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We are what we eat.. and so are our dogs!

April 17, 2018
Dog training, Puppy training, Recommendations

On leaving school I began training as a veterinary nurse in a small practice in a big town. Back then I was determined that the ailments which affected the patients that I cared for (such as bad teeth/ obesity/ poor coat condition) wouldn’t ever affect my own. And due to the clever sales & marketing of the brands regularly used in practices, I truly believed that a dry food diet was the best way to help me do this.

Fast forward to the present day and I’m still pretty determined that my dogs should be as healthy as I can possibly manage. But my opinions about how that might be achieved have changed rather a lot.

The dry food industry is worth rather a lot of money in this country and around the world. We know the names of the big pet food brands because they can afford to spend money on TV advertising which puts it into the public consciousness.

But despite being able to spend lots of money on expensive marketing, what ingredients they use in well-known dry foods, is not necessarily very good for your dog!

Now there are THOUSANDS of dry dog food diets out there. So I’m not going to get into a debate on each of them – there just aren’t enough hours in the day! But what I do recommend is that you do your research and get more information about what you choose to feed your dog.

Here’s where I suggest you get started – the All About Dog Food website is a fantastic source of impartial nutritional advice where you can look up your current brand and compare against the many others on the market.

Plus, click here for a great Facebook post with more information on finding a diet which suits them from my colleague Roz Pooley, The Mutty Professor.

Now my preference for my own dogs is cooked or raw food. But just occasionally if I’m travelling, then I might use dry food for convenience. The kibble I would use with my own dogs would be:

This isn’t a comprehensive list as there are other good ones out there, these are just a few that I’ve used in the past couple of years that my dogs enjoyed.

But for their normal, everyday diet, my dogs are fed a combination of cooked or raw food:

Cooked:

Butternut Box (you get a free week’s trial with this one)

Raw:

Everyone will have their own ideas about what is best for their dog. All I’d like to suggest is that people make their minds up based on independent research, rather than someone who stands to benefit from what choice you make. And on that note, I am grateful to say that I receive money off from orders made from Butternut Box when you click on the link above.

Today I’m grateful for how happy & healthy my dogs are on my choice of diet for them. Their shiny coats, bright eyes and boundless energy are worth every penny!