Puppy food - where to even start

[Notmybag]

We have a cocker spaniel pup and although we've alwAys been dog owners, it's been 15 years since last had a puppy!

We want to phase out food used by breeder as I just can't get it easily. I am overwhelmed by the dry food choices out there
How do I even know where to start??

Burns, James welbeloved? Royal canin cocker specific food?
I think the food we've been given is currently something like Dr Johns

Allaboutdogfood.com*

Sorry, it's .co.uk

I used allaboutdogfood.co.uk to get an idea of quality and price.

I initially used millieswolfheart kibble but switched to their wet as my cocker finds kibble too hard to digest. However, he got bored of their flavours so I have switched to forthglade.

To be honest one food will suit one dog but not another so you may want to pick a couple of good quality brands and try a small packet from each to see what is best for your puppy.

We have been really happy with Burns for years. My parents also feed it to their working cockers. In most local pet stores.

Can get it delivered on amazon too.

Allaboutdogfood is a fab website that should be your first place to look! Royal Canin isn't a good quality food for the price they sell it for, if you go with Burns join their puppy club they sent me a puppy pack with a bag of food and other bits for free.

I've got my puppy on a mix of wet and dry as she just wasn't too interested in just dry. She's on food that's called Grain Free as want to move her onto Eden but she was on James Wellbeloved before but didn't want to increase the meat content too quickly and make her ill.
Wet food wise she's on natures menu and will be moving onto Millies Wolfheart.

There's so many different brands out there with different promises but the allabout website is great at rating the ingredients.

I have a young cocker (15 months) and have been through the food dilemma very recently so can help a bit! I have also had spaniels for many years. I used to feed my other spaniels Arden Grange but it is full of maize and so I have tried to improve on this.

I have tried Millie's Wolfheart, Canagan, Fish4Dogs, Simple and then Guru. My boy found the very high meat, grain free content foods too rich for him. He quite liked Fish4dogs which has gone down in its fish content and up in its pea carb content but it suited him.

He never really showed any interest in his food at all though until we tried him on cold pressed food and he LOVES it. He loves Simple and Guru (he currently has their Surf and Turf) and waits for his supper in a way that he never used to do. It is very highly rated and he looks superb - gleaming coat and full of bonkers spaniel pup energy! I would def check it out.

It is quite expensive and my word of warning with it would be that you will probably find your dog needs more than the recommended amount - my boy has almost double what he is 'supposed' to have but is still growing and bulking out at 22kg. I did check with them and this is not unusual! I tend never to go solely by the weight of food in any case but go by the condition and weight of the dog. He lost weight on the recommended amount so I upped it.

There are cheaper cold pressed feeds which I think are supposed to be just as good - Markus Muehle and Lukullus I think. I intend to try them but am just happy at the moment that he is eating with gusto (he has sardines or a bit of canned meat on top too plus a splash of water).

My advice to you is yes read allaboutdogfood which is superb but find what works for your dog and that may be one of the less highly rated feeds. Guru is extremely highly rated and works for us but if I was going down the kibble route I would go with Fish4dogs (moderately rated) or Fishmongers Finest (Pets at Home) for my boy as he needs the higher carb content. It is not rated as highly as Orijen or Eden for example but it suits my dog much better.

I would personally avoid Burns and Royal Canin - as well as many others! - as you can get much more nutritious food for the same money or less.

Good luck!

Oh and in case anyone thinks my dog is heavy for a cocker - he is actually half working clumber so he will end up as quite a chunky boy!