What's the best dry food

[Angeline nicol]

Looking for advice on the best dry food for harvey I have had him for 4weeks now when he came to me he was on skinners dry food the breeder said he was a very slow eater and had lost a couple of kilos in the 3weeks he had been to his new owners when I got him he wouldn't look at his food so I changed him to wainwright s the same food I had used for my other setters large breed puppy for harvey the vet checked him for me when I got him and agreed he was under weight and told me to feed him as much as he wanted I am feeding him the correct amount for his age plus mixing in half a can of wet food my worry is he's pooing 6 or 7times a day and he's not going to put the weight on he's really long and tall but very boney especially at his back end any suggestions would be appreciated And he's certainly not a fussy slow eater he loves his food

[Jean Lippett]

How old is Harvey?

[Angeline nicol]

He's 6months old sorry thought I had put that in

[Angeline nicol]

Yes I m in the uk Scotland thanks I will have a look for these

[Jean Lippett]

My problem with this chicken idea is that many people can't afford to buy high quality chicken in that quantity to feed their dogs ( or even their children).  And I find that if you buy cheapo chicken, even for feeding your family, cooked well, the chances of digestive upsets are about 50%, especially in hotter months .  I can't see that costing less than £15-£20 per week. In comparison the Wainwrights puppy salmon and potato would be £6-7 a week. I know we all want to give our dogs the best, but not everyone has unlimited income.

I haven't tried raw chicken with my dogs though, perhaps the canine stomach is more robust than I imagine.  I don't want to turn this into a pro and anti raw feeding quarrel, everyone should make their own decision about that.

Several breeders I know raise their puppies and young dogs on Royal Canin Maxi Junior food. It costs more than Wainwrights but is often discounted online. Zooplus also have Taste of the Wild puppy food and Lukullus beef and trout, which our dogs have done well on.

[Jennie Benstead]

I must agree with Finn..I find raw feeding best and very inexpensive ....I buy Chicken Carcusses  62p for kg very good quality chicken necks 88p for kg...a whole case of carcasses is £8.20 last ages with 2 dogs   I spend roughly £40 per month on 2 dogs and that is a mixture of chicken... beef.. tripe.. lamb etc plus meaty bones...there are some very good suppliers in the UK of fresh meat and bone and great prices....But I also agree it is everyones own decision on how they feed their dogs..

[Jennie Benstead]

Hi Finn.....Thanks for that I will look forward to it....I am an Aromatherapist and make a lot of my own things (Riley and Cassie are always covered in mud or worse)...I agree with the organic but confess not all their meat is....but my friend has just started her own raw feeding site and a lot of what she will be selling is organic so will be giving it a little look....we are the same our children are all grown and Riley and Cassie are our babies...I like to buy organic when I can am planning on growing some veggies myself this summer (if we get one that is) I dont eat meat much my self I just dont like it...P.S let people think what they like about you..its their problem not yours...that how I think...lol

[Angeline nicol]

Thanks for your thoughts on this food subject

[Cornelia]

The best dry food in my opinion are the products of Markus-Mühle. This food is different as it is cold pressed (45°celsius) and does not get larger when in contact with water or in the stomach - it does just fall to pieces

"Due to this unique method the ingredients stay as natural as possible, which is the main difference when compared to extruded dog food using high pressures/temperatures.":

http://www.markus-muehle.de/en/naturnahfutter.htm

This one is cold pressed at 38° celsius and starts to dissolve within ten minutes.

http://www.luposan.de/de/sensitiv.html

For more info in English have a look here - bottom left and middle:

http://www.shop.markus-muehle.co.uk/shop.html

This dry food was recommended to me by an ES friend who is mostly raw-feeding her dogs. I myself use it as a base and add meat (not raw), salad and veggies or tinned food (although there is no need for that, as the food is complete); the tinned food btw. is also different than what you mostly get in the shops. Good luck with Harvey!

Just a thought: When was the last time he was dewormed?

[silvia]

thanks Cornelia interesting! I am always looking for a great dry food for travelling.. The UK website also mentions gentle dog food (from Beate): do you know this one as well?

[Cornelia]

No, I don't - this gentle dog food must be new in their program - I thought the products of the lupo group might be something for you, when traveling :-) - I have a photo, of how the food dissolves somewhere (I also had a blog prepared but my hard disc broke and I lost all my data - also the backup! - I could save my photos though for the price of a new computer!) - will post it, when I find the time :-). How's your brothers Bracco Italiano btw?

[silvia]

thanks Cornelia, sorry for all these data lost!!! sounds bad:((

yup, I saw the picture, of the food that dissolves : impressive:) they are sending us some free sample of gentle food, so we'll try the taste :)

Shaick, the italian Bracco, is much better. He's been put for few  weeks on a particular digestible vet-food prescribed by the vet, at something like 100E the **small ** bag :(.

He get stabilized, and he was then supposed to get ready for a full epatic profile and lot of blood tests, BUT-BUT-BUT.... few days ago day the family came back from the supermarket and left 2kg of sausages and 14 spicy mexican chicken wings , all frozen stuff, on the table for just few minutes.. everything disappeared (i guess Shaick found that strange  vet food a bit toooo bland and boring, so he decided to help himself with a proper meal;)

ehm.. there is no point to check the liver after 2kg of pork and sausages, so tests have been postponed for few days more;)  My brother is puzzling why to keep paying 100E for the vet food, after this performance, but... oh well..

anyway, the dog is  much much better after the vet diet, and now stable, so no worrys for now and the tests are at the horizon ;)  

thanks!!! cheers

s

[Cornelia]

I'm sure it's ok, Finn, if you travel from one place to another and/or stay in areas where there are supermarkets - it wouldn't work for us though - the last two summers we were 'on tour' for a whole month, never knowing where we would spend the next night and seeing a supermarket or a larger shop with food for us to stock up about once a week. So we brought the month's supply with (also for us) and just added fresh products, when we passed a shop - and our real adventure (trekking with a backpack and tent) could not even start last year due to ongoing rain... 

But there is another product that might be interesting for those of you feeding raw and touring in areas where shops are scarce:

http://www.k9naturalshop.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&...

It is very expensive - but so is all freeze dried food! - this is freeze dried raw food (lamb) and I think a four kilo pack would feed a dog for about three weeks, assuming the dog would need more than 600 gram of fresh food per day when hiking several hours each...?