Skinners??

Hi I am thinking of changing to skinners. Mine have been on Chappie and Judgeschoice, which are good foods for mine, but i do like to change their food every now and then for varietys sake.

I have been sent the brochure from Skinners and some samples of the Duck and Rice and the Salmon and Rice.

But there are so many in the brochure which do you recommend?
i have to watch H's weight, would one of the above be ok or not?

I notice there is sensitive......but that has a lot of Maize in it ???? Well the chicken one does but the lamb doesnt!!

Or would the maintenance one be better.

What do you use and why please ?! Sorry i am bit baffled by all the choice.

I use Skinners duck and rice for Stumpy and Tip and the maintenance for Hoki.

The maintenance is 'bog standard' dog food - no way top notch food, but it suites Hoki because she can eat a fair bit of it without putting on weight. I found for her the more expensive foods were no good because she would be starving if fed correct amount (and would've put on weight if i gave her more).

the duck and rice and the salmon & rice are better quality, but if your girl is a 'quantity rather than quality' girl (like Hoki), I'd be cautious because you really don't have to feed very much of it.

Never tried the sensitive one.

Hello!

I feed Skinners to my oldest. We rotate between the Duck and the Salmon, but tend to stick to the Duck as it is slightly cheaper. Both the Duck and the Salmon should be perfectly fine for all adult dogs. The ingredients are comparable to James Wellbeloved, at half the price.

I personally wouldn't use there other foods as some of them have a little too much grain in for my liking. But, the Duck and Salmon formulas are excellent.

Thanks Hali and Labradork

Yep thats why i am a bit confused cos the maintenance would prob be better for keeping them at a healthy weight but i dont want too much maize and i notice the duck and rice is mainly oats which is better for allergies is it not?
I like the ingredients of the duck/salmon and rice tho it sounds like a good food. May try it and see how it goes

i dont get why the chicken sensive has maize but the lamb one doesnt....and am guessing these are more expensive as they are not VAT free like the others?

I feed salmon and rice and would agree, you really don't need to feed a lot of it.. My lot went from one scoop of JWB to 1/2 a scoop of the Skinners to maintain their weight. .. This is actually less than the recommended amount on the bag, but they get treats and extras.. So you sort of have to give and take don't you...

The amount of skinners required to keep them in peak condition in fact was so small I had to cut their feeds down to one a day, or kismet felt there just wasn't enough in her bowl to be a real meal!

I think you're right - the sensitive isn't VAT free.

As for maize - I think they are working on the principle that it is wheat that many dogs are intollerant to rather than all cereal.

To be honest, i don't think there will be a huge difference in quality between the Maintenance and Chappie and given you have to watch her wait, i might be tempted to try her on the maintenance first.

Exactly the same here. Hoki would be horrified with the small amount she would get and (from previous experience I know that) she would get grumpy and take it out on Stumpy. So she stays on the Maintenance.

Stumpy isn't a big eater anyway so two small servings suite her fine (plus like yours, they all get quite a few treats) and as Tip could do with adding a few pounds, feeding him the guideline amount seems to be suiting him.

If you have a food that is working, I would stick to it. The more different things you feed a dog, the harder it will be to work around it is it ever develops allergies.

That's an interesting argument - I've come to a different conclusion...all the dogs i know with allergies have had a very limited range of food - nearly always the same make of kibble.

Whereas the dogs I know that have a variety of foods haven't had any problems.

Coincidence - possibly, but I'm just happier giving a bit of variation.

Also, unless you are saying that they will become allergic to all the different foods at the same time, I don't see how changing from time to time will make it worse?

I vary mine every couple of months generally because the food they have been on doesnt come in different flavours and the two fussier dogs tend to go off it after a while!
I dont see it as a problem i change it gradually over a week they dont get upset bellys from it!
I cant affored Arden range, James wellbeloved (other good but expensive brands)..having 3 big dogs so i get middle of the range food (but still pretty good quality)....sometimes i add tinned chappie, naturediet or mince to vary....but i do like to vary...i wouldnt want to eat chicken kibble every day of my life!!

I used to feed Mine skinners duck and rice and still feed the fosters it, and if i were to go back to kibble i would feed it again