[LahLahsDogs]

..................

 

[Diesel the Crazy Dal]

Im pretty sure its up there as one of the better brands - cant tell you about the ash

I personally use Taste of the wild adult because aswell as having very good ingredients, it has a high fat content (the adult has more fat than the puppy too), so for me, its cheaper because i feed less and it helps to keep the weight up on Gizmo with his raw.

I know there are people that will give you better info but fish4dogs is a good food and was on my shortlist after reading the thread in the nutrition section.

Taste of the wild came out on top because it was the cheapest without substituting quality.

 

[Emmastace]

As well as looking at ingredients you also need to look at the feeding guide and work out how much you will need to feed. There is no point in getting cheap crap then having to feed twice the quantity. You just end up with an undernourished dog, loads of poo and no better off financially.

 

[WeedySeaDragon]

I've not been as keen on Fish4Dogs since they changed the recipe. We had two bags in a row which really didn't agree with any of our three. We swapped onto Acana Pacifica and it's brilliant, I don't think they've ever looked better. They love it too and it smells much nicer than the last couple of bags of F4D we had.

Ash in food isn't actual ash, it's a blanket term for inorganic ingredients like the minerals in the food.

 

[leannelatty]

I feed fish4dogs and have fed orijen previously but prefer fish4dogs for Basil as orijen gave him the squits! Its much richer than fish4dogs but agrees with Basil much better. His coat is very shiny, somoeone even said he looked like he'd been polished up with boot polish! Only negative from me is that his breath smells a bit fishy!

 

[Bisbow]

Before Holly was on her renal diet I tried Fish4dogs and it made her very sick, and anything with fish in upset her tummy.

It was not long after that, that she was diagnosed with her kidney condition. I am not saying thats what caused it, I don't think it did if I am truthful but I am suspicious because they changed it.
I may be a bit paranoid, but thats just me

 

[Dimwit]

I tried Orijen for my dog but it didn't seem to agree with him so he is now on Acana which he looks fantastic on. He has had fish4dogs in the past which he also did well on but as I use a lot of their treats and also the salmon mousse I wanted him to have some non-fish variation in his diet...

 

[SixStar]

Have you had a look through here - http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/255727-updated-dry-dog-food-index.html

This explains ash in dog foods - http://www.ehow.com/about_5118687_purpose-ash-animal-feed.html

 

[SixStar]

Yes I was having a good look at this post earlier... it's been really helpful. Thanks

I've been looking mostly at the foods highlighted in green, but i've noticed that most of these are quite high in fat (around 17% in most). That does concern me a bit as although my boy is very active and always on the go, I don't want to feed him fatty food. Am I wrong in thinking this?.. 10% fat sounds better to me, but maybe i'm looking at it wrong. I suppose the food with 10% fat has more grain/rice in it which is also not ideal. I'm looking now at Markus Muhle as it's got some great reviews, but it does seem to have more corn that i'd like. However, due to the way it's cooked it's apparently not so bad... The world of pet food is crazy! :scared:

The green rated foods do tend to be higher in fat, purely because they have more meat in them, and less/no grains compared to the red or orange rated brands, for example, which have lots of cereal in, which has a lower fat and calorie content than meat. But don't forget the RDAs of the green rated foods are generally much lower, so you don't feed as much as the food anyway.

Also, the high end foods tend to contain added nutritional oils such as salmon oil etc, which pushes up the oil/fat content.

I don't rate Markus Muhle that highly - it's cold pressed rather than baked at high temperatures, which retains more nutrients, but doesn't change the ingredients!

 

[mummyschnauzer]

Im pretty sure its up there as one of the better brands - cant tell you about the ash

I personally use Taste of the wild adult because aswell as having very good ingredients, it has a high fat content (the adult has more fat than the puppy too), so for me, its cheaper because i feed less and it helps to keep the weight up on Gizmo with his raw.

I know there are people that will give you better info but fish4dogs is a good food and was on my shortlist after reading the thread in the nutrition section.

Taste of the wild came out on top because it was the cheapest without substituting quality.

