Help :)

Bailey as a puppy couldn't eat any brand of complete dried food b/c it would just go straight through him.
We tried 4 or 5 before putting him onto Tinned meat (Pedigree chum).
I don't want him to just eat Meat the whole time though.

Is there anyone who knows a really good Complete meal for dogs with sensitive stomachs?

Oh and the vet said that given his size he can now have Adult foods.

Someone mentioned a food called "Field and Trial" has anyone heard of this and know how good it is?

Also i was told about "James Wellbeloved".

Would be great if someone could advise me here b/c as i said i don't want him only eating Tinned foods and also it costs an absolute fortune to keep him this way.

By tinned foods, do you mean canned foods?? lol just wondering..

If so, be careful and brush his teeth after EVERY meal, canned foods tend to cause premature tartar and plaque on a dogs teeth.

From what I've heard, they absorb less of the food if it's canned because of the high water content. I could be wrong though.....is he still on pedigree?? It may be going straight through him because there is not a whole lot of nutrition in that brand.

Tinned/Canned.....same thing

He has his Teeth Brushed regularly and has Dentistix to help keep the Plaque and Tartar away

Pedigree is what he is on now, from the Can and he keeps this in him really well.
But i want to try and wean him over to a complete dried meal that his Stomach can handle.

I'm pretty sure that Nutro has a "sensative stomach" forumla.

Althuogh its not the best brand, definately better then pedigree though..

Stay away from corn in foods as well!

Have you tried your pup on any of the "higher end" brands of food? maybe its just the lower quality food that is going through him?

IMHO, the best dry food currently available in UK is Eagle Pack which can be purchased at Postal Pet Products (http://www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk/eagle_news.htm). It's an American company and its formulas, especially the holistic ones, are known to be quite good. More information on the ingredients can be found at http://www.eaglepack.com/.

If you're looking for non-dry types of food, Nature Diet is quite good. Their website is http://www.naturediet.net/index.html.

Nutro was the 1st brand we tried.
Also Ukanuba, Iams (although i read bad reviews after we had tried it), Science plan, Pedigree complete and Bakers Complete.

Thanks

I will look into these.

That isn't true...the water content actually helps them absorb food better. The only thing about a strictly canned diet is that you have to feed more because the dry matter content (the actual nutrients) are less because it is mostly composed of water. It can get expensive!

I know Royal Canin has a sensitive stomach formula for small and medium dogs....you could also try California Natural; their foods are geared towards dogs with sensitivities because of the limited ingredients.

No California Natural in UK, otherwise that would have been first on my list of recommendations.

Eagle Pack is a really good kibble. If your pup doesn't do well on that, I'm not sure if he will do well on any kibble :/ wierd.

Have you looked into raw feeding? It is as healthy a diet as you can feed, and it sounds like he'd do very well on it. Do you think he could have a wheat or corn allergy? I know you're interested in giving raw meaty bones for teeth cleaning, they will work MUCH better and are MUCH cheaper than Dentastix. You might as well check into raw... it is TONS cheaper than feeding canned, and so much healthier. http://www.rawlearning.com

The sad truth is that most likely meat makes up only a very small portion of this (poor quality) canned food. Have you ever looked at the ingredients? Here's what's in the adult canned food:

Meat and animal derivatives (minimum meat claimed 4%, minimum 4% fresh meat), Cereals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Vegetable Protein Extracts, Oils and fats, Minerals

Isn't it scary that they don't even tell you just what kind of "meat" is in there? Seriously, it's a brand to stay far, far away from.

Quality nonwithstanding, canned foods are healthier than dry foods.

Not true. Canned foods are much closer to the consistency of food a wild dog would eat (meat) and do not contain the insane amounts of carbs found in dry foods. It's mainly the dry starches that stick to the teeth and cause plaque and tartar. Large amounts of sugars and additives in poor quality dry foods contribute to dental problems, but that's not an issue with quality products made from good, clean ingredients.

If you want to do a little experiment, try the following:

First take a bite of sausage or put a slice of ham in your mouth, chew and swallow. Do not drink anything. Check your gums and teeth with a mirror.

Now eat a mouthful of potato chips and again, don't wash them down with water. Check your gums and teeth and compare to what it looked like after eating the ham or sausage.

It's the same thing with a dog eating dry vs. moist food.

This is not true either. Nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, and water in the large intestine. Foods with a higher moisture content are also easier for the body to handle.

I'm so confused. My vet himself told me to avoid feeding canned food because it's mostly water. Maybe he just meant to avoid cheap brands???

It is true that compared by weight dry food supplies more nutrients, since canned, moist or fresh foods have a higher water content.

As an example, if a dry food contains 10% moisture, that means 90% of it are dry matter. If a food contains 75% moisture, 25% of it are dry matter.

However, would you avoid eating veggies, fruits and other non-processed (or at least not highly processed) things as part of your daily diet, just because they contain water and thus might not contain as many nutrients per serving as some dried energy bar?

Dry foods rob the body of moisture, and many dogs do not make up for that sufficiently by drinking extra water. Canned foods have a consistency that is closer to the natural diet of a dog, are handled better by the body, are less processed than dry food, contain less additives and preservatives, and even of the mediocre brands of pet food, the canned ones often have better ingredients with less useless fillers than the dry varieties.

So if you go strictly by math, yes, you get a little less volume for your money when buying canned food, but your dog's health will definitely benefit.

As a side note, with all due respect to veterinarians as highly trained professionals, they are generally not very knowledgeable about nutrition and the little information they do have is most often provided by pet food manufacturers, who have a greater interest in selling dry food, because it's cheaper to make and has a larger profit margin.

So if he gets enough water then he should be ok with the dried?
I am weaning him over to Pedigree complete as it is the Pedigree canned that he is on.
I have noticed that he is drinking alot more now.
Now i feel that maybe i should just pay the money and keep him on the canned?
Oh god i don't know what to do for the best.
The money isn't a problem but i always thought that the Dried food is supposed to be better for them.

I'd recommend not feeding Pedigree at all, regardless whether it's dry or canned. It's just not a quality food and really a waste of money that could be better spent. Baker's is just as bad, as you'll be able to tell when you look at the ingredient list.

The brands other people in this thread recommended already aside, you can also look into Burns dog food, which is very good quality but rather low on meat, so you should add at least some canned food or fresh meat on a daily basis.