1st Puppy, dog food recommendations please

[Rich Marshall]

Hi all, my pup is now 6mths old and ready to move on from puppy to regular food.

He's a Spoodle (Springer Spaniel/Poodle) and I've been giving him Iams puppy so far.
Totally confused by the massive choice available so I'm looking for a bit of help.

What food do you recommend?
And just as importantly - what have you tried and do not recommend?
Dry food, SWMBO has a problem with the sloppy stuff

Thanks in advance

Rich

 

[Sparky83]

Might help people if you give us a picture of your little fella

(your dog I mean)

Although it might make no difference at all, I just want to see a springer poodle.

 

[nonumb]

I use wainwrights which is basically a clone of James wellbeloved. 37 quid for 15kg and lasts me around a month. Seems good and the dog is growing well. Don't most puppy foods say to keep on for a year? Mine says 18 months but it is large breed.

 

[RottenFox]

James Wellbeloved or Wainwrights, WainWrights do wet food tubs, and smaller "tester" ones, so you can see if your dog likes it or not.

 

[nonumb]

James Wellbeloved or Wainwrights, WainWrights do wet food tubs, and smaller "tester" ones, so you can see if your dog likes it or not.

Also comes with a money back guarantee according to the person who sold it too me at first. No need to buy a tester. Have to agree on dry dog food I can't stand the smell of the wet stuff.

 

[dvdphile]

We've got a labrador and she's been on Eukanuba, James wellbeloved, Royal canin, and Pero. I'd say Royal Canin is the best but also very expensive. Pero is similar but much cheaper. She seems to like James wellbeloved too but I've not tried Wainwrights yet.

Avoid the cheapo stuff like Baxters!! You've only to compare ingredients to see why it's cheap!
When mine is being fussy we just sprinkle some cheese on and she eats the lot!! ;-)

 

[Rich Marshall]

Might help people if you give us a picture of your little fella

(your dog I mean)

Although it might make no difference at all, I just want to see a springer poodle.

Some pics here
Ralph - a set on Flickr

 

[Rich Marshall]

I use wainwrights which is basically a clone of James wellbeloved. 37 quid for 15kg and lasts me around a month. Seems good and the dog is growing well. Don't most puppy foods say to keep on for a year? Mine says 18 months but it is large breed.

Yeah, the Iams says 12 months but he's bored of it, tried him with a some cheapo Wagg which he devoured in seconds - it came out at a similar pace so just want to switch varieties.

We've got a labrador and she's been on Eukanuba, James wellbeloved, Royal canin, and Pero. I'd say Royal Canin is the best but also very expensive. Pero is similar but much cheaper. She seems to like James wellbeloved too but I've not tried Wainwrights yet.

Avoid the cheapo stuff like Baxters!! You've only to compare ingredients to see why it's cheap!
When mine is being fussy we just sprinkle some cheese on and she eats the lot!! ;-)

He's not a big dog - springer size at the moment so cost isn't an issue, there's a great petfood place which sells the sacks for 30% less than high street stores nearby anyway. I'll try some small bags of the above you mentioned, thanks....with cheese

 

[wbabbington]

We use Burns for our 2 Shih Tzus. They do wet and dry food and ours wolf down both sorts. It's similar to Wellbeloved in that it's all natural stuff, thats hypo allergenic (think thats the right term!) and created by a vet.

 

[Sparky83]

Some pics here
Ralph - a set on Flickr

Thanks! He is a lovely dog!!

 

[rousetafarian]

Don't flame me for this but my vet who assisted when my Westie was diagnosed with Canine IBS recommended Chappie of all things.

Compared to the other supermarket brands it was far better for IBS. Before his condition his was happily fed on Eukanuba and James Wellbeloved.

PS He is a little belter, very cute!

 

[NewfieDrool]

My old Newfie has gone through just about every dry food out there in the 8 years he's been with me. Never had such a fussy eater however I give him raw chicken, beef, lamb, salmon, tuna and prawns and some greens too along with whatever dry food I have at the time.

