differant dry foods

[Duke]

  Why are people trying to confuse me in what i feed my puppy, first he was on wagg puppy food when we got him so when we ran out a supplier changed our minds in what we should feed him, so we fed him on his recomendation but it was £10 for a 2kg bag, so we changed him again to something from asda but while he was on it he went 7 times in one day for a poo and stunk. I was gonna put him on JWB but found that expensive so now he on Beta puppy? As it has a 14% meat now a few people have told me that is not a good food either as to what's in it.
       I am now at the end of my tether as to what to give him? I can't really afford the expensive stuff at the moment but want something with good nutrician (think i spelt that wrong) PLEASE HELP

[bajoleth]

There are a lot of good brands out there and what may seem expensive for a bag doesn't necessarily mean it will work out more expensive per meal. For instance I feed Monty Burns Puppy Bites at 7.50 a 2kg bag, he has 100g a day thats 20 days food it works out as less than 40p a day, that is no way expensive, I also feed raw chicken wings a couple of times a week which are also very cheap, Belle has 150g of Burns a day and is 13 mths so doesn't cost much more. It is always best to check the amounts you need to feed a day to work out wether it is an expensive food or not, more often than not you feed less of the good quality foods as they have no filler also like I said you can swap meals for chicken wings which are really good for them but inexpensive

[Mel]

Ok what can you afford? I'm not trying to make you feel bad as I am a full time primary carer for my mum and potless most of the time.

Feeding stuff like Wagg, Eukanuba, Bakers, anything by Purina, Beta Puppy being one, is like feeding a child on sausages, beefbrgers, sweets and cakes which are full of sugar, additives and fillers. Don't just be swayed by price either. Stuff like Royal Canine is not entirely natural and unless we all did life long studies of which dogs were better on which foods, we will never be entirely sure.

As a responsible pet owner, you should try to feed you dog the best diet you can, remember your dog relies entirely on you to make the choice. By attempting to give a good healthy balanced diet you are helping your dog remain healthy and ultimately this will result in smaller vets bills.

Nutrition for a small puppy is vital, just like for a growing child. Unless you are an experienced BARF or raw feeder and I am not, I would suggest a good kibble like Burns or JWB, or Healthy Paws. You can supplement one meal twice a week with one raw chicken wing or a some tinned sardines or pilchards. You can also give your dog raw veg finely chopped and fruit. This means the kibble goes further. The kibble and raw bones are excellent for teeth.

You should not feel compelled to purchased very expensive stuff like Royal Canin which isn't necessarily the best anyhow.

Go for the purest and healthiest kibble you can. Afterall what you feed a puppy is the very foundations of the dog you get in the future. You want, in theory a healthy dog, then pumping them full of colourants, sugars, cheap fillers and additives is more than likely going to give you costly and unpleasent illnesses in the future.

I hope that helps.  

[Duke]

Ok, that was something i wanted to avoid feeding him rubbish, my husband went out for food and came back with a 15kg bag of beta puppy from P@H because it was on offer and 14% meat, he thought he was doing right, i thought i had done well to avoid things like bakers ect,
 I see jwb is £7.55 for a 2kg bag i was told it would work out roughly 20 meals? He is 4 month... Do you not have to cook raw foods? vet said raw food can still pass diesease??? how do you feed your pets raw food?

[Nicola]

Dogs can eat raw meat and bones fine, they have different digestive systems to humans and as long as you follow good hygiene principles you shouldn't have to worry about anything like salmonella etc. Chicken wings are a good raw food to start with, for a puppy it might help if you put the wing in a plastic bag and give it a few bashes with a rolling pin to break up the bones and make it a bit easier to eat but if he's like most dogs once he gets the hang of it there'll be no stopping him. If you look back through the threads on this board you'll find a lot of threads on BARF/raw feeding. Don't ever give a dog cooked bones, they are friable and can splinter easily but raw bones like chicken wings, lamb ribs, pork ribs etc. are all fine.

Dry food wise I do believe that you generally get what you pay for and as already said you invariably feed less of the more expensive foods so on a cost per meal basis they often work out the same, if not cheaper, than the foods with a lower price per bag.

[bajoleth]

Raw food is good for dogs , the vet on the Crufts show was advocating a BARF diet (Bones and Raw Food),however a lot of vets still seem to think that dogs will choke on the bones or get salmonella from the meat but this isn't the case, if you search for threads on raw feeding you will find loads of info
I can only say from my experience but I give my dogs Burns dry food and I then exchange one meal with chicken wings (they must be raw, or tinned fish or lambs ribs, all are cheap to feed) chicken wings clean their teeth and also help to keep their anal glands clear. I was very dubious about the whole chicken wing thing as 'don't give dogs chicken bones' was something that was ingrained in my brain, never give a dog cooked bones cos they splinter but raw is fine, since giving Belle her 1st at about 10 mths I think I havent looked back, I gave Monty his 1st the day after we had him at 8 weeks, they both love them. I just picked up a tray of 6 in Morrisons for .95p You can also feed them carrot, eggs, fruit my dogs love cucumber, lettuce, slices of apple etc

[JeffandAnnie]

I am a great fan of Burns. I had two rough collies who lived VERY long and healthy lives on Burns and my cockers love it too. It has the added benefit of making poo nice and small, firm and non-smelly; a bonus with a small garden! 

[silly milly]

mine have wagg.   i also give them raw chicken wings, rice and leftovers once a week. 

i have a friend who is a breeder and shows at crufts.  she also feeds on wagg.