Ok, I have a Pug and a King Charles Spaniel - both puppies aged 5 months.

I know there are various foods out there and I really want to the best for my boys. I am currently feeding them Orijen or Eukanuba puppy (2 meals per day) and either Natures Diet, Natures Menu or JWB Pouches (1 meal per day)

I haven't a clue which is best in content and know there are certain things that a dog can't break down, which one is better or should I be looking at Arden Grangem Burns, Wainwrights, any other brands

They have been fine on both but I want to buy a brand and stick to it rather than changing around.

Any help is appreciated

Many Thanks

Andrea

orijen is a really good food.... eukanuba is one i would avoid. if you find orijen is too expensive, arden grange is just as good, but less expensive. burns is a good food for overweight dogs as it has a high rice content.
basically avoid foods full of additives or preservatives, generally foods heavily advertised on telly eg baker, pedigree, eukanuba
avoid cereals such as maize as these cause biscuits to swell unless soaked beforehand

your best bet i would think would be orijen and you can mix any of the pouches, they are all good to excellent in quality: IMO natures menu is best, JWB next then Nature diet.

but apart from eukanuba, i think youve chosen really good foods. when all said and done, whatever suits your dogs.

one of mine thrives on raw the other goes like skin and bone on raw, yet raw is the preferred choice for many, and its my preference because i know what they are getting, but just not possible with one of them

> if you find orijen is too expensive, arden grange is just as good, but less expensive.

The thing is Orijen is 70% meat and that is what you are paying for. With the others, even those not packed with artificial flavours/colours/preservtaives, you are getting a lot of carbs, which are cheaper, put in to the mix. For quality ingredients I think Orijen wins handsdown in the dry completes. My dogs have a combination of Orijen, Naturediet and a BARF-type diet with raw meat/fish/offal/eggs/veg etc.

Orijen is great, so is ACANA :)

I Feed royal canin, i know some people are not a fan of the brand but i like it and my dogs do too! It is half price at the moment in petsathome £7.00 for 3kg bag might be worth a try.

Good luck, Lois

I use natures menu in tins for my two poodles, I have tried Nature Diet, Natures Harvest, Wainwrights and pouches of Natures Menu but my two def prefer the tins of natures menu the consistency is different to the other brands so this is probably why they prefer it. I think it is a very good quality food and doesn't contain any preservatives or fillers. I also buy Royal Canin mini sensible for fussy eaters which I put inside Kongs for them.

is acana available here?

Only place I have seen it available in Uk is via zooplus.
K

Bern Petfoods (http://www.bernpetfoods.co.uk/), who import Orijen, will have Acana from Spring 2010. Both Orijen and Acana are produced by the same company (Champion Petfoods).

ok! -  misswager said it was good, just wondering if anyone has tried it? its all well and good being healthy if my dog wont eat it!!!! lol

Not tried it myself, but looking at the Champion Petfoods website it looks pretty much like Orijen, just a different percentage of ingredients. Orijen is basically 70% meat, 30% fruit/veg etc, 0% grain - 40% protein. Acana grain-free (they also produce products including more carbs) is 60%, 40%, 0% - 33% protein. They seem to cost about the same. Check out the website for more info (http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/products.php)

Two very good brands of food I've found recently are Barking Heads and Healthy Paws, both use natural, high quality ingredients and no cheap fillers, by-products, additives, preservatives etc. I've settled my lot on Healthy Paws as they preferred it and they've never looked better (they are on a combination diet of HP, NatureDiet and raw) and everyone else I know who has tried HP has said the same for their dog(s) too.

http://www.healthypaws.co.uk/
http://www.barkingheads.co.uk/for-dogs/

I would also reccomend http://www.naturaldogfoodcompany.com/

I have reccently switched my three onto thier lamb variety and im really pleased with the results. The still get extras like tripe, chicken wings, and some veg.
I will throw a spanner in the works with regard to Orijen i tried it some time ago and although i believe it to be a good food it really did not suit my springer, the meat variety went straight through him and the fish one gave him wind that would clear a room. He also became incredibly hyper (even more than usual), maybe due to the protein content i dont know. My two labs were fine on it however. Just my experiences.

Good luck, i think i spend more time thinking about my dogs diet than i do my own sometimes.

Thanks everyone for the info.

It would seem that Orijen is the best (and by far the most expensive option) Do you think it would be ok to mix it up perhaps give 1 meal of Orijen (dry) a day, 1 JWB (dry) and 1 Natures Menu or Natures Diet, or will this confuse their little stomachs?

Anyone know where is the cheapest to buy Orijen?

I personally feel it is good for them to get variety, so don't see any problem with alternating between different foods.

Regarding the cheapest place to buy Orijen, where are you based?

I agree with a bit of variety, it seems when dogs are used to just the one thing, they are then more sensitive to change in diet and all the worse for it.

Karen :)

zooplus seems to be the best to get orijen although always worth keeping an eye out on ebay as well.

I see from the boards that they are going to be at crufts so if you are going there you may be able to pick up some of it on offer.

based in Leeds