I'm thinking of changing (very slowly) my dogs from Burns Fish & Brown Rice to Skinners Field & Trial Salmon & Rice. I'll be honest my reasons are purely financial, my dogs are doing fine on the Burns. The difference in price is dramatic and I get the impression from the few mentions/reviews I've been able to find that Skinners has a good reputation. The difference in price is at least partly due to the fact that Skinners is for for working dogs and hence VAT free.  My dogs are very important to me but we are having to make savings and this could be part of it.

I'm writing here in the hopes of finding somebody that has had experience of this change or similar changes. I have two main concerns.

1) If I end up having to feed significantly more Skinners than Burns (by weight) then the point of making the change is reduced. Consequently I would be really interested to know if anybody has made the change and how they found the amounts required compared.

2) I am concerned by the big difference between the amounts of Oil in the two foods. I moved to Burns about 8 years ago when my current old girl was only 3 1/2 years old and my then older dog started having problems with fat in his diet. He had to go on a  Vet low fat diet  (5% fat) but then moved after about 2 years to Burns which is 7.5% Oil. He did well on it until he died of Liver Cancer at the end of 2008. My young(er) dog is going to be 6 next month and has been on Burns all his adult life. Skinners is 12% Oil. This seems quite a big increase to me. Everything else is pretty similar.

My current instict is to give it a go but to make the change very slowly - taking at least a month, possibly longer, to do it.

Does anybody have any views or experience to share?

I tried Skinners years back when I was trying to overcome a 'soft stool' issue.  The poo was voluminous and orangey coloured after a carefull changeover so personally I wouldnt feed it.  I feed raw now but have had good experiences with CSJ beforehand.  You will need to find a stockist who may even deliver to your door and I found it very reasonably priced.  I do quite like Burns, fed it for a while when my raw supplies dried up and my dogs got on well with it. I know its expensive tho.  I am sure you will have some Skinners fans on here, maybe after a changeover you may get on with it, best to give it a go and see.

Thanks for your thoughts and experience. I saw another thread on here about CSJ and had a look at it. The thing I like about Skinners is that I can get a fish based version which is what they are used to while CSJ, even Autoky, is chicken and other meat based as well as having gluten. It seemed like such a big change.

If I don't hear anything more I'll probably get a small bag and see what happens if I add just a bit. I will certainly take it very slowly and if I don't like what I find I'll go back fairly pronto.

Thanks again.

I too am having to make savings since I lost my OH and have recently moved a couple of my dogs to Axa insurance from pet plan at a saving of approx £20 per month and have been in contact with CSJ for advice and samples, after doing a lot of info getting, I think I will move to CSJ from JWB at another saving. If it doesn't suit then I can always change back. We all want the best for our best friends but sometimes there are changes that just have to be done.

Yes I know what you mean. If I change to Skinners it could mean a saving of about £10 a month but that is only the case if the dogs are well on it and need comparable amounts of it to keep their weight and fitness. I suspect I'm going to have to give it a go and see what happens.

CSJ do a salmon based food, its called CP21. :-)

ps. its also gluten free.

Very interesting. I've contacted CSJ and asked what they would recommend and for some samples. This could well be a better alternative.

Thanks again.

My new rescue dog was on skinners when I got him so I decided to change my other 2 over from Burns to Skinners ........ but when we did our maths we worked out for the extra amount we had to feed it worked out the same.  Basically a sack of Burns lasts 2 dogs 6 weeks and a bag of Skinners lasts 2 dogs 4 weeks. 

I feed my dogs Skinners and find it's a great complete food :) Dogs love it, small solid poops. Healthy coats etc etc. I have recommended Skinners to many people and not one has found it doesn't suit their dog.

We fed our two Skinners Duck and Rice for quite a while & I think for the money it is an excellent food. However, I have one with an extremely sensitive stomach and we were still having bouts of soft poo's so in the end I swapped for Arden Grange. They've been on it for about a year now and I think I've found the food I'll feed forever! They are fed less than other foods, and poos are almost always firm. Their coats are shiny and soft and all round are doing excellent on it.

IMO Skinners is good for the money, but for little over £5 more a sack if you buy more than one at a time, I'd recommend Arden Grange. However, if I was on a very tight budget I would swap back.

It's so good to hear that people are thinking about which foods to feed their dogs. I'm trying to work out how to approach the subject with a friend who has the same breed as me. I've been taking her dog out in the mornings, and have realised she's feeding him Bakers! I even sat down yesterday and worked out costings for her. The Bakers, which IMO is probably the worst food out there, works out more expensive than the Skinners!

I wish the general public could be better educated on dog nutrition, it's such an eye opener when you actually sit down and work out what rubbish we feed our dogs...

Thank you Claire (& Colliecrew & Itsadogslife). Claire's experience is exactly what I was after. I'm moving purefuly for financial reasons so if I end up spending as much because I end up feeding more, then Skinners is not what I'm after.

No I'm now thinking of trying CSJ CP21 which is also Salmon based and from the ingredients and what I've read seems to be a good food. The ony problem is that it's a higher fat and protein level than the Burns they are used to. My current thinking though is to move to CP21 now and possibly move my older dog to CP18 towards the end of the year (she'll be 12 by then). Probably keeping the younger dog on CP21 (storage allowing). CSJ Command Performance is more expensive than Skinners but still significantly cheaper than Burns. Of course this does assume that they eat a similar amount of CSJ to Burns.

Is there anybody out there whose switched from Burns to CSJ Command Performance that can give me an idea whether similar amounts of the food are needed? I susect it's going to be a case of biting the bullet and trying it.

I can't help with the brands mentioned, but I switched from AG large breed Chicken to CSJ champ. I feed less now than on the AG. 2 x 15kg sacks per month as opposed to 3 AG, (so they both fit into the dog food bin), and I'm saving around £80pm.

CSJ has even sorted out the beasty's jippy tummy.

Big thumbs up from me!

I use skinners field and trial salmon and rice and its excellent food. I dont feed it because its cheaper...I feed it as it suits my dogs very well.
I personaly dont need to feed as much as I did with burns...and my dogs have lovely coats and only poop twice a day.
I have recommended it to my friends who have all been very happy with it.

I don't feed Skinners because of price either. The lamb and rice is £25 a bag (£30 some places). I don't feed large quantities. 170g a day for border collies (around 15kg).

I feed Skinners to out 7 dogs, all different sizes, and they all do great on it, firm stools, good coats, and they love it, plus I pay £12.99 for 15kg of Field & Trial Muslei, which lasts me a week usually.

Thanks everybody for your replies. It's greatly appreciated.

I'm going away for a week now so won't be replying for a while. I'll make my descison on my return.

Hi, I too feed Skinners Field and Trial, I raised a litter on this food too and all pups did well.  All my girls are well and in good condition on this food although I am doing my sums now as to whether Arden Grange would be better for my dogs and my pocket now that I can get hold of it at a reasonable price.
Jan

My dog has to have Burns as he can not tolerate yeast or wheat and has  a variety of other allergies ......................... but my mum has his sister who she feeds  Harringtons  which is half the price of  Burns  but super good if your dog can tolerate yeast????? might be woth a look