How do you decide what to feed your dog? Share with tails.com – £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

For many of us, dogs are part of the family. Choosing the right food for them can feel really important – but with so much choice, how do you know what’s right for your dog? Share your experiences of finding the right food for your dog, and be in with a chance of winning a £300 voucher for a store of your choice.

To get us started, here’s what Sean, the Head Vet at tails.com, has to say: “From raw feeding to grain free, we are seeing more human diet trends crossing over into the world of dog food. While trends come and go, I believe in three founding principles of a good diet to improve and extend your dog's life. High quality ingredients, tailored to your dog's individual needs, and fed in the right amount to keep them in great physical shape. The question is how do you find the food that meets all three principles?”

What do you prioritise when it comes to choosing food for your dog? How can you tell if the food you’re giving your dog is beneficial to their health and general condition? Do you have feeding tips that you’d like to share with new dog owners? If your dog has ever gone off their food, how have you encouraged them to start eating again? And if you’re thinking of getting a dog, what do you think you’d feed one - would you buy generic dog food or would you think more deeply about their diet?

Everyone who posts on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice.

Tails.com have supplied a 1 month free discount code - if you'd like to use this please click here.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Can't believe I've just read someone feeds their dog a vegan diet.

And lol at 'I feed royal canin because I have a pedigree dog!'

I feed my dog (and cat) raw. I know exactly what he's getting, it's a lot cheaper than the best brands of kibble and my dog loves it. Luckily he comes from a fantastic breeder who weaned him on to raw so he's never had any processed food. His favourite treat is a raw duck neck.

Like other posters have said, allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a good site and also barf uk Facebook group if you're thinking about raw feeding.

I think a lot of people are put off raw because of storage and peparation but there are plenty of raw dog food suppliers that sell preprepared minced food that you just defrost and put into your dogs bowl. No need to touch anything!

After looking online for suggestions I chose gentle cold pressed for our puppy as it was well reviewed and good value. It seems to be working, it's quite clear about quantity of food related to dog weight and he seems to be doing well on it though it doesn't look very much compared to some brands.

We don't have a dog at the moment but are seriously thinking about getting a rescue in the next few years. Lots of interesting info here for us to look at - things have certainly moved on a lot food-wise since I last had a dog.

My dog is lucky to not have a sensitive stomach (although Winalot pouches don't agree with him). His favourite meal is a Sunday roast after we've eaten- he even tucks into the left over veggies.

I choose based on what makes him fart the least, so far it's wheat free with a mix of dry and wet to keep him 😊

I was led by the food the breeder had used for my puppy at first, then as he grew I tried to vary his diet. I added meat as snacks but vary his main meals. He is epileptic so I try to give him nutritious meals to help with his health problems

Puppy eats purina optimax as recommended by breeder but we are thinking of a change as she is very active and wonder if food is affecting this.

I have a rescue dog, I feed her James Wellbeloved.

I am conscious that it doesn't contain fillers, grains or foods which dogs should not eat. No nasty colours either.

I used to give the dog wetfood and any dry food that was available but he started putting on weight. I researched lots of dry dog food and decided on Eden 80/20 which is 80% meat and 20% fruit vegetables and minerals. I looked for grain free food. Because he doesn’t need much we bulk it up with cooked veg and a small amount of sardines. He doesn’t get treats but sits and waits for me to give him the last piece of toast.

Our dog won't eat dry food so we feeds the wainwrights trays perfect amount for our dog for the day and she loves them.

I have a border collie so have been advised by the vet to feed low protein food to decrease her hyper-ness. I feed Skinners maintenance (additive free dry food for working dogs that are not working) mixed with Forthinglade wet food (additive free).

They are not cheap or expensive and I feel its important to feed good quality tasty food. The Skinners forms the largest part and is low protein and the wet food is to add tastiness. i follow the guidelines on the packs for quantity to feed. My dog is energetic healthy and in good lean shape.

We feed our dog in life stage. It has a high meat content which I think is very important. It also doesn't cost the earth like a lot of dog food. We also only feed dry food as wet is really bad for their teeth.

