Hi

I got a 4kg bag of westie food from royal canin to try for nothing, dogs seem to like it, but I usually feed JWB, so don,t know whether to keep them on RC or JWB.  I had never heard of Royal Canin before, just got a phone call to ask did I want to try this new dog food made especially for westies.

What do you all think?

JWB and Royal Canin are from the same company in Somerset.I used Royal Canin for years before switching to Barf.I was happy with the product.Have seen the add for westie breed specific,but no experience of R.C breed specific food as their range is getting more extensive.

The breed specific foods are mostly gimics.  If you are happy feeding a food that is mostly rice and corn, and are okay with some unnamed protein sources in it ... go ahead and feed it.  IMO JWB is a better choice, not perfect, but better.

cairnmania

What food would you reccommend then for westies?  If you had read my post correctly you would have noticed that I had never heard of Royal Canin before and am just asking for some advice on the food.

We won a sack of Royal Canin at a show, only one of mine can have it beacuse he is allergic to chicken but he loves it and is looking really good on it. 

My friend has just put her pack of dogs on it too and they have never looked better.

My lot have RC and they are doing amazing on it.

Hi Irene,

I used to really like RC, it was good for keeping weight on etc  Although being honest I only feed a handful of biscuit/complete a couple times a week in their breakfast.  I feel with RC over the last couple of years the rice and grain content has risen quite a bit.   I was speaking to one of the RC reps at a show at the weekend about it and I told them I (personally) just couldn't get my head around the ingredients in the new westie breed specific as it isn't all that different to the sensible variety they sell.   She claimed it was tried and tested by westie folk!!!  , but none of the breed clubs were consulted as far as I am aware. Certainly not the parent one.

Anyway I personally think the grain content is very high.

As an alternative :-)

If its a complete food you are after try a bag of Arden grange Fish and potato  , 100% grain free, 100% guarantee not to have been tested on Animals.    The bags bought at the show or via the breeders service are very very competatively priced. TH MRP is £46 but can be bought for I think £32 from the shows and the breeder service for the big 15KG bag.

Here is a link to the food: http://www.ardengrange.com/Pet-Food/dog-food.asp?id=50
You can request a sample from them or nip along to SKC and get a small bag to try..  They are at mos of the champshows.

Hi Marguerite,

I agree with Blue's response.  As it happens I feed my Cairns Arden Grange too - for their breakfast most of the time; rest of their meals are people food.

I was not taking a poke at you at all; it's just that IMO the breed-specific foods by Royal Canin (or any other manufacturer that has them) are marketing gimics.   The ingredients are little to no different than "all breed" varieties.    If a dog has a specific problem, like sensitive skin (which the Westie variety claims to help) than there are much better ways and much better foods to deal with it that Royal Canin Westie.

I was also amused to find that JWB advertises "no pork" as a benefit on their web site - yet Royal Canin Westie includes pork as an ingredient.  Confusing from the same manufacturer indeed.  (I don't believe there is anything wrong with feed dogs lean pork (not bacon or saugages), btw.)

I honestly think most of the commercial foods are gimmicks full stop! From puppy to senior and anything in between, foods for big dogs, little dogs, working dogs ...... the list goes on and on! A dog is a dog and depending on it's lifestyle will either need more or less of a basic food, which should be meat, not cereals and grains. As you may have guessed I feed a more natural raw diet.

Hi Pam

Thanks, I thought it was just a gimmick to get us breeders to start their food, mind you the dogs liked it, I have been going to try Arden grange for ages, but as I am not showing now its hard to get, no shops sell it where I am, either got to get it online or at shows, so thats why I have been feeding jwb for some time.

congratulations on Dinos Am ch status, well done to you as his breeder and Sandy for campaigning him.

there is an open show at The Magnum this sat, just might pop along and see who is their.

Irene

Thanks Irene.  I have missed the little sod. He will probably come back with a yanky bark :-D    She has a few promising youngsters running around out of him now so hopefully it was all worth it for her to.

Re the food :-)   Although it is an outlay you can buy 2 bags from Arden grange direct at the breeder price if you register as a breeder . The min order is 2 bags though. So it is an inital outlay.

I am off to Leeds on Saturday so better go get my bottom back in the grooming room and finish what I was doing.  

You can order directly from the Arden Grange web site -- and they deliver within two days.  Waitrose near me sell Arden Grange, but only the smaller sacks.  I feed so little (one meal only for two small dogs) that I actually order online so I can get 1kg sacks.

hello

I also have a post on royal canin, ive been feeding my mastiffs it for 5 years, an they are glowing with health but im sure it makes your dog grow too fast, as mine seem to be huge for there age, there bones are perfect and skin is second to none, but i am concerned about growing too quick! :O) , I tryed barf diet and it was superb! but my supplier moved away so until i find another supplier i use royal canin, I took in a rescue dog and within 2 weeks you can see a huge difference with royal canin. Ive tryed many brands of food, eg eagle pack, timberwolf , science plan, and royal canin seemed to work best for my dogs. I think you have to feed what you think feels right!

Hi all i feed my dogs on royal canin mini adult & never looked back. All glossy coats & very healthy. I tried pedgiree once it made my girls ill. so now i only feed them royal canin wirh chicken mince & tuna.

I currently feed my hounds on Purina Pro Plan - used to feed Laughing Dog complete until Greyhound refused to eat it any more this past spring.  When my Pharaoh's were young they had Royal Canin Junior but didn't like the adult complete.  I get my dog food delivered by Berriewood (buy online).

Pam in Hampshire

My corgi's breeder gave me a bag of RC puppy when I picked her up, she didn't feed it herself and I soon found out why.
Because of the manno-oligo-saccharides (sugar under a fancy name), Maggie would get hyper within minutes of eating even the smallest mouthful and would charge around the house like a thing possessed.
This stopped as soon as I switched her to Arden Grange. Also I didn't like the fact that, for an expensive food, four of the five main ingredients are cheap fillers; wheat, maize etc.

I am not sure if this post is allowed but I can assure you I have nothing to do with RC or Petsathome and this is not an advert but if you feed your dogs RC then it is currently 2 bags for the price of 1 at the Petsathome website.  Just thought I would point that out and maybe save some of you a few £.