# What do you think of Wagg?



## AmyWithey (Sep 8, 2009)

Hi All,

I have Cybi on JWB at the moment but we tried him on Wagg when my mum bought a bag for him when we went to visit her in wales and he loved it! I've since bought 2 huge 17kg bags from morrisons as they were only £7 each i'm just worried that its not a very good food even though he seems to absolutely love it.

Any opinions or is there anything bad about wagg?

Thank you

Amy


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## flosskins (Jan 27, 2010)

personally i wouldn't feed it due to the low meat content but my sister keeps 9 dogs on it, 2 have won at crufts and others are field trial champions and they look fantastic so there can't be a lot wrong with it. one of her dogs was first in its class at crufts this year and that would be difficult without a decent food i would have thought!


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## leoti (Dec 9, 2007)

I feed wagg to my gang and have to say have never feed them any other , i brought my puppies up on Wagg puppy and recomended it to all my puppy owners also i show my bitch and have many comments on how good she looks but they also get tripe and raw chicken so as wagga biggest fan id say go for it


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## sailor (Feb 5, 2010)

If your dog loves it and is happy and healthy, I would keep feeding it to him.

My pup was weaned onto wagg and fed it for a cauple months when I brought him home. He just picked at it and wasnt too interested in it at all, so I started mixing winalot tinned food with it and I was also feeding him extras of raw chicken and carrots, which he loved.

I changed him ontop orijen, but he picks at that too lol
I think he just hates dry food tho


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

Wagg is full of rubbish and with very little meat in it. No way I would ever feed my dogs this, just as I would never feed my kids on mainly junk food. 

People and dogs can live on bad quality food and even sometimes live long and look good and healthy, not thank to the food of course but despite it, that does not make rubbish food any better if there is another option out there.


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## ArwenLune (Jan 3, 2010)

Dry dog food alphabetical index - kibble starting by W

Label reading is a great skill - read some of the Wagg reviews and then read a review of something high quality like Orijen or Arcana.


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## sequeena (Apr 30, 2009)

It's not a great food but mine have thrived on it  Wonderful poos, sleek coats, bright eyes etc.

What's good for mine might not be good for yours though.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

sequeena said:


> It's not a great food but mine have thrived on it  Wonderful poos, sleek coats, bright eyes etc.
> 
> What's good for mine might not be good for yours though.


Mine too, they do really well on it and the price is FAB! I get the huge sacks for only £6 from the cash and carry


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Years ago we probably wouldnt have batted an eyelid and most of us bought our pet food in the supermarket (no PAH, Jollyes etc.) I know I did and never read a label other than to see the flavour.

Now as they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and because I know, I have to act on it!

I looked at the Wagg sensitive (normally Hypoallergenic varieties dont contain as much rubbish)but wouldnt use it. I use Skinners hypoallergenic which is probably cheaper of the better ranges. It has a low meat content so I compensate by feeding meat and bones.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Years ago we probably wouldnt have batted an eyelid and most of us bought our pet food in the supermarket (no PAH, Jollyes etc.) I know I did and never read a label other than to see the flavour.
> 
> Now as they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and because I know, I have to act on it!
> 
> I looked at the Wagg sensitive (normally Hypoallergenic varieties dont contain as much rubbish)but wouldnt use it. I use Skinners hypoallergenic which is probably cheaper of the better ranges. It has a low meat content so I compensate by feeding meat and bones.


This is very true!

I used to feed Pedigree once upon a time when I knew no better - my dog looked and was great on it, never ill, always energetic, fantastic coat, beautiful eyes and great temperament... She was sick once, it was cancer, it was fast, she died at only 7 years of age... it may have been the food or may not, there is no way of knowing, just like the effects bad food has on a dog are far from obvious to us.

Now we all know better and are able to read the labels, read about dog nutrition and make an informed choice for the sake of our dogs who, after all, are not able to make that choice themselves!


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

Ok yes its full of rubbish, and now you know. The question here is do you want to change?

