[pierre]

... Annie ...

Ozzy .... The Prince of Darkness... has been fed on 23% protein all his 9 years... and hasn't had any skin problems... yet....

... perhaps it helps that he's a cross... A Ruff coated Somalian Terapin hound .....

Cheers

Pete

[doganjo]

Makes no difference whether a cross or not - if you mate a bloodhound that has genes for hip dysplasia to a cocker that has genes for entropion you could get both in the hybrid.  Hybrid vigour isn't necessarily seen in dogs due to the complex nature of the genes and alleles.  You've just been lucky.  I still wouldn't give my dogs any more than 21% protein unless they were working a number of hours every day.  Most gundog people feed higher in shooting season but season is only 4 to 5 months out of 12.

[kanisha]

depends on the dog my gordon seter has always been on no less that 26% protein at a boney 24kgs he needs all that he can get and was on puppy food for several years ( hes 8.5 ) and hes never worked a day in his life.

[Cobnut]

My pooch (a cross bred mastiff type) used to eat James Wellbeloved, and I only stopped buying it when it cost almost £40 for 15kg! He did well on it though so no complaints. Now he eats Chudley’s Classic and does just as well on that for a fraction of the price. As it’s for working dogs it’s VAT free (according to the retailer). My previous dog, a Rottweiler, did well on Chappie complete, which was very cheap at the time and recommended by the vet.

[Lubob]

Trying McKaskies 19% and all 5 of them seem to love it.  Will let you know how it goes over time ...

[pierre]

 

Lu....

... that's a result... then ...

Pete

[syde house chooks]

Hi, I feed my three gun dogs ( 2 springer spaniels and an Irish red and white setter) on Beta Active and they thrive on it.
They are all agility dogs and this food gives them a good balance of energy levels.

[Juno]

I feed my two (springer spaniel and patterdale terrier) Baileys working dog bites, they are both doing great on it and i think it is VAT free too, so i'm happy as well x

[gillandtom]

I am new to this dog thing after only being an owner to an 8 month working cocker for  the last 3 weeks.  She was a rescue dog from springer rescue Scotland and they recommended I use Autarky as it has been developed especially for working dogs. It has antioxidants, herbs and nothing extra added.  This is the link from their website however I have managed to find it a lot cheaper at Costco £12.75 (vat free) for 15Kg rather than the advertised £21.50 on their site.

http://www.autarky-foods.com/dog-adult.asp

I would be interested to hear from anyone else if they have used this food.

[Mush4brains]

I've got 5 (Lab Xs, Spaniel X, Foxhound X) and Naturediet Lamb and Senior-Lite suits them brilliantly.  They are fit, glossy coated and very chilled.  It's lower protein than any other I've tried but everything else I've gives them all the squits.  Not good, en masse.  I have a lurcher too but he doesn't count-he eats when he feels like it and is more picky than a super-model.  He rules my life. The only thing guaranteed to get him off the sofa is a sausage roll or dead rabbit.

[jameslindsay]

I put my 3 Cocker Spaniels onto Burns Food many years ago and they are doing brilliantly well on it. Gynty has a skin condition that we cannot get to the bottom of but her litter sister also has it but much worse. Since putting onto the Burns her skin is soooooooo much better so I swear by it.

[doganjo]

My young lad has been scratching a lot lately and have had him on Dr Johns Gold for about a week.  It hasn't made any difference so he is going onto Challenge Salmon and potato tomorrow - 20% protein, no cereals, pure products etc, but not cheap at £28.50 for 15 kg.  I think I know the possible cause though - the Goudnie Burn which runs through my garden and runs into the Black Devon, has been polluted YET AGAIN!!  It is running grey water.  I have complained to Scottish Water regularly at least twice a month since last July and still it is no better.  I daren't let my ducks out in it and they are going bananas, and I use the burn for training water retrieves with Allez so it is d"£$%^d annoying to say the least.  I'll try to keep him out of it for a few days to see if that helps.  I don't know what to do about the Burn though.

[Frieslandfilly]

I have 4 large dogs, 1 collie, 2 husky and 1 Heinz variety, needless to say they all have different requirements and sensitivities. I looked into the BARF diet, bones and raw food and put them on it nearly 3 years ago.
One tip is that your local butcher has to pay the bone man to take away the bones and meat scraps he has butchered so its worth going along and asking if you can have some of it, ours eat chicken carcusses, lamb and beef bones, the huskies also have pork skin for the fat content especially in winter as they live out, also offal, all raw not cooked, it helps him keep costs down and you get free dog food.
We also give the dogs eggs, carrots and apples, they also get to lick out the empty margarine tubs, if any of them get an upset stomach which is rare on this diet we give them pasta. Also there are not piles and piles of poo as the body uses up most of what has been eaten.
They are not over weight and their teeth are excellent, no build up of tartar or bad breath, my vet said she has never seen them look so healthy.
Its not for everyone, or every dog and I would recommend doing your research for whatever type of dog you have but worth a look.

[catomell]

Hello, interesting topic for discussion. Every dog being different obviously! We have six dogs (seven till recently, but had the 16 year old lurcher put down). Two Irish Setters, Two Collies, One Labrador and One Aged Lurcher. They are respectively 4 years old, three, two and fifteen. All get own brand dried food (Mole Valley Farmers) as it is the cheapest working dog food available to us locally. The setters eat four times the amount that the collies do, yet do considerably less work. The ancient lurcher has his soaked for 24 hours prior to feeding so that he can easily slurp it up. All six dogs thrive on this diet, and it doesn't cost us too much - approx £20 per month to feed all six. They do get additional bits such as any unsaleable eggs from the hens, off cuts of meat when we have recently slaughtered and are butchering the lambs, pigs, cows etc. And as there is normally some leftover meat from our regular roasts, they get that as well. Not to mention they often help themselves to the chicken food, pig food, sheep nuts, goats milk etc. A varied, and sometimes balanced diet!! Cat.

[xnbacon]

We went though several dry foods for our 2 (collie and dalmatian) often finding what suited one didn't suit the other, culminating in Welbeloved which was expensive, they always seemed hungry and didn't suit one of them.  Faced with the prospect of buying two different types of dog food I switched to BARF, using frozen minces, butchers bones and veg.  Since then both dogs have eaten pretty much the same diet, their condition has improved and I have the flexibility to give them different diets if necessary.  Also it has the advantage that I can use 'human' food if the dog food happens to run out.  I'm not sure it costs me much less than the Welbeloved, but I feel is better for the dogs and certainly more convenient for me.  I can imagine that having 'free' meat available would be an advantage in reducing costs.  I did worry a bit to start with that I might not get it quite right, but to be honest I think most of us survive quite well on a diet that is less than perfect and as no two people seem to be able to agree on what a perfect diet is (human or canine) I suspect it is unattainable in practice!