"Its wonderful" - what does that mean

[Sara750S]

I have been reading all through this forum as I am concerned that Toby has gained weight since his castration and probably due to being fed Chappie (had this since an upset tummy and vet said to try).

But he looks abit round in tum area and I know this sounds silly he looks unfit when out running!

So I read all the threads on Natural Instinct, Honeys, Barking Heads, Natural Dog company etc and red COLers say "its wonderful" etc but in what way?

Sara

[Nicola]

Not really sure what you mean by this? People will recommend various foods as requested in other threads but it'll be for different reasons and not all foods will suit all dogs. If someone says a particular food is 'wonderful' it's usually because it suits their dog particularly well and/or has very good quality ingredients. Are you looking for information on the specific brands you've mentioned as some of them are raw/barf food and Barking Heads is kibble so quite different diets?

[Sara750S]

I think I am just looking to see if the double in cost is worth it - of course Tobes is worth every penny I have but the foods I have been researching mean a 100% increase in food bill!

[Sara750S]

I think I am liking the look of Natural instinct...

[JennyBee]

I think I am just looking to see if the double in cost is worth it - of course Tobes is worth every penny I have but the foods I have been researching mean a 100% increase in food bill!

Bear in mind that with the higher quality foods you don't feed as much, so it usually works out money wise. What I look for in a food personally is no grains or unnecessary fillers (I avoid beet pulp), there should be named ingredients with a good percentage of meat, and no animal or vegetable derivatives or 'meal'. There are other things to look out for but that is just off of the top of my head. The main thing is that the food suits the dog, as what one dog does great on may not work for another.

So the dry foods I would feed Brodie all have to have to be of this quality to be considered wonderful, and would have to suit her too. The same goes with wet food, which she is on now. Natural Instinct is raw food so there are no grains etc and is all fresh meat and bones, so no worries there. Ideally I would feed Brodie this but I don't have the freezer space just now.

Hope that all makes sense!

[elaine.e]

I think I am liking the look of Natural instinct...

My boys are raw fed and I often use Natural Instinct, but also buy cheaper meats/bones/veg. to give them more variety and cut the cost.

The reason I switched to raw from kibble was to try and improve William's health and I'm convinced it has. His coat and skin are much better and he no longer gets ear and lip fold infections. An added bonus is perfect poos Louis would probably thrive on anything but I can't see me ever willingly switching either dog back to kibble because I'm convinced of the benefits of raw feeding.

They have some non raw in the form of treats and I also always have some tinned Chappie Original and trays of Nature Diet wet food for the occasional time when I forget to thaw out their raw food.

If Toby is prone to weight gain and sometimes has an upset tum it could be worth trying raw. If it doesn't work out or it's too much hassle you can change again. It's really all about what suits Toby's health in the long term but also about what suits your purse and the amount of time/effort you want to spend. Raw feeding can be more time consuming and needs more thought than feeding kibble.

[Sara750S]

I think its his spreading tum at the age of 18 months and also he runs like a rugby prop forward - it stocky!!

So a bit of trimming of weight needed and I would rather he ate less good quality to achieve this than just reduce amount given of Chappie.

At moment Natural Instinct have a friend recommendation - does anyone purchase online to get £10 off their next bill if they recommend me! PM if you do.

Sara

[Helen]

Up his exercises too 

[Sara750S]

Up his exercises too 

I would love to but he gets a 30 min walk and then a hour walk a day?

[lola B]

i dont know much about the weight gain thing but i switched Rosie now 12 weeks from butchers puppy to natural instinct i think its great she has more energy is full of life is scratching less and i know what i am feeding is really good quality 

[mlynnf50]

Totally agree with Elaine, selby is fed raw, I don't find it difficult, just got into a routine of taking it out of the freezer in the morning, no cereal or fillers and natural.

[michelle123]

Mine were both on JWB but I recently changed to Burns.  I had got Charlie's weight down and thought that the level that he was at was acceptable - the change to Burns was for his skin not weight, but I have to say that he has lost weight on it and has more energy.