Fevah Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Okay so this probably has been done many a time but indulge me please. I feed my dogs BARF generally but sometimes its easier and more efficient to substitute a meal with dried food. However, my problem is what dry food do I use? I hear so many conflicting stories that its hard to decide. For starters, Vets down my way generally stock Advance, Hills Science and Royal Canin but I've heard a lot of negatives about these (are our Vets behind with the times?) Some working dog owners use Coprice, but now it is believed grain is not good for our dogs. What are the grain free dry foods? Is there a resonably priced decent dry food? (As opposed to say Orijen, which seems quite pricey and hard to find) I'm looking for two types of dried, one for toy sized dogs, one for active medium-sized dogs. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 (edited) I love Royal Canin and I have seen a lot of happy dogs on it. All my dogs and cat eat it too I think its an excellent food and you can find the right food in the range for your dog. I love the giant adult kibble its the quarter of the size of my palm great for dry food gulpers! For the mini pins just get the Mini Adult (or there is also a Beauty, Sensitive, Dental, Indoor and light) for the Koolies you can get the Medium Adult. I wouldnt go getting the power formulas unless they are farm dog they get VERY hyped on those foods, even the Energy from Eagle Pack does that too. www.royalcanin.com.au Edited September 16, 2008 by Nekhbet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Not grain free- but we useThis One - our dogs won't look at the coprice- and Bonnie has become full of bran ,etc At least meat is the first listed ingredient .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest june.andnovas Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 which ever you choose make sure it has around 5% carbs. dogs just don't need carbs in their diet .. unless you have a medium to large breed puppy and an overly active adult dog. carbs is the main cause of bloat in dogs. dogs fed tiny amounts of carbs rarely get bloat, even though they used to when fed a high carbs dry food. go figure. as for cheaper low grain dry foods I'm not too sure. don't think there are many out there at the moment. I'm sure commerical pet food companies will take note of this "grain is bad for dogs" then create a grain free dry food, which is still packed full of grains. they can advertise that it's low in grains/fillers but don't actually HAVE to carry that over to their products. this sort of manipulation is already happening with commerical dog food. i plan on feeding my soon to be puppy (large breed) on orijen and then either stick to that or change to ziwipeak - which is the lowest in carbs. money is no barrier when it comes to my pets. Orijen isn't that difficult to buy .. im maybe planning becoming a stockist in Perth for Orijen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest june.andnovas Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Not grain free- but we useThis One - our dogs won't look at the coprice- and Bonnie has become full of bran ,etc At least meat is the first listed ingredient .... meat is the first ingredient but it's all cooked meat? cooked fish too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaceymegs Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 hi i use advance for both my pup and my cat. they are both doing realy well on it and it is easy to find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I didnt think there was any grain free dry food? I use a variety of brands. Most of the dogs get Optimum &/or Advance. I have one dog who can only eat Coprice, anything else gives him the runs. I have also used Great Barko very successfully too. I don't think it really matters so long as they eat it and you are happy to feed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 IMO there are three major considerations for any food. 1) Your dog/s eat it. 2) They do well on it. 3) It suits your wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 All dogs are different and what suits one won't suit another. I used to use Nutro which certainly didn't rate as one of the very best foods, but all my dogs did brilliantly on it. I have since tried three different foods all of which rate better than Nutro, but my dogs haven't done as well on them. I am currently using Orijen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 My dogs eat mostly a raw diet but I like to have kibble on hand as well. Some nights I simply forget to defrost their meat and they seem to enjoy the change of menu. I've been giving them Eagle Pack holistic which is an excellent food, but recently discovered Pro Plan Selects which they absolutely love and seems to agree with them very nicely! A friend gave me a bag she'd recieved as a breeder incentive, but because it was lamb and veges and her dogs can't have lamb, I ended up with it. The dogs would have happily lived on it, and even my very elderly Lhasa Apso (who is getting fussier with age) gobbled it down and looked for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileys mum Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 All 3 of my Aussie terriers are doing great on Eagle pack holistic dry food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Not grain free- but we useThis One - our dogs won't look at the coprice- and Bonnie has become full of bran ,etc At least meat is the first listed ingredient .... meat is the first ingredient but it's all cooked meat? cooked fish too? Our guys get a lot of home killed raw bones/meat- but when we don't have meat- they have dry. I guess for 2/3 the time they are on raw bones/meat... so some cooked meat in the dry doesn't worry me...they love it, hold weight on it, and it's cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamSnag Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 (edited) 2 of my adults are on Royal canin, but my pup is on Advance, she will be changed soon to royal canin also down the track But the kibble is only 1/4 of there diet a day Edited September 17, 2008 by SeaMonKeY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I didnt think there was any grain free dry food? Grain free food available in Australia: Orijen Artemis Maximal Ziwipeak Evo (only available at PP and their subsidiaries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Ah thanks laffi. Not sure I could afford to feed 11 dogs on any of those, but they look nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Ah thanks laffi.Not sure I could afford to feed 11 dogs on any of those, but they look nice Yes they are quite expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyra Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Advance Puppy, my two love it and it's always easy to grab when I'm at the Vets or Better pets and Gardens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chipper Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Duke (GSD) has Eaglepack Holistic along with RMB, chicken frames, sardines,eggs, youghurt. he had itching and goopy eye issues when he was eating Royal Canin and Pro Plan Lizzy, who is a rescue we adopted on Saturday is eating Supercoat Small Dogs because our Pet Store gave it to us. Not sure how good it is but we'll see how she goes. She also gets RMB, sadines etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEPING Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 inova is apprently the best but thats gunna cost you an arm and a leg for the large puppy i think 3.8 or 4 kgs is 45 dollars!!] but it is the best!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 inova is apprently the best but thats gunna cost you an arm and a leg for the large puppy i think 3.8 or 4 kgs is 45 dollars!!] but it is the best!! I think Evo is better than Innova (just from the list of ingredients point of view). Both of them are sold in PP or equivalent I feed mostly raw but I do use Orijen from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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