Right, here goes.

I've got 3 dogs, 2 Chihuahuas and a Shiba Inu. I have all 3 of them on a mix of raw and Orijen dry food, all of them are in fantastic condition with lovely coats and are very energetic which I believe is down to their food more than anything else.

Now my friend has an 18 month old American Akita/GSD cross, I hadn't seen her dog since she was a puppy but I went around last weekend and noticed the dog was in pretty poor condition compared to how she looked as a pup.

Not that she has been neglected or anything, she loves the dog. However her coat felt brittle and had a kind of greasy film on it (the kind that you really don't want to run your hand through), plus she stank to high heaven and had an ear infection which has been ongoing (for which she was being treated for). In her bowl was a load of brightly coloured kibble which looked a bit like Bono biscuits. Now I'm assuming that it's the dogfood which may be contributing to the poor coat condition I asked her what brand it was and I think she said "Wagg" she said she bought it because it was cheap, around a tenner for a huge bag.

Anyway I managed to convince her to try feeding something higher quality however, she is unemployed and on a tight budget and can't afford Orijen (even though I offered to pay half) and is too much of a wimp to try raw, which is a shame as it's pretty cheap from Landywoods.

So if anyone could suggest some cheapish brands (available in the UK) which are a decent improvement over the Wagg that would be really helpful. Also if I did convince her to switch how much should a dog that size eat (she is more Shepherd size than Akita IMO).

Thanks Mucho
Sarah