hi guys

my neighbours just come round to ask for some advice so i said i would put it on here for her.  She has a mastiff and was made redundant this time last year and hasnt managed to get another job as yet and is struggling with costs etc.  She used to feed James well beloved and when she lost her job she switched over to WAGG from a suggestion from her vet.  Shes saying now that the food is making her dogs stools etremely soft and just comes out in a heap.  She also said the dogs having about 6-7 stools a day.

Shes wanting to know if there is any other reasonable priced food she could try?  I currently use gusto which imo  works for my dogs etc, but just wondered everyone elses thoughts so i can pass them on?

What about raw? I find this so much cheaper than any complete

> She also said the dogs having about 6-7 stools a day.
>

That's a lot of poop

I have a Mastiff, he is fed Beta Adult complete & raw tripe (approx 50:50). He is fed twice a day and poops twice a day.

She could try swapping half of his meal with raw tripe to see if that firms things up a bit.

She's likely to find that the cheaper foods will produce more poo and you need to feed more of it to gain any nutrition. The premium foods are generally fed in smaller quantities as more of the ingredients are utilised.

It is generally a false economy to buy cheap foods.

I agree, feeding raw does work out cheaper. She could always go back to JWB and top it up with raw meat.

To be honest I have gone the full circle of cheap completes and have just swtched from JWB onto arden grange for my mastiffs. The cheap completes yes didn't cost me alot to buy but I went through absolutely tons of them and the dogs never looked in the condition I wanted them to look in, we had lots of mess to clean up and to be honest it was a nightmare!!! We then switched onto JWB and what a difference, and yes it was more expensive to buy but it didn't work out more expensive because I could feed so much less of it. Same with Arden Grange and I have just had to cut them down again as they were getting slightly too tubby for my liking!!! So while I appreciate what your frend is saying I guess the point I am trying to make is will it be cost effective to feed a cheaper food as she may have to feed more whch wth a mastiff may work out being alot more! Like someone else suggested has she looked at feeding raw and also you can buy feeds like JWB and Arden Grange on ebay alot cheaper than in the shops which may be something else she may like to consider and alot of them are with free postage. This is just my experience with feeding the mastiffs I have, it was a steep learning curve over the years!!

AG can be found reasonably priced on internet offers. I changed to them when Burns shot up in price. Then we moved to CSJ, and we're now feeding Chudleys (much easier for me to get than the CSJ). I can honestly say my dogs prefer the Chudleys, specially the 2 youngsters, their stools are fine and their condition is equally good as when on the AG and Burns.  3 are on the Choice (wheat/gluten free) and 2 youngsters on Classic (contains wheat) ... these 2 are from same litter and would appear that they really are not tolerant of wheat gluten free!
I believe that poo should be firm and kickable, but not rock solid though. It may be that the dog's been switched to the new feed too fast, I'd take about 14 days going from wheat/gluten free of JWB to Wagg, which I suspect isn't wheat free? It may be that the amount fed is too much.
Haven't used Beta with adult dogs, but I know it produces very good puppies, though think it's around £28 a bag ... you'd managed to get AG cheaper.
Hope this is of help.