Chappie

[meggy]

We currently feed our dog, meggy on chappie and winalot mixer/ pedigree better by nature complete with 1/2 a tin of chappie twice a day. The mixer or complete is only a handful. We changed from pedigree tins which is what she was fed on at the puppy farm we got her from. Pedigree was making her loose, so we changed to chappie and this seems to have improved her poo. She liked the chappie for a while, now she doesn't seem to like it as much. She seems to eat all her food in the morning but leave some of her food in the evening. Whether this is due to the heat over the past week or so or her being a bit under the weather with an infected tail i don't know. Just was looking for some advice or whether other people have experienced this.

[Sheryl]

Don't know about Meggy but when I don't feel well, I don't eat!   As long as she is drinking, I would just keep an eye on her.

[joanne_v]

Why dont you try a different wet food like nature diet or natures menu. They are good quality foods with a high meat percentage and I dont know any dog who doesnt love them. There are some better dry foods on the market too these days. Not many COLers are fans of pedigree in any shape or form.... 

[*kimbo*]

I have a fussy one at home also. She get borred easily so I try and change her food a bit without upsetting her tummy. Good quality food is Burns, James W-B or Arden Grange more expensive but you get out what you put in i guess!!

Good luck.

[DennyK]

Chappie is the nastiest, cheapest food on the market - lowest meat content, massively highly-processed (my OH used to run pet food factories and it's famous in the industry for being the absolute low-rent dog food).  It's also full of additives and preservatives. 

How old is she?  If you want to feed a complete dog food (i.e. pre-made, as opposed to e.g. raw feeding), then I'd recommend that you look at one like NatureDiet or nature's menu.  Nature Diet in particular uses good quality ingredients and is additive and preservative free so you might find she's generally calmer.

In terms of quantity of food, you might find that she's not looking at her evening meal much because:

(i) it turns out you've been over-feeding her; or
(ii) it turns out that she views Chappie with the same disgust I feel for it .

Nature Diet is available from most pet food stores and PAH.

[EmmaA]

In Chappie's defence it works wonders when dogs have a poorly tum. It's good for a day or so until things settle down, I would never use it all the time because it's nutritional value is very low.

[Coco]

Why dont you try a different wet food like nature diet or natures menu. They are good quality foods with a high meat percentage and I dont know any dog who doesnt love them.

Just to say Wherry wouldn't eat Nature Diet (and she'll eat most things  ), I only say it as in don't go out and buy loads just in case. (I only got 4 packs but still, 3 packs to give away  )

Puppy on the other hand is loving her Nature Diet.... and now I have to make another trip to get more 

With regard to being off food, and i'm no expert, but so long as she is eating enough to not be loosing weight and her behaviour hasn't changed i'd give it a while to settle. If she came form a puppy farm she may have been a bit funny toward her food and now she is setteled down with it to a natural level   
Of course I could be totally wrong 

[djangonut]

We normally feed Nutro - the most ridiculously expensive dog food on the planet.  (SWMBO thinks that if it costs the most then it must be good!)

But on occasion we use Chappie because the dogs like it and it keeps them ticking over,  especially if they are off-colour.  I think it contains fish which dogs seem to love.

We used to use it when we went away for a few days.  It was easy to feed away from home, because it contains its own fluid,  and we didn't have to bother too much about carrying water.  Then we discovered the non-tip water bowls;  and I cut my finger on a Chappie tin once and spent a morning in Tenby hospital casualty department!

Last October we lost our cocker Lizzie who would have been fifteen last March.  The only thing that she could stomach for the last three years of her life was Chappie! She was fit as a flea to the end,  and on the morning she was put down she insisted on retrieving her tennis ball.  Chappie can't be all that bad!

John

[ruby]

hi i know chappie isnt the best dog food to feed but i have too many visits to the vet with rubys tummy and ending in bouts of colitis which caused her to be on antibiotics,we tried all the very good wet food ie nature diet natures menu and others, all of which she started ok on but resulted in her been very poorly.vet advised us to try chappie last year and i must say its the only food we have used which hasnt made her poorly,the vet is very pleased her coat is glossy and her eyes are clean so she must be getting all she needs out of it and her poos are alot firmer

[phoenix]

We have to feed Chappie, very successfully, to one of our dogs with digestive problems. It is a complete food, not requiring extra mixer, so maybe Meggie is full up? Does she have treats as well?
 People point out that it has a low meat (fish and chicken) content , but that could be because you are not meant to add any more carbohydrate, and that the water content is high, though I 've never compared labels with other wet brands. My maths isn't upto attempting to compare percentages between wet v. dry food because it depends how much water they need in order to digest the dry food.
In my opinion, a wholly dry food diet is unnatural for dogs and cats, but  everyone here has a different experience,  so you just need to slowly experiment.
Most dogs think a manky dead squirrel is the height of food heaven!!

[Cob-Web]

Even the most highly processed, cheap dog food is scientifically formulated to provide all the nutrients a dog needs  

I think it is up to you what you feed your dog, as long as you are aware and accept what you are feeding in terms of fillers, additives and meat quality and your dog is happy with it 

[MegandMolly]

Most dogs think a manky dead squirrel is the height of food heaven!!

But why do they have to roll in it too??