What Dog Food Do we Buy?
Like most people we wanted the best for our two little puppies but had not got a clue what dog food to buy. Where do we start? Well rather than look at dog food reviews we had a read on what a puppy diet should consist of. Reading 100’s or articles and comments we concluded that we needed a puppy food with a minimum of 28% protein and 17% fats. Protein is the building block for puppy nutrition, required for growth and development. At the age of 1 year, the level of protein drops to 18% and fat to 10% – 15%.
Dry or Wet Food?
It sounded like dry food is better than wet as wet food has a high water content. Also, dry is a lot less smelly when confined in a motorhome and much more portable in large quantities.
On the face of it, the dry foods appear more expensive, but it means you do not need to feed the large amounts like you would with a lower grade food, so many of them actually work out to cost the same, if not less!
Some dogs are not accustomed to complete dry foods but training our two from the beginning is not an issue. However, If your dog does not seem to like eating dry complete and this is what you wish to feed you can try soaking the food in a little warm water to soften.
Which Brand?
We knew we wanted dry food and we knew the composition but which brand? Only one thing for it…a visit to the pet shop and supermarket. Slowly but surely we read the back of all the dog food labels and worked out the best quality and the best price. Our conclusion…wow…they really do vary! What also surprised us most of all is the size of the daily feeding guide, it varied hugely. Some products looked really expensive but when you worked out the cost per serving against the cheaper brand it really wasn’t the most expensive. These are just a few examples of our conclusion (prices based on high street pet store)
| Royal Canin Junior | Iams Puppy | Pedigree Junior | Bakers Complete | |
| Quantity | 16kg | 24kg | 15kg | 12.5kg |
| RRP |
£50.98 |
£49.98 |
£19.99 |
£28.69 |
| Protein / Fat | 31% / 20% | 28% / 20% | 28% / 16% | 28% / 12% |
| 3 months old, 3kg pup. Daily food guide | 110g | 210g | 240g | 270g |
| Cost per day |
£0.35 |
£0.44 |
£0.32 |
£0.63 |
Feeding Times
Your vet can calculate the exact amount to food or you can do it yourself. You can feed your dog one, two or three times a day. It’s best to do it at least twice daily 12 hour intervals, but we opted for three times a day to fall in line with our meal times. It works well for us and the dogs. If you’re doing it this way, split the sugested amount found on the bag by 3 or you’ll feed it triple what it needs.
Dog Treats
12 Months Down the line…