The Great Food Debate

[OldEnglishSheepDog]

I really don't want to start a fight here but I'm trying to work out food. Looking at the various options I think I've decided against raw at least initially and, because I'm lazy, I'm not going to be making my own.

What should I be looking for in a brand? I saw that ash was an ingredient to some - this doesn't sound good to me! Should I be avoiding cereals and if so, why?

Apologies if this has been done to death already.

The All About Dog Food website is a really good way to find quality dog foods at sensible prices, often ones that don't do much marketing. The ones sold in supermarkets with heavy marketing (Bakers, Pedigree etc etc) are rapidly exposed as being nutritionally awful.

Have a look at the ingredients list of various brands. Those that start with "cereals, meat and animal derivatives (4% chicken)" are utter crap. As far as I can tell, the whole grain free thing is a response to those low quality foods that use cereals as a cheap filler. Dogs aren't allergic to grains (PestDog loves a bit of plain popcorn!) but it shouldn't be the first thing on the ingredients list either - it should be meat (and listed as lamb, not lamb meal, which is much lower quality)

allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a good point to start

I am not an expert but grains are what the deem to be fillers so you are effectively feeding them stuff they won't process.

I used allaboutdogfood.co.uk to get an idea of the different brands they consider to be good quality.

I used to feed kibble but my dog really didn't seem interested in it. I then changed to wet from the same manufacturer which used the same ingredients as the kibble and he positively bounces around the room now in anticipation of his food. The food I feed is cans of 70% meat or fish with the rest vegetables and minerals. He eats better than I do

The best food though is what is best for you and your dog.

And it’s worth remembering that no matter how good the brand, there’s always a risk that your dog won’t get on with it. I started introducing Orijen into my puppy’s feed yesterday (mixing it with his usual Hills), and he seems to be allergic to it.

Ash is just the technical term for the minerals etc. which come from bone in high quality foods.

It is called ash because it is what would be left over IF you incinerated the food. Minerals do not burn.

High ash content tends to be a signal for a high quality food, though high ash content means high mineral content and that is not always a good thing for your dog - some health complications can arise or be made worse by high mineral content.

However, it's presence is nothing to worry about - though I agree, the term 'ash' is somewhat off putting.

p.s. another vote for the allaboutdogfood site, which is excellent.

I feed raw and honestly, it’s so easy. I keep it all in a separate freezer and get the main blocks of complete meat delivered and then I feed it still frozen.
I used to feed Natural Instinct but I found the tubs a pain to remember to defrost and weigh out.
I also buy extra bits like chicken wings from supermarket and duck necks, turkey necks, lamb necks, spines etc from the garden centre. Either Natural Instinct or Nature’s Menu.

Or Zooplus have some good quality grain free kibble.

The allaboutdogfood website is great. Another thing is that the premium branks (Millies, Orijen, Akela etc) all look more expensive but in fact you often need to feed less so come out not that expensive.

@missbattenburg Thank you! That's very helpful.

I see the point about using less of the expensive stuff. Thanks.

On a related note, for training everyone recommends hotdogs. Are cheapo ones in a can ok? And should that come out of the daily meal weights?

Cheapo hot dogs are fine and yes, it should come out of the daily allowance. Chop them small (e.g. one hot dog = about 40 treats).

I train pretty much every day so discount my pup's food by 25% to account for the extra food he gets. I try to mix it up a bit so he doesn't just get hot dog: hot dog, bits of chicken, turkey, ham, dried liver, cheese are our staples.

I tried hotdogs for training but really didn’t get on with them and worried about the salt content. I now use this www.platinum.co.uk/dry-dog-food/platinum-dry-food.html the pieces are moist so I cut each one into quarters. It is seriously expensive as kibble but makes very economical training treats and there is nothing my pups wouldn’t do for it.