Dog Food- Bonnie Vs Science Diet

[Oliversmum]

I've got one bitch on Bonnie and one on Pro-Plan atm. The bitch on Bonnie thrives on it. The other bitch doesn't do as well and has alot of waste. I changed her to Nutro and WOW. She does so well on it. I changed then to Pro-Plan from Nutro....Stupid...I only bought the Pro-Plan because it was on special and thought I'd give it a go. Not happy with the results for this bitch and will be heading out to get another bag of Nutro asap. But, in saying that, I had a staffy that thrived on Pro-Plan...

The point is, different dogs do well on different foods. And, I won't be changing Kip from Nutro again and will happily keep Asali on Bonnie. I also fed Bonnie to my Cattle Dogs for years and years and it suited them perfectly. Raised two Boerboels on Bonnie Puppy and never had a problem.

[MavericksMission]

My old girl did well on Bonnie.

My current dogs don't, lots of stool and very soft.

It is different for every dog.

Mine boys currently get Holistic Select and they are doing extremely well on it

[dee136]

These two american sites will help you work out what to look for on the ingredients list.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

I would love to know where HollyE got her rating info from. Australian RICE - anyone at the bottom end of the Murray like all South Australians would have to boycott on that alone.

Nestles make Purina One and Supercoat and a bunch of other brands of dog food and I avoid their products - even Milo for ethical reasons.

Hills Science diet - all you need to do to know it's wrong is read the ingredient list. I've shocked a few vet nurses by making them read it. Think I'll stick to boiled chicken and rice when my dog has an upset stomach not tinned science diet. My regular vet sells it but he doesn't recommend it. Hows that for twisted.

I feed Nutro Natural Choice - it gets a zero rating too and it's expensive but it doesn't give my dog the runs. I also feed home made casserole for the dog. And she is doing well on that. If I got really hungry I could eat it too, but it would need a lot of tomato sauce for flavour.

Artemis is a good dry dog food as far as ingredients go. But I haven't tried it yet.

Innovo would be ok if it wasn't sold exclusively by a chain that supports puppy mills.

Thanks. Went to both sites and had a read. Running low on food so heading to the shop tomorrow with my notes to spend 2hrs reading labels!! Lucky I have the afternoon off.

[Lyla]

Thanks for the links.

Some great info there, and a totally different perspective rather than just personal opinions. (not bagging peoples opinions tho )

I was always guided with my choices for kibble by checking the Protein and Fat %'s. After having a bit of a read of some of the reviews on Dogs Analysis I have to say I am shocked. I (stupidly) assumed that a higher protein content meant a higher meat content...obviously not as vegetable peel can be included to bump up the protein content. (!!??)

I am also shocked that some of the most expensive Premium Dry Foods (Advance, Beneful, Eukanuba, Hills Science Diet, Iams are the ones I have found so far and I am only half way through the list ) are only rated 1 star with an iffy meat content and high corn, wheat, beet pulp content which are all fillers which are not good for dogs and responsible for lots of allergies. How can these companies charge so much for something of such low nutritional value??

The site is worth a look at least for educating yourself about what the ingredients actually mean.

I have tried many different dry foods, and I also feed 1/2 raw diet, and I'd have to say my Labs (2 adults, 1 preg, 1 who has trouble keeping weight on, and 2 older pups are looking great at the moment and I am feeding them chiken & roo mince. Great improvement over feeding them straight chicken mince. At this rate I might have to ditch the dry....

[KitKat]

Just because meat is the first ingredient on the list doesn't make it a good food - often when meat is first on the list it is placed in top position while in the fresh form...eg full of water. Other products end up with meat second on the list due to them weighing in with the meat in dried form...it's much lighter with all the water out of it. Read your lables but don't just take them at face value.

Also look for the fat/lard/oil ingredient - usually everything before that on the list is what the food is mostly made up of and gives you the best indication of what is actually in the food and what will impact your dog the most.

ETA - JE - make sure your dogs are getting a balanced diet...eg for example half kibble and raw meat with no bone isn't balanced.

Edited June 23, 2010 by KitKat

[Lyla]

Just because meat is the first ingredient on the list doesn't make it a good food - often when meat is first on the list it is placed in top position while in the fresh form...eg full of water. Other products end up with meat second on the list due to them weighing in with the meat in dried form...it's much lighter with all the water out of it. Read your lables but don't just take them at face value.

Also look for the fat/lard/oil ingredient - usually everything before that on the list is what the food is mostly made up of and gives you the best indication of what is actually in the food and what will impact your dog the most.

ETA - JE - make sure your dogs are getting a balanced diet...eg for example half kibble and raw meat with no bone isn't balanced.

Thanks Kitkat, my dogs do get more than just dry food and mince, I was trying to not write a short story

They do get bones, chicken necks, eggs, veges etc, I just meant the the majority of their daily diet was dry / raw.

Doing lots of research at the moment on kibble and balanced raw diets, it seems the deeper you are willing to delve, the more involved / controversial it becomes. Happy to hear everyones opinions and make an informed decision with lots of facts.

