Dry complete or tinned dog food?

Question

which do u think is best, i feed my 3 german shepherds dry food and they are fine. Has anyone had any problems?

Answer 1

Dry complete food is by far the best. Tinned food is full of water and can give shepherds the runs as many have sensitive tummies. Royal CAnin do a special German SHepherd mix in a dried food - really good if your dog needs building up at all. I feed my 2 a dried food called Dr Johns Gold. It has exactly the same ingredients as Eukanuba or Iams but is £8.00 for a 15kg bag - look out for it at horse farm shops. Sometimes as a treat I mix a little dog meat in with dried food just to give a bit of variety . xxxxxxxx

Answer 2

As long as its a good dried dog food it will contain all their nutrients for each day. Dried food is also very efficient in that that is eaten is needed by the body thereby reducing excess pooing.
It is less smelly in your house too and won't go off in hot weather. I saw on the program 'Its me or the dog' where Victoria Sitwell advised one family to give their dog a mix of dry and soft food as the dog was constantly nicking the family's food and not eating its own dried stuff. But that was only cos the dog wouldn't eat dry stuff. If your dogs aren't having any problems I don't see why you should change.

Our vet recommended James Wellbeloved dry food which comes in different flavours and doesn't have any preservitives or anything in it. Since our dog started on that her coat has gone lovely and shiney so I would also personally recommend it too if you are worried yours isn't the best for your dogs. Only problem I found with this was my local pet shops didn't seel it so had to trek to Pets at Home but not too bad if you stock up on it.

Not sure how often you feed your dogs but I do breakfast and tea time. Apparently its good for dogs to have their daily allowance split into two rather than having it all at once.

Answer 3

The best one is complete but it better to soak the food in water rather than feed it dry as it could cause bloat which is a very serious condition that could kill the dog. Do not feed tinned food and complete as this causes problems and gives the dog too much protein(its like giving children too many sweets!!).

Answer 4

My dog has had dry food all his life - he's a big dog too, rottie cross, and he has no problems. I find it has a number of benefits:

1) less smelly
2) easier to clean bowls
3) he doesn't wolf it all down in one go like he does with wet food
4) much cheaper
5) much better for the dog's teeth - wet food alone can lead to rotting as it doesn't clean them
6) better for their stomach - my dog gets diarrhea on wet food.

So I think you're making the right choice. The best ones I've found are the Bakers Complete, which have moist meaty chunks, Pedegree Chum original and Winalot.

If money is no object, the Science plan stuff you get from the vets is very good, as is iams, but these are more expensive.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 5

I would say a complete dry food is preferable to a tinned dog food. I used to work as a veterinary nurse and one of the aspects of our training was to look at the different ingredients and nutritional value in different types of food; tinned food has a high content of ash and when claiming to be, for example, chicken flavoured can include only feathers from the original bird!
Dry food is more balanced and better for a dogs teeth and digestion.
I feed my dog a complete dry food and very occasionally give him one of those little pouches as a treat because he does like them!

Answer 6

Tinned dog food mainly contains a high amount of cereals and water and very little else. What little meat there is, it is usually the parts of the animal you wouldn't consider feeding to a dog ordinarily.
Complete foods are exactly as their names suggest. They contain the right amount of vitamins, fibre, calories etc to keep your dog in top condition and satisfied.
The average tin of dog food is digested by the animal in about an hour and a half. Whereas complete foods are digested over a much longer period.
BTW dogs can and will live on a totally vegetarian diet. Giving dogs uncooked meat can give them worms. With complete foods you won't have that problem.

Answer 7

it doesn't really matter as long as it is quality food. dry food is good for a dogs dental health but can cause some digestion problems if their is a lot competition between the dogs as they will eat it very quickly as they would in the wild without chewing properly. i used to give my dog pedigree chum thinking it was a good brand but he constantly had diarrhoea and skin irritation. he now has james wellbeloved which is a dry food and he couldn't be healthier. the only thing i do is wet it slightly just to aid digestion. my vet thinks that most of the tinned dog foot should be banned as they contain so many ingredients which cause dogs to have problems with their health

Answer 8

If your dogs are health then that is ok for them however 1 may get ill and you could have to change that ones diet.Ive found that most dogs n cats have a problem with gravy. Vets say its too rich n is a big cause of the runs.Dried food is fine but only if its got all the requirement a dog needs, if unsure phone the R.S.P.C.A. they will b happy to answer your questions.

Answer 9

The mixer gets mixed with a tin of wet dog food..The complete dry food,you give on its own ;)

Answer 10

I feed dry complete food you know exactly how much to feed with tinned food you still need to put mixer in it to make it substantial for your dog so complete saves alot of bother and is better for your dog.
As for problems I've never had a problem with my Jrt but my Bull Terriers have very sensitive stomachs and I have had to try all different types of food for them. They started out on Eukanuba then, science formula then Autarky and we have now found a happy medium in the Pedigry Puppy food for the little one and the juniour for the older one they are in perfect condition although I do still feed them rice with their food as they really like it and prefer it with there biscuits.