I am thinking of changing from Nutor to Arden Grange. Although Nutro is very good, one of my boys(two young Cocker Spaniels - show dogs) does not particularly like it. I want to stick with a complete food and thought about Arden Grange. However, on looking at their website, the protein content of the food that my boys would use is either 26% for the normal adult or 30% for their prestige. This seems very high to me. What do others think?

regards

Pam n two fussy boys

pammy, send me your email address please, i need to have a word with you about the arden grange food,

I've used Arden Grange on my dogs for 5 years now without any apparent problems with regards to the higher protein levels. Remember that raw meat and tinned meat can be of a higher protein level than that which dogs dont seem to have a problem with.

Yes you have to go on comparing the dry matter ratio, a wet food of 8% protein is in fact over 40% protein on a dry matter basis compared to a 26% dry food with only 8% moisture is under 30%.

I have found the food excellent, and if I have to feed a complete then at least it has a higer proportion of animal protein than most.

Nutro is the better food

nutro most certainly is the better of the two!

Hi all

Thanks for the comments. I like Nutro but unfortunately my older boy spits most of it out and he can;t afford to. He has problems keeping weight on so I guess that's what I'm really looking for, ie. to help him put some weight on and keep it on.

Thanks

Pam n co

Hi Pam

A friend of mine had a bitch that was a really fussy eater and just wouldn't put any weight on. She used to give them all mince meat with their biscuits and then tripe etc etc all of which she would eat the meat but then leave her biscuits. She has now put all her dogs on to James Well Beloved and all of them are eating it well even the really fussy eater.

I feed my boys on Febo and have done ever since I had Sebbie. I've never had any trouble with them, but they do get half a tin of butchers maybe once a week, and a tin of sardines once a week all mixed with their Febo, just to give them a little variety.

Hopefully through the advice that has been given you will be able to find something that will suit Jasper.

Best wishes

Derryn & The Boys ...

Hi, when I changed my puppy from AG puppy (which I was really pleased with ) to Junior she "went off it" . At midland Counties show I got a freebie bag of Royal canin to try, and she loves it. I got the small breeds one, so I dont know if the make up is different in the larger breed one, or if it is just the size of biscuit that is different. The make up is: Protein 33% Fats 20%. It certainly suits her, I have never used their foods before, and after using only one small bag I am not in a postition to recommend it really, but its worked for Bella. Together with a little raw meat or puppy Chum, she loves it. I was having trouble keeping weight on her and her coat would not grow either. I was advised to use "Restore" and "Moor Gold" from Stock Nutrtition, about £20 for the two, and the difference it has made is incredible. After only a week her appetite doubled, and after 2 weeks it was obvious her coat was less sparse. Now after a month, she is in fine fettle, with a good appetite and a coat that is thick and growing well. I have no hesitation in recommending those! Although not cheap, you only use a little of each and I expect them to last a good six months.

Thanks WL - I have been to Stock Nutrition and ordered said two products - we'll see how he goes with them.

Pam

I have been very pleased with Arden Grange food.
I raised my pups on AG puppy and fed dam AG Prestige
(she only lost her coat condition after she stopped feeding the pups)
I must admit that my Boxer pup has gone a bit slow with eating the
AG Graduate. But she's had quite a traumatic time of it.
As firstly her last litter mate went at 12 weeks old and then the day after we lost my veteran. I spoke to the nutritionist at AG and she has suggested a slightly different mix of AG products which at the moment is
doing the trick, she is slowly putting on weight etc.
The vets have all commented on what fine condition she's in and were not at all worried with her. Her coat is always glossy.
I also think that were it not for AG prestige my oldie would not have
kept with us for so long.
I would reccommend AG and their staff are always very helpful.
Best Wishes
Kirstine

I have always fed the prestige both to the pregnant/lactating bitch and the puppies! Th AG people say that is fine. I found it more convienient to have mum and pups on same food, avoids having to store two lots of food with then part of two bags left over :D

With my anorexic I found the Arden Grange Prestige the most palatable from all the meat based better Quality foods. My view was the same, no matter how good it was it wasn't any use unless she ate it. she is now on The Adult (original not classic).

I also got info from the company of how much actual meat was in it.

Prestige: has 29.3% Fresh Chicken, 13% Chicken Meal, making 54% Total chicken (that includes egg and fat)

Adult:17.3% Fresh Chicken, 13% Chicken meal, making 40% Total chicken (inclusive of Egg and fat).

The classic Adult: 25% Chicken Meal, 35% Total chicken (inclusive of Egg and fat).

Having looked at some mid range feeds, a lot have only about 15 to 20% meat content!

I haven't done the label check on Nutro, but Purina Adult has about 22% meat.

