled witl mostly veg or potato.

Now, I'm not saying trophy is a bad food, not at all, in fact I think you'll find I said I'd be happy to feed some of there kibbles to my dogs, but no, I don't think it's value for more, or balanced.


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## agilityman (Jun 1, 2010)

Lyceum said:


> I've just looked at the site, every single one of their foods has rice listed as the first or second ingredient, some have maize listed as the first ingredient, both rice and maize are fillers. One is 55% potato, £40 is pretty expensive for a giant sack of spuds with a bit of meat added. Some of them don't even tell you the percentage of maize, and those ones don't have meat until the third ingredient, that's just basically a bag of fillers.
> 
> The ingredients do look fine on some of their premium foods, I'd try my dog on it no problems, but please don't tell people they don't use fillers when they very clearly do.
> 
> If you want a food with no fillers at all, the only one I can think of is Orijen or raw, and even orijen has veg in, which I assume could be classed as a filler?


Trophy Duck and Vegetable is £36 for 15K, your dog will need 10% less than he would if fed on most other kibbles thus reducing the true cost to £32.40. Dogs are not obligate carnivores as are cats. They are able to digest carbohydrates and convert it into the same energy as they do protein. Unlike human beings who have amylase in their saliva dogs produce it in their pancreas. Carbohydrates are digested in the dogs small intestine.

The higher the qulity of grain in the food the more easily the dog digests it. All Trophy Premium foods contain high quality ingredients and include High grade Omega 3's and 6's, FOS's and maintenance levels of Glucosamine and Chondroitin for joint and cartilage maintenance. Trophy use no artificial preservatives or antioxidants and absolutely no artificial colouring. Judging from the consistency and low quantity of my dogs stools the percentage of digestible ingredients is extremely high which rather contradicts the claim of fillers.

I feed my five collies and two papillons on Trophy and all are in tip top condition according to my vet.

Orijen while appearing a good food with an extremely high meat content is pricey and from the list of ingredients does not appear to be a particularly well balanced food.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

agilityman said:


> Trophy Duck and Vegetable is £36 for 15K, your dog will need 10% less than he would if fed on most other kibbles thus reducing the true cost to £32.40. Dogs are not obligate carnivores as are cats. They are able to digest carbohydrates and convert it into the same energy as they do protein. Unlike human beings who have amylase in their saliva dogs produce it in their pancreas. Carbohydrates are digested in the dogs small intestine.
> 
> The higher the qulity of grain in the food the more easily the dog digests it. All Trophy Premium foods contain high quality ingredients and include High grade Omega 3's and 6's, FOS's and maintenance levels of Glucosamine and Chondroitin for joint and cartilage maintenance. Trophy use no artificial preservatives or antioxidants and absolutely no artificial colouring. Judging from the consistency and low quantity of my dogs stools the percentage of digestible ingredients is extremely high which rather contradicts the claim of fillers.
> 
> ...


I have no issue with trophy pet foods, it seems like a decent enough food, in fact I have a friend who lives near where it's made and swears by it for her cat. But I stand by my commend you can get the same, or slightly better for less. There's no feeding guide on the site, but I imagine looking at the ingredients, the amount fed would be similar to AG and Burns, JWB, Skinners etc. There are also plenty of foods that use no artificial ingredients.

I do take issue with people saying they don't use fillers, they do, good quality fillers or no, they're still fillers. I also stand by my point that dogs don't need carbs from rice, mazie etc, it's more natural for them to get it from fats in meat etc.

My dogs are fed raw, and according to my vet in perfect condition, perfect weight for their breed, fantastic coats, fantastic teeth. And the minute amount of waste, ie stools lets me know 95% of my dogs food is digested and used.

As for Orijen not being balanced, it looks to me like it's balanced in exactly the same way as tropy, only with meat taking up the higher % not veg/rice.


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## agilityman (Jun 1, 2010)

The original post asked if anyone had experience of Trophy Dog Food. my response was purely answering that question. My experience of feeding 10% less than previous foods is correct. I would estimate that I get only 10% waste so I would guess the "fillers" in Trophy are digested by my dogs. This would probably also be true of A.G. and Burns but not JWB or Skinners. None of the foods apart from Trophy contain salmon oil which is probably the best Omega 3 source. Only A.G. and Trophy contain Glucosamine and Chondroitin and FOS's. JWB contains salt which is a flavour enhancer, I wouldn't knowingly feed salt to my dogs. It also has added amino acids and the addition of these plus salt would indicate a poor protein source. JWB also has gravy added which is generally another name for reconstituted derivatives ie a filler. Balanced foods tend to have few ingredients, while I would agree that Origen is a good food it is expensive at around £60 for 15k and its extremely long list of ingredients is rather a hotchpotch hence my conclusion that it is not a very balanced food. Balance isn't indicated by protein to carbohydrate ratio. 
Good protein means good muscle and a well balanced dog. Good oils give good coat, soft silky and glossy right down to a beautiful skin. Good oils also helps joints and the nervous system.
I have no problem with a raw diet, fed correctly it has to be the best around but I would not want to constantly prepare it and source it for 7 dogs. A bag of kibble is a nice simple way of feeding 7 dogs. I have come across many people feeding raw but I have yet to see a dog being fed raw that looks as good as mine do which indicates to me that those people simply haven't got the balance of their food right.


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