First-time dog owner - need advice

[Jellyeggz]

Hi all,

I am getting my first dog soon (a cockapoo) who will be 2-3 months when I get her.

I am just researching various things at the moment and am wondering what the best dog food is? I know people who feed their pets only dry food and others who feed only wet food (pedigree chum type food) - what is best?

Any other tips for a first time dog owner too would be greatly appreciated :)

[Jellyeggz]

Also any grooming product recommendations would be great - something that doesn't smell typically "dog care product-y" if you know what I mean!

[itallhappensforareason]

We feed our pooch dry food - can't stand the smell of wet food! He has a naturally hypoallergenic grain free food (he is potentially allergic to grains) by Arden Grange which he has had no problems with. I would recommend anything from the hypoallergenic/natural range to make sure doggie is getting all the right nutrients and not pumping any additives or colourings etc into him.

We order from Fetch - you get free delivery and can choose your delivery slot which is fab. We found their prices to be very competitive and much cheaper than the likes of Pets at Home.

[Adarajames]

I raw feed mine, mix of whatever is on offer in supermarket and prepared raw like Cotswold or Naural instinct. Don't get the doggy smell / bad breath / fatty dogs that you get with processed dog foods, healthy so shiny and soft coats that everyone comments on, clean teeth from bone content and they all love it. Works out cheaper than the decent dry foods as well

[HappyNew]

Place marking

[Whatdoiladymcbeth]

I mix feed mine. They have raw with Millie’s woolfheart which is an excellent food that you can buy in bulk.

Congrats on puppy! Main thing with a puppy, I think, is socialising. Just take it everywhere with you.

[ButFirstTea]

We raw feed, we've been using Henley Raw Food for months now and we love it. Agree with above about the benefits, plus ours poops a lot less and a lot smaller than any other dogs I've known on dry food!

[LilCamper]

You can compare foods at allaboutdogfood.co.uk

[RedMugMadeLocally]

Place marking too.

[FairfaxAikman]

Take a look at the All About Dog Food website (www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory.) This is written by an independent canine nutritionist, so is unbiased and he knows his stuff.



It doesn’t list every UK food, but the most common ones are there and if it isn’t there’s a section where you can put in a list of ingredients to generate a rating.









As general guidelines:

1. Go for nothing less than a 3 out of 5, but ideally the higher the better.
   
   
2. Look for one with a named meat source as one of the first three ingredients and avoid anything with maize or wheat as many dogs are intolerant. (http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kvma.org/resource/resmgr/Files/SmallAnimallA-05-Cutaneous.pdf)
   
   
3. Be aware of tricks used in the ingredients list to make it appear like there is more meat. For example James Wellbeloved has the same total rice percentage as Skinners Field and Trial - but because JWB splits it into "brown" (20%) and "white" (19.7%) varieties, lamb actually appears as the first ingredient. Rice appears first on Skinners' ingredient list as they only use brown (40%).
   
   
4. Avoid anything that says "meat derivatives" as this is just whatever is cheapest. Similarly "cereals" could be anything. This means that the formulation could change without you knowing and could cause problems for sensitive tummies.
   
   
5. Take a good look at the ingredients list - the fewer highlighted in red, the better but try to avoid them completely. If you do pick a food with reds, the lower down the ingredient list, the better.
   
   
6. Ignore the reviews - this is about finding what's right for you and your dog, not what didn't work for someone else.
   
   
7. Get the best you can afford but be aware that price is not an indication of quality - there are plenty of poor foods with a top price tag (for example Hills and Royal Canin, which people believe is good because vets sell it - it's not the worst food out there but you can get better for the same price, or less. Vets recommend it because they sell it).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   As a rule of thumb, most stuff you buy in a supermarket (Own brands, Wagg, Pedigree and Bakers) is nutritionally poor - filled out with wheat or maize which dogs do not need nutritionally and many are intolerant of - though some supermarkets have started to stock better quality stuff like Lily's Kitchen. Look at the ingredients, not the brand name.
   
   
   
   If you absolutely MUST go the supermarket route, Harringtons is probably the best of the bunch but under all circumstances AVOID BAKERS - there's a lot of E numbers in there and some have been linked to unpleasant side effects (see the additives list below).
   
   
   
   Beta is another food that seems to be recommended a lot but it's actually almost as bad as Bakers - top ingredient is "cereals", second is "meat derivatives".
   
   
   
   If budget is a concern, then in my view one of the best price to quality ratios is Skinners Field and Trial (the hypoallergenic range only) as it's about the same price as Bakers/Pedigree/Wagg but far superior quality (as an added bonus it's a proper working dog food, so is VAT free).
   
   
   
   Your dog can eat it even if they are not "proper" working dogs, however it is only really suitable if your dog is expending the energy - for example I know a lot of flyballers feed it.
   
   
   
   For budget Grain-free options, CSJ do one called No Grainer, or Autarky has a decent range.
   
   I'll freely admit there are even better foods, but I fully acknowledge that not everyone can afford that, and Skinners F&T and CSJ No Grainer are good compromises on the price/quality front.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   When changing, kibble, change gradually - do 25/75 for a couple of days, then half and half for a few more, 75/25 for a bit longer and finally fully on to new. If looking to change a puppy, its sometimes better to keep in the same food as the breeder for a couple of weeks until they have settled in.
   
   
   
   Also worth remembering that a food that costs more per bag can work out cheaper overall as you need to feed less of a better quality food.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   OTHER FOODS
   
   RAW - Is a good option, but it does not suit everyone or their dogs. It is important that you get the ratios right, or it can cause some problems.
   
   There are some knowledgeable raw feeders here who can advise fantastically on the subject if it's a route you want to take. It's not as expensive or fiddly as you might think. I'm not going to say more on that subject, as there are others who are better informed than me.
   
   Unfortunately the web does have a few evangelical raw feeders - don't let them make you feel you are not doing the best for your dog if you do not feed it raw.
   
   
   
   BREED SPECIFIC FOODS - These are a bit of a gimmick. Compare the ingredients between the Labrador food and the Westie food and you will find the only difference is a few additives right at the bottom of the list - ie in such small quantities as to be irrelevant. The ingredients to worry about are at the top - ie the ones making up the bulk of the food.
   
   
   
   TAILS - Middle of the road food but really another gimmick. It's not nearly as tailored as some users seem to believe.
   
   It's a bit like those "Which boy band member should you marry?" flowcharts in the pop magazines - your answers will take you to a "match" out of how ever many varieties they provide. You could easily do the same with Skinners or CSJ foods (or others but these are the ones I am familiar with), due to the variety they stock.

[Jellyeggz]

That's amazing @Fairfax - thank you so much!

[TheHodgeoftheHedge]

Remember that your puppy should be on puppy food - not adult food. And will need several small meals a day.
Your breeder should have told you what food they recommend and what the puppies are being fed on and should ideally give you a small suppply of the food so that you don't instantly change it (which can upset tummies). Have you asked the breeder?