Summary: I have two dogs - a 7kg mini poodle (age 6.5) and a 16.5kg lurcher (age approx 18months)
At the moment they are both on science plan vet essentials. I was advised by the vet to put my poodle on this and he's done ok (although not briliantly) on it. When we got the lurcher he was on science plan although not the vet essentials. He is doing ok on this although goes through phases of dry flaky skin which he has had since we got him.
I spend about £35 a month on food.
My question is, what do others use and would recommend? Should i be looking at putting them on seperate food? I dont really want to spend any more money per month.

I feed 1 dog (90kg) Wag complete + Webbox 'chub rolls'.

It costs me approx. £26 per month.

Just out of curiosity I did a comparison,
It costs you £1.49 per month, per kilo of dog, in food.
It costs me 29p per month, per kilo of dog, in food!

Any way, all dogs are different, what suits one dog may not suit another dog, I've always relied on giving a food a trial run.

I'm currently feeding mine (4 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and 1 Australian Shepherd) Simpsons Sensitive Salmon and Potato. Mine don't actually have any allergies/sensitivities but I prefer not to feed them grains/cereals. They also so a lamb and potato and a duck and pot I think.
I don't know how much it would cost you for a month - link below for price/composition of salmon and potato variety
http://www.simpsonspremium.com/sensitive-dog-food/sensitive-salmon-potato

Two st poodles....I'm trying arcana lamb and apple all stages( mine are 10 yrs and 5.5 m).  I also add boiled chicken,courgettes,carrot and some pasta..they are both doing really well,I'm thinking to continue with this kibble.

I use Millies Wolfheart grain free and swop between the salmon and the country mix. Because you feed less it is not as expensive as it sounds and has really good ingredients. http://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk
http://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/#/countryside-range/4567346306
http://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/#/salmon-vegetable/4567346779

If you search here you can search for the best food according to your budget http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/advanced-dog-food-search.php

Thank you for the feedback. Yes, I did think I was spending a lot and would really like to spend less but I dont want to compromise quality for cheap nasty food.
Will have a look at everything mentioned. Thanks. X

After trying a wide variety of different premium foods (some of which did not suit, some became hard to get, some became too expensive, etc) George now gets pets at home wainwrights salmon and potato plus the wet trays now and again. I have chosen this as it suits him, is not too expensive and readily available at all PAH stores. They also do a grain free turkey and veg recipe if you are avoiding grains. He also gets raw wings/bones/tripe/mince/eggs during the week as more of an extra than the mainstay of his diet.

As much as I initially preferred the thought of an 'ultra premium' food the reality was not doable for the reasons above.

Kibble-which is best?

Good grief, you're going to get a lot of different answers I suspect ;-)

I have used, and have been very happy with the following:

Burns, CSJ Lamb & Rice (with one girly preferring the Champ), Arden Grange, I currently feed Skinner's Field & Trial Duck and Rice ... as dog numbers increase, feeding costs decrease, or that's the aim. Have to say I've been very pleased with every one of them and can't say there has been any difference in their condition nor their poo output, from one to the other.

I have a girly with a very sensitive tum, she did very well on Fish for Dogs Salmon, but they changed their formula and it then became a no go product :( She's now doing extremely well on tinned Chappie - thoroughly recommend for sensitive tum if no problem with wheat. However, this, on a daily basis is the MOST expensive food I've fed :-O

I am about to try Simpsons Premium Salmon for above girly but in view of pups later on, and I am very impressed with the sound of Millies Wolfheart, though yet to try :-)  Afraid I'm not a fan of Science Plan ... ever read the ingredients list?! :-O :-O :-O Plus cost :-O

After trying many different foods, I ended up with CSJ That'll Do which suited two of my dogs really well, the third was always hyper on it.     Then we couldn't get That'll do and bought a bag of Champ, they all did brilliantly on it until recently.   The recipe changed and gradually all three dogs condition changed, and not for the better.   I was also suddenly picking up mounds of poo - about three times as much ! !    Their teeth also became very dirty    and the hyper one was loolpy again.

Not a happy bunny as it had taken a long time finding a food that they all did so well on :-(   The dogs had also lost interest in their food.

I gave up looking.

