Stormy - you have never given your dog table scraps etc? Just pedigree sludge? (sorry I have used that so long now I can't help it!)

''The same as every other brand or type of feed out there.''

I think everyone will agree with me on this one; there is a BIG difference between dog foods out there. You clearly haven't been label reading! Arden Grange works hard to make a better dog food (even though bizarrely they are still using glucosamine sulphate in their mix).

Very rarley gets table scraps. No I dont lable read as a lable or people who create the food know what works best for my dog, the dog knows and I can tell . He is fit(than a lot of dogs half his age and fed on the "better food"). Like I said, it does not matter how "good or bad" the food is its how it affects the dog that counts. Case in point, my choc lab has been fed on four types: AG, Bakers, Royal Canin and Beta, and he was worse on AG(sorry all AG Lovers) Bakers and royal canin were much of a muchness, neither bad nor good yet Beta has been the best one, so on that he will stay.

I do find it funny that some people on here can say what food is best for someones dog without knowing the dog. I for one would never slag off a type of food someone feed(unless it was really bad for them)if I did not know the dog or know types fed on in the past but some round here seem to think its fine to do so...

''I for one would never slag off a type of food someone feed(unless it was really bad for them)''

But what if that is the case? I know pedigree is not good, as I have contacts and are part of a group who are trying to stop them. We actually got money from trading standards to sue pedigree for stating that there is 'real meat' on their label, as there is no real meat at all. We were given a certain amount of money to take them to court, and Mars turned round, smiled and said it would take 0.5 million a year, over about 5 years, go ahead.
They are too big now. So all we can do is to let dog owners know what they are feeding, so they can make the concious desicion not to feed it. Of course there are people, like yourselves, who do not want to know, or do not want to listen. Your choice though.

I think a good thing to stick to is ''would I eat that''. If you can honestly say that you would eat day in day out the food out of a pedigree chum can, then firstly I would accuse you of being mad (!) and finally ignorant (in the nicest possible way, I don't mean to offend you)
Pedigree chum would NOT recommend you to feed your dog their food for the rest of it's life. You can write to them for confirmation if you don't believe me.

Sorry I bow to your knowledge on what is best for my dog, despite you having no knowledge about him

Yes it is my choice, it is my choice to feed him a food that he does well on and after all thats what is best, the dogs being happy and healthy not a group of people who decide its bad so everyone must follow.

Will I be writing to them? no probably not, as I have much better things to do than reading labels and writing to companys to find out the ins and outs as the only thing matters is how he is. It may not be good when he gets older and if this is the case he will be tried on others, he will not be tried on others because someone says its bad and does him no good.

So to all out there, dont feed the fancy expensive food that as more test than a nasa space shuttle on the flip side dont feed the cheap tinned food. FEED WHAT YOUR DOG DOES BEST ON whether that a £40 bag or a 49p tin. All dogs are different and when people see this the better.

Just to add, would I eat it. If I ate something and I felt good on it, had more energy and was never ill, yes I would eat it day in day out.

Also I forgot he does have a chicken curry every few weeks as a treat.

Firstly I respect your desicion that you are making for your dog, even though I disagree with it. I am having difficulty understanding why you would rather not know. I am presuming that you also think that farmed chickens are no better or worse than free range? (first example that sprung to mind).

''the dogs being happy and healthy not a group of people who decide its bad so everyone must follow.''
We have not decided that everyone must follow, we uncovered a secret, that most people don't know about (thankfully it's turning round, most people are starting to see the truth) surely you would do the same if you found out something that was causing problems in dogs. Your dog might be doing fine on it, but he is also taking in preservatives, additives, not to mention his system is having to cope with the impossible task of trying to digest the undigestable. Doing this for many years takes the toll on the body. You might have nothing to compare this too, so you have one healthy dog.
I have numerous examples of dogs that I have helped because of a diet change, including a serious one that had to have injections once a month for 4 years, because of a 'dust mite' allergy, that mysteriously dissappeared when changed to a more natural diet.
I am telling you this as I am wondering if it would make a difference to your thinking? I have so many many examples of dogs getting healthier... does it stop to make you wonder, or do you think I am trying to convince you of something for my own personal gain?

And you can say it would not have dissappeared even if the diet was kept the same? I say this as Star has been on the same diet for two years and has also had bi-monthly jabs for an allergy to house dust mites and food storage mites and if also has "mysteriously dissappeared".

So you went to the vet for jabs, and kept on the same food, then the allergy went away. What does the vet say is the reason for it clearing up?

Our vet (I started to go with my client) said that the dog would have to be on the injections for the rest of her life. She was 8 when she started getting the bald patches and scratching like hell. It is unusual for a dog of this age to suddenly develop an allergy, but that is another story for another thread.

to answer your question, no I can't say it would not have gone away by itself, but logic says that after 4 years and it getting worse and worse, the only factor we changed was her diet. So it makes a bit of sense that something in that diet was at the very least contributing to the problem, if not the entire cause.