# Gelert Country Choice v Arden Grange



## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Hi i came across Gelert country choice in the dry dog food index. You can get a 15kg bag for around £20 so its cheaper and in a bigger bag than Arden Grange.
Does anyone use this food? what are your thoughts on it.


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

I always thought it was an awful food whenipassed it in the wholesalers, could you link the ingredients ? Maybe there is anokay variety like with skinners


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

babycham2002 said:


> I always thought it was an awful food whenipassed it in the wholesalers, could you link the ingredients ? Maybe there is anokay variety like with skinners


*Chicken and Rice*

Rice (min. 30%), chicken meat meal (min. 25%), maize, barley, chicken oil, dried brewers yeast, salmon oil, vitamins & minerals, Mannan-Oligosaccharide (MOS), glucosamine & chondroitin
*
Lamb and Rice*

Lamb meat meal (min. 35%), Rice (min. 30%) maize, barley, chicken oil, dried brewers yeast, salmon oil, vitamins & minerals, Mannan-Oligosaccharide (MOS), glucosamine & chondroitin.

*Fish and Rice*

Rice (min. 35%), Ocean fish meal (min. 20%) maize, oats, barley, dried brewers yeast, chicken oil, fish oil, vitamins & minerals, Mannan-Oligosaccharide (MOS), glucosamine & chondroitin.

I emailed them and its free of Vitamin K3. free of Artificial preservatives in both suppliers of meat and finished product. Also doesnt contain artificial colours and flavours.


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

And which arden grange do you currently feed?
I couldnt feed that to my golden retriever as she doesn't do well on rice based foods, then it has both oats and barlet as well,


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I got whites premium working dog for £23 for 15kg cos on their site they listed ingredients:
*
INGREDIENTS: Chicken, Herbs (4.00%), Rice, Garlic (4.00%), Carrots, Green Beans, Whole Linseed, Maize
Beet, Fish Oil, Yucca, Minerals, Vitamins A, C and E, Prebiotic FOS, Omega 3*

When it arrived cos it was in big sack too and I couldn't life (am wheelchair user) I had to empty it first jugful by jugful into food storage on wheels. when it was empty I could get bag out of sack to see when to use it by and how much to give..

Ingredients on sack listed Maize as first ingredient! so I was annoyed I'll have to use it as can't afford to return it by courier and I'd opened the sack and transferred it all into another container but won't be buying it again.

Incidentally I was looking at Arden Grange Senior for Inca as on Amazon they mentioned it had boosted levels of MSM which is a natural painkiller and also boosted levels of the chrondrotin? and glucosamine? (sp?) for joints. ..not sure if they are higher than the levels in JWB senior but the description of JWB doesn't specifically mention the MSM like that so thought maybe higher in Arden Grange?


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

IncaThePup said:


> I got whites premium working dog for £23 for 15kg cos on their site they listed ingredients:
> 
> *INGREDIENTS: Chicken, Herbs (4.00%), Rice, Garlic (4.00%), Carrots, Green Beans, Whole Linseed, Maize*
> *Beet, Fish Oil, Yucca, Minerals, Vitamins A, C and E, Prebiotic FOS, Omega 3*
> ...


My collie, Fidget, was on AG Senior for the last 4 years until we lost her at almost 16 yrs old...!!


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

Twiggy said:


> My collie, Fidget, was on AG Senior for the last 4 years until we lost her at almost 16 yrs old...!!


Is the AG senior good then? I can't remember all ingredients (I did look as was also looking at the AG lite) the senior seemed to have better ingredients than the light version, although was slightly more calories per 100g - as I emailed them to ask.

The bit about the added MSM etc on senior food caught my eye too and was wondering if it was better than the JWB senior. I noticed they also do a performance one for Border Collies.

I asked for samples and gave address but they haven't arrived yet with it been Easter Bank Holiday so hopefully soon.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

I currently feed Arden Grange chicken adult


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I would probably opt for the lamb one because of the higher meat content but if you are going to mix it with wet, then not that important.
If your dog is ok with maize, then I cant see barley being a problem.

Arden Grange is a more widely recognised company with a great customer service but at what price?? If you've had good response from Gelert and it sounds like you have then why not give it a try. Perhaps get a sample and see if your dog chooses it over AG?


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Yea good idea. I wonder what the cheapest grain free food is?


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Not sure if it's the cheapest but Vitalin Adult Maintenance used to be a good one. I got a sample when I was searching for Heidi. It's why I suggested you get a sample of Gelert for your dog to try. Vitalin on paper is excellent and was my first choice. Out of the samples I got, Vitalin was her least favourite. Skinners salmon came out on top.

There's a lot more cereal free's around now. I use Golden Acres Duck and Potato atm.