BTW, what is your dog food of choice?

[Esky the husky]

I know a show breeder, who has his mallies and lappies on Bonnie with raw meats added.

They are all in great condition.

It is just a matter of what does it for you.

[KitKat]

My preferrences for my GSD's are Royal Canin for pricey foods (GSD specific food in particular...has no wheat even!), Uncle Albers/Great Barko for cheap food. As to raw foods - i've done the various BARF etc diets by the book and my dogs looked like crap - now they just get raw meaty bones when i'm not feeding kibble - no vegies, no suppliments, offal only on the odd occasion and the occasional frozen meat that's been dug out of my freezer and i'm not willing to eat

ETA - my dogs look great - except for Sabre who seems to be allergic to grass and dirt - tho we are now using pills on him for that and that problem appears to be resolving and he's keeping weight on/coat is back to being healthy etc etc.

Edited June 23, 2010 by KitKat

[3Woofs]

We feed Pro Plan... the salmon one.

I tried Bonnie for 3 months on my amstaff boy and he lost a lot of condition, had dry flakey skin, and was quite lethargic.

I then changed him back to Pro Plan and picked up within a few weeks of the changover.

Nice healthy coat, loads of energy and keeping weight well.

My OH also had a beagle who thrived on supercoat and pal so I guess every dog is different.

[all that glitters]

I wouldn't feed my girl Science Diet if it were free!

She was itchy and dull coated on Royal Canin. We are back to Eagle Pack Holistic Duck Meal now and she's got a shiny coat and less itch

[KitKat]

Different food, like for people, suits some and not others - i could probably give you a good and a bad example for each dog food (raw or dried) out there - a large variety have been tried out on my dogs (and cats) asi've worked in the industry and i'd not spruik anything i haven't tried my lot on. My lot haven't done great on a lot of foods but i know others who have outstanding results, same as my lot have had outstanding results on foods that haven't suited other dogs etc.

Edited June 23, 2010 by KitKat

[Lyla]

My preferrences for my GSD's are Royal Canin for pricey foods (GSD specific food in particular...has no wheat even!), Uncle Albers/Great Barko for cheap food. As to raw foods - i've done the various BARF etc diets by the book and my dogs looked like crap - now they just get raw meaty bones when i'm not feeding kibble - no vegies, no suppliments, offal only on the odd occasion and the occasional frozen meat that's been dug out of my freezer and i'm not willing to eat

ETA - my dogs look great - except for Sabre who seems to be allergic to grass and dirt - tho we are now using pills on him for that and that problem appears to be resolving and he's keeping weight on/coat is back to being healthy etc etc.

I'm on my first bag of Uncle Albers at the moment, heard lots of good things about it on another thread. It's great for my boy who struggles to keep weight on, but my pups are starting to look a bit weighty. Might give the Great Barko a go next time as its a bit lower in fat content.

Wish I could afford the Royal Canin, ingredients look a lot dif to most of the other kibbles, but with 4 dogs, 1 cat, 5 birds, 3 kids and all the bills, it'd be a bit of a stretch.

Should be rich soon though, got my annual litter on the way! :D :D

In regards to the original question, I have used Bonnie in the past and it was fine, but it is rarely available at my local lately. Usually go with Coprice if nothing else takes my fancy, been avoiding Pedigree as it gives all of mine the runs.

[KitKat]

My guys turned their snouts up at the Coprice...which was a pity as i've heard good things about it. I've used Bonnie and been happy with it in the past, but they did change their receipe when Purina took it over and i haven't tried it since.

With the Uncle Albers/Great Barko it is ok to feed a little less then expected - i found i could feed less of it then i would with most of the premium types and the dogs would be in great condition still. Even the younger one who drops weight at the drop of a hat. The cats even try and steal the stuff...kinda wish they made a dog food! With the RC (and most premium foods) it can be worth working out how much of it you ACTUALLY need to feed the dog and then rough out the cost per kg. And of course buy it in the biggest bag possible! Most premium brands also do a 'frequent purchaser' card where if you buy a certain number of bags in the same size you get a free one of that size. (Some places will give you the smallest bag that you've purchased on that card as your freebie...so if you have to get a smaller bag for whatever reason then give it it's own card unless you know the supplier will look past it)

[Lyla]

My guys turned their snouts up at the Coprice...which was a pity as i've heard good things about it. I've used Bonnie and been happy with it in the past, but they did change their receipe when Purina took it over and i haven't tried it since.

