Dog food help

[tocahairchop]

Hi all, my 18 month old Cockapoo had a tummy bug last week and I put her on special food to settle her stomach. As a result her energy has shot up and it's made us realise that she was lacking energy prior to this...I'm wondering if that is down to what we feed her. She gets grain free kibble (salmon) and raw beef topper, she has a few pizzle sticks a week too (maybe that wasn't agreeing with her?)I ideally I'd like to keep her kibble and top with a wet food maybe? Does anyone do this or have any recommendations? She's on grain free food because the breeder had her on that but is it even the right way to go? So much choice out there, don't know where to start! At the moment her food is v reasonably priced so don't want anything costing a fortune. Thanks 😊

Wilson’s cold pressed food is fab! We use that and then butchers tins as a topper our spaniel has a very sensitive tummy and this combo has worked well for us

you can use the Wilson’s food for training/ as treats too which is handy

I'd also be interested in any suggestions of mixed dry and wet food for a cockapoo. Ours seems to quite often get an upset tummy and he's also recently had an ear infection.

I'm not an expert, but I'm not sure you're supposed to mix dry food and raw food - something due to the acidity of the stomach and how they are digested differently. We used to feed raw which I still think is best, but decided to change to 'gently cooked' wet food from butter box as I was concerned about the risks of e-coli and salmonella etc as I have children and the youngest often gets licked on the face by the dog.

I’d mix dry and wet, but not dry and raw. Raw digests at a different rate and you won’t be getting full benefit from either food, which might be causing the lethargy.

forthglade, pooch and mutt and barking heads all do good quality wet that can be used as a topper. Id just do this in the first instance and then go from there

what was the food you had to settle her tum? Was it a hydrolyzed food? Or something else, let us know

The food that has settled her is Hills gastrointestinal wet and dry. Vet recommended ditching grain free and going for Hills or Royal Canin adult food so will wean her on to that very slowly once I've chosen one to go for.

I wouldn’t feed either of those personally

this website is helpful for making comparisons in quality of feed - plenty of better quality grain free feeds available

but sometimes you have to go with the feed that suits the dog

Our two goldies are on Macadams dry food mixed with Canegans wet. Rarely have a bad stomach and have lovely coats.

Hills is great if you have a particular medical issue that you are feeding for but as a general food for a healthy dog there are better on the market. Vets recommend Hills and Royal Canin because they pay commissions to vets and put out a lot of vet specific literature so vets feel comfortable with the brand.

As bang for your buck Arden Grange and Burns could be good options to look into.

Hills standard adult food looks like a good price. There are 70 pages of dog food on Pets at Home site 😳

Burns is pricey...£50 for 12lg

I wouldn't recommend Hills or Royal Canin unless your dog has specific dietary requirements.

Foods like that are good for dogs who have renal issues or allergies (for example) but if your dog is healthy then there are much better (and cheaper) foods on the market.

Don't forget that good quality food means smaller portions so while it seems expensive, it lasts a long time.

I pay £45 for 12kg of Burns- but tbh Royal Canin isn’t far off - £56 for 15kg- but you have to feed significantly more.

work out the portion size for each brand and work out a cost per day.

@thelobsterquadrille the hills I was looking at just said 'adult' no specific reason for it, some do say digestive or skin etc though. James Wellbeloved looks like a possibility too?

You'll find there are better quality, cheaper foods on the market for healthy adult dogs than Hills.

Canagan and Orijen are both good. Don't be put off by the price as it's such high quality, the portions are very small.

I always recommend Millie's Wolfheart. My dog has been on it for 8 years I think, she is a 10 year old show cocker spaniel. She has always had a happy tum on it, that's usually affected by things she finds and eats when out on walks. She recently had a dental check, first one for a long time, and just needed a bit of a scale and polish, so I think it's good for her teeth too. It sounds pricey but a 5kg bag for £28.99 free delivery, lasts a good 2 months

They do need some grains for a healthy heart.

I have a tails subscription, and honestly it's great. You can decide what you want your dog to have, and they sell a food range of wet food to go with the kibble.

Here's a free trial for you if you fancy it:
Tails dog food trial

It's honestly worth it, and I'm not one for sharing links like this unless they're actually worth it.

They also do dental sticks, flea treatments etc. You can alter things whenever you want.

I used to feed my dog Arden Grange lamb and rice before I started with Tails.

www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/
Is a great website for comparing dog food. You can set all sorts of criteria.

I think there's higher quality options out there than Royal Canin, which is shite.

Autarky
Millie's Wolfheart
Eden (grain free, but had Taurine supplement for heart) is amazing. Looks £££ but portions are small.

Have a look at allaboutdogfood.com and you can plug in your requirements and budget and it'll suggest the best options for you.

We feed Pooch and Mutt as we grt good discount and it's got good reviews for the price. I am considering a move once we get to the bottom of my dogs itchy skin and whether it's dietary or environmental.

Millies wolfheart here too....they have a nutritionust you can talk too ..highly recommend

Another vote for the all about dog food website. There are some really poor quality foods out there that don’t have much nutritional value. I looked at Butternut and although better than most kibbles it has a high legume content which isn’t great.

We used to feed ours Millie’s Wolfheart kibble which is decent quality and although her stomach seemed better than it had been on Arden Grange we felt like it still wasn’t quite right. We switched to raw and she’s been great on it. Solid poos and she’s only goes once or twice a day now (it was sometimes 5 times a day on kibble). We put it off for ages thinking raw would be too much hassle but we get the completes and find it really easy.

@dolor thanks...I'll have a look at tails

I like the look of Millie's but think it's grain free?

If you've got a Jollies near you I found their own brand dry food to be amazing for my dog's sensitive stomach and energy levels.

@tocahairchop if you want some grains in there have a look at CSJ foods. Very much why a working dog owner feeds, all the gundog boys and girls seem to rate it and it gets decent AADF rating and for £17 a sack.

I have family who swear by it

If not I think Autarky might be a good move: they have grain and grain free options and lovely wet food.

Very reasonable price for good quality food. Again, I have friends who have shown at crufts who use this food

I second Tails.com - absolutely brilliant stuff.

I wasn't interested in an online dog food because ordering felt like a faff but then my mum got some and reckoned it helped her dog's tummy so I gave it a go. No more soft poos and stinky dog farts, and it's really affordable. I was really surprised at the difference it made to my dog (zuchon).

I realise I sound like an advert haha! I don't work for them and I won't share my link either because it might make it look like a dodgy sales pitch. @dolor has shared a link above and I would honestly give it a go - I wouldn't bother with any other food now.

We use the wet food and the kibble but initially we just had the kibble. They can create the kibble in different flavours depending on what your dog likes and if one set of kibble isn't popular, they'll alter it to find something your dog likes. We found that wetting the kibble works better - our picky little sod was a bit unenthusiastic when it was first introduced and it was dry. Added a bit of water and he gobbled it up. They create the recipe depending on the nutritional needs of your dog (activity/age/weight loss etc) so it's essentially a personalised dog food.

I also like Tails as you can change your order yourself via the portal and increase/reduce/add to your order as you want. No tie-in contract etc. I typically buy in bulk and only get it delivered every couple of months or so. Their customer service people are LOVELY as well.