"Taste of the wild" is good, but after a lot of research I found Canada comes out tops regarding PET food, they monitor very carefuuly what goes in, and its nearly all fresh produce, I have always fed Orijen, especially up to 12 months old, and I know it is expensive, but what I do I have a good outlet for fresh HEART, so I give a small amount of Orijen and fresh heart and this way it is more economical. Offal is good if you can get it. I tried the BARF, but he had terrible runs, and he wouldn't eat food raw, so I lightly cook the Heart and it goes down the throat a treat. LOL

 

[Skoust]

I have heard great things about Acana

Raleigh is on raw at the moment, but with my two cats I started them on Orijen but they had the worst poops ever :s Changed them over to Fish4Cats which they love and they now have great poops! I honestly think it varies to an extent from pet to pet. As long as you are feeding your pet a good quality food and he is thriving on it, I wouldn't necessarily worry about it being the 'best'

 

[SixStar]

Apart from the corn flour, is there anything else in it that concerns you?... I've read such great reviews about it, so it'd be interesting to hear the other side of the coin.

I think i'd like to avoid the really high meat content food. Rufus has a sensitive tum, and too much meat does give him the runs. He likes it and tolerates it in smallish amounts but too much (especially red meat) makes him have sloppy poop. I've found that if he has some meat, but not too much he's much better in the toilet department.

I do not like the corn flour, brown rice flour, rice germ or corn germ that it contains. Far too much grain for me! And I avoid corn (maize) like the plague. How about a fish and potato based diet? These tend to be very gentle on a sensitive stomach, are highly digestible, and very palatable to a fussy dog.

 

[sianrees1979]

i bought some fish4dogs to try the small dogs on (i like to rotate their food) and dinky doesn't normally like eating dry on it's own i have to mix some wet (naturediet etc) in with it for her to even eat it, i put some fish4dogs down and she loves it, so it's passed princess dinky's seal of approval :thumbup:

it does stink so i keep it in a air tight container on top of the fridge

 

[missnaomi]

We're having a diet change too - and after extensive sampling and testing have settled on Orijen. Fish4Dogs was a close second and something I imagine we might use in the future too. Our dogs were excited to eat the Orijen and it seemed to agree with them, I was happy with the ingredients so we made the decision...

Will let you know how it goes!

 

[Guest]

How big is Rufus? I honestly swear by ziwipeak, although I acknowledge its too expensive for big dogs.

 

[Guest]

How big is Rufus? I honestly swear by ziwipeak, although I acknowledge its too expensive for big dogs.

If I`m correct, he`s a French Bulldog. Please do correct me if I`m wrong lol

 

[Diesel the Crazy Dal]

"Taste of the wild" is good, but after a lot of research I found Canada comes out tops regarding PET food, they monitor very carefuuly what goes in, and its nearly all fresh produce, I have always fed Orijen, especially up to 12 months old, and I know it is expensive, but what I do I have a good outlet for fresh HEART, so I give a small amount of Orijen and fresh heart and this way it is more economical. Offal is good if you can get it. I tried the BARF, but he had terrible runs, and he wouldn't eat food raw, so I lightly cook the Heart and it goes down the throat a treat. LOL

I cannot give offal really as we have a dalmatian (have to be very careful with thier diets inc no offal) aswell as the Rhodesian. I try to feed the same as it gets expensive and the storage is an issue

I would have loved to feed orijen but they eat so much between them that it really would cost me far too much more Its currently costing us £120 per month.

 

[babycham2002]

Before I fed raw my Chinese Crested Percy did much better on Acana that orijen (ranchlands I do believe it was)
Willow (golden retriever) was on fish4dogs and it suited her fantastically, I do rate it very highly although I hadnt heard about this recipe change mentioned previous.

I think 10% is too low a fat content really and the good healthy fats that are in the higher quailty foods alongside the lower feeding needs ( Willow never needed as much f4d as it said on the packet) means it is much better for the dogs.

 

[[email protected]]

I feed fish4dogs to my lot and they thrive on it but you do get what you pay for I feel when it comes to decent dog food. I love the fact that I can feed a complete diet and treats and mousse and oil all from a quality company. The fact that they've introduced pea to one of their complete ranges doesnt bother me for the GI balance and I must admit, I have just ordered a sack of their new Superior range out of curiosity with the added spirulina etc.

Its not just how fantastic your dog looks on a decent diet, its what comes out the other end that is also important. When we're all clearing up after our animals, it is so much easier to pick up a fish4dogs poo than a cereal based diet poo!!! Fish4dogs, small and firm.....cereal based, huge, sloppy and disgusting! This is all fresh in my mind, so to speak, as I have been helping a friend out today who has two very large labradors fed on a cereal based food (crap, I call it!) and Oh boy, when it came to clearing up after them I was retching!!!! Their coats are dry and dandruffy and they fart like theres no tomorrow!

 

[BessieDog]

After turning down fish4dogs I ordered a trial pack of Origen for Bess. She wouldn't eat one tiny bit.