# UK GSD food recommendation



## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

Hi,

Let me start off by thanking everyone for any support given. I have been all over the internet looking for food for my 8 weeks old GSD.

I think I have given myself 'decision overload' by reviewing everything that google has to offer and I now can't decide what to feed my pup.

I have been looking at a few options specifically ones that are for larger breeds with decent nutrient levels, particularly with joint packages within the food to support GSD hips and elbows.

*Dry *
Wellness Core Large breed puppy 
Orijen Large breed puppy
Acana Large breed puppy
Canagan Large breed
McAdams Large breed
Eden 80/20

I have considered options to mix wet and dry foods together just to give some difference for him, all the above brands do a wet food as well except Orijen and Acana.

*Wet*
Butternut box
Different dog

Both are custom order foods.

I have thought about RAW, Bella & Duke, Nutriment and Poppy's Picnic but as I have a 7yr old daughter who doesn't take my directions at the best of times I decided against it. Her getting food poisoning is not on my to-do list.

Anyway could anyone just hep my decision overload and give me a good option to feed him?

He was not eating the food he arrived on and I have moved him to Lily's Kitchen Puppy wet food, his poo really isn't that great at the moment it's like Mr Whippy (sorry of that ruins ice cream for you) and he was eating it if I didn't clean it up fast enough.

I want to make sure he gets the best food he can and I can ensure he has an amazing life with a diet that keeps his tummy happy.


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## Gwyllgi (Aug 16, 2017)

Millies wolf heart or Akela seem to be the best choice for kibble, they both also do wet.

Never tried them as I feed raw but heard a lot of good reviews. 

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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

I have thought a lot about raw, my other half was not too sure. 

This is our first dog together but we have both come from families that have had GSD or Border Collies. I just never knew how many choices there were! 

With Raw I have looked into the brands above, I liked Bella and Duke and Poppies picnic as they were custom to my dog. Nutriment is the one that 2 of my friends have their Boxers on and another their cockapoo. I don't mind either way my other half was not so keen on the raw foods.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

I'm not in the UK, but we do feed Agis Acana (large breed puppy). Agis loves it and has done well on it. We do add powdered taurine since it's a grain-free food, but the taurine was inexpensive and 4 months later there's still tons of it. 
We had been feeding Fromm's (don't know if that's in the UK) but Agis was taking longer and longer to finish his meals. Late January/early February we were on vacation with the dogs and some of us (me) did not pack enough dog food, so we got some Acana and Agis went nuts for it.


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## happyblond (Sep 14, 2012)

Hi I am also in the uk....I feed my 15 week old GSD wellness core large breed puppy my 8 year old GSD is also on wellness core adult for about 2 years now,
they both are doing very well on this food hope this helps 🙂


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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

That is good to know. So many drys out there and the website allaboutdogfood.co.uk only put wellness core at 85% I know that is still high but I always feel like I need Better, You may have guessed I do over analyse a bit. I think it is down to my job lol


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## happyblond (Sep 14, 2012)

Schneider said:


> That is good to know. So many drys out there and the website allaboutdogfood.co.uk only put wellness core at 85% I know that is still high but I always feel like I need Better, You may have guessed I do over analyse a bit. I think it is down to my job lol


I'd probably go with a raw diet in that case as you can't really get better than that in the dry kibble form 😊


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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

I have actually been looking to buy some wellness core large breed puppy and wellness core puppy tins as its easy for the other half, I am finding it hard to find though.

Raw sounds great but I will wait a while and see if settles on this. If not I will try Fresh cooked like butternut box/different dog. The other half really is not keen on the dog eating raw then licking our daughter.


Did you consider Acana, Orijen, Millies, Akela etc...? What made you decide on Wellness core?


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## Gwyllgi (Aug 16, 2017)

Schneider said:


> The other half really is not keen on the dog eating raw then licking our daughter.


Is your other half, happy to let the dog lick its own backside and then lick your daughter? 

Dogs have bacteria in their mouths, raw fed or not. The good thing is that their saliva contains lysozyme which destroys bacteria. 

E coli and salmonella can be found in tinned and dry food also. 

I have fed raw for over 20 years and have never had a problem with young children being around my dogs. 

Practice good hygiene when preparing, feeding and cleaning. 


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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

Okay which Raw do you use?


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## Gwyllgi (Aug 16, 2017)

Schneider said:


> Okay which Raw do you use?


I feed whole prey and large pieces of raw Meaty Bones and organs, I don't feed ready made raw. 

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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

That sounds amazing for your dog. Way beyond my time and ability


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## happyblond (Sep 14, 2012)

Schneider said:


> I have actually been looking to buy some wellness core large breed puppy and wellness core puppy tins as its easy for the other half, I am finding it hard to find though.
> 
> Raw sounds great but I will wait a while and see if settles on this. If not I will try Fresh cooked like butternut box/different dog. The other half really is not keen on the dog eating raw then licking our daughter.
> 
> ...


The wellness core large breed puppy is only available to order online from pets at home,
I haven't really looked into wet food as I only feed dry...I'm not sure where you are located but I know if you go to the wellness core website you can get a list up of the places that stock the food...
I had to do this as pets at home were out of stock online,
I found a pet store called kennelgate that has a large selection of the wellness core food.