Sometimes the old saying of "if it aint broke dont fix it" rings true.

Personally i think the raw diet is the best for any dog, followed by a good quality wet. All dried foods come way down on my list of food choices, but if your dog is happy and healthy why are you worried?


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## Chocmonster (Feb 23, 2010)

Our family dog a Lab/Greyhound cross has been fed on Wagg for a long time and he's now a very healthy 11 years old. My parents tried him on lots of other food and he refused them all.

My Terrier Cross was fed Arden Grange at the Dog's Trust, when I tried mixing it with Wagg to see what would happen she always left the AG in the bowl and ate the rest. 

There seems to be a lot of views and even snobbery around the various foods available but I figure if the dogs are happy then I should be too!


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I had my pup from 9 wks and am responsible for that little life. She gives me so much pleasure and enjoyment and I want to do the best I can for her. She is a blank canvas and I am shaping her future. What I feed her is part of that.

I couldnt afford to feed a raw diet or Orijen and I would probably struggle to feed a decent quality wet food. So I do my research to try and find the best I can within my budget. If that happens to be Wagg, then so be it.

If I could afford raw, orijen or nature diet, then that's what she would have but I dont think that would make me a snob but a dog owner trying to give her pet the best.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Mum2Heidi said:


> I had my pup from 9 wks and am responsible for that little life. She gives me so much pleasure and enjoyment and I want to do the best I can for her. She is a blank canvas and I am shaping her future. What I feed her is part of that.
> 
> I couldnt afford to feed a raw diet or Orijen and I would probably struggle to feed a decent quality wet food. So I do my research to try and find the best I can within my budget. If that happens to be Wagg, then so be it.
> 
> If I could afford raw, orijen or nature diet, then that's what she would have but I dont think that would make me a snob but a dog owner trying to give her pet the best.


Raw is super cheap to feed. Feeding raw usually works out cheaper per day than feeding any shop bought foods. Butchers give a lot away for free and the dog mince and such are less than £4 per 2kg bag. Raw is super cheap.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

AmyWithey said:


> I agree i dont care how great the food is i'm not spending more money on my dogs food than i would my own! If i'm buying Asda's saver range then i am absolutely not spending £40 on a bag of dog food its just stupid we only spend about £60 a month on OUR food shopping LOL


See, I agree with this to a degree, it might seem stupid to spend more on your pets than you do yourself, but I have gone without myself to make sure my dogs have a decent diet.

The way I look at it is, if I had kids, I'd go without to be sure my kids had a good diet, it's no different (for me personally) with my dogs. I chose to get them, it's up to me to make sure they're looked after, they can't do it for themselves. Feeding them wagg, when I now what crap it is, would make me feel terrible as I sat there eating my decent food. I spent £48 on a bag of orijen, which fed two dogs for almost two months, I don't see that as being excessive at all. Unfortunately they didn't do well on the food, so I put them back on the skinners they'd been on previously. Had the orijen agreed with them, I'd have gone without to make sure they had it.

I don't have the freezer room or the stomach to feed raw, or they'd have that.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Curiosity? I think its a perfectly acceptable question to ask. To see how many agree/disagree.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

AmyWithey said:


> Just putting this out there My mum feeds her dog on cat food and has done for about 6 years now he is 14 years old and yes he is blind but he is a peakinese and they dont live as long as other breeds to be honest 14 is a fabulous age for a peak.
> 
> I dont think dog food would help give your dog cancer sometimes things are just genetically imprinted on our bodies and i think its the same with dogs i mean before articles and newspapers came along and warned you of the dangers of some foods you would have been feeding your dog generic supermarket stuff and you wouldnt have known any better!
> 
> ...


Fair enough to each his own! but just to add, as far as I am concerned;

Cancer is as much genetic as caused by the environment, it is certainly not all genetic and poor quality diet could most certainly influence the scales...just like it does for humans or any other animals, and in respect of a lot of diseases.

