Supercoat Puppy

[terror x 3]

Although money is tight (I hear u on that one as i have 3 little piggies!) id go for super premium foods like Nutro or Royal Canin, they are all ur dog needs nutritionally. i used to work for a big pet store and learned about all the foods extensively and found them to be the best. if u cant afford those as they are quite expensive what about trying roo mince as well as dry food?

[Poodle wrangler]

My standard poodle did poorly on SC Puppy, however the older mini poodle did well on it a few years back.

Eagle Pack, Nutro etc. are not for those on a tight budget- more expensive than Iams (I think) and similar $ to Eukanuba. The vets will be the most expensive place to buy, I would have thought. Vets are often not the best to advise on standard dry food diets. Different if your dog has special health needs.

For supermarket ones, both Optimum and Purina One will reimburse you for up to 4kg bag of dry food (1st purchase). You sign up online. Perhaps a good way to try it? I tried the Purina One Lamb & Rice and both dogs liked it, though now I find they only do Chicken & Rice in 7kg bags . Stools good.

I find supplementing with chicken necks/ frames, brisket bones and pet mince is economical. As long as you have a little freezer space. If stools are loose, try adding some of these to pup's diet, less dry. This worked well for my larger dog.

Other foods in the SC price range include: Bonnie puppy, Coprice puppy. Similar quality. Read the ingredients. Some aren't worth the extra $.

[bommy]

If $$ are tight look into the possibility of a raw diet as well.

In all honesty though you should feed what YOUR DOG does BEST on.

I get the same results from a mix of OPTIMUM & RAW as what I do on the premium brands.

Just do a bit of trial & error to see what works.

Some websites will also offer trial bags.

[DistinctivelyTish]

Not a big fan of it. My pup was on Innova initially - poor weight gain, dull coat. Then I swapped her to Optimum after reading the discussions on this forum. I realise there are better choices out there, but on a student budget, I need to make realistic choices. Optimum's been great, she's got a good coat now and firm dark stools (minimal). I bought a 2kg bag of Supercoat Puppy the other day (on a friend's recommendation), and instantly regretted it. Much larger stools, soft, light coloured and it stinked to high heaven. Needless to say I've got her back on Optimum.

[Janba]

I feed supercoat (runs and ducks for cover) and don't have problems. It consists of 1/2 my dogs diet on volume. The pup gets 2 cups a day and the older dogs one. The rest of the diet is raw meat, eggs, vegies etc. They all have soft shiny coats and if I have a weight problem it is that they get too fat. I don't have a soft poo problem.

Since putting me older BC who has allergies on supercoat sensative his skin has improved and he no longer needs daily medication. He was dreadful on the hills allergy food.

[ellz]

Totally agree Bommy.

And the other thing is too, whilst it might work out to be a similar cost to feed a premium food OVERALL....you still have to have the initial $$$$$ to outlay in the beginning.

There is no way on earth I can find $70 or more for one small bag of food at ANY time in my budget period, no matter how long it lasts for.

I personally feed either Optimum or Pedigree puppy to my babies and then when they are older, they are put onto what my other dogs eat and that is Great Barko.

[oakway]

I have just tried the Innova EVO I am most surprised at what it has done for the

12 month old that wasnt putting on weight. It has no grains in it. It appears

to be a barf diet in a complete dry food.

By the way Kibble is not a complete food. Kibble is is the name referred to just

as a filler. If you are feeding Kibble, your dog is not getting much value from it.

Years ago Greyhounds were fed Kibble with their meat. The Kibble was there to make them feel full without putting on weight.

[Kirty]

My dogs have always had Supercoat or Bonnie and have always done well on it. My BC x had a super sensitive tummy when she was a puppy and we tried EVERYTHING in order to find something that didn't give her the runs. S/C was the only thing she could tolerate, so we switched our other dogs to it as well. Never had any problems with it. My dogs have nice shiny coats and the poops aren't too bad (as far as poop goes!).

[Teebs]

In all honesty though you should feed what YOUR DOG does BEST on.

.

I just went back to SC yesterday, i had nurto, but at the moment i cant afford it, nor can i find it. Dogs stopped liking Nurto a while back, i have been mixing it with other things to gety them to eat it - they LOVE SC. I have not had a problem with it with kaos - she does very well, never had any extra poops with it either.

I am looking for something else for Atlas, he has been known to get skin problems, that is why i went to Nurto, but he wont eat it, so i have to sus out what else is around.

Any ideas of a cheaper food that is great for skin problems? He is also a dog that puts weight on very fast. And NO, i wont be raw feeding (just for those that want to sneak it in! )

Sorry to hijack - and in the puppy forum

[stormie]

I have just tried the Innova EVO I am most surprised at what it has done for the

12 month old that wasnt putting on weight. It has no grains in it. It appears

to be a barf diet in a complete dry food.

By the way Kibble is not a complete food. Kibble is is the name referred to just

as a filler. If you are feeding Kibble, your dog is not getting much value from it.

Years ago Greyhounds were fed Kibble with their meat. The Kibble was there to make them feel full without putting on weight.

I'm confused... Isnt kibble just the american word for dry food? All dry food sold has all the dogs nutritional requirements from it, some just have more fillers in them than others, hence why some produce more poo than others.

Another thing to consider, while the super premiums cost more than the supermarket foods, you actually feed less it per meal than what you would if you were feeding supermarket, as it has a higher digestibility. Have a look on the labels of the foods, not just at ingredients, but also had how much it says to feed. One might suggest you need twice as much as another which costs more, but turns out the more expensive one is more economical... Hope that makes sense!