I did indeed look at those foods and tried a few but wellness core was a better option for my older GSD he has sensitive skin and stomach and in about 2 years not a single problem from this food so when I got my pup I already knew she would be on the same food as him 🙂 we always get complimented on how beautiful and soft my dogs are.


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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

happyblond said:


> The wellness core large breed puppy is only available to order online from pets at home,
> I haven't really looked into wet food as I only feed dry...I'm not sure where you are located but I know if you go to the wellness core website you can get a list up of the places that stock the food...
> I had to do this as pets at home were out of stock online,
> I found a pet store called kennelgate that has a large selection of the wellness core food.
> ...


I found some on amazon just happens to be a huge bag lol. 

I am adding wet just to make it seem more exciting. How would I feel if all I had was biscuits to eat all day??? Well to be honest if its a digestive and a cup of tea I probably wouldn't mind lol 

I live on the South coast right by the Sea in West Sussex, He better love the sea when he grows up!


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## Amshru (Aug 7, 2015)

I'm in Scotland. When my 5 year old GSD was a puppy, I started her on raw, but she wasn't a big fan and ended up on Orijen Large Breed Puppy and then Orijen Regional Red. She never really loved her food though. Then recently I got a new pup who's now 23 weeks. He was weaned to raw so I kept that going. The older girl now wants raw too and they're both doing well on it. I used Nutriment to begin with (nice plastic trays just like human food from Waitrose) and have recently gone to a more generic raw feed. The nice thing about Orijen is that I can still use it for training rewards since they love it... and it's easy to put in your pocket. So they still get a little of that, but the bulk of their food is raw.


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## happyblond (Sep 14, 2012)

Schneider said:


> I found some on amazon just happens to be a huge bag lol.
> 
> I am adding wet just to make it seem more exciting. How would I feel if all I had was biscuits to eat all day??? Well to be honest if its a digestive and a cup of tea I probably wouldn't mind lol
> 
> I live on the South coast right by the Sea in West Sussex, He better love the sea when he grows up!


Yeah true biscuits all the time is pretty boring I do add bits and pieces to my older dogs food like eggs, different types of fish, yogurt, veggies etc. But I don't use wet tins of food is what I ment 😅(sorry for the confusion), 
I don't know why I don't use tined wet food I guess I just like to add little surprises now and then, my pup is fine on just dry at the moment as I don't want to create a picky puppy 😁 
I'm glad you were able to get hold of some wellness core I totally forgot about Amazon...


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## Schneider (Jun 19, 2020)

Amshru said:


> I'm in Scotland. When my 5 year old GSD was a puppy, I started her on raw, but she wasn't a big fan and ended up on Orijen Large Breed Puppy and then Orijen Regional Red. She never really loved her food though. Then recently I got a new pup who's now 23 weeks. He was weaned to raw so I kept that going. The older girl now wants raw too and they're both doing well on it. I used Nutriment to begin with (nice plastic trays just like human food from Waitrose) and have recently gone to a more generic raw feed. The nice thing about Orijen is that I can still use it for training rewards since they love it... and it's easy to put in your pocket. So they still get a little of that, but the bulk of their food is raw.


Well l don't know much about Waitrose, I work for Tesco... We do lovely plastic tray human food too. lol 

What is a generic raw? As long as the food comes in a tray in a decent enough size for a daily feed that is right for him based on the ingredients and amount for his breed, age and weight (I know they have the measurements on the pack, that helps a lot) I can just put it into his bowl, mix it up a bit and done. He is happy, I am happy, I can wash up.



happyblond said:


> Yeah true biscuits all the time is pretty boring I do add bits and pieces to my older dogs food like eggs, different types of fish, yogurt, veggies etc. But I don't use wet tins of food is what I ment 😅(sorry for the confusion),
> I don't know why I don't use tined wet food I guess I just like to add little surprises now and then, my pup is fine on just dry at the moment as I don't want to create a picky puppy 😁
> I'm glad you were able to get hold of some wellness core I totally forgot about Amazon...


That interesting, Do you mean raw eggs? Greek yogurt or normal yogurt? Where about are you from Happyblond? I'm learning and the best people to learn form is always other owners


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## happyblond (Sep 14, 2012)

Schneider said:


> Well l don't know much about Waitrose, I work for Tesco... We do lovely plastic tray human food too. lol
> 
> What is a generic raw? As long as the food comes in a tray in a decent enough size for a daily feed that is right for him based on the ingredients and amount for his breed, age and weight (I know they have the measurements on the pack, that helps a lot) I can just put it into his bowl, mix it up a bit and done. He is happy, I am happy, I can wash up.
> 
> ...


I add eggs once or twice a week cooked different ways doesn't matter really boiled, scrambled (with water not milk) or sometimes poached depends if I'm feeling lazy very rarely raw eggs
I also throw the shell in there if its a boiled egg... yoghurt wise I normally use natural yogurt make sure it's not got any artificial sweeteners in it as they are very bad for dogs... I'm in Bedfordshire 😊.


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