Purina Hills Science or Royal Canine - Boxer 30

[ageohar]

Hi thre,
We go our boxer last Friday. her name is Sacha and, she is 8 weeks and lovely! The breeder was feeding her with Purina Beta however the vet and some other friends said this is a low quality food. So we were wondering which one you would recommend: stick to Purina or switch to Hill Science (Puppy, Large Breed) or Royal Canine Boxer 30 (new for Boxer puppies). We know that if we swich we should do it only gradually but with which of the diets to go? Many thanks.

 

[gmacleod]

Of the options listed... I think the RC is the best of them. But all are pretty low grade foods, really (the first two are downright nasty).

Would you consider something higher quality? Some reasonable foods commonly available in the UK include James Wellbeloved and Burns. Much better than that (but by mail order only) are foods like Orijen, or Timberwolf Organics. You can get those from www.zooplus.co.uk. Solid Gold (available from same place) also has some reasonably decent products.

 

[ageohar]

Of the options listed... I think the RC is the best of them. But all are pretty low grade foods, really (the first two are downright nasty).

Would you consider something higher quality? Some reasonable foods commonly available in the UK include James Wellbeloved and Burns. Much better than that (but by mail order only) are foods like Orijen, or Timberwolf Organics. You can get those from www.zooplus.co.uk. Solid Gold (available from same place) also has some reasonably decent products.

Many thanks, could you also recommend puppy treats (at the minute I use Puppy Coachies)?

Many thanks

 

[Dazey]

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ Will give you a pretty good idea of what foods are better than others. When Dazey was a puppy I chose to feed an all life stages food.

 

[gmacleod]

Have to say, I don't think there's a lot to beat homemade treats. Simple things like bits of grilled chicken, cooked liver, etc.

If you do want to buy the ready made ones, then it's worth reading what they're made of. Anything with sugar (beet pulp, molasses), artificial flavours or colours, or with chemical preservatives isn't a great thing to give to the pup (and you'll probably find that most treats have those sorts of things in them). It's not as bad as seeing it in dog food, of course - because the pup will presumably consume a great deal less in treats than in what it gets in every meal. But even so, if you can find something without those sorts of junk ingredients, it would good.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I make my treats, they're really easy and simple and cost effective.

Peanut butter ones are 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water some flour (I use gluten free flour) to make a dough and that's about it. You bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then 300 degrees for 10 minutes then 200 degrees for 30 minutes and they're done.

Carrot ones are basically the same however it's 2 jars carrot baby food and 4 jars water and then the flour and cook the same. You can really use any flavour baby food, peas, green beans, sweet potatos, carrots, etc I've also done it with meat baby food to give it the meat flavour.

Costs me around $5 using the gluten free flour and the baby food less for the PB and I get around 50 treats per batch. 50 treats for $5 or less isn't a bad deal at all IMO.

 

[ageohar]

Of the options listed... I think the RC is the best of them. But all are pretty low grade foods, really (the first two are downright nasty).

Would you consider something higher quality? Some reasonable foods commonly available in the UK include James Wellbeloved and Burns. Much better than that (but by mail order only) are foods like Orijen, or Timberwolf Organics. You can get those from www.zooplus.co.uk. Solid Gold (available from same place) also has some reasonably decent products.

I wish to follow your advice and go for a better quality food. Currently I'm leaning towards Orijen however I wanted to ask two more questions: firstly, is the delivery into the UK reliable? Also back to the Protein debate. The breeder said that our puppy will grow to be a big girl but looking a the 3 brands like James wellbeloved, Burns and Orijen the protein content is very different: 30%, 21% and 42%(!) respectively. I know you lean to the side that Protein doesn't cause any problem however why it so much higher vs most other brands? Is the quality diference large enough to take the extra risk and the extra complication regarding limited availability? mant thanks

 

[gmacleod]

Broadly, the answer is different ingredients. Both Burns and JamesWellbeloved have a very much lower meat content than Orijen. The major ingredients of both those foods is grains.

As an indicator - most "reasonable" quality dog foods have between 15-21% meat content. Meat isn't solely protein, of course, and grains are also a protein source - it isn't the protein content that is a clear indicator of meat content. But the labelling is, and in Europe, the actual meat content is often stated.

Grain and plant protein, of course, is very much lower quality protein than meat. And you're going to be feeding whatever you choose to feed to a carnivore... Dogs may be able to survive on grain-based diets, but they thrive much more on meat. Thus, the food with the greater meat content is usually the better choice.

Orijen, of course, doesn't contain any grains at all. Even though dogs have no evolved need of carbohydrates at all in their diets, you cannot make a kibble without large doses of carbs (it won't stick together). However, you don't need the carb source to be grain - and in the case of Orijen, it is instead vegetable (potato). You'd also note from the labelling that there is a great deal more meat protein in Orijen, and a lot less carbohydrate than in the other two (and most other old-style or traditional foods).

As for availability - I don't buy kibble myself, so cannot speak from experience. A number of other members do buy that food though, and I don't recall any complaints about availability. Same couldn't be said for the Timberwolf, which did have supply problems (not just in Europe, but worldwide).

 

[ageohar]

Thanks

many thanks all for the great advice!

 

[ageohar]

Orijen

Hi All,

A trainer, noticing the high levels of Protein (42%) in the Orijen Puppy food commented that that might cause some over excited behavior. Did anybody notice hyperactivity or aggression after moving to feed with Orijen Puppy food? Many thanks!