Shopping down a brand on dog food

[Willyswaggingfinger]

Our dog has Royal Canin Maxi Aging but the cost has gone up around £7 per bag and we're struggling with all the other bill increases and only being on maternity pay.
I was thinking of maybe getting the next brand down until I go back to work to save a little bit of money but not sure which brands are still good quality.

Dog is 12 years old, mixed breed and very sedentary due to hypothyroidism. He weighs 34kg.

Any recommendations please?

www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a really useful comparison website

There are loads of things that are better quality than Royal Canin that cost less . Have a look on the site mentioned by the pp , or pick a company with good ratings ie Barking Heads or Millie’s Wolfheart and see how much there food is by comparison

Royal Canin is notoriously poor quality and high price. What benefits are you seeking from the food? Joint complex or similar?

Another vote for the All About Dogs website to put in a quality and price comparison. Very useful site.

If you have a jollyes near you a good relatively cheap option is their lifestage grain free
for the price it's a pretty good food
There are other better quality options about but they are more expensive

He used to be on Milles Wolfheart but it gave him loose stools.
I genuinely though RC was good, the vet never mentioned anything negative either.
I'll have a look at that website, thankyou 😊

He needs a food that won't cause weight gain and for a sensitive tummy. His teeth are terrible from gingivitis due to previous chemo so nothing that will add to his bad breath.

Aldi pet food is very good, check reviews

If you want to move to wet food I highly recommend Nature Diet , my dog has a mixture but mainly the senior lite as he’s prone to being a bit porky . I feed slightly less than recommended as he has lots of snacks with his pills but find the food very economical for the quality .

You could look at Tails.com for a bespoke recipe if you're struggling. My itchy Street dog has it as she's no good with grain and is also super fussy.

This is a referral code for a free month of dry kibble if you wanted to try that. You can always pass the food on to someone else if it doesn't suit him.

"Tell tails.com about your dog now and you’ll get a whole yummy month of tailored dry food FREE (+50% off wet food and treats), delivered for £1 in as little as 72 hours" tails.com/friend/ALLISM8P/?utm_medium=logged-in

Royal Canin is nutritionally very poor quality, you can easily find a superior product that is more economical. The www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk website is a good starting point.

I'd second this. Jollyes Lifestage is excellent value and their grain free gets over 80% on www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/#q=jollyes&fq=producer%3ALifestage
They deliver too and quite often do promotions/get a code for free delivery.

“I genuinely though RC was good, the vet never mentioned anything negative either.“

lots of people do... it’s marketed and priced as if it’s high quality, I mean it’s not the worst food, but it’s not actually good either and way more expensive than it should be.

Try pooch and mutt. Subscription will get you discount and then there's discount codes which will knock it down again. Their slim and slender is grain free and great for older dogs

Alternatively look at CSJ as their old champ might suit

Jollyes use a huge manufacturer and loads of white label foods found in independent stores are actually the same food. It's worth shopping about

We feed our beagle Harringtons - a mix of their diet biscuits and wet food.

Our vets are really pleased with his weight and condition and say he's a great example of his breed. I buy online and use their subscription service to save a bit of money - he weighs around 19kg and I spend around £30 a month to feed him.

Mine is a mixed breed and gets a combination of bakers complete which is £3 a box and side of cooked chicken , raw mince or other meat too. He's in perfect health and no bowel issues. I don't see a need to pay extortionate amounts for dog food.

Thankyou all so much.
I honestly thought I'd get my arse handed to me or comments about getting a dog I can't afford. I've had my dog 6 years but all my bills have gone up. I've cancelled all tv subscriptions, changed all of our phone contracts etc and even put DD on cheaper nappies before I've considered changing the dogs food.
He's an ex street dog so i think he would be happy eating any old shite, but I want to do the best for him.
Jolleyes might be a good idea as its got a good rating and there's a store 5 minutes away as well.

Royal Canin Maxi Aging has a lot of grains and carbs in it so Millies may have had too high a meat content depending on which one you feed. Millies is NOT hydrolsed food and Royal Canin Maxi is.

Royal Canin Maxi Aging has poultry meal but it also has a lot of hydrolsed protein in it. This is what is helping your dogs digestion.
Go gently if introducing non hydrolsed food.
Some dogs can just not tolerate non hydrolsed food. It is very different from hypo allergenic food.

It might be worth giving Millies a ring but Alert or Forerunner will have a similar carb content to the Royal Canine Maxi and be much less money but as said before not hydrolsed

Other hydrolyzed food would be Purina ha. Do buy either on line as it will be a bit cheaper.

You might find changing food costs as much as you waste loads of it as it upsets your dogs stomach.

@IngGenius thankyou for explaining that, I'll bear that in mind when I'm looking for the next food.
I'll not rush into it, I've only just got him a bag of RC so it takes him about 6 weeks to get through it. I've got plenty of time.

We have 4 dogs, 2 eat anything, 2 are notoriously fussy. Until a month or so ago, they were on Butternut Box, but started turning their noses up at that, so we've swapped to Waitrose Essentials and they love it! Easier on the pocket too. We'll see how long it lasts!

My colleague's husband works for butternut box and she's always offering us discounts to sign up but it would be £90 per month. He'd probably turn his nose up at it as well!

Have a look on Amazon for Markus Muelle dog kibble, it's cold pressed, really highly scoring on Allaboutdogfood and is very affordable

Our dog had butternut box until this month as it’s gone up a tenner in one month! Nope, sorry not paying that! He’s back to Aldi’s wet food trays now which will cost half as much.

Dogs are never so happy as when they are eating table scraps. I've had 3 very happy healthy dogs that lived long lives on which ever tinned dog food they liked and our leftovers. You don't need to spend a lot. Just check which foods we eat that are poisonous to dogs, as its surprising.

My gannet spaniel point blank refused it!!!

This is oos at the moment but it'll be back soon enough. www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=11&idcategory=4

Dogs can also eat most kitchen scraps to supplement purchased food.

Obviously no onions/tomatoes/garlic best stick to fruit, veg, meat, eggs but if it was headed to the bin then it all helps.