 

[gibbsy]

We feed our Cocker on Royal Canine. They have a good selection of puppy foods and many are breed specific, I'd go with the Springer food as that is by far the more active of the cross.

Dog food is big business now. When my wife was working for various companies we fed our dogs on whatever firm she was currently working for. Never did them any harm and they seemed to enjoy the change. The only food they really turned their noses up to was Hills Science Diet. Our Cocker, Irish Setters and Field Spaniel ate the same.

Do not give your dog cooked bones. Raw chicken wing tips are fine as is raw neck and breast of lamb which are brilliant for giving body condition.

I love the names they give to crosses nowadays.
Cocker Spaniel/Irish Setter....Cockinirish
Bichon Frise/Cocker Spaniel....Freezingcock

 

[rousetafarian]

When my Jack was struggling with his IBS we made batches of yams (Sweet Potatoes) and minced turkey breast which he loved. I would strongly recommend avoiding the rubbish on the shelves in supermarkets and either make your own and keep it in the fridge or by James Wellbeloved or similar

 

[RottenFox]

Pets at Home do large 5kg(I'm sure that's the weight), of minced frozen chicken and beef, along with fish and tripe blocks, works out pretty well, around £3.50, and is light enough to be served with an egg(If your dog's into them), or a little amount of dried food either as a normal meal, or an "after illness" meal, like after or during diarrhea, or other bugs.
Easy on the old tum..

We've tried loads, but settled on what our Husky loves, and we finally found a winner in, the frozen Chicken, with equal James, an egg cracked in, or scrambled, and some chopped carrot.

 

[woppy101]

I feed my bulldog fish4dogs and she is on of the fittest bulldogs I have ever seen

 

[severe dainjah]

we feed our Springer Spaniel on Skinners - its a good quality kibble for working dogs and is VAT free so costs a good deal less than the likes of Royal Canine... about £27 for 15KG.

Our fella has no complaints, he's lean and has a lovely coat - cant recommend it highly enough.

 

[bigtruck]

Have a look into raw feeding and see if it's something you could do. Best thing I ever did for our dog:
RawFed.com Home Page
The Many Myths of Raw Feeding

 

[simon ess]

Please don't flame me for this, it's a genuine question. I would love a dog at some point but have never had one, although a lot of friends have.

Whatever happened to good old stuff like tripe and butcher's scraps?

Some of the healthiest, happiest dogs I've ever known have been fed on that sort of stuff, together with proprietry dog biscuits.

Have the dog food marketing people succeeded?

 

[bigtruck]

Have the dog food marketing people succeeded?

Short answer is yes Simon. Have a look above

 

[rousetafarian]

Short answer is yes Simon. Have a look above

Home cooked yams and turkey mince hardly falls into the marketing trap my friend

 

[simon ess]

Home cooked yams and turkey mince hardly falls into the marketing trap my friend

I wasn't making any reference to individual posts, I was just wondering about the general thrust of the majority of the posts.

 

[bigtruck]

Home cooked yams and turkey mince hardly falls into the marketing trap my friend

I didn't say it did
The question was, "Have the dog food marketing people succeeded?"

My answer to that was yes & my "look above" comment was to my post in relation to the earlier part of Simon's post as it appeared he had missed my post. I was certainly not calling out other the dietary choices of other posters

Edit - although I agree with your suggestion to avoid the shelves & make your own. What that consists of is another debate ;-)

 

[simon ess]

I didn't miss it, I was supporting it

 

[rousetafarian]

I didn't say it did
The question was, "Have the dog food marketing people succeeded?"

My answer to that was yes & my "look above" comment was to my post in relation to the earlier part of Simon's post as it appeared he had missed my post. I was certainly not calling out other the dietary choices of other posters

Edit - although I agree with your suggestion to avoid the shelves & make your own. What that consists of is another debate ;-)

My error, I jumped to conclusions (as usual )