My dogs have all been fed on supermarket foods from day one and are now all 14 years old and have never had skin or other health problems (touch wood!) other than their elderly bone issues now. In saying that, though, my next pup, a giant breed, I will more than likely feed Eagle Pack as it has the correct levels of nutrients needed for a giant breed.

Just work out what your pup does the best on and go from there, but remember to make any feed changes gradually!

[Gomez the Norfolk]

I have just tried the Innova EVO I am most surprised at what it has done for the

12 month old that wasnt putting on weight. It has no grains in it. It appears

to be a barf diet in a complete dry food.

By the way Kibble is not a complete food. Kibble is is the name referred to just

as a filler. If you are feeding Kibble, your dog is not getting much value from it.

Years ago Greyhounds were fed Kibble with their meat. The Kibble was there to make them feel full without putting on weight.

Eagle Pack Holistic, Nutro, Naural Balance, Innova - these are ALL complete foods.

Kibble is dry dog food -

[BC]

On the subject of supermarket foods, what does anyone think of Purina One ?

This is sold in 7kg bags from the supermarket for about $30.00 which I think is a similar price to the "better" dry foods that are sold in a 20kg bag for example. This would then be $90 approx for 20kg of Purina One if comapring to the other prices.

Is it any good though ?

Edited July 14, 2007 by BC

[oakway]

Hi Gomez,

Kibble is dry dog food in lowest form. Little or no protein and very very low in fat.

That is why it was fed to Greyhounds so as not to put on weight.

All it does is to make a dog feel full. A lot of people refer to dry food as Kibble.

One should always refer to the analysis. Typical analysis means just that. This batch

might have so much fat the next batch may have more. That's why the manufactures

use the word Typical. Maybe a better word might be average analysis.

Guaranteed analysis is what you need on the bag. The manufacturers guarantee, what

is stated on the bag is correct.

[oakway]

On the subject of supermarket foods, what does anyone think of Purina One ?

This is sold in 7kg bags from the supermarket for about $30.00 which I think is a similar price to the "better" dry foods that are sold in a 20kg bag for example. This would then be $90 approx for 20kg of Purina One if comapring to the other prices.

Is it any good though ?

I have used it and found it to be very good. After using it I went onto breeders

bags of Proplan.

[Steve]

If you have to feed a commercial food .Supercoat is a good as any of them from a health point of view and if you want to make less poos add some Thrive D or similar which you should add to any commercial dog food anyway.

[fifi]

I think one of the problems is that company's will change the recipe or mix, depending on prices of ingredients, supply, ect...

We used supercoat as our mixer with raw food for ten years and all did very well with not a single bloat issue. then I noticed the ingredients change and also swap places on the list ie; the meat went down and grains & fillers went up.

Same thing happened with bonnie, full boar, and boomer.

Our dogs began to look crappy, lose weight, dry coats and have nasty poos. We finally gave up and tried a few different brands, but have been using Optimum for a while now with success.

We like to feed a large proportion of raw, but often find supply difficult or prices inflated in a small town, and have to have a quality mixer kibble.

fifi

[stormie]

Hi Gomez,

Kibble is dry dog food in lowest form. Little or no protein and very very low in fat.

That is why it was fed to Greyhounds so as not to put on weight.

All it does is to make a dog feel full. A lot of people refer to dry food as Kibble.

One should always refer to the analysis. Typical analysis means just that. This batch

might have so much fat the next batch may have more. That's why the manufactures

use the word Typical. Maybe a better word might be average analysis.

Guaranteed analysis is what you need on the bag. The manufacturers guarantee, what

is stated on the bag is correct.

Eagle Pack has a guaranteed analysis....

My dogs eat kibble, and follow the recommended amount required, and are all healthy weight.

If this were the case, ie little or no protein and very very low in fat, we'd be seeing a LOT of unhealthy, underweight, malnourished pups and dogs at the vets. Most of our overweight patients have always been fed on kibble only.

[Lowchenlove]

If you have to feed a commercial food .Supercoat is a good as any of them from a health point of view and if you want to make less poos add some Thrive D or similar which you should add to any commercial dog food anyway.

What is Thrive D Steve?

[cavNrott]

Hi Gomez,

Kibble is dry dog food in lowest form. Little or no protein and very very low in fat.

That is why it was fed to Greyhounds so as not to put on weight.

All it does is to make a dog feel full. A lot of people refer to dry food as Kibble.

One should always refer to the analysis. Typical analysis means just that. This batch

might have so much fat the next batch may have more. That's why the manufactures

use the word Typical. Maybe a better word might be average analysis.

Guaranteed analysis is what you need on the bag. The manufacturers guarantee, what

is stated on the bag is correct.

I'm a bit confused You are referring to 'Kibble' as though it is a brand of food.

Kibble is a generic term which refers to all brands of dry dog food. Maybe the Greyhounds were fed a very poor quality dry food which had very little in the way of quality ingredients and was high in grain/fillers with little nutritional content.

Not all brands of dry dog foods (kibble) are equal.

As Stormie said, Eagle Pack and a couple of other quality bands have a guaranteed analysis and therefore can't be lumped in with a cheaper, poor quality dry food that contains mostly filler grains.

[ellz]

Kibble is a generic term which refers to all brands of dry dog food.

Not in the truest sense of the word. Kibble was ORIGINALLY a specific type of dry food. In older times it was largely bread soaked in milk and baked and fed as a filler. It has progressed somewhat since then.

There are a range of Box One foods which include a kibble. This resembles no dry food I've ever fed but is commonly purchased in bulk by greyhound racing people I'm told. We used to feed that and Meat Bits at a major sighthound kennel at which I worked some years ago.