Hi.  I read with interest all the posts about the different foods.  I had started my dog with chappie and pedigree dry mixer but he had an upset tummy so OH went and got a box of Bakers Complete food with moist cunks (?!)  Are the mass market ones you buy in a supermarket really bad for them?   

No :)  As you say they are mass market, if they really were bad, rather than just not suiting some, the general population would be in a pretty poor state owning to so many being fed on them, which it's not.  Studies show the dog population is as healthy as it has even been.  Several posters on here feed Bakers because it has shown to be the best choice for their dog.
Chappie is generally well tolerated, it may have been the mixer that was a problem for your dog.  I presume you mean the tins if you used a mixer in which case it can be fed as a complete or do you think you dog would miss a bit of crunch?  I understand the dry Chappie is another one well tolerated by the tender tummied.

Being a real foodie fusspot myself, I changed Nips from Bakers Puppy complete onto Burns complete puppy food as soon as I got him home. He coped with it but got very bored with the lack of variation in flavours and eventually went onto JWB which he ate but wasn't overly excited about. I've always given him home cooked meat as well (despite knowing you don't need to!) and the regime suited him and me. A while back, I ran out of JWB and the OH came home with Baker's Complete - with chunks - and Nips thinks it's heavenly! He's still thriving, still in excellent condition, we've had no stomach upsets or hyperactivity so despite my original high-minded intentions, I'm minded to keep him on it!

Bakers adverts are funny, well produced their web site is also funny and comical. It's the best selling dog food in the Uk .. The ingredients are listed in about 15 different languages (to reflect our multi cultural Country   ) . As Isabel points out if selling so well it can't be all that bad. I would not feed it too my dogs the sugars content is too high and the meat content too low .But like Isabel says some dogs thrive on sugars and cereals  and .if you are worried that the sugars may effect the dogs teeth Bakers also sell dental sticks . go on buy some whats the worst that could happen

Hi Jo,

I'd phrase it a bit differently ... some dogs thrive despite being fed food high in sugars and cereals.

Cereal is a heck of a lot cheaper than meat, hence the cheaper foods tend to have more cereal.  Sugar is added to enhance the flavour, which is why many dogs would prefer the cheaper stuff.  It's like junk food for dogs - more sugar, highly flavoured and fragranced fats sprayed on the food to make it more palatable.  Yum!

I would take junk food to be food not intended to be eaten as a regular diet, MacDonalds, Pot Noodles etc.  Bakers is certainly not that, like all foods marketed in the UK it is a food balanced to be appropriately and safely eaten on a daily basis. 
I don't think people should get too carried away with the sugar issue.  It may be more than some foods but we are not talking candy bar quantities here and the owner is perfectly capable of monitoring the teeth for any plaque built up and either deal with that or change the diet if they think it appropriate.  Fruit acids are just as damaging to teeth as sugar and yet generally we have no issue about the small amount that many people give their dogs either as part of a home diet or treats, it's all down to a sense of proportion.

Bakers is the biggest selling food in the UK? says who...Purina? :D If this truly is the case and not just a marketing gimmick then we have an awful lot of nutritionally inept people living in this country.Purina make an equally awful food for the American market called 'Beneful' and they claim the same thing over there too

Ok lets take a look at the ingredients to this wonderful and healthy food that so many owners feed their dogs.

Ingredients
Cereals, Meat and animal derivatives (minimum 4% chicken beef and minimum 4% fresh meat in the soft moist kernel), Vegetable protein extracts, Derivatives of vegetable origin (1.1% charcoal in the dark brown kernel), Oils and fats, Various sugars, Minerals, Yeasts, Vegetables (minimum 4% vegetables in the green kernel). Contains EC permitted colourants, antioxidants and preservatives.

Cereals-The by-products and waste from the human food industry,still classed as human grade but after all the nutritional parts have been taken out for the human food market. You wont find brown rice or anything like that in this food.

Meat and animal derivatives-A whole 8% I wonder what kind of meat and animal derivatives they are.Infact i dont want to know,and obviously neither does purina want us to know as they refuse to list which parts of animals and their derivatives they use.

Vegetable protein extracts-Sounds healthy doesnt it ;)
Derivatives if vegetables-anyone know what that could possible be?

Ohh and then we come to the clincher and the reason dogs love this food(coz it sure aint the high meat content :D ) 'SUGARS',and various ones at that.1 wasnt enough,they had to load the food full of it :( Dogs do not need sugar and do not do well on sugar,it has no nutritional value whatsoever,and can only cause harm in the long term!

If all of the above wasnt enough they also need to load this food with colours and preservatives. Bakers does NOT contain 1 healthy ingredient.

Some people say its like feeding your kid a happy meal for every meal,i wouldnt even go that far.I would compare Bakers to having pizza,fizzy drink, a bag of lollies with a very poor quality multi vitamin thrown in for dinner every night,and most dogs get fed twice daily,so they would get a double dose of the colours,preservatives and sugars every single day,day after day,year after year .Most people could survive on the pizza diet,infact alot of people do,but they are responsible for themselves and their own health. WE,US and only us are responsible for our pets health.
Anyone who feeds Bakers and thinks it's a good and healthy food needs a refresher course in canine nutrition,all it would take is a little research and they would see for themselves what a diet such as this can do for their dog,and it's not positive :(

>says who...Purina?<

Seems not..

Am i supposed to click on something huskygirl? As i cant find any reference to bakers.

scroll down then if you 'havent time' to read through... you'll find a section reporting findings  on market leaders.
The first reference is only 3 paragraphs down..thats not too much trouble is it?

>thats not too much trouble is it?<

I'm sure i can make the time,thanks for going to all of the trouble in finding info on Bakers :) Not something i'm quite used to,obviously!

I fed my first dogs on Chappie but that was because the original had fish in and I found it so good for their coats.

I must admit I'd not personally touch Bakers - the main reason for me being a visual one, I can't stand all those little bits of very obviously chemically coloured kibble   I just don't see how that can be healthy. I'm sure it is within EEC directives etc but still.

Re the sugar - more dogs are getting diabetes these days, are we sure this is not directly related to all the sugary snacks and foods they are being fed?

Hmm. I'd give Bakers as a treat or maybe once a week, but I'd not feed my dog on it all the time - JMO though!

Lindsay
x

Apologies!
(Ive had it pointed out to me by PM that I was being rude and patronising) Just by way of explanation, Im afraid Im not a great believer in 'My way or the Highway',Im a great believer in people taking in all the facts and once they do that theyre in a great position to make a more educated Decision for themselves...
  My consternation would have been directed at anyone, who had questioned a reports relevance, seek and you shall find! In this 'Fast food society' (topical ;) ) we seem to losing the ability to take time for things.Just my pet peeve, and appologies if it seemed other wise.
  Im >quite used to< researching all things not just Bakers ( ;) )..or how will I ever know if Im in favour of something  or not and that my view is still 'up to date'.
   On Balance Im not in favour of this feed for my dogs, but respect that, if on balance, others choose it they do so as an educated decision..not mine enforced on them.

I would also not touch Bakers for:  The sugars which are added.  The artificial colours and preservatives, including BHA and BHT (I won't go into those any more, but there is already plenty of info on this forum if you type them into the search box), and the fact that meat is not the first ingredient.