Now I have bought a sack of dried beef (that's what it says, it could be horse for all I know, but the dogs don't care ;-)  ) and I soak that and add mixer biscuit - Tesco Value.     It costs no more to feed them than the Champ, but they are all in much better condition.   Teeth are staying cleaner, and they think every day is their birthday :-)

I have always mixed in good quality scraps and that hasn't changed.

You might find that one of the CSJ foods suited both your dogs.   They are very approachable and willing to discuss your needs :-)

I don't feed kibble but you might want to look at which dog food (http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/) to see which is the best within your budget. They have an ingredients-based rating system.

Ask 50 people which is the best food and you're very likely to get 50 different replies.  What one person thinks is wonderful another thinks is awful, if the dog is in super condition and enjoys the food then that is the best for that dog. 

Think the answer to any such food question is whatever your dog will eat and does well on that you can afford, source and handle, as far as I am concerned it does not matter what it is as long as you can get the required elements more or less correct, either by using a ready made food that will have done all that for you or studying canine nutrition and doing it yourself.

I appreciate the question holds a very broad variety of answers, however, rather than running gung ho into the pet shop and trying a range of food in a hit and miss way I thought I would see if anyone highly recommends a type, or tells me to steer clear of anything.
Up until now ive been happy with science plan but lately I think I could find better, and probably cheaper.
I would prefer not to have to try a huge number of different feeds as I dont believe it will do the dogs any good to try one, get used to it only for it to be changed again.
I am already in the process of looking through some of the suggestions so thanks to those who have given me a helpful answer ;)

I think the thing to do is compare like to like.

There are cheaper foods than the rather pricey Science Plan, Royal Canin etc with better ingredients (named Animal protein sources with proper idea of their quantity, carbohydrate sources that are more easily digested etc).

For example the foods I tend to use will have over 25% dried animal source of protein, and cereal or vegetable, and these can range wildly in price, but be of similar quality.  I'm happy if they are roughtly under £2 a kilo (on breeder or vat free terms).

There are foods that supposedly provide the same protein fat and carbohydrate values yet have as little as 4% dry weight of meat or fish.

Also if the meat/fish is fresh ti will only be about a third as much once compared to dry, so 30% fresh meat will only equate to 10% (roughly) meat meal.  There are foods that sound as if they have a large amount of meat by mixing the meal and fresh ingredient

I have tried a few of the better quality ones and always come back to Arden Grange lamb and rice. All my dogs look good on it. Personally I would steer clear of the cheap ones. Within reason I think you get what you pay for, although at the other end of the scale some of them are overpriced, usually the ones owned by multi national corporations-- another good reason to avoid them. Arden Grange is fairly priced for its quality and owned by a small company which only does pet food. Also, they don't do horrible tests on animals.

Have to agree AG Lamb and Rice has been my lots mainstay for years.  Found the Simpsons Lamb and Rice pretty good too.

Is this the stuff, Dill? http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-food-k9-natural-dog-food-c-1024_1118/k9-natural-freeze-dried-beef-dog-food-p-9822

thats an interesting one killickhick and dill. Being a raw feeder I cant decide what I think about this.  ingredients look good if you go done the line of adding fruit and veg. Do you have to add biscuit though? 

However if reconstituted it costs £16 for 2kg and if you feed the same as raw I couldnt afford it mine three my 3 need about 1.5 kg per day

Yes, FF, it is very expensive! The cost would be prohibitive if fed on a daily basis,  But I could see myself using it if on holiday or away from home!  Tried googling dried beef feed and this is what popped up - Dill, where are you? what food are you talking about? :)

     Crickey!    No it's not that killickchick :-D

I buy a 15k sack of dried Terrier Meat.     It's this one, but I get it from a local farm supplier at £22 a bag.  I got the puppy size, which mixes in well with the biscuits.

There are others, I used to buy this one by the kilo at a local shop, just as a treat for them, but then they stopped getting it.

I soak it in hot water, and mix it with Tesco VALUE mixer biscuits, and whatever scraps we have.   The dogs are doing brilliantly on it and I worked out the cost of 6 months supply - it works out at the same cost as CSJ Champ, except there is more meat in their dinners :-D

I do check it for tiny pieces of bone, just in case.  

