Australian Made, Premium Dog Foods?

[cj-b]

No, not all imported kibble is irradiated.

Sags

Some is though, am i right?? How would you know which ones??

I have found, that if their website doesn't state their products haven't been irradiated, than it most likely is irradiated. They would be promoting it with a big flashy icon or somthing if it wasn't, IYKWIM, like the Canidae website, big flashing irradiated free icon. But that is what I have come to learn anyway.

As long as I'm supporting australian jobs buy choosing to buy australian made products, that's what matters most to me. I would love for the Brand that I buy of anything, to be australian owned as well, but if it isn't as long as it is australian made, I'm happy. :D

Edited August 2, 2010 by cj-b

[Remarkabull]

There have also been some problems with imported dog foods.

Pro Plan is being switched over to be made in Australia. Check the bags as some is made here now.

For Australian owned you could look at Nature's Gift and Great Barko/Uncle Albers.

I have fed Natures Gift in the past (I now have 5 dogs and it dosn't come in big enough bags) and am currently feeding a mainly raw diet with Uncle Albers added. I found both to be good products and alot more affordable than the so called 'premium' dog foods. All of my dogs are doing really well on it and seem to enjoy it, although my little dogs did seem to prefer Natures Gift.

[cj-b]

There have also been some problems with imported dog foods.

Pro Plan is being switched over to be made in Australia. Check the bags as some is made here now.

For Australian owned you could look at Nature's Gift and Great Barko/Uncle Albers.

I have fed Natures Gift in the past (I now have 5 dogs and it dosn't come in big enough bags) and am currently feeding a mainly raw diet with Uncle Albers added. I found both to be good products and alot more affordable than the so called 'premium' dog foods. All of my dogs are doing really well on it and seem to enjoy it, although my little dogs did seem to prefer Natures Gift.

I was curious to know how the little dogs go on UA or GB, I had some samples sent out to me not long ago. My boy is still a puppy and only 5kg, so he had trouble with the kibble size, but I'm hoping once he is fully gorwn he will manage well, as it seems like a great food. How big are your little guys?

[Remarkabull]

I was curious to know how the little dogs go on UA or GB, I had some samples sent out to me not long ago. My boy is still a puppy and only 5kg, so he had trouble with the kibble size, but I'm hoping once he is fully gorwn he will manage well, as it seems like a great food. How big are your little guys?

My smallest dog is 3.5kg. He is a JRTx. He is over 2 years old and fully grown and has no problems eating UA. My other 2 littlies are approx 5-6kgs and they also have no probs getting it down, but again they are adult dogs with adult teeth so that would make it easier for them. I'm sure as your pups gets bigger and gets his adult teeths in it will be alot easier for him to chew the kibble. Can't remember cause I threw the bag out, but I thought it said on the back of the UA bag that for puppies you could wet the food with water or milk (lactose free) to make it easier for them.

[oakway]

There have also been some problems with imported dog foods.

Pro Plan is being switched over to be made in Australia. Check the bags as some is made here now.

For Australian owned you could look at Nature's Gift and Great Barko/Uncle Albers.

I have fed Natures Gift in the past (I now have 5 dogs and it dosn't come in big enough bags) and am currently feeding a mainly raw diet with Uncle Albers added. I found both to be good products and alot more affordable than the so called 'premium' dog foods. All of my dogs are doing really well on it and seem to enjoy it, although my little dogs did seem to prefer Natures Gift.

I was curious to know how the little dogs go on UA or GB, I had some samples sent out to me not long ago. My boy is still a puppy and only 5kg, so he had trouble with the kibble size, but I'm hoping once he is fully gorwn he will manage well, as it seems like a great food. How big are your little guys?

I have Whippets and Italian Greyhounds. The Italians cope well with Uncle Albers.

[staffordgal]

The Uncle Albers kibble is half the size of the Great Barko one, so little breeds should cope well on the Albers.

My staffords love both kibbles, so I alternate between them.

Cheers

Staffordgal

[cj-b]

There have also been some problems with imported dog foods.

Pro Plan is being switched over to be made in Australia. Check the bags as some is made here now.

For Australian owned you could look at Nature's Gift and Great Barko/Uncle Albers.

I have fed Natures Gift in the past (I now have 5 dogs and it dosn't come in big enough bags) and am currently feeding a mainly raw diet with Uncle Albers added. I found both to be good products and alot more affordable than the so called 'premium' dog foods. All of my dogs are doing really well on it and seem to enjoy it, although my little dogs did seem to prefer Natures Gift.

I was curious to know how the little dogs go on UA or GB, I had some samples sent out to me not long ago. My boy is still a puppy and only 5kg, so he had trouble with the kibble size, but I'm hoping once he is fully gorwn he will manage well, as it seems like a great food. How big are your little guys?

I have Whippets and Italian Greyhounds. The Italians cope well with Uncle Albers.