Originally people were feeding scraps from the table which in my view is MUCH better than poor quality supermarket commercial pet food (at least there is a chance of having some real meat in it).

I also dont think you can tell the quality of the food by looking at your dog; you are not IN your dog to see exactly what is going wrong and what is going right...obviously bad diet could be seen on the body of a dog but lets be honest dogs are much more resilient than us. My dog looked fantastic on Pedigree, his coat was great; on Orijen is coat is just as good but I know a bit more about what is going through his system and I am happy with it.

I think raw diet is fantastic. For me it is not yet practical; neither me or my husband eat meat to start with and we don't have the freezer space lol
but it certainly would not, in my opinion, incite a dog to bite more  it is, again in my opinion, the closest we can get to a natural diet...but yes it is not an easy switch to do at first...

At the end of the day we should all feed what we are happy with and personally what makes me reasonably happy is knowing that I am getting the best I can get for my dogs; I chose to get them, it is my responsibility and they cant tell me what they would prefer, what is healthier for them...
I will genuinely be happy once I get to a raw diet and I am confident I am doing it right lol :thumbup:


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## ArwenLune (Jan 3, 2010)

AmyWithey said:


> i cant afford those and i had a tester pack of orijen and eukanuba and cybi wouldnt eat either of them LOL


I'm not saying that you have to feed either of those. But it's a useful skill to be able to understand what the ingredients list really means - so that you can find the best food that *does* fit within your budget. 
And often feed that is nutritionally better (ie, it doesn't just pass through the dog because it can't digest sawdust etc) means that the dog needs less of it. If you feed 3 cups a day of something that has very low nutritional value, you might need only 1.5 cups of a higher quality food that is more digestible. So a bag of food might be a bit more expensive but last you longer.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

AmyWithey said:


> If you read what i put properly though we are surviving on what i remember when i was little as NO FRILLS food we are trying to pay all our bills and survive on my husbands £850 a month job we probably are eating sh**ier food than Cybi is! but even if we were i was a millionaire i wouldnt spend a fortune on dog food so what if wagg doesnt have a big meat content he gets fresh chicken or beef or whatever i'm cooking everyday anyway!


Then you're surviving on a lot more then me. I live with my mother, she's a pensioner, I'm her carer. I get the same amount as I would on the dole, yet it's classed as a wage, not a benefit, so I pay my own medical, dental etc. We pay all our bills, run house and feed ourselves (often eating no frills foods), the dogs and the cats on a pension and carers allowance. So if I can manage, on my budget, to make sure my dogs have a decent diet (If you read what I wrote, they're not orijen, it didn't suit them, they're on skinners, £20 for a 15kg bag, yes, £10 more expensive than wagg, but minus all the crap and with a decent meat content), then pretty much anyone can. If you chose not to, then that's fine. But I chose to. I wouldn't feed my dogs a food with only 4% meat meal if wagg paid me to do so.


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## sid&kira (Oct 15, 2009)

AmyWithey said:


> If what you say is true about it being diet related aswell then a raw food diet would be the worst possible diet to give a dog because bowel cancer in humans can sometimes be caused by meat red meat particularily but all meats in general cancer is a very complex issue i find it hard to talk about it in dogs or humans and by mentioning it you hit a nerve my dad is ridled with cancer and my nanna is currently being tested for lung cancer i'm sorry if it seemed i jumped down your throat but every where i turn its cancer cancer cancer


Sorry about your dad and your nanna 

Just had to say that dogs arent built like humans, they're designed to live their whole lives surviving on raw meat, including a lot of red meat. Eating red meat causes no ill effects in dogs.

What does cause cancer in dogs in chemicals added to processed foods. Look on the back of your packet off wagg, it'll say 'preserved with EC permitted additives' (I have the ingredients list here), there are hundreds of these additives, many of which are cancer causing, and yet there is absolutely nothing to stop companies putting this in our pets food. They also dont have to tell you what additives are in there, or how many, just that it contain them, its disgusting that this is allowed 

I feed a raw diet and i can honestly say that it definately doesnt make dogs agressive  thats a common raw feeding myth, circulated by food manufactures to scare monger dog owners into feeding their crappy foods.

