Hi

We've had our little ball of spots for 2 weeks now. Our dalmatian is approaching his 9 week birthday ... will have to buy a card !!

Seriously, he has been eating Pro Plan puppy food among other things, pilchards, scrambled egg and even rice pudding.

Now everybody knows you get what you pay for in life, well ! up to a point

We visited a local 'pet superstore' today for the first time and there were literally hundreds of different foods to choose from, from well known names, as well as names I'd never heard of. Likewise at the local supermarket, there are the famous 'TV brands' own brands (Morrisons) and others from strange companies.

Which is best ?

Now that should be an easy question to answer !!!

I've even seen CSJ on the internet, which looks to be very good. It's aimed at gundogs and other working dogs, but I'm sure if it's OK for them, it's OK for our dog.

It'll probably only ever be a pet, rather than being on show, but we still want it to grow up into a "super dooper boy"

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

thanks !

Is he not doing well on Pro Plan? I would continue with that if it suits him, he's very young to start chopping and changing yet.

Otherwise it's very much down to personal preference and how well a food suits a dogs digestive system. There is no single right answer, in fact answering this very question causes no end of 'debate'. :(

Dawn R.

PS I see you are in Whitley Bay, I'm between Morpeth and Bedlington.

Go to google search type in BARF and do some reading.

Martin the poster asked specifically about dry complete.

With the greatest respect, I think you will find the poster said any thoughts appreciated,.
Sorry if I spoke out of turn.

I tend to choose my food not by brand or advertising but by the quality of the ingredients.

Get into label reading.

The main things to look for is a lack of colourants, and artificial preservatives.

Foods preserved with vit E (mixed Tocopherols), vitamin C are best.

Then the proportion and quality of the mat portion of the food.  Go for specific meats not by products etc.

Meat should be the first or second ingredient and even better if the percentage is given.  some brands make it look like meat is highest ingredients by breaking the other ceral and vegetable ingredients sown a lot.

With adult foods the amount of meat meal may be as low as 10% or as high as 40+%, interestingly some of the most advertised brands are at the lower end of this.

As dogs are basically Carnivores I feel if I am to feed a complete then the more actual animal protein the better.

A good balance of oils is also needed, so look out for Omega oils listed.

good post ,brainless .however a dog is an Omnivore, Cats are true Carnivores-Jo

Um, yes, a dog is an omnivore but one with desire/need to eat around 60/80% MEAT with the rest as veg, offal, whathaveyou.. however no they are NOT designed to eat a diet made primarily of cereals, which is what brainless is getting at there.

Food labelled with meat (and real  meat, not 'meat meal' or 'animal derivatives')as the greatest ingredient is better than food where the greatest ingredients are cereals such as rice, wheat, corn, oats etc etc.

However its hard to tell, because some food produces will label a food as being 20% chicken, 10% rice, 10% corn, 10% oats, 15% vegetable matter, etc etc .. whilst the largest SINGLE ingredient in that food is indeed chicken, adding up the rest, there is 45% of the food made up of cereals and veg fillers.

Em

dont disagree. just pointing out a fact about the nature of the beast.

Here is another "fact about the nature of the beast" to point out; if you look in the dogs mouth you will note upper and lower canine teeth. 

also found in us humans as well !!!!!

Disregard the canine teeth..

Humans and dogs are omnivores .. but humans have a more vegetarian base, dogs a more carnivorous one ... why do i say this??

Look at teh BACK teeth, where we have flat grinding molars for breaking down tough vegetable matter, what have dogs got, sharp knife like teeth, for slicing off chunks of meat.

So yes, we are both omnivores, but that doesnt mean we have teh same dietary needs, dogs meat and some veg, humans veg adn some meat!

Em

Hi
I think of dogs as "opportunistic" carnivores!  Doesn't an omnivore need to be able to "process" both meat AND veggies?  Dogs don't "chew" ... their jaws can only go up and down i.e. they don't have the "grinding" jaw action of herbivores and omnivores that is necessary to break down the tough outer cellulose layer of vegetable matter to begin the process of digestion.  So, although they may eat veggies, they are not actually able to process the stuff ... e.g. grass always comes out of my dogs much as it goes in!
Sorry!  I can't comment on the dry foods as I've been raw-feeding my two adult Glen of Imaal Terriers for four and a half years and the ten-month-old pup since she was nine weeks old ... raw meaty bones (rmb's), not JUST raw meat.
Most important, I believe, is to find a food that your dog enjoys and that you feel comfortable about feeding.  I switched to raw because my older two simply didn't enjoy their food and would leave meals half- and sometimes uneaten.  It was a bit of a "leap of faith" for me and I did a lot of reading and questioning before making the change over ... but the dogs love it and I don't think they have ever turned up their noses at a raw meaty bone! ;-)
Good luck with the "spotty-puppy"! 
Alison, Bregorrey Glens (UK)