[Lubob]

We have 5 dogs (3 mini long haired dachshunds, 1 terrier and a german shepherd) and after reading the posts here I am keen to get them off the food they are currently on (Bakers!) they are all fine on it, good coats, teeth etc but I would love to hear from you with your advice.  Thanks Lu

[HappyHippy]

Hi Lu,

We had 2 german shepherds, both on Bakers at the time of the behaviourists visit. One of them was absolutely fine on it, but not the other. I think that every dog will react differently to certain foods.
For a while we fed Costco's own brand (but were near a store at the time) Kirkland Signiture Complete, it's really good and not too expensive (especially if you compare it to Iams & the like) but for now we just use a complete working dog mix, whatever happens to be in stock / best price (working dog food is VAT free, as far as I know) - since we managed to wean him off the mince he'd been getting at grannys ! He's not happy, I'm sure the mince was much nicer ! But he's realised that it's all thats on offer now and eats it quite the thing.
Your shepherd and terrier should be fine on something like that - not sure about your dacs though, they might need something a bit finer, but never having had any I wouldn't know for sure.

Karen 

[Rosemary]

We feed Burns complete. I used to cook them chicken and brown rice then discovered that Burns was the same but easier! Tess was a very picky eater and the vet said she might have a colic when she ate. She's fine on Burns and they both really like it. It's quite expensive but they don't need much.

[doganjo]

There are a great many different animal foods on the market - it is really a case of suck it and see mostly.  I always use an extruded food for my dogs now as it is so much easier but they don't always like it - if I see that they are going off one I change it (gradually) to something else.  However, I have recently been given a bag of a new food to try and I would even eat it!   It smells EXACTLY like salmon - it is made of salmon and potato, and the dogs just love it - to the extent that i have started using it as training treats! It's new - if anyone wants to try it, let me know.
What you need to look out for is not too high a protein content if the dogs is not working hard all day - for instance a farm collie that is herding most days and for a few hours a day might need a higher %age than say a Chihuahua - but that's pretty obvious.  I try to keep mine at around 21% and they are pretty active dogs - HPR gun dogs. I try to limit the fat content too as that puts weight on - my spayed bitch gets the same food as my other dogs and is at least twice their weight, but doesn't run so fast or for so long.  Sandy will tell you the speed my Brittanys go at, she's seen two of them!

[countrygirlatheart]

We use James Wellbeloved which is hypoallergenic and based on turkey and rice, pearl barley, seaweed etc  (they also do other flavours - lamb/duck and different varieties e.g. puppy/junior/senior/light).  We have two pointers and I chose this food as I wanted to avoid the risk of skin problems which some foods with lots of additives might bring.  The dogs look great on it.  It is however pretty expensive and can be as much as £43 for a 15kg bag in a local pet shop (although I have managed to get the same bag elsewhere for £31 ?! )    It always amazes me that you can get a 25kg bag of sheep feed for £7 but you have to pay £43 for 15kg of dog food

[BadgerFace]

My three dogs ( Otterhound and two patterdale terriers) are all fed Dr. Johns Silver (7.99 - 15kg) raw green tripe, and raw lamb breast. I also walk fox hound puppies for the hunt kennels and they are fed the same as my dogs, with the addition of ewe milk and raw eggs for breakfast and plenty of raw bones. The puppies also get SA37 supplement and my elderly Patterdale (14 this summer) has Superdog MSM to keep her youthful !! In fact I think I should try some myself 

[confusedwhippet]

We have six dogs (5 whippets and 1 deerhound) and we feed them on food from The Natural Dog Food Company and our dogs love it.

We add cooked vegetables, pasta and scrambled eggs in to mix it up a bit.

[doganjo]

Just goes to show we all have different ideas, different dogs, and many of us add stuff to what is supposed to be a balanced scientifically calculated dog food!

[lordlonk]

nat buys for kaiser her german shepherd chappie in tins -she swears by it -Hes very happy with it - we often also get him burns and james well beloved - I look at some of the stuff in the supermarkets and you have to wonder how little protein some of that actually has -good we all choose correctly ....

[doganjo]

Dogs can happily survive - some of them do very well - on 18% protein.  I prefer mine to be on 21%. You have to look at all the ingredients, and the amount of each, and as I said previously, each to their own.  If your dog is happy, healthy, energetic, shiny coat, clear eyes, outgoings normal then you have found the correct combination, whatever it is. Personally I wouldn't feed an all tinned food, nor a raw diet.  I prefer extruded/kibble as it helps keep their teeth clean.

[pierre]

... I feed Ozzy and Breeze with McCaskie's (Farm suppliers in Stirling, Ayr, Crook of Devon and Lanark) own brand Chicken and Rice nuggets, available in both 19% and 23% protein... I buy the 23% and it is only £11.64 for 15kg.

Both dogs luv it....

Cheers
Pete
 

[lordlonk]

i will tell my ex - her and the  hound are off to perth this weekend for 5 days -thats high protein and she may consider that as a good one to try - Thank you

[doganjo]

Anything over 21% can cause skin problems

[Lubob]

Will definately try McCaskies - sounds like a good buy.  Thank you 

[Rosemary]

I might try the McCaksies one too - it's a lot cheaper than Burns, which is about £40 for 15kg. I need to go there for sheep hurdles anyway.