Chuck him a chicken :thumbup: lol jokes (tho thats what Kira had for dinner lol)


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## henry (Mar 16, 2009)

Have you thought about Skinners, Amy? You can buy the 15kg Duck and Rice for around £20. I know that's more than your Wagg but it is so much better. Would your budget allow you to consider the Skinners? 

Claire


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

OK i did a thead a while ago for a friend who needed to do some serious budgeting, and that included having to cut back on her dog food costs.

Now there were some decent quality cheap dog foods reccomended....

CSJ springs to mind.

However we worked out the actual cost of feeding the dog on something like naturediet.

A large dog like a weimy would eat approx 2 packs a day, a tiny dog around half a pack. You BC would probably eat 1 and half packs a day?

3 x 18 packs (54 packs) = £38.99 with delivery from berriewoods.

That will last approx 36 days, so over a month. 

I agree though feeding something like wagg would cost about £12 a month, and thats a big difference on your budget.


CSJ that'll do is 20% chicken but only costs £10 per 15kg sack... much much better quality than wagg yet for the same price?!


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

I used CSJ for my boys and it was excellent My only fault really was large kibble, and there is no local stockist here. If my local supplier stopped ordering food i would defo go back to them. its cheap but not full of rubbish! 

I till use their herbs tho


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## leoti (Dec 9, 2007)

I think what we feed our dogs is a debate that will go on till the end of time ,but is there there not one thing to consider here we all feed our dogs, so some of us may feed Wagg , other Burns , JWB, etc but the dogs are been fed , as i said before my dogs were brought up on wagg and raw and nothing wrong with them , i had a spainel cross border collie years ago she was 19 when she passed away (rip Sheba) and all she would eat was chappie so a cheaper food doesnt neccessary kill your dog off . And while i was at Crufts this year there were plenty of people buying Wagg from there stand and am not changing my dog food the dogs like Wagg also i have had samples of JWB and burns and the others and the dogs have turned there noses up at it.
So as i see it in todays econmy people are shopping to there budget but what we have to think about at least the dogs are being fed un like some poor dogs out there JMHO


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## Kinski (Apr 4, 2009)

AmyWithey said:


> I dont think dog food would help give your dog cancer


BHA and BHT which if I remember rightly are in Wagg are thought to cause cancer, personally if I can give my dogs a food without that in it then I will I refuse to play Russian roulette with their health. They may still get cancer or any of the other diseases out there but if I can minimise the risk then I will.



Oblada said:


> Cancer is as much genetic as caused by the environment, it is certainly not all genetic and poor quality diet could most certainly influence the scales...just like it does for humans or any other animals, and in respect of a lot of diseases.
> 
> I also dont think you can tell the quality of the food by looking at your dog; you are not IN your dog to see exactly what is going wrong and what is going right...obviously bad diet could be seen on the body of a dog but lets be honest dogs are much more resilient than us. My dog looked fantastic on Pedigree, his coat was great; on Orijen is coat is just as good but I know a bit more about what is going through his system and I am happy with it.


Well said



AmyWithey said:


> If what you say is true about it being diet related aswell then a raw food diet would be the worst possible diet to give a dog because bowel cancer in humans can sometimes be caused by meat red meat particularily but all meats in general cancer is a very complex issue i find it hard to talk about it in dogs or humans and by mentioning it you hit a nerve my dad is ridled with cancer and my nanna is currently being tested for lung cancer i'm sorry if it seemed i jumped down your throat but every where i turn its cancer cancer cancer


As already said dogs are designed differently to us, they can eat meat without it causing them problems.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad and your nanna, I've been there and I'm lucky I've been clear of it for 20 years now. I've also lost close family to it and one of my friends has terminal cancer.

