FOOD - My Top Recommendations to Save Money AND improve your dogs nutrition!

I’ve been wanting to spend some time writing about dog food and nutrition for a while now, but with a new puppy in the home, and inflation pinching at my wallet, there has never been a better time to talk about how you can save money on your dog food, and significantly improve the quality of what you are feeding your dog.

I speak to a lot of clients who believe that they are feeding their dog good, quality nutrition because of how much they are spending on it, because its what the vet recommended, or because of how the company has advertised their product. I have lost count of the number of times i’ve had clients tell me that their dog is on a top quality diet, which turns out to be Vet Spec Royal Canin (very expensive, highly processed, poor nutritional value) - or clients which are buying brands like Lily’s Kitchen, or Pooch and Mutt - which charge over the odds for good ingredients.

In simple terms, the best quality ‘dog’ food for your dog is exactly that - high quality food. Fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, allergy free carbohydrates and quality nutritional supplements. There really is no such thing as dog food in the natural world, and just like human beings - dogs benefit the most from quality fresh ingredients. I explore the different types of food in more detail in another article (don’t worry RAW folks, I’ve got you covered) - but for those of us who want to find a balance between Quality, Cost and practicality, this article is for you.

Understanding why so many veterinarians recommend poor quality food. The MARS problem.

Before we dive into the best food for your dog, its worth discussing some of the worst food for your dog. Most first time dog owners will know about dog food through the adverts they see on TV, and the foods you can buy on supermarket shelves. But did you know that Pedigree, Iams, Cesar, Chappie, Nutro, and James Wellbeloved are ALL owned by the same company? They’re all brands under the MARS umbrella - and the nutritional value is nothing to get excited about. The various brands offer a spectrum of quality - with some of these foods almost entirely filler carbohydrate (pedigree for example is 80% carbohydrate from wheats and maize - which many dogs are allergic too) and the protein content comes from “meat and animal derivates” - which means exactly what you think it means.

So, when you as a responsible pet owner go to your veterinarian to address your dog allergy symptoms gut issues, or other health problems - they will rightly tell you that the quality of your dogs food is poor. At which point, they will usher you towards their shelf of Royal Canin, or Eukanuba… which are also owned by MARS! You might be offered Hills Science Plan (owned by Colgate-Palmolive), or Purina Pro Plan (owned by Nestlé) - and I would love to say that the nutritional content is at least better, but in fact - these Veterinarian advertised foods all contain more of the same processed poultry meal, fillers and allergens.

How you can Assess the quality of your dogs food

My recommendation for independant assessment and comparison of your dogs nutrition is the website “All About Dog Food”. Their database offers a full analysis of hundreds of different food manufacturers worldwide, with a detailed breakdown of each of the ingredients (including benefits and potential issues) - and then shows you the percentages of proteins, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, oils and fats, and “other”.

Each product is rated on whether it matches 5 Criteria - Natural Ingredients, High Meat Content, Hyopallergenic, Clearly Labelled Ingredients, and whether to not the food is Nutritionally complete.

The AADT database is a one stop shop for all of the best information on exactly what your dog is being fed and should be incredibly eye opening for many of my clients. Independently assess and compare your dogs food - with www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

Better Food, Lower Cost - My recommendations

I have scoured through the AADF Database to find some of the best foods available for the UK market, at a range of price points that will be guaranteed to save you money on your dogs food bill, and likely improve the quality of the food they are receiving at the same time.

These are my personal recommendations, as written in Summer 2022 - so please be aware that some details may change! Costs are all based on a medium Sized Dog, with the manufacturers recommended portion sizes for their product - so your ‘personal milage’ may vary. Higher nutritional content meals typically have lower portion sizes, and vice versa.

THE FOOD MY DOGS EAT

Forthglade - Complete Meal Wet Dog Food

£1.62 a day | £26.90 for 7.1kg box.

This wet dog food is my personal choice for my own dogs, and with an AADF Nutritional rating of 90% it certainly sits up there with some of the best foods on the market. Freshly prepared ingredients, low allergens, and its one of the only brands that I have found which offers a wet food solution similar to raw, that doesn’t need to be stored in a freezer. The trays are vacuum sealed and can be stored in a cupboard until opened - which is a massive practical benefit over RAW. Its not the cheapest food on the list, but its absolutely worth it for the high meat content.

Forthglade can be purchased from the brand directly, and from a wide range of supermarkets and online platforms, with discounts for subscription purchase available.

BEST QUALITY WET FOOD RECOMMENDATION

Able - Complete Meal RAW dog food

£1.39 per day | 19.53 for £4.2kg box.

Able raw Dog food really is as good as it gets when it comes to nutrition. Fresh raw meat, Carrot and Kale, berries, seeds, cod liver oil. One of the hardest things about raw foods is ensuring that they are nutritionally complete, but Able has done the hard work to properly portion and balance the nutrients of their meals - at an incredibly competitive price point. Of course, as with all raw foods the biggest challenge is storage, but for those of you who have already converted - able offers everything you could ask for, which is why they score a 99% AADF rating.

BEST QUALITY DRY FOOD RECOMMENDATION

Millies Wolfheart - Complete Meal Dry Dog Food

£0.70 per day | £62.99 for 15kg.

The first dry kibble on our list, Millies Wolfheart is best described as no frills, all quality. This small company from the Yorkshire Dales focus on high percentages of quality fresh ingredients, with offerings like their 80% meat Hunters mix which AADF score at an impressive 86%.They take pride in their allergen free recipes, and you can also be fairly confident that they aren’t wasting money on flashy branding that ends up costing you more in the dog bowl. Millies are noticeably cheaper than other 80/20 brands like Wolfworthy, Eden Holistic Pet Foods & Orijen - without cutting any corners on ingredients. Millies also offer 75%, 70% and 60% mixes at an even lower price point, and working dog mixes that have the higher carbohydrate content for those that really need it.

MY TOP VALUE PICKS

Canine Choice - Complete Meal Dry Dog Food

£0.75 per day | £40.89 for 10kg

A relatively new brand to the market, Canine Choice claims to offer a balance between quality and price - and they certainly appear to do just that. With 60% meat content in all of their adult foods, and the usual list of bigger hitters when it comes to natural fruits and vegetables, (sweet potato, cranberry, yucca, rosemary etc) - they certainly put care into their product and and thought into their price point.

Autarky Grain Free - Complete Meal Dry Dog Food

£0.61 per day | £38.49 for 12kg.

Autarky Dried dog food provides a very affordable offering designed for working dogs, whilst still maintaining quality fresh ingredients, without additives or allergens. offering a respectable 30% fresh meat content, with sweet potato and a range of botanicals. At close to half the price of Royal Canin & double the meat content - Autarky demonstrates just how easy it is to improve the quality of food you are providing your dog without breaking the bank. This food is another personal recommendation, having used as a supplement for my Charlie’s wet food in the past to increase his carbohydrate content on long work days!

Nature’s Way - Complete Meal Dry Dog Food

£0.50 per day | £42.99 for 12kg

When it comes to value for money, this little known brand from the West Country is my personal recommendation. Their Price/meat content is the best I have found at the lower ends of the retail market, without compromising on natural ingredients. All of their recipes are low allergen, and whilst they might not offer quite the level of quality ingredients as some of the other mentioned brands, they certainly exceed expectations for their given price point. fundamentally, quality ingredients mean the food you buy goes further, and the extra protein in these products really pays off when it comes to saving money in a pinch.