Because I can't find room for a dog freezer to make BARF a viable and economic proposition, I went for a food that at least has a decent level of Animal Protein. I give them a little meat now and then say a pound of chicken or tripe between the 4 of them. As I can only get about 20lb of Dog meat inmy Freezer

Westie Lover, I found the Prestige to be the best for feeding pregnant/nursing bitches and the puppies! As my bitches are fed in their beds, the pups have usually tried eating her soaked food by the time weaning starts. I find it easiest to keep the Mum and Pups on same food. The Company say this is quite common practice, and perfectly OK. After all some companies don't differentiate betweed performance and Puppy food.

I prefer to feed a complete dry food and have fed Eukanuba for the past 3 years, however, we have been considering changing because there are so many products on the market now which we have been told are just as good if not better than Euk but half the cost.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to what to change to as there is so much talk about the different levels of protein etc. and everyone who has my breed seems to feed something different so there is no consensus at all! A few that have been mentioned are Arden Grange, Hills & Pedigree Advance to name a few, not all are cheaper than Euk. Trouble is my dogs look great on Euk so I'm thinking if it's not broken then why fix it ??!!?? I don't mind paying for something that would be considered to be the best for my dogs but if there are better feeds out there and I'll be saving a bit of money then maybe I should be considering it? If anyone has any thoughts on my dilemma I would be grateful to hear them. I was interested to see that not everyone likes AG as I've heard it is very good.

Hi Pam

We have a fussy eater too & I have tried him on various complete foods eg Arden Grange, Purina without a great deal of success in the past. As others have said, it doesn't matter how great the food is, if they don't eat enough of it, they won't carry enough weight! You will find your boy will get better as he gets older - our boy is now coming up for 3 & is now a fairly reliable eater (unless he gets a whiff of "eau de bitch in season"!). Our dog does best on raw tripe & biscuit or Butchers Tripe & biscuit & I have had to be tough with him - if he doesn't eat up within 10 mins, then it gets taken away & he get's nothing until the next day.
Don't worry about it too much - many show Cockers are way too fat anyway & it's quite common for young males not to carry much weight, particularly if they've developed an interest in the oppposite sex

Jane

I switched over to Arden Grange after talking to a number of people. Over the years, I've used most of the major foods -- ProPlan, Eukanuba, Iams, Nutro, Science Diet, and too many others to list. My clients would send them with their dogs on show circuits, and I've tried various diets on my dogs. When we got a dog over here, I put her on Science Diet and then tried the Eukanuba puppy, and finally put her and Mara (who we got during this time 14 months ago) on Arden Grange. Kai has only been fed Arden Grange since being with us (he's 15 weeks old and has been with us for 9 weeks). The vet remarks every time he has seen him (every two weeks for vaccinations, Intra-trac, rabies vaccine, etc. since he was 6 weeks old) that he has not seen a more healthy puppy; even the staff remarks on how his coat glistens and feels.

Coats are beautiful and glossy. Kai's development is very much what I am used to seeing in German Shorthaired Pointers. Bri, who is a fussy eater by all standards, eats the food readily. Kai has always had dry food available along with his moistened food fed at intervals and has now evinced a preference for eating it dry.

I have always used over the years foods that were around 26% protein and 16% fat with great results on the sporting dogs. I've heard the arguments for and against and all I can say is that the food works for me -- it produces dogs that are not hyperactive, dogs that have great coats, shine and are very healthy.

Here is a comparison chart that I found on the Wolfepack site for Independent and Speciality Food comparisons. It is extremely comprehensive and allows for a quick comparison without going from site to site or standing in a food store. There are also lists on the site for pet food brands, grocery store brands, frozen and tinned foods, etc. I highly recommend a read through the site by anyone interested in comparing foods.

Well chaps - what can I say - thank you all so much for your help. What a ton of information.

My view is that it doesn't matter how good a particular brand is if the won't eat it. Jasper was weaned on Euk but he didn't like it that much and when he switched to Junior it sent him so hyper it was untrue. He is calmer on Nutro - it does not have such a high protein level but he doesn't eat as much as he should and he is still very active - which is great and how he should be.

One thing I did try that seemed to work a bit was to bash the kibble up into non uniform pieces etc - that made it a bit more difficult to spit out - but it's a bit of a pullava breaking it up. I put some in a bag and smahed it with a rolling pin.

I was going to try some pilchards too. I remember my mum used to give one of her Cairn terriers pilchards. Like tripe - they smell yuck to me but the dog loved them. I might also try some raw mince.

I'll mull over all of the suggestions and give some a try and let you know how we get on.

Thanks again everbody - much appreciated

Pam n the boys

My lot go mad for Pilchards in Tomato ....lol ... but it must be tomato and not brine. Even 'Alfraido The Fearless' insists on them being in tomato! :D Leigh