I was afraid that it would be mostly fat, but that hasn't been the case at all.   In fact, it seems quite low in fat, I occasionally add a teasp of oil to their dinner just in case ;-)

I went for Tesco Value biscuits at first as I was nhaving trouble finding a mixer that did not contain Maize, which seems to affect my dogs in various ways, one goes loopy and the other gets skin problems.   I also wanted to avoid beet pulp.     The tesco value mix seemd to have just cereals and nowt else, so we bought it just to try, and it seems to be just the ticket at @ £2 a 4k bag :-)

I feed predominantly raw but like to keep kibble in for travel, top-ups, convenience, emergencies etc

Mine have always done well on Arden Grange lamb & rice or Fish4Dogs. Fish is my current preference as they are a bit unwilling to eat it raw!  They also have dried fish skins for treats. Both companies have good breeder rates and efficient customer service - a big thumbs up from me :)

I feed only raw- make my own now- nice to no if we go any where I can just pop into any store/butcher & buy their food.

When I fed kibble I always looked for less ingredients the better and made sure the first 3-4 ingredients were always meat.
No by-products, grain free ect. I did a lot of analyzing every little ingredient that was in their food- spent a lot of time on the computer
looking it all up. One of the main reason's why I switched to raw :-)

This is another food that I am considering it got 5 stars out of 5 in the Which Dog Food, ( the only one I understand to have this rating ) and a UK company as well http://www.uk.edenpetfoods.com/eden-dog-food-11-c.asp, I think I will get samples
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0671/eden-multi-meat-and-fish-formula

One of my 4 month old pups is being fed this by his new owners.

Too high in protein (41%) for mine.

Dogs are designed to assimilate protein, and are not ideally able to assimilate carbohydrates (which is why they have to be broken down by processing).

All we are normally are doing when feeding kibble is replacing (expensive) protein with (Cheaper)carbohydrate. 

The calorie value of both is pretty similar, with fats having twice the calories of either.

The link with high protein and kidney problems is disputed, and really only comes into play with renal failure/disease.

Have a look at symply, canagan and Markus muhler (may have spelt that wrong!)

If you join their 'breeder club' then it gets you a nice discount! And you don't have to be a breeder - can be a pet professional of some kind.

They are meant to be the very best foods on the market at the moment!

Don't understand why people say to high in protein but when your feeding a raw diet all your dog is eating is meat & bone.
Of course veggies & fruit if you desire to add it in.

The only think with kibble is the food has been cooked so a lot of what they need is gone so they add in other ingredients
to replace it.

Meat has a very high water content and- despite what many believe- is not 100% protein. In fact, many raw meats have a lower % of protein when compared with many of the 'top' brand kibbles.

> In fact, many raw meats have a lower % of protein when compared with many of the 'top' brand kibbles.

That is if your comparing them as is, which is not like with like.

If trying to compare you first have to reduce the meat or canned food to a dry matter basis (ditto the dry) and you will then find that the protein level of the dry matter is loads higher in meat than in kibble.

that's true (I feed raw too) as an average I believe fresh meat is approx 70%water 10% 'other stuff' and 20% protein. depending on the fat content and if there is then bone added etc that brings the protein % of the entire diet right down. The difference is in the quality of the protein source. A technically higher protein kibble diet will have the protein bumped up with vegetable and cereal proteins. EG Soya is a high protein feed for cattle etc and will add to the % on the packet but is completely the wrong type of protein for dogs to access and digest.

Surely though you feed them as is, and as such you ARE comparing like with like?

If I feed my dog a 500g packet of chicken, I don't dry it. Same as if I was to feed him a bowl of kibble, they get it as-is.

I use James Wellbeloved Junior and have no complaints - and nor does Willow :-)

But you feed more of the wet food so that they are only getting the same if it were dry.

My lot would get 400g of mince but get 170g of dry.

So just say there is 10% protein in your 500g of meat, that would be 50g of protein,
Feed 200g of 24 protein food, and you will be feeding 48g of protein.

Ya def makes sense- I never really thought about it that way lol
Moose gets 34 ounces of meat & bone a day & the Boston's get 24 ounces of meat & bone- actually a lil more meat then bone.

