Rather than hijack the supermarket dog food thread, I thought I'd start a separate one as I was thinking of changing the Pig's food. She's on James Wellbeloved and is fine (a bit itchy, but I think that is grass pollen), but it seems like there are better foods for similar price. But one thing I don't know about is whether to pay a bit more for grain free? I read some things on the allaboutdogfood website and they are very biased towards it. I know matters of diet are complex and depend on the dog, but I was wondering what others feed their dog and why, and what food brands are highly regarded? It seems like Orijen is the creme de la creme of kibble?
We feed Stanley grain free. He's on Canagan dog food. I wanted Orijen but OH said it was too expensive To be honest I didn't pick grain free on purpose. Stanley was on James Welbeloved but had runny poo's a lot so we decided to change his food. I had a browse round the shop and saw Canagan and it said chicken and sweet potato and thought that sounded tasty and bought it. He does well on it so I'm happy to stick to it He has no problem with grains though - whenever he has a funny tummy we put him on chicken and rice and it sorts home right out.
Sorry that all went wrong. Origen didn't agree with my dogs. Same with Arden grange and Simpson's. Tried millies wolfheart tracker bingo!
We have royal canin satiety kibble, I know RC is a favourite of many vets and they tend to suggest it, which puts some people off, but it's also used by guide dogs so that's quite a good thumbs up from me. I don't honestly know how it fares price wise as it's all we've ever used, around £58 or a little less for a 12 kilo bag. I've honestly never worried about grains at all (I think it was @snowbunny who did a very comprehensive thread recently though), I pick my battles with this dog I also confess he has 2 to 3 foil trays a week of wet food, normally stuffed into kongs, Aldi do a meat and veg box of 12 trays, it has no sugars in and seems fairly good quality, you can see whole peas and pieces of carrot in it.
Dogs, unlike wolves, have evolved to be able to digest grain. So I wouldn't be too worried about it. I do feed a grain free kibble (as treats) but that's really just to avoid foods with cheap fillers. Obi definitely gets grain in his diet (eg bits of pasta, toast, risotto....).
I feed Arden Grange Lamb and Rice, perfect poos! I tend to think 'no grain' is a 'fashion' and a way to get customers buy new foods. But that is just my personal opinion. I am sure there are scientific articles about why it is preferable, however, even these can be skewed.
We have recently changed Harley onto Acana Heritage Puppy Large Breed. It is grain free. DH and I eat a gluten free diet and we have experienced a number of health changes (I can't say benefits yet, it hasn't been long enough). I was previously frustrated because we have such a lack of choice where I live. It was Hills, RC or Eukanuba. So when Acana and Orijen appeared I was excited to see if Harley would enjoy them. We can't afford Orijen at the moment. I have posted a number of times about our struggles to get Harley to eat her meals. Since she has changed onto Acana she is eating her meals without hesitation. She still isn't a greedy eater (very grateful!!) but she enthusiastically tucks into her food. So even if that is all that changes I am very happy.
I'm in the process of changing Cassie's food, from Skinners Maintainance to Burns Original Chicken and Brown rice, which is pricey I must say. I had think long and hard about why I wanted to change, it's a minefield and I don't think anyone has the definitive answers. So the two reasons are the hyper behaviour she exhibited a few months ago, and still eating her own poo. She doesn't have any allergies and nor is she prone to upset stomachs. With the behaviour, I decided that I wanted to cut out E numbers and additives, it's tricky to know what's what, she's very quiet in the house and behaves at the vets etc, so she's not hyper all the time, but as my daughter said E numbers etc could well provide that extra energy in an situation that over stimulates her. With the poo, it's quite large and soft, and very smelly. I'm given to believe that the more efficient use a dog makes of their food the less quantity and odour. I couldn't decide whether to go grain free or not, or go for a large meat and protein percentage, as apparently it suits some dogs better, but decided initially to cut out artificial additives.
Huh. Just searched Orijen prices and it's only a few pounds more than RC. Maybe RC doesn't cost as much as I thought.
There aren't any artificial additives in Skinners salmon and rice. Tatze's poos are firm and kickable. https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0296/skinners-field-and-trial-salmon-and-rice .
I've tried lots of foods with Lucky - dry food with and without grains - including homemade food - and never noticed a difference with his health or behaviour when eating grains. The only thing I have noticed is that with some food, regardless of the fat content, he gets a dry coat. He will only eat a food for about 6 months, then he'll refuse to eat it, and I have to switch his food to something else. When he has homemade food, it's not a problem - but it's expensive and time consuming to prepare, and I'm not organised enough! Most of the brands I've used are German ones, we did try Pooch and Mutt turkey and sweet potato, but his coat was quite dry on that. I have noticed that with higher protein foods he seems to lose a bit of weight - but has a tendency to be a bit too skinny so that's not ideal for him.
Both my dogs are on Symply dried food - Red has the large breed puppy turkey and rice and Sky is on the Light/Senior Lamb and Rice. Symply are free from artificial colours, preservatives and flavours and GM free. They both enjoy their food and look good. I do use Hills i/d wet food with the Symply in Red’s kongs. She had a lot of digestive problems as a small puppy and for a while Hills was all she could have. I am still very cautious with her food so am really happy with Symply.
Thanks all. I now realise people have asked this before lots of times but the majority of the threads were in the puppy section so I hadn't found them . I guess there is no harm in gradually introducing a grain free higher-quality kibble and seeing if it suits her or not. The James Wellbeloved apparently has quite a lot of salt and a few other things that aren't great. Her poos are not 'kickable' (well, I think I would regret it if I tried!) and I'd like to see if a diet change helps her with her itching. It seems like there is a number of high-end grain free kibbles that are all much of a muchness and it would be a full time job researching all the differences, so I reckon I'll just take the plunge and see how we get on.
When I rotated three kibbles, one grain free, the other two with grain, there was no difference in energy, coat, stool size or frequency. The grain free was lower in kcal/cup and I did have to feed a bit more of it. Kibble is going to have something in it to help it stick together. If it doesn't have grain then it'll be rice or potatoes or lentils or something.
Here's the link to my grain-free rant, if you're interested: https://thelabradorforum.com/thread...y-8-week-old-chocolate-lab.20121/#post-308867
Aha thank you! I did have a feeling it might be a bit of a 'fad', but equally I guess it might suit some dogs better and some worse, and so might be worth trying.
