Hi,
My 15 month old male spaniel pup has been on burns (mini bites) since he was 12 weeks and stayed on them (on the recommendation of the pet shop) till he was 1 , when i then got him onto the adult burns.  For the past 4-6 weeks he seems itchy and sometimes bites his feet (i have checked these and they are NOT sore) but nonetheless i can tell he feels itchy at times.   I rang the burns helpline who suggested he was on mini bites for too long and could have built up an allergy to the protein in them, as the adult burns has less protein.  His eyes are a little watery and the burns nutritionist suggested this is his body getting rid of the excess.  I am not sure whether to stick with the adult burns (which in fairness i like because of the low residue) or to try another of the qulaity dried foods and give Burns a miss.  Any suggestions or advice or experience of this problem would be appreciated.   Big licks from an adorable puppy.

Hi Blackberry Way

I haven't heard of this one before. 

To be honest, although I think Burns is an excellent food, I have to say that I don't put much trust in what their nutritionists say.  I know people who have been told conflicting things by different nutritionists when they've phoned up at different times for advice.

I also don't like the fact that they routinely recommend changing to their adult food at 6 months old, which personally I feel is far too young.

What "flavour" Burns are you feeding him?  You could try another one. 

Or you could switch to James Wellbeloved, which has ingredients which are as good as Burns: www.wellbeloved.co.uk

If I were you, I'd try another flavour of Burns first.

my Lab had itchy skin with burns.I have changed him over to something else now and he is much better
gill

Hi Gill can i ask what you changed your lab onto as i have no real experience of dog foods, this is the first time i,ve had a dog for years and am at a loss as to what foods to try and what ones to avoid, i know its horses for courses and what suits one dog will disagree with another but i would like to find a quality food for him that doesnt make him poo all over the place and one that doesnt make him itchy.   Vet has looked at him and there is no sign of a skin problem, his ears are clean and he is generally a very well puppy apart from this urge to scratch and bite his feet now and then.

Thanks for your advice, he is currently on the Duck and Brown rice Burns although the nutritionist insists that all of the adult ones have the same levels of protein in them but much lower than the mini bites.   His coat is in very nice condition but that could be nothing to do with Burns as i give him 10mls of EPO daily and have done since he was about 5 five months.  

Hi
I changed him to Autarky and he has been fine ever since,but it may not suit every dog.
gill

Mini Bites
Contains: Brown Rice, Chicken, White Rice, Oats, Peas, Chicken Oil, Sunflower Oil,Ocean Fish, Seaweed, Minerals & Vitamins

Duck & brown rice
Contains: Brown Rice (min 65%), Duck meat meal (min 20%), Oats, Peas, Duck fat, Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Minerals and Vitamins

It could be the duck thats causing the problem

Maybe try the chicken or fish as those two are in the mini bites he may have an allergy to the duck

I cant understand how any dog could possible thrive on Burns You may as well just feed a huge glob of rice,throw in a couple of tablespoons of meat and a muti vit/min. tablet. The fat/protein levels are far to low  for dogs! I feel it is a necessity that any dog made to eat this food needs extra protein and fat in the way of meat,offal and rmb's.This Burns guy needs his head read if he thinks this food alone is a suitable diet for a canine

Rolo was constantly itching on burns and is mouth and eyes were always coming up in lumps.The weight he was was was terrible looked like i was starving him.The change of food was the best thing i did for him he is a much happier dog with loads of energy which he did not have before.
gill

I think you'll find that most dry foods contain similar amounts of protein and rice/grain as Burns....

JWB:  Min. 26% turkey, min. 26% rice, min.19% oats

both of mine are on burns, and they do really well on it. They're not overweight (well one of them has a ladylike figure, but its slowly shrinking) and have lovely coats. I tend to give them the chicken or venison-not tried the duck one yet.

my sisters boxer can only have burns because he has a ridiculous amount of allergies, and its the only food out of a few he can have, that agrees with him.

i kind of agree with katt. The ingredients of the burns range are pretty much the same across the board, except the meat bit. It might be that your dog has a duck sensitivity.

i've not got anything to say about other completes, as the only other one i've fed mine is Arden Grange, but i found their stools were softer, and they weren't so keen on it last time they had it. I got some sample bags or nutro and JWB before, but they looked on in disgust when i offered it to them!!

I think it is just a case of what suits one doesnt always suit another,find a food that suits your dog best and stick to it.
gill

Hi and thanks for all the helpful replies.  He was on the Adult Duck flavour burns recommended to me by the pet shop where i bought it as being the one for itchy skin.  I persevered for a couple of months to no avail and i have now changed him to JWB (on the recommendation of a dear friend) who swears bit it.  We had a chat about various dried quality foods and came to the conclusion although Burns is of quality it doesnt suit every dog and that dogs can built up an allergy to the same ingredients month in month out.   I wish i had got him off the mini bites sooner than i did with hindsight.  Hes been on JWB for nearly a week so far so too early to say as yet whether the scratchiness will cease.fingers crossed.

You might like to contemplate Nutro too? http://www.nutro.co.uk/dog/index.htm