With dog food the 'you get what you pay for' is not so applicable. Due to the competition i think a lot depends on whether the manufacturer has their own processing equipment. Arden Grange and Burns i think use a firm for manufacture and so costs are much higher. Pet shops stock what'll bring in the better profit. Also the range is so vast they can't stock all. Of the kibble food i like the muesli mix and dogs do seem to love it.

But then again if something like Burns is 55% rice... i don't see that it is better than me cooking rice on the stove and adding meat and vitamins.

I have two of my dogs on a raw diet and I couldn't be happier with how they are thriving on it.

However I get quite annoyed by comments like the above - that feeding raw is the ONLY way to have a healthy happy dog. What a load of bullocks! My dogs ate super premium dried food for years and they did well on it, just not as well as they now do on a raw diet.

Not every dog can eat a raw diet. I have an elderly dog here who I did change over to BARF but she has a lot of allergies and can't stomach red meat and a variety of other raw foods. She did worse on a raw diet than she did on dried food. So I feed her a combination of raw chicken and Artemis dried food and she is now back to being a healthy happy dog, as her allergies are being managed.

There are also a variety of medical conditions that create intolerance to raw foods, while I always recommend a raw diet, it is not suitable to every dog.

Sometimes I think raw feeders are doing themselves a disservice by being so gung ho about their diet, I LOVE feeding raw but there are many dogs out there who thrive on good quality dried food too.

Now to the thread at hand - we can't get Orijen in my country as it was pulled from the shelves due to the irridation issue, so I feed Artemis to one of my dogs which I am very happy with. I recommend Eagle Pack Holistic too.

Actually I agree with you

A raw diet to most dogs is the best, but that doesnt mean its a one size fits all diet. Not every dog can tolerate a raw diet, not every owner is able to provide a raw diet. My pup is now on a combination of raw meaty bones n chicken wings along with naturediet. I moved from totally raw (with burns biccys which he detested) to ND for convenience. I go away with family alot, and it takes alot more forethought and planning to take a raw diet with me. It also means when i go on holiday and he goes off to visit family I know they will be confident in feeding him.

Another point I made in a different thread was....

We all moan and complain about the cheaper off the shelf supermarket dog foods. But they are still amongst the most popular in the country, there must be hundreds of dogs living happily on this diet out there, we just dont get to see them on here. Ok their diet might not be the best quality and full of additives, but it is obviously working for these pets and their owners.

And it does not (IMO) do pro-raw feeders any favours by trying to guilt people into feeding 'their' way (i.e. raw is the only way for your dog to be happy and healthy).

I definitely agree with your last point, although there are a lot of health problems that are caused by poor nutrition. Grains are one of the main (if not the number one) food allergies in dogs. Many dogs survive on dodgy food but they aren't necessarily doing well or thriving as they would on a better quality diet.

And cost is definitely no indicator, as any raw feeder will tell you, it can be quite an economical diet to feed. There are so-called premium foods out there that I would never feed (Science Diet and Eukanuba are two that immediately spring to mind) and they can be quite expensive.

I've looked all over the Chudleys site but I can't find a list of the ingredients, could you please have a look and let us know what's in the food.
Thanks very much Terri

I've ordered some Acana so i'll see how I get on with however I was wondering what the difference between normal dog food and the senior one is.

I'm hoping the senior is simply lower fat/less calories as Shiro really does gain weight easy, if it's the case that it's lower fat I might try out a bag or Orijen senior.

I give my pup weebox puppy you can get it in asda.

I give my adult dogs wagg working dog dry food.

With reference to what you said in your first paragraph i couldn't agree more. There is a yahoogroup who are totally and dangerously [in my view] fanatical about feeding raw meaty bone diet. Ten/fifteen years ago the recommendation was meat and biscuit and raw marrow bone once a week to clean teeth. I agree with this. Due to our house it is not practical to give a raw meaty bone due to the size of the kitchen. If i had a nice big conservatory with easy clean tiles i would probably go down that route.

My greyhound had been fed on a cheaper dry complete and due to the longer digestion time it was giving her problems in old age. Once on meat and biscuit problems went.

There is good dry complete but i am concerned about the long term effects of contained preservatives. When the ingredients say 55% rice etc - how can that possibly have as much nutrient as meat-biscuit [ 2 parts - 1 part]. I can go to the gas stove and cook up a recipe rice 55% etc.

I don't trust the manufacturers that's all.

I think my dogs are the best judges, to be honest. If they are more active, in great condition, healthy, etc - then I figure that their diet is working for them.

I spend a lot of time choosing the right dried food, and there are a few grain free brands out there too. While I prefer raw, I don't think dried food is made by the devil especially when you consider the vast majority of dogs eat it and most do fine on it - and that would be on the cheap crappy or average brands!

My little chi cross is ten years old and you would never guess it. We regularly get asked if she is still a puppy. Ten years ago we had no idea what made good food or bad food and she has probably tried just about everything - cheap and nasty dried food, average premium food, tinned food, super premium good quality dried, raw etc. I am very happy feeding her Artemis at the moment and I doubt I will change her diet again.