Terri


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## dvnbiker (Dec 2, 2009)

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. 

I have had to strongly look at my dogs food as hubby was made redundant last year but on reflection I decided to keep them on decent food with a decent meat content. One is on orijen, the other two are on arden grange. 

I chose to take those dogs on and they cannot make a choice about their food so I have to decide what is best for them. Yes i spend more time and probably proportionately more money on their food and yes we are on the tesco value at the moment but again that is my choice.


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## tiddlypup (Oct 4, 2008)

AmyWithey said:


> He really does seem to like it so i think i'm going to finish up with the 3 bags of JWB i have left and then put him onto wag - i need to buy one of those big dog food holders with a scoop! lol i couldnt believe how huge the bags were that i got for £7 JWB is £7.49 for a 2.5kg bag!


i got mine from tesco,oops food bin,the scoop slides into the lid,only £15,same ones ar PAH £20+,silver grey with blue,very smart


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Not sure if it's already been mentioned but it's not always the cheapest bag that works out the cheapest feed.

Dont know how much Wag you have to feed a day but sometimes you feed less of the more expensive bag and buying cheap can be false economy.

For instance mine is on Skinners Salmon and Rice @ £24.50 per 15kg - she gets 100g per day so the bag lasts me 150 days @ 16p per day. If she liked their Duck and Rice @ £20 per bag it would be cheaper again.

I had to give up work recently and make some cut backs. Altho the Skinners only saves me £5 per bag against my old feed, the bags are 3kg bigger and the daily amount is less so my saving is much more than £5


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## Broxi_jim (Mar 30, 2009)

Had our rottie on it for about 2yrs !! Shes' 4yrs old now. 

She seemed to be doing really well on it. Then she stopped eating for a day or 2 ! She's very fussy about what she eats, cosidered raw but missus wasnt keen on it.
We also had our Bullmastiff x Ambull ( 1yr old )on it and she was doing ok. But then started to have more tummy upsets.

Opted for CSJ and they have been on it for 3 weeks now and she's back to her usual self. Highly recommend this food, and the service is great.

Dogs are like humans, whats good for 1 isn't good for the other.

I don't buy into all this so-called bigger brands is better than this etc etc.. But if it works for my friends dogs. Then who am I to say otherwise.

If wagg is all you can afford. Then so-be it.

But all I can say is CSJ really is brilliant and I'm not for changing. Wish I did it earlier !!!


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

The way I look at it is - it's all down to opinion and we are all entitled to them, just that some shout theirs louder than others.

Dont take offence, I'm sure no harm is meant, just an over enthusiastic debate 

If I have offended you, I apologise - it wasnt intended and as I said earlier, years ago people fed far worse than Wagg and thought it was wonderful.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

Mum2Heidi said:


> The way I look at it is - it's all down to opinion and we are all entitled to them, just that some shout theirs louder than others.
> 
> Dont take offence, I'm sure no harm is meant, just an over enthusiastic debate
> 
> If I have offended you, I apologise - it wasnt intended and as I said earlier, years ago people fed far worse than Wagg and thought it was wonderful.


Was there really ever something worse that Wagg and the lower end of the commercial market? I would not have thought so...

I am quite of the opinion that if no decent commercial food can be purchased then anything is better than a poor quality one (scraps from the table etc comes to mind)...


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## noogsy (Aug 20, 2009)

im experementing with wagg just now
just because ive had so many problems with my allergic dog.
i have him on wafcol salmon and potato and wagg
but im adding wagg to his diet cos it is so easy to buy in tescos and asda.
im not that happy about what im doing because there has been absolutely no difference in my dogs skin.
or coat or condition deterioration.
in fact his skin is the best it has ever been,
no redness or itching.his coat is very shiney.
the other thing is wagg fits in all my dogs toys,pyramid and games we have for him cos it is a small kibble size.wofcol is a large kibble..
im for good dog food but im also for convienience for owners.
as i say my dog is looking great on this cheep food...which is quite annoying.
noogsy xx


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## Kinski (Apr 4, 2009)

I don't think Oblada was trying to make you feel bad it's just how the written word comes over in forums. You asked if Wagg was a good food and unfortunately you have been told that it's not, it honestly is right down at the bottom of the pile along with Bakers, Pedigree ect when it comes to dog food. You might find it actually works out just as expensive to feed wagg as it does to feed something like Burns as you will have to feed more of the wagg than you will of the better foods, Wagg is full of carbohydrates and additives, dogs don't need either of them to survive and they can actually make dogs ill.