My two are somewhat fussy eaters!....but they know what they like. I make much of their food and treats myself, taking account of nutrient needs etc but also feed branded tray Pate. Neither of them will eat a dry food diet.🐕🐕

We give ours field and trial. She is gluten free, so thats how we decided.

I think pet food is a minefield really, there's so many options out there and I actually don't know where I should be getting my information from. But dry food is what we feed ours and they seem to be going ok. Look forward to seeing other suggestions.

I guess we are mostly influenced by TV ads. And also a lot of people feeding their dogs on raw meat these days. But for us, our dog has cancer so we are following a specialised diet in the hope it will prolong her life

Mine loves Tesco's dog food, looking at the labels they are just as good, she also gets scraps from us, as long as no onion/garlic etc

I have had the same breed of dog for over 30 years, however my recent pup (a CKCS rescued at 6 months) required me to research nutrition.
He came to me as a scraggy, underweight pup with constant diarrhoea, coarse fur, and distressingly itchy skin. The usual tactics of giving his tummy a rest then trying simple food like chicken and white rice didn't work. We had to try different foods and eventually found that grain - free, chicken - free recipes were required. Two years on and we've only found one recipe that doesn't result in loose bowl movements - barking heads tiny paws quackers. It's worrying in case they stop making it, or change the recipe. I have considered trying raw food, however the quackers works for us at the moment.

Having had decades of trouble - free dog feeding, it's quite stressful to have a dog with digestive issues. I do have sympathy for anyone in the same situation, especially during the puppy stages when a dog really needs good nutrition. I don't put a price on my dog's nutrition. We've found that even within the grain - free options, there are many recipes with cheap fillers. It's necessary to carefully check the listed ingredients, such is pretty easy on the Internet. I also like being able to get samples of new foods rather than wasting big bags of dried food if the dog can't tolerate it.

Our dog is only fed wet food now.
We've tried dried food in the past (generally cheaper and more convenient) but alas, she's fine for a few days and then she gets bunged up and all that goes with that. We've already had a few vet trips because of this so I figured it's now cheaper to stick to the wet food! Plus kinder. We use the tray pate stuff. She tolerates it well.

We now feed Forthglade kibble and wet food , previously fed CSJ No grainer and James Wellbelloved but our dog went off both so we searched for the best quality we could afford.

I used www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory to research all foods and ingredients and opted for Forthglade based on its content. My dog loves it and is no longer picky.

That site rates all foods from 0 to 5 star, Bakers comes in at the bottom, it's the equivalent of feeding smarties to your kids. It's awful stuff and should be banned imo.

Our 3 are all fed complete dried food - they’re a toy breed that’s known to have problems with their teeth if fed on a wet diet.

2 of our papillons are on VIP Natures Goodness (chicken and rice) the other on Royal Canin Urinary S/O (she has a history of bladder stones).

For the boys we wanted a grain free food (our oldest doesn’t tolerate grains as he chews his feet and gets a swollen muzzle) that was easily available, and regularly affordable.

I’m certain that we could feed them a better quality food (in terms of meat sources) but the boys both enjoy their food and they maintain their condition.

We tried various other food and they either turned their noses up at it or dropped condition.

In an ideal world a reduced cereal diet would be something if beer towards, but good quality nutrition at a sensible price takes priority! We feed our two pedigree chum meat and oscars dried food. The latter seems good quality and decent value - the dogs are doing well on it, too. I believe dogs should have meat in addition to dried, so a bit of chum won't do any harm. Dogs of old ate scraps, so ours are doing quite well when you look at it that way!

our now 2yr old springer came as a pup with Purina pro that she was weaned on, has never been enthused about her food, moved her onto Eden last year which she enjoyed to start with but then started leaving. She was a real skinny bones too, more than just ribby.

Did a bit of research, Facebook have a good raw group and that is what we do now.. i do a mix of DIY and completes for variety - every bowl of food is eaten immediately and she has put a bit of weight on at last. very happy dog at mealtimes.

I did a huge amount of research and decided to raw feed, using pre-prepared food. Our dogs eat Nutriment, which includes fruits, vegetables and bone alongside the raw meat and fish.

They are a fantastic weight, incredibly healthy and there’s the added bonus of their poo being small and not smelly!

It is so important to get the right food for your dog. So they have a healthy diet and are ready for running and playing.