Is this a good brand of dog food? This is what I've been feeding Patches McHound (Fox Terrier X) for 7 months. He seems to do well on it, but I just want to know if it is good quality. He is active, but isn't a working dog. It seems to take him a long time to chew this kibble. His teeth look good though.

What about Applaws? I've heard it's good.

Hi,
I have used Beta for years with good results.:-)
All my adults are on Beta, with the occasional treat of sardines, raw chicken wings and raw eggs. :-)

Hi,
Please be aware it's Beta adult I use, not Beta working.
All the working food often are very high in protien, which produces far too much energy and even excessive barking and hyper-activity.

Maybe I'll switch to just Beta adult. Maybe that could explain the excessive barking. Thanks! You really give raw food to your dog? Can't that be bad for them? Patches McHound would love if I gave him raw meat, but I wouldn't want to poison him or anything.

Beta has 4% animal derevatives (incl feathers, feet, beaks etc)

I would suggest finding a high meat content food with little preservatives and sugars as possible! :)

I don't care what makes up the derivatives in Beta :-) it has kept mine in excellent fettle for years.  Current one on it is nearly 14 years old, however I would not bother giving advise in this instance.
Profile

>Beta has 4% animal derevatives (incl feathers, feet, beaks etc)

I  have a dog who chooses to eat feathers ... and there are packs of frozen chicken feet in my local Oriental supermarket ... just because we don't choose to eat them doesn't mean there's something wrong with them!

It depends on wether the owner thinks they are getting good value for money, and if they wish to pay for poor quality fillers which have very little (if any) nutritional value in them. I can't see that chicken feathers, beaks, feet, or artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, sawdust, sugar, and the like, are actually cost effective (to the owner of the dog, not the manu of the food) , never mind if they are actually good for the animal or not. The food manus will of course say they are safe to eat, which they may well be until such a time as someone comes along to prove them wrong, but whilst they may be safe to feed not everyone is happy to feed this sort of filler to their dogs. They will, maybe, only feed it because of the wonderful advertising put in to sell the food, having no idea of what actually goes into the food in the bag. if you are happy to pay for sub quality food at, in many cases, high prices, then that is the choice of the owner. I would rather pay a little more, which is fed less quantity because of the nutritional value, than a poor quality food. many of the 'named' dog foods, retailing at around £25 per 15kg, seem to be so very close to the food values as the £5.99 for 15kg bags.

Of course, your choice will depend on your purse, type of dog, and your own beliefs of what constitutes a good quality, value for money, nutritionally sound complete dog food.

> Of course, your choice will depend on your purse, type of dog, and your own beliefs of what constitutes a good quality, value for money, nutritionally sound complete dog food.

Exactly :-)  I can certainly vouch for Beta fitting the bill having reared healthy pups and fed adults well into their teens on it. 
I don't know what percentage of the 4% derivatives is beak, feet and feathers but there are many other types of derivatives they could be using too, including those lovely concentrates you get at the bottom of your roasting tin to make lovely gravy out of, that are perfectly safe if not delicious to eat, so I doubt it runs to very much.  Even if it made up the full huge 4% I would not worry in the least.  We know these things are not poisonous or most cats and many hunting dogs would not survive as they do and I want fillers in my dogs diet.
We could probably concentrate their nutritional requirements down to a few pellets, a la astronaut diet, but I would say my dogs like to feel full and satisfied after a meal.

>there are packs of frozen chicken feet in my local Oriental supermarket ... just because we don't choose to eat them doesn't mean there's something wrong with them!

I know a lot of raw feeders who feed chicken feet to their dogs :-D They are meant to be an excellent, rich source of chondroitin (or is it glucosamine..can never remember). Also seen them air dried and bagged up as treats.

I think it is all down to Western sensibilities.  Fortunately, despite being Western too, our dogs have not developed this :-)

I have fed Beta with dire rear results lol....as have friends, so wouldn't touch the stuff but of course, to any one who finds it a good food fair enough. If someone is not bothered about what goes in the food, or to find out, and what they may be paying for...filler rather than quality stuff, then the £5.99 bag is probably as good lol....

I know a lot of raw feeders who feed chicken feet to their dogs
Didnt realise that, but then I doubt it costs as much as it does in a dry bag of food, but even so thats a fair comment.

Exactly, although I think the 3kg bag is actually cheaper than that :-)

I meant the 15kg sack, unlabeled, is as good as beta, or any of the other labeled foods that have the same stuff inside :)

***bows out coz there is no more to say really :) *****:) :) :)

I never think in terms of one food being better than another as all UK foods have to be fit for purpose.  It's just what suits your dog and your pocket so if you have managed to find a £5.99 15kg bag and it is suiting your dog good luck to you especially with budgets getting stretched for so many people these days.

just to put the record straight, I don't feed mine on £5.99 food, and I didnt say I did. I wouldnt feed whats in it. if I had to economise, Autarky would be a good choice.

One of my problems,one of many with these type of pet foods,is how are dogs supposed to thrive on foods made up of 4% "meat",and i use that word lightly,as we dont know what exactly the derivatives consist of ???

>if you are happy to pay for sub quality food at, in many cases, high prices, then that is the choice of the owner.

Could'nt agree more! I wonder if the term 'fools and their money' applies here?

It would be so much easier for me right now to feed a cheaper quality food,especially to my cats who seem to eat more than my dogs lately!But i just cant do it,i look at the ingredient list to these products and i just can not bring myself to feed them to my animals,my concience just gets the better of me :(

> i look at the ingredient list to these products and i just can not bring myself to feed them to my animals,my concience just gets the better of me

Then stop looking :-) and consider rather that all the necessary nutrition is present. 
Here in the UK we are very fortunate in having regulations and trading standards to ensure that all pet food is perfectly safe and meets the requirements of our animals.  It certainly hasn't let me down with my dog approaching her 14th birthday this year and her late companion going way beyond her 15th.

Before the proliferation of 'new and improved' dog foods, I fed Beta for years. When first introduced to this country, a new and enthusiastic agent for Eukanuba persuaded me to trial their products for a while and my dogs did ok on it. BUT it was twice the price (at the time) and my dogs didn't look or behave any better than on the old stuff....certainly not twice as good.
I was very happy with their condition, health, and general well-being on Beta, some were fed on it's life stages from birth to death.
They were long lived, seldom unwell, never suffered from the age-old Boxer problem of colitis and looked muscular and healthy.
Bearing in mind that was a large group of dogs, both sexes, all ages and some winning at a high level in the show ring.
These days I have a toy breed as well and my set-up is condusive to part raw feeding and I have now switched to Royal Canin (as my kibble) mainly because of my good local agent and their breeders scheme -but probably in some small part, influence from propaganda and advertising.
I will give it a fair try but will have no qualms about switching back.

Think the OP was trying to get a rise, must be disappointed :-) because here we have a sensible conversation

Yes Nova ....Once again we have risen above :-)
We're such a sensible lot :-)

>Here in the UK

Are you trying to set a record on how many times you can say "Here in the UK" ?

I'm embracing the multinational nature of the board these days :-)  It is relevent because even the same brands in different countries appear to have different ingredients and are certainly manufactured under different regulations.

Also the Op's travels may well have influenced their knowledge.  Although the IP is US it seems likely that they are of Scandinaivian origin.

> Also the Op's travels may well have influenced their knowledge.  Although the IP is US it seems likely that they are of Scandinaivian origin.

Considering their listed occupation I would say a dead cert ;-)

LOL Ok think this thread  has run it's course.