Terri


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

AmyWithey said:


> I'm sorry but you sound really stuck up about this there is a way of putting things in a nice way and then there is that, why dont you just make me feel more like a peice of Sh*t that i cant afford fantastic dog food i least i'm not feeding him bakers or pedigree i dont think i've ever spoken to anyone as rude and insensitive on a forum i wanted an opinion on whether the food had any benefits (good coat, etc) or if it was full of rubbish (which i've had from other people in a nice advice friendly way) what i didnt ask was for a complete put down why dont you just call the rspca on me and be done with it because you obviously dont think somebody can be a good pet owner if they cant offered better food than wagg.


I was not trying to make you feel bad or good for that matter...

It would seem to me that a subject like that is not as sensitive as other topics (such as cross-breeds, dog behaviour problems etc); we are talking dog food; you can choose whatever food you want and change that choice anytime and a decent diet can be had with more or less any budget so I was certainly not judging you for not spending too much money on dog food.

Wagg is as bad as Pedigree and Bakers, in my opinion and it can be seen by the ingredient breakdown; it is plain rubbish, in my eyes.

I am not judging you for feeding it; as I said my dog was once fed on Pedigree (for that matter 2 of my dogs were thus fed but the last one it was a breeders' choice not mine).

When I got a dog of my own (with my husband) I looked at dog nutrition with a much more vigilant eye, also bearing in mind my last dog's cancer and thats when I decided I would never feed my dog any rubbish or any food i was not truly confident with.

I believe you can get a decent diet as a budget price; as mentioned before a better food will not necessary be more expensive due to the dog needing a lesser amount of it. There are quite a few very decent food at very decent prices and some of them have been mentioned here (working dog food are usually quite good, Arden Grange makes good deals, Skinners seems fine) - home made food/raw is more complicated but can work out really cheap.

You asked for people's views and I gave you mine. 
I did not judge you as a dog owner, if anything I judge and condemn the companies making such rubbish food as Wagg and Pedigree and selling it to decent people as top of the range or at least as decent dog food.


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## victoriaj (Oct 21, 2009)

i have changed from orijen to skinners as my husband got made redundant so hadto cut back i give her some pricechoice minced chicken in with it and i think it is a really good and reasonably priced food


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

AmyWithey said:


> I'm sorry but you sound really stuck up about this there is a way of putting things in a nice way and then there is that, why dont you just make me feel more like a peice of Sh*t that i cant afford fantastic dog food i least i'm not feeding him bakers or pedigree i dont think i've ever spoken to anyone as rude and insensitive on a forum i wanted an opinion on whether the food had any benefits (good coat, etc) or if it was full of rubbish (which i've had from other people in a nice advice friendly way) what i didnt ask was for a complete put down why dont you just call the rspca on me and be done with it because you obviously dont think somebody can be a good pet owner if they cant offered better food than wagg.


Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not meaning to sound rude, but you seem very sensitive. Oblada was simply stating an opinion, which is what people will do when you ask a question on an open forum, especially when you post a question asking for opinions, which you have done. Since that's what they're for. There's nothing in this thread that has been said as an attack, or in a rude way (I have pointed this out before, but my posts seems to have been removed). People have simply posted their opinion.

Searching the forum would have found a huge amount of opinion about wagg.

If you're happy feeding wagg, then please continue to do so, perhaps we should all just agree to disagree on this one?


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