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

I have just had a fairly long thread running about this for afriend of mine (titled is money important or similar in dog-chat)

Some of the ry brands suggested were:

Autarky
skinners
chappie

Chappie got the most votes, but the others were a close second. If the dog doesnt have a sensetive stomach to wheat etc they should be fine. I too cant convince my friend to go raw or for a quality wet food.

I cant comment on feeding amounts as i only have a tiny dog lol - but i'm sure someone will be along to help!

One thing to consider though, is that for the better quality (e.g arden grange and burns) the feeding amount is usually less than on a cheaper dog food. This is because of the quality of the ingredients, dogs need to eat less to extract the same nutrients. So the actuall cost per feed can be not that much more than the cheaper brands. If a cheap 10kg bag lasts a fortnight, a better quality might last a month..... worth looking into the feeding guides.

Does it really have to be dry? I cant reccomend naturediet enough - and if you buy in bulk it really is price comparable!

I don't think Arden grange is expensive if you shop around - Berriewood sel the lamb for around £25 per bag, but ou really need to be spending a fair bit to get the maximun discount of dry.

BUT - I found somewhere on the net recently that do two bags of AG Lamb including postage for £46 (bargain if ever I saw on).

Another brand that you won't find in the shops are CSJ - the premium brand is around £30 for 15kg - but they also do a budget range at half that, worth checking out maybe, and they are a lovely company and will send samples.

If you have any influence on your friend whatsoever try and steer her away from the wagg
regards
DT

the cheapest i've come across is sneyds wonder dog premium, £18 for 15kg's & contains something like 27% chicken & nothing artificial added.

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"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

Noushka - I know of the sneyds I almost mentioned it, but it is not is very many shops I don't think at the moment, you can find it in garden centres and farm shops in our area but thats about all, They are quite a small company I think, near Doncaster If I remember right, They gave me quite a bit to try about a year ago and one of my dogs loved it,

Do you know how the Premium compares with the GOLD - only the reason I aask is that I don't find the labeling two clear, I know the gold is 22% protien and 7.5% oil but thats about all I can remember. Onlt the reason I ask the last time I saw it in our farm shop the Gold was just £11.99 for a 15kg bag
regards
DT

Hello DT, i live near Doncaster & my Hubbys getting layed off soon so i've been looking for alternatives to AG, I spoke to the chap who i think owns the company & he asured me he sources all the ingredients himself & the premium food was developed by someone who worked for leander (AG) i believe its 24% protein, i dont know about Gold though, any way i've ordered 2 bags to try from a shop in Edlington they'll be coming a week on thursday, if you want me to get some for you to try, i can meet you at a Newark show if you like also something else thats very important to me is that they dont test on animals! Jo xx

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"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

Here is link that tells ya ingredients etc..
Vale Feed Company - Sneyd's Wonderdog® - Quality working-dog food - Shaftesbury, Dorset

Skinners is great no artificial additives and only £15 for 15kg, was highly recommended to me when I could no longer afford Arden Grange and havent looked back since. The only thing is he's on the Maintenance at the min which does have cereals in, so I am going to change him over to the duck and rice soon which is free from all that too.

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skinners looks really good, We will be trying that once Zebs an adult.

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Owner to-
lots of rodents
2 monster dogs
1 slinky cat

You can get Autarky from Costco, its £10.99 for 15kg, which i would happily feed mine if i was on a budget

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