alternatives to Royal Canin?

[PiggyMad]

My dog has really started going off his Royal Canin food. He just isn't interested in it at all and will reluctantly eat it.

I'm looking for alternatives that are of a similar price that might be more appealing to him. He has quite a sensitive tum, so don't want to give him anything too rich and would prefer dry food.

Any suggestions welcome.

We used to use RC for our dogs and then one of them just went off it. He has a sensitive tummy and we feed him Arden Grange, White Fish and Rice from sensitive range. He loves it, scoffs the lot and he isnt a food motivated dog, but he does love that one.

My friend uses fish4dogs and they love it - it is a bit stinky though. But the dogs love it.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll look into them.
Should I mix some of the new into the old to gradually swap them or do I just stop the RC and start the new food?

Skinners duck and rice or salmon and rice. Has been great for my dog's skin allergies. not the same price range as Royal Canin. It is MUCH cheaper.

whatever food you choose you need to mix the two together, so for example a quarter of new food with old, then half and half and then 3 quarters and 1 quarter then all new food, but done over time.

I have just moved 1 of my dogs from the puppy food to large breed 'adult' but decided not to mix the two as they are the same brand. Actually that isnt true - I was going to mix the two, until DH put the old food in the food bin on top of the bit I was going to mix. Now unless I remove 15Kg of dog food by hand then its not going to happen.

We have not long switched from Canin to Burns. Dog is a ridgeback who has a fairly sensitive stomach which couldn't cope with the move from Canin giant Junior to adult food.

Burns was recommended by a trainer and he loves it. We can switch between the different flavours to keep him interested. It is slightly cheaper too, which is a bonus.

Burns recommended mixing the food as you switch over and there is a guide on their website as to how much to mix and when.

My grooming parlour does a high-quality own-brand, which is very well-priced, and I mix that with Nature Diet wet food. My dogs are thriving on it.

Thanks for all of your advice and suggestions. I'll shop around try one of the brands next week.
I'm sure Fred will be very excited at the introduction of an alternative food!

This website has good reviews www.dogfoodanalysis.com

I feed Acana or Orijen. Look at the cost per feed because many of the foods that cost more for a bag you feed less of than the cheap foods, if that makes sense.

We feed Orijen, not the cheapest food per kilo but you do need to feed less as walkersmum says. And it's been great for our dog with sensitive tummy - I suspect because it has no grains/cereals in.

I didn't realise it would be so tricky to choose another food! Going to struggle to decide now!
Thanks for everyone's suggestions and I will check out that site walkersmum

Am late to this topic, but am chuckling, OP. That's simply because other posters have listed the foods I would have recommended as an RC alternative before I could list them in order! (I'm what I would describe as a "Pet Food Geek" so am fairly aware of what the ingredients of each are)

Another couple to try - Gellert Hypoalergenic & James Wellbeloved.

We used to feed James Wellbeloved before switching to raw - it's good, and PAH often do good deals on it for home delivery, especially if you do 3 for 2 or similar. We still buy the JWB little treats for training/snacks etc, called Crackerjacks I think, or something similar, and even grund with sensitive tum wolfs these down.

Cue memories of it's Friday and it's 5 o'clock.... (and I always wanted a pencil).

I think I might go for James Wellbeloved, as the vet recommended their treats, or Arden Grange. Hmmm... I suppose if he doesn't like them I can always change again

I stumbled upon this thread, I know it's an old thread, but it's so ominous I had to add a comment...

When a dog goes off their food it could be an underlying issue. Gastro pain, dental pain, organ disease.

That's what causes a dog to go off their food most of the time, and finding another rock hard kibble made of grain for a pet carnivore (Royal Canin is largely rice, corn, maybe wheat etc - made by Mars actually)

Sad to think this was 13 years ago now, but hopefully anyone else stumbling on this post reads my comment :/

Good resource (Australian) - https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/

Also https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Lots of info on the Internet today (in 2023) and any of us with dogs should at least know what's in the food they're feeding.

I truly hope this helps!

For the record, a dog can start developing periodontal disease on a kibble diet before they're older than a puppy. I know, because I've seen it, and operated on pets who's teeth are rotting to the jaw.

We started with Royal Canin but our dogs poo was slimy and smelly. Switched to Forthglade Cold Press and have stuck with it ever since.