Hey

I currently feed Burns Chicken & Brown Rice. I am concerned about the rice content and I'm thinking of changing over to Applaws Chicken Dry and Chicken Fillet Wet tins. The dry food has 75% meat and 25% veg and the tin has 75% meat, 1% rice and 26% water.

I want to feed dry and wet because people on here state that feeding just dry isn't good so I'm thinking of offering a meal of dry and a meal of wet. The Applaw tin is a complimentary food and the dry Applaws is a complete food.

I've looked on the Pets At Home site, and it says that a 11kg dog should be fed around 5-6 tins of wet. sounds an awful lot. And the dry fed alone is 150g for a 11kg dog. So do I halve both amounts, and feed 75g of dry in the morning and 2.5-3 tins in the evening?

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I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

Why are people saying that feeding just dry is "not good"?

Are they trained nutritionists?

And you have highlighted the problem with mixing foods, one is a complimentary food, one is a complete, if you halve the quantities, what happens?

I wouldn't pay any attention to a feeding guide tbh. However much Burns you are giving him, feeding solely dry I'd probably try him on about 75% the quantity of that.

If he's doing good on it I'd introduce a tin of the wet (I say a tin, they're quite pricey really so I doubt I would want to feed more than one per day) and drop his dry by another 25% or thereabouts. But the key is the Applaws wet isn't complete and I wouldn't really want to mess with those kind of ratios.

Just keep an eye on him as you go and give him more or less if you feel he looks better or worse. I would expect him to need a bit less than the Burns though as the ingredients include more meat.

Don't feed dry and wet just because people tell you its not good. If you like feeding dry then just feed dry. I did a combination because its my personal preference, just like now my personal preference is raw etc, but its not like I feed raw because other people tell me I should, nor did I feed wet and dry because other people said I should, its because it was what I felt was right.

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just read a review and apparently neither are complete foods, as they don't have added vitamins and minerals.

Apparently feeding just dry isn't natural and there isn't any variety.

He's fed 120g of burns currently (and this has kept him at a constant weight). So should I feed around 90g of dry per day alone? seems a small amount.

and then reduce dry to 68g of dry per day and add a tin of wet per day? is it ok to feed dry and wet in the same meal? or should i feed the dry and wet separately?

Although feeding dry is very convenient, i wonder if he would like to have some wet in his food as well. I'll try him with wet but if it doesn't agree with him, I'll put him back on dry.

__________________
I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

TBH I wouldn't listen to anyone who says you must feed wet AND dry because its more natural, at the end of the day if people really felt like that I cannot think they would want to feed anything out of a packet

As a massively vague guideline the above is probably more what I would go with. He'll be eating less rice and more meat which his body can actually use and won't be pooping out. Dry food often seems like a small amount anyway as it has so little moisture in it whereas with wet foods being 75% or so moisture it looks like there is more there for the dog to eat.

I know the tins definitely aren't complete no idea about the dry now really its not a food I take much interest in. Personally I would probably opt for a complete wet if you want to give it daily so opt for another brand than Applaws, just because you do want to make sure he's getting what he needs.

Have you thought about soaking his dry a little before hand? Plenty of folk do that and just feed dry no wet etc. At the end of the day if you are happy with Ollie on Burns keep him on it, don't let anyone else sway you into something else is right for him just because it is for them.

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Be careful you do not create a fussy eater! Healthy dogs will eat most anything (we are talking about animals who will drink out of toilets, lick their bottoms, enjoy horse poo etc etc)

He's fine on Burns but I just think maybe I should be feeding something better?

I've been looking at other wet foods, such as Naturediet, Naturesharvest and wainwrights. Wainwrights looks best (70% meat, 5% rice and minerals), whereas Naturediet has 65% chicken, 10% rice, 7% veg and added vits and minerals, and Naturesharvest has 65% chicken, 21% rice, some veg and added vits and minerals.

However, wainwrights trays are just 1/4 pack fed per day (if fed alongside dry) and it wouldn't keep for long enough. I think Naturediet is probably best (I could use a whole tray in 2 days), the tray is relatively cheap and its got the added vitamins and minerals that i need.

__________________
I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

Smokey Bear, it says here about the tins being complimentary under the description:

MPM Products Limited Applaws Natural Cat & Dog Food

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This says its a complimentary food:

Applaws Adult Dog Food Tin with Chicken Fillet 156gm | Pets at Home

I don't want to make him fussy. he used to be fussy as a puppy but it was because he was fed too many treats so wasn't hungry when it came to dinnertime. I suppose if i add the wet, i can't take it away again can I?

__________________
I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

I like NH because it has glucosamine and chondroitin, plus I liked the range of flavours. I was wary of WW because I dislike having to rely on Pets At Home which is of course the only place you can buy it. ND had problems with blown packets for a time which put many off them for a while.

Its a known fact on here that people do not generally agree or abide by the WW wet feeding guide.

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