With the Uncle Albers/Great Barko it is ok to feed a little less then expected - i found i could feed less of it then i would with most of the premium types and the dogs would be in great condition still. Even the younger one who drops weight at the drop of a hat. The cats even try and steal the stuff...kinda wish they made a dog food! With the RC (and most premium foods) it can be worth working out how much of it you ACTUALLY need to feed the dog and then rough out the cost per kg. And of course buy it in the biggest bag possible! Most premium brands also do a 'frequent purchaser' card where if you buy a certain number of bags in the same size you get a free one of that size. (Some places will give you the smallest bag that you've purchased on that card as your freebie...so if you have to get a smaller bag for whatever reason then give it it's own card unless you know the supplier will look past it)

Thanks for the tip Kitkat! There is a buy x amount get 1 free with the premiums, but I can't remember if its 5 or 10. I get points for my purchases and get a $10 (woo hoo!) voucher for every 500 points, which doesn't take too long to accumulate anyway. Can't get the UA / BG there though.

I'm happy enough with the coprice, but I have Labs, so I can pretty much feed them anything, regardless of taste. Its like they are all trying out for the food olympics at feed time here!

[rotts4ever]

We feed Pro Plan... the salmon one.

I tried Bonnie for 3 months on my amstaff boy and he lost a lot of condition, had dry flakey skin, and was quite lethargic.

I then changed him back to Pro Plan and picked up within a few weeks of the changover.

Nice healthy coat, loads of energy and keeping weight well.

My OH also had a beagle who thrived on supercoat and pal so I guess every dog is different.

/quote]

I feed Pro Plan Salmon- Sensitive skin and stomach to one of my boys and he does great on it, problem is they are going to stop that product and make it in Aust soon, which will probably mean it will change and I will be searching for a suitable food again. They did the same when they took over supercoat, he was on special care they stopped making it and replaced it with sensitive (saying it was the same) it wasn't the same and he did badly on it.

I tried the other pro plan but couldn't keep weight on him and was feeding twice as much but on the salmon sensitive I had to cut him back as he was doing too well on it and looks good.

I have tried the same dog on Coprice and I kid you not it no sooner hit his stomach and he threw it up and mum's dog got the runs on it but it didn't effect any of the other dogs.

A couple of friends feed bonnie and their dogs put on weight easy on it.

With companies taking over other companies and changing food etc to suit their manufacturing and then putting the prices up, I haven't been happy so I have since stumbled across Artemis and tried it on a couple of dogs as well as growing a puppy on it and a dog with stomach problem that was on going. They have all done really well on it so far even the problem child so I will probably put them all on it. They have totally grain free as well etc. Only draw back is it isn't stocked everywhere but you can get it delivered from stockist or company direct (Breeders bags from Company direct minimum 2 bags).

It sounds like I change food constantly, I don't, the above is eg's over years of feeding and changing when products have changed and the dogs no longer do well.

I also feed fresh with any dry food

I live in NSW and get the Artemis delivered free, from a stockist, and mostly within 2 days sometimes the next day

I guess like others have said different foods suit different dogs. I have a couple of girls I can feed anything and they never have a problem and always look good.

It gets very frustrating when you have a product that works and then they go and change it though

Cheers Lee

[ellz]

I freely admit that most of my dogs are on Great Barko. Most are nowhere near the feeding recommendation amount or they would resemble the Goodyear blimp!! They also get good quality meat, bones and vegetables and for the "natural enzymes" component of their diet all really enjoy a good sneaked (or so they think anyway) feed of fresh, warm horse shit .

The food nazis are naturally absolutely appalled because GB/UA is apparently shit itself and no "decent" breeder would admit to feeding such a thing. However, there are MANY "decent" breeders feeding it, as well as many, many racing greyhound breeders and trainers so it really cannot be *that* bad IMO.

Costwise, at around $30 for 22kg, it is certainly not a drain on the pocket.

This is my youngster at 6.5 months of age, he has been on GB for about a month now. Photographs are un-photoshopped and unposed. Like the food or not, I think if anybody is honest with themselves, they can see that at this stage, the dry food is not doing this boy any harm.

[Lyla]

I freely admit that most of my dogs are on Great Barko. Most are nowhere near the feeding recommendation amount or they would resemble the Goodyear blimp!! They also get good quality meat, bones and vegetables and for the "natural enzymes" component of their diet all really enjoy a good sneaked (or so they think anyway) feed of fresh, warm horse shit .

The food nazis are naturally absolutely appalled because GB/UA is apparently shit itself and no "decent" breeder would admit to feeding such a thing. However, there are MANY "decent" breeders feeding it, as well as many, many racing greyhound breeders and trainers so it really cannot be *that* bad IMO.

Costwise, at around $30 for 22kg, it is certainly not a drain on the pocket.

This is my youngster at 6.5 months of age, he has been on GB for about a month now. Photographs are un-photoshopped and unposed. Like the food or not, I think if anybody is honest with themselves, they can see that at this stage, the dry food is not doing this boy any harm.

Absolutely agree!

Your boy looks fantastic.

After having a quick education in dog food ingredients it appears that some of the "better" foods are in fact not so good. After sussing out many of the brands ingredients list, the holistics seem to be best, but you will pay for them, and IMO UA / GB come in next...above the pricey premiums. Price does not equal quality. But each to their own, go with what agrees with your dog.

BTW ellz, mine get their natural enzymes foraging for cat shit in the garden!