Gayle. Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I've always fed the dogs on super premium kibble and raw meaty bones, veges etc. The kibble makes up only a very small part of their diet...maybe 2 meals out of 14 in a week. I've tried various brands...Eagle Pack Holistic, Pro Plan Selects, Nutrience. The dogs have always enjoyed it to the point that I'd use kibble as training treats. Since Benson started to get his adult coat at around 4-5 months, he's had a dry, scaly, dandruffy patch on his back, extending from the base of his tail up to near his "waist". He's always loved a good scratch there and when I strip his undercoat out with a rake, he backs up for more and more to the point his skin gets red raw. It's obviosuly a very itchy patch and it looks it. I've tried various anti-itch washes and ointments but nothing ever gets rid of it. The vet saw it and declared it "developmental"...as in he'll grow out of it, his breeder said the same. Sometimes it would calm down and not be quite so flaky, other times he looked like a lamington. About a month ago, I was running low on kibble (Pro Plan Selects) but due to tight finances and Christmas depleting the coffers, I couldn't afford to replace it with a similar brand. So I did some reading on here and decided to give Uncle Albers a try. At $30 for 22kg, if the dogs didn't like it, I could donate it to the pound without crying about the cost. Fortunately they loved it. So, they're now having Uncle Albers as their two kibble meals a week. A couple of nights ago I was grooming Benson and it suddenly dawned on me that he had NO dandruff. No itchy patch...and in fact the skin there looks healthy and clear...not the dry scaly mess it usually is. Not only that, but his coat which has always been a bit on the dry side, is lustrous, shiny and looks absolutely fabulous. Could it be that he grew out of it? Or was it the kibble I was feeding him? I suppose I'll never know but I just love having a non-flaky dog with a beautiful jet black coat. Anyone else had a similar experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) Sounds like Flea Allergy Dermatitis? Just because of how you explained it. I guess it could have been the food? Edited January 21, 2009 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PixieOfWrath Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I don't think you could say for sure that it was the food, but my Holly is prone to dandruff and has none on the Uncle Alber's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Whatever it is I'm so pleased that your boy hasn't got his flakey skin any more, it would be a relief for you both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaz Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 We started changing our girls over to Great Barko (same company) just before I went away for 2 weeks, when I got back I noticed their coats were nice and shiny. This was a good sign to me as we were feeding Eagle Pack prior to this and I was wondering if they would lose condition. We still have some Eagle Pack left so sometimes feed them half and half, they mostly just pick out the Barko and leave the Eagle Pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Sounds like Flea Allergy Dermatitis? He doesn't have fleas. Neither of my dogs do, although I don't use any flea preparations....they just don't get them. I groom them thoroughly two or three times a week and check them right over for fleas because that's what I thought it was too, but I've never seen even a sign of fleas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Uncle Albers and Great Barko are FANTASTIC Aussie made foods. I found my dogs had great coats and condition on it. The only reason I am not using it now is that I have a dog that is wheat intollerant, so have switched to Coprice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 With the results I'm seeing and the anecdotes I've read on here, I'm thinking they can stay on it. My son recently acquired a little cross bred kelpie type puppy and was feeding her Pal tinned food. I gave him a good talking to about feeding her proper food and put him onto Uncle Albers as well. If he can't do raw then I thought he may as well give this a go, and I know for a fact he can't afford Eagle Pack or the like. I also gave him some tins of Natures Gift I had for emergencies. He switched his pup over to a better diet and is rapt with not only her condition, but the puppy-poop is now solid and her accidents are a lot easier to clean up than the slop she was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Great that the problem is gone and you will probably never know for sure if it was the food. I am another that based on comments on DOL recently bought a bag of Uncle Albers. I was a little tight financially over Xmas and they get about 2/3 raw anyway and wanted something cheaper than the super premium to fill in their diet with (not 100% raw due to lack of storage space and not always able to get good bones on an almost daily basis). I figured $28 for 22kg and if it wasn't great I would donate it to a rescue group and buy something else when I got paid next. Well I got paid this week and haven't gone to get anything yet as I am quite happy with how they are looking and also what I am cleaning up - I was worried there would be massive piles in the backyard but nope. Can't say how it is affecting coat so far as both Piper and Jazz are blowing coat big time right now so it will be interesting to see how the new coat comes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I've heard great things about Uncle Albers & Great Barko. I will be changing my boy over once he gets to a certain age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest belgian.blue Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I would try either of these two but you can't get them in Perth and I can't buy things online at the moment They've had good reviews! So maybe a kibble to try in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Where can you get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 I buy it at the local Petstock store. I've seen it at grain and feed stores as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) I buy it at the local Petstock store. I've seen it at grain and feed stores as well. Yes, I also buy it for mine. The premium foods for 3 dogs is getting a bit expensive on a single wage, so normally Coprice or Uncle Albers is also bought and mixed in to make things last longer Dogs do great on it !!! I get it from Petstock or any stockfeed store Edited January 22, 2009 by BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 We started changing our girls over to Great Barko (same company) just before I went away for 2 weeks, when I got back I noticed their coats were nice and shiny. This was a good sign to me as we were feeding Eagle Pack prior to this and I was wondering if they would lose condition.We still have some Eagle Pack left so sometimes feed them half and half, they mostly just pick out the Barko and leave the Eagle Pack. I was thinking of switching to EP but after reading the ingred. list I quickly changed my mind. Except for the giant breed formulas they all have ground yellow corn as the 2nd or 3rd ingred. The reduced fat formula has corn & br rice as the 1st 2 ingred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeak Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Where can you get it? In Sydney Pet Care 2000 (Taren Point definitely, Yagoona, I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySoaringMagpie Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Mine disliked Great Barko more than just about any other kibble. One refuses to eat it and the others only eat it if I mix it with another kibble. Is Uncle Albers similar in texture and smell? I noticed the Great Barko was pretty smelly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Uncle Albers isn't smelly, well not that I've noticed anyway. It has a strange texture.....very hard, slightly crumbly on the cut ends and quite "oily" to the touch. But it doesn't stain my clothes if I have it in the pockets so it's obviously not oil, maybe it's just the very hard, smooth texture on the sides that makes it feel like that. My oldie doesn't like it but she has hardly any teeth and can't chew it. But the Aussies just love it. It's a pity it doesn't come in 1 or 2 kg bags so that people could try it before buying a big bag. Not that it's a lot of money but it does take up a lot of space and if your dogs don't like it, it's still taking up space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Midniara~ Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) I used to feed mine this product before I put my dogs onto raw which is my preferred diet choice. Obviously raw is best but if you want to feed commercial and you are on a budget Barko's is a very good brand. I did find when mine were on it that they did poo more often and when they did it was a huuuuge amount. I also had to watch their weight as it was easy for my dogs to put it on with this product. Edited January 23, 2009 by ~Midniara~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The company might send you out sample bags - you can get sample bags at sponsored shows. I was buying mine from World 4 Pets at Vineyard but she stopped getting Great Barko and now only stocks Uncle Albers. My local Petcare Warehouse 2000 or whatever its called stopped getting it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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