Thanks. I think I will try the UA or GB again once I have finished the Nutro, then he will be able 12 months anyhow. The only thing that concerns me, is it has wheat, and we have had skin issue with our boy. But I'm hoping that he is out growing the cause of that, so wheat will hopefully not be a problem. Guess will just have to try, wait and see.

Thanks to you both for letting me know about the smaller dogs on it. Ver handy to know other small dogs have no problem.

[Gayle.]

I have had to do a big rethink on my dogs diet. They were on mostly raw but my girl developed a sensitivity to it and would vomit up every meal I fed her. So I gradually switched them back to mainly kibble. They had done well onuncle Albers in the past so that was my first choice but my girl isn't too keen on it this time around, and it feels and smells different. So I tried Supercoat as that is Aussie made and her breeder feeds it to her dogs. Now they get a mix of both and I am very happy with how they look. In fact much happier than when they were on raw or even on mire expensive kibble.

[JulesP]

I had trouble with the GB. I think because of the wheat. Was rather disappointed.

[cj-b]

I have had to do a big rethink on my dogs diet. They were on mostly raw but my girl developed a sensitivity to it and would vomit up every meal I fed her. So I gradually switched them back to mainly kibble. They had done well onuncle Albers in the past so that was my first choice but my girl isn't too keen on it this time around, and it feels and smells different. So I tried Supercoat as that is Aussie made and her breeder feeds it to her dogs. Now they get a mix of both and I am very happy with how they look. In fact much happier than when they were on raw or even on mire expensive kibble.

Is that a mix of supercoat and raw? or supercaost and UA? Just ask as I have also thought about feeding supercoat sensitive and raw.

[Gayle.]

Combo of all 3 actually. They get a raw chicken piece for brekkie, then a mix of UA and Supercoat for dinner with tablescraps or sardines or just on it's own. I would be happy to feed just Supercoat and raw and ulitimately, I think this might give us the best result of a dog who likes what she eats and also looks good.

[harley]

Nutro Senior is being phased out because of poor demand. I had a thread on this a short time ago.

[Pointees]

I feed Advance, and raw.

One meal Advance, one meal raw.

I think my girls look lovely. I'm very happy with the way they are on it.

[Parkeyre]

Australian Bred Raw meat is perfectly good.

[Gayle.]

Australian Bred Raw meat is perfectly good.

Not if you've got a dog that can't tolerate it. Poor Dusty, she loves her meaty bones but it's heartbreaking to see her heave and gag and vomit everything back up within minutes of finishing it. And she's not a fussy dog either, as far as food goes but seeing as she can't have raw, feeding her a kibble she really likes but also keeps her looking in top shape is now my priority.

And to be honest, both dogs look and feel a lot better now they are on mainly kibble. Their coats are a lot softer and silkier. When they had all raw, their coats were quite harsh and dry.

I think you need to do a fair bit of research to get the balance of a raw diet correct.

[willis08]

May I please ask why it has to be Aust. made ?.

There are plenty of good quality import foods on the market that would be considered by some to be better than the local product.

And there are ALOT of imports that are marketed here in O.Z as premium

that are far from it. The only thing PREMIUM is the price!!

Alot of dog food from the U.S that contains fish meal contains Ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is used in pesticide's and is also used to harden rubber, it's also used in dog food.

Artemis only stopped using Etoxyquin in their fish meal based food in may 2010, and they would be considered GOOD QUALITY.

[Dory the Doted One]

My main problem with Advance is they charge the same/similar price as the Premium Imported Products.

Why? It's suppose to be Australian Made and Owned. I thought it would be cheaper as the rate of exchange would be a non-exsistant issue.

When I have asked the Reps why, this is the answer I get....

Because it is a SUPER super Premium food.

I kid you not.

Plus Dory it hates it and it makes her itchy anway.

[Remarkabull]

Turn the bags over and read the ingredients list on them. They generally have all the same ingredients just sometimes in a different order. ALOT of the so called PREMIUM products are full of corn, beet pulp and other nasty, not necessary ingredients. There are only a few available IMO that are genuinely worth paying top dollar for. You may as well save yourself some money and get a bag of the cheaper stuff.

[stormie]

I wouldn't say that all foods that don't state their not irradiated must be. There has been one food that we know of that was, which is now unavailable because of the problem it caused. They don't even know for sure it was the irradiation that caused the problem.

As for Australian made kibble, I'd be going one step further and wanting to know their ingredients are also sourced from Aus. Just because it's actually made here, doesn't mean they aren't still importing the ingredients from overseas.

[JulesP]

Pro Plan doesn't seem to have dropped in price now it is being made here. I've questioned a couple of reps and have got evasive answers too.

Rice is usually imported from overseas.

There is a food called Holistic that is in a plain white plastic bag. I use that a fair bit. It is made in Australia. A person involved with it is a DOL poster. Will see if I can find the website.