Dog owners ... advice needed

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ChrisV

Formerly CC2014
Location
Falkirk
Thought I'd post this here, tried to join a dog forum and people keep trying to meet me in lay-bys flashing their interior lights :stop:

I have a 4 month old lab/collie cross. Really lovely nature, really energetic and playful etc.

My wife was feeding her Bakers until about a week ago when I researched dog food and realised it was crap. I've weaned her over to Wainwrights and she is eating it but just nothing like the quantities it says on the bag. She's still full of energetic and normal (!) but I'm not sure if she is eating enough.

Was about to buy a 15kg bag for £42 to save money but now I'm not so sure.

Any advice? It's my first dog so very inexperienced.
 

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Theres a pets forum at the top of this website maybe try there :smile: my dogs went off bakers ect years ago for the sae, reason and they eat natural dog food now and seem to be doing great, ive a 14 yr old german shepard still going strong and we used to cook her mince everynight for tea lol
 
Lucky dog

I wish my wife would keep me fed with Wainwrights!
pumpClip310.jpg
 
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User6179

Guest
Thought I'd post this here, tried to join a dog forum and people keep trying to meet me in lay-bys flashing their interior lights :stop:

I have a 4 month old lab/collie cross. Really lovely nature, really energetic and playful etc.

My wife was feeding her Bakers until about a week ago when I researched dog food and realised it was crap. I've weaned her over to Wainwrights and she is eating it but just nothing like the quantities it says on the bag. She's still full of energetic and normal (!) but I'm not sure if she is eating enough.

Was about to buy a 15kg bag for £42 to save money but now I'm not so sure.

Any advice? It's my first dog so very inexperienced.

The bakers is rubbish but the Beta Purina which I think is made by the same company is better , the Bakers goes right through the dog and more comes out than goes in :ohmy:
I would just buy 3kg bags to start with and watch how much you feed , I think for the same volume as wet food , purina gives 3 times as much ,so about 400 cals per cup.

So easy to over feed using dry btw so watch how you go .

Also the best thing I ever bought was a cage run like one below for the puppy to go in when you want some peace and stop the puppy eating your home
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ61ee7aCdzDHvzEeH11Nmb6dwKwqXWGTWIYGWrNhtQ29_Zzysf.jpg
 
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Wafer

Veteran
Does seem that dogs can be choosy over their food, though I swear ours has never turned anything down. Might need to try a few to find what suits your dog.
We've been using canigans since we got Hendrix in August and he seems to love it. Chose it because owners of the same breed had swapped to it and seen good results after not getting on with eukanuba.
 
OP
OP
ChrisV

ChrisV

Formerly CC2014
Location
Falkirk
Yeah, got a cage and she loves the peace and quiet of it. She's slowly getting better at toileting where she is supposed to as well.

The Bakers was wrecking her poos like - that was bad times trying to scrape them off the slabs out the back!!
 

Lilliburlero

Pro sandbagger
Location
South Derbyshire
As long as shes eating and still her normal self I woundnt worry too much. Some dogs will eat anything you put in front of them, others will eat when they want to. Our jack russell is a funny old thing, he only bolts his food when he gets excited (playing around or walkies time) and nibbles at his food the rest of the day.

She`ll be fine :smile:
 

Sara_H

Guru
Don't ask a vet for dog food advice, they all act as agents for expensive dog food companies.

If the dog looks well and has energy I wouldn't worry too much about it.

We started our lab off on autarky kibble for his first couple of years, but he suddenly went off it.

He's been on supermarket brand dry food since then, he's happy and healthy. Can't ask for more than that.
 
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User6179

Guest
My collie puppy was toilet trained at 7 weeks , she came from a breeder and had never been indoors so was used to going outside , they tend to start sniffing in circular motion when they need , a quick pick up facing them away from you and run to the door ^_^
 
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User6179

Guest
Don't ask a vet for dog food advice, they all act as agents for expensive dog food companies.

If the dog looks well and has energy I wouldn't worry too much about it.

We started our lab off on autarky kibble for his first couple of years, but he suddenly went off it.

He's been on supermarket brand dry food since then, he's happy and healthy. Can't ask for more than that.

When you say he went off the kibble , had he discovered how tasty human food was , my dog waits to see if she is getting some of my dinner which I never give her then eats her food , she got a hold of some turkey one xmas and wouldn't eat her own food for a few days .
 

Sara_H

Guru
When you say he went off the kibble , had he discovered how tasty human food was , my dog waits to see if she is getting some of my dinner which I never give her then eats her food , she got a hold of some turkey one xmas and wouldn't eat her own food for a few days .
It was that particular brand he went off.
It was highly recommended for young labs, so he'd been on it from puppyhood. One day he just started refusing to eat it! Which for a lab who will eat literally anything is serious!
He's been on mostly tesco own brand dry food since then, though we have just tried him with Aldi own brand which he likes and doesn't seem to have had any effect on his bowels!
 
As long as she's eating it, exercising and not losing weight, I wouldn't worry about making sure she has the amounts on the bag. I have two dogs - one is like yours and eats if hes hungry, and I often put food back. He's perfectly healthy and neither under or overweight :smile:

(the other dog would eat the entire 15kg bag in one sitting if I let him, vomit it up and eat it again!)
 
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User6179

Guest
It was that particular brand he went off.
It was highly recommended for young labs, so he'd been on it from puppyhood. One day he just started refusing to eat it! Which for a lab who will eat literally anything is serious!
He's been on mostly tesco own brand dry food since then, though we have just tried him with Aldi own brand which he likes and doesn't seem to have had any effect on his bowels!

Yep , Labs love there grub , had a lab/collie cross when I was kid and they would eat anything and always be looking for more .
Never tried the own brand stuff but it is probably just a well known make repackaged .
Only stuff I wouldn't use is the cheap Dr Johns dog food as my friends dog has had bowel problems after being on it .
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
I have used Royal Canin food for our border terrier since she was about 9mth old.
I used the small dog wet foods at first and follwed the guides for feeding..total crap.dog was overweight within no time..
the buscuits say around 100g a day for my dog ,she gets 25g twice a day and some doggy treats..
weight is around 7.5kg which is fine.
have a look at Royal Canin and other vet approved foods..talk to your Vet also as feeding can alter if the dogs spayed ,labs are very greedy..
 
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