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> *Chicken and Rice*
> 
> Rice (min. 30%), chicken meat meal (min. 25%), maize, barley, chicken oil, dried brewers yeast, salmon oil, vitamins & minerals, Mannan-Oligosaccharide (MOS), glucosamine & chondroitin
> *
> .*


*

Arden Grange Chicken and Rice
Chicken meat meal (27%), rice (26%), maize, chicken oil, beet pulp, fresh chicken (5%), chicken digest, yeast, whole dried egg, linseed, fish meal, fish oil, prebiotic FOS, prebiotic MOS, cranberries, yucca extract, glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, nucleotides.

Not really much in it is there ingredient wise, Gelert is £1.31 per kg and AG £2.49 per kg. So big diff in price like you said.*


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Yea good idea. I wonder what the cheapest grain free food is?


 it depends how big a bag you want I guess? I've seen a few under £10 but they are usually 1.5 or 2kg bags..ok if you got a chihuahua but won't last long for golden retriever!

how big a bag do you usually buy and how long does it last?

JWB has rice & barley but not oats or maize. I don't know if barley is healthier..I remember orange barley water as a child and it supposedly been helathier than regular orange squash (at least that was reason parents gave for it been better for us than pop!)

I thought maize was a cheaper filler. I like oats myself but JJ seems to get runny eyes and itchy with oats in his food and they're often used in gluten free dog treats.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

I usually buy 12 kg bags of Arden Grange adult. Haven't had any problems with this food. It was annoying however them reducing the bag size from 15kg to 12kg. I usually add fish or eggs as she wont eat it otherwise. A bag lasts about 43 days. I did try the grain free fish flavour and wasn't particularly impressed considering its much dearer. It didn't smell like fish. I don't know if id need more of Gelert than AG? as Gelert is less fat and protein. 

I would like to switch to Naturediet and add a small amount of kibble to keep the cost down.


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Yea good idea. I wonder what the cheapest grain free food is?


Well I feed Vitalin grain free as I have said before and it is one of the cheaper grain free's.
I dont feed it because its a cheaper grain free....I feed it because its suits Emma very well and she has been on it for 2yrs now and she has had no tummy issues with it 

My other girls on AG chicken and rice and that seems to suit her.
My youngster also does well on Vitalin sensitive lamb and rice and it has a good meat content.

Not tried the Gelert country choice for mine, but do have a friend who uses it for her 4


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Do you have any idea of the RDA for the Gelert? Could be that it's not as cost effective if you have to feed more.

It's certainly hard ploughing through all the facts to try and get the best you possibly can for your money and your dog.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

mollymo said:


> Well I feed Vitalin grain free as I have said before and it is one of the cheaper grain free's.
> I dont feed it because its a cheaper grain free....I feed it because its suits Emma very well and she has been on it for 2yrs now and she has had no tummy issues with it
> 
> My other girls on AG chicken and rice and that seems to suit her.
> ...


Yea might give it a try. I think i looked into Vitalin before, i cant remember exactly but i dont think they could confirm that their suppliers didnt use artificial preservatives so it put me off. Arden Grange confirm their suppliers dont, thats why i went with them. From what Gelert told me in their email, Gelert Premium is free of these also. I would maybe use Skinners F&T but it contains Vitamin K3, so that puts me off.


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Yea might give it a try. I think i looked into Vitalin before, i cant remember exactly but i dont think they could confirm that their suppliers didnt use artificial preservatives so it put me off. Arden Grange confirm their suppliers dont, thats why i went with them. From what Gelert told me in their email, Gelert Premium is free of these also. I would maybe use Skinners F&T but it contains Vitamin K3, so that puts me off.


Dont know where you are but if you have a Mole valley farmers store near you, then you could pick up a small bag of on offer vitalin grain free 2.5kg for £3.78 plus vat and use as a sample to try.......vitalin is alway's cheaper in the farm stores if you have one near by.
I buy all my feeds there including AG


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

I think Gelert is 375g - Arden Grange is 309g for 25kg dog. Gelert is vat free working food though so i don't know if its a guide for a working dog.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> I think Gelert is 375g - Arden Grange is 309g for 25kg dog. Gelert is vat free working food though so i don't know if its a guide for a working dog.


I havent done a costing but I would imagine Gelert would still come out on top price wise.

A lot of "working" brands have the same ingredients/analysis to non working. If the protein and oil levels of Gelert are lower than AG, I cant see it being a guide for a working dog. 
There seem to be a few more "High Energy" brands creeping in which would confirm this. "Working" seems to have more bearing on VAT free atm than food value.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Another option is skinners f&t. The vitamin k3 puts me off though. Do you think the negitive press vitamin k3 mediadione recieves is justified?


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