In the long run you just gotta find what works best with your crew :-)

Pets at home Wainwrights food, the wet trays, can't speak of them high enough. Completely turned my boy around! Great product mixed with JWB kibble although he picks out all the meat and then leaves the kibble until later when there's nothing else to eat ;)

I used to feed JWB to my lot a while ago, but reading the review in 'Which Dogfood' it advises that JWB has a lot of salt added to encourage the dogs to eat it. My recent rescue from the RSPCA was being fed JWB by the rescue centre so I kept it up while I slowly changed over to my usual food, and I did find that she was drinking so much all the time. Looking back when my dogs were fed this they used to drink a lot, but as one of them had incontinence problems I was advised to change by my vet, but never realised the reason why. Have any of you had this problem with JWB
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0006/james-wellbeloved-adult

All dried foods have salt added to encourage the dog to drink enough to be able to digest the food properly, rather than drawing fluid from its body to do so.

But not all have the amount used by JWB.
Eden do not show any http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0671/eden-multi-meat-and-fish-formula
nor do Millies http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0778/millies-wolfheart-countryside-mix. They may have some but not sufficient to be mentioned.
I am concerned with the amount in the JWB

Anyone tried Canagan yet ?
I've just ordered a trial size for the cats but will give it a try with Daisy too, once she's finished the Orijen.

We use Field and Trial - hypoallergenic - either theLamb or the Salmon. Reasonably priced - small stools and the dogs coats which did go through a dry patch are beautiful and shiney again. Hope this helps.

> Anyone tried Canagan yet ?

Yes, my lot are using it at the moment (although are mostly raw fed). We've used the chicken variety and are now using the fish. No complaints so far. I had been using Orijen and Acana but much prefer the idea of using a UK made food.

No problems here with JWB or excessive drinking. Since using JWB and Wainwrights he's the healthiest and best looking he's been.

>Anyone tried Canagan yet ?

Jane,
Yes, I've used it in the past and would recommend it (but all dogs are different!) I've always used Orijen or Accana and bizarrely found my Sibe does better on Acanna than Orijen... (Like I said all dogs are different and this one makes it an art! ;-) ) He did well on the Canagan but I felt I got more for my £ with Accana.
   I would rather use a UK producer and tried Simpsons (Who I think are a great company) had high hopes for their 80/20 but in ingredient comparison there wasn't much in it between Accana and Simpsons. But proof being in the eating of the pudding, he does better on Acanna than Simpsons.
(Must state I also feed raw)

HTH.

Well the cats seem to like the Canagan, just have go slowly with Savi's delicate tum.
I'd tried Accana with Daisy ,but the fussy wee mare turned her nose up, here's hoping Canagan goes down better.

>Savi's delicate tum.

Jane,
Storm also has a delicate Tum at times and he was fine with the Canagan.
(I find using pro/prebiotic powder helps) but we had no issues with the Canagan so hopefully you'll be ok.
:-)

Thought that we might try the dried beef as an alternative to raw when we are away in the caravan as it looked like a good alternative whilst away.  Placed an order from the link provided (not available locally), emailed twice to find out where it was as it hadn't even being shipped after 9 days of taking payment with no reply.  Phoned yesterday to query the order and told that someone would return the call with info on what was happening, no one called back.  Have phoned again this morning to be told that the person who deals with the website is out and they don't know when they will be back.  The person on the phone can't refund or give any further info other than 'F off' and had the phone put down on me.

Any one else ordered and had any problems?

Funnily enough I was just thinking of ordering some. Which did you order from and I will use the other. thanks

The first one of the links that Dill put up, good luck and hope you have more success than me!  It will be interesting to hear how you get on with this.

Donnable,   that's awful - must be very frustrating.   Maybe contact the company's local trading standards?     Taking your money but not delivering the goods and not willing to tell you why, isn't that obtaining money by deception?    There's no telling how many people are affected.

Have you got in touch with your cedit card company?    If you don't get any joy, claim your money back from them ;-)

As I said, I didn't order from that company, I get it from the local farm/stable suppliers, I have to drive, and it's a half hour round trip, but for us, that's as local as it gets :-)