You Are What You Eat - Pedigree Feeding Trial Pt I

When it comes to dog food, there is a myriad of choices for owners, matched equally by a  whole host of opinions (depending on who you talk to) on what you should and shouldn't feed.  I'll admit, I've always been pretty sceptical of the big brands - especially those that you can buy in the supermarket.

That scepticism is partly due to the 20+ years I've worked in marketing. Whilst I may not have worked for a major FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) brand, I can't help but have my marketing radar on alert when a new dog food hits the shelves. It's such a competitive market and it's easy to be suckered in by clever advertising and pretty packaging.

In reality, the UK pet food market is dominated by two main companies - Nestlé Purina and Mars Petcare. These two, well known,companies are estimated to command around two thirds of the dog food market and around 80% of the cat food market*.

Pedigree's new 'Vital Protection' food

Some of our most well-known dog foods are either produced or owned by these companies.  Bakers Complete, Winalot, Purina Proplan and BETA are all owned by Nestlé Purina and Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, Chappie, Cesar and Pedigree are all owned by Mars Petcare.

Then add to this, newer brands (in relative terms) such as Burns, Lily's Kitchen, Bob & Lush, Acana, Orijen, Markus Muehle, Barking Heads, Applaws and not forgetting the BARF (biologically appropriate real/raw food); it's no wonder that many pet owners plump for something they can pick up with the weekly shopping.

Personally, I've never been a huge fan of the brands available in the supermarket. Yes, I may buy the occasional treat but more often than not, I'll make my own treats and I buy the hounds' food direct from the wholesaler.  Mina is intolerant of many foods (you don't want to know what bones or cereal do to her!) so she is on a cereal free kibble, whilst Stevie and Jasper are currently on Autarky (I wish I could afford to feed them a higher end kibble, but unfortunately I can't and a BARF diet isn't practical for us in our current situation).

As part of my university studies, I've been introduced to canine nutrition and next year I'll be studying a whole module on canine nutrition and behaviour.  So, when I was invited to attend the Waltham Pet Centre (where all the research into Mars Petcare and nutrition takes place), I jumped at the chance.  I was eager to see what went on behind the scenes and also ask some questions about pet food - mainly why is there so much cereal in today's foods?

A handy resource for my studies

Despite what I may think of such a global brand as Mars, I couldn't help but be impressed by their facilities and the research that has been published as a result.  It was the scientists at Waltham who, back in 1982, made the discovery about the amino acid, taurine, and its place in the cat's diet. Taurine is an essential amino acid which means that cats cannot synthesize it within their bodies and as such it needs to be provided by their diet.

They've also undertaken some recent research into safe upper limit vitamin A levels with puppies (something that is really of interest to me due to my puppy school classes).  The paper is  Morris,P.J. et al (2012) Safety evaluation of vitamin A in growing dogs. British Journal of Nutrition / FirstView Article / August2012, pp 1-10

What is really handy though, is their pocket book of essential nutrition for cats and dogs (pictured) as it provides a breakdown of what is required in both the diets for both cats and dogs. It will certainly be useful for my uni studies.

One of the outcomes of my visit to Waltham was the opportunity for Stevie to take part in a 3 month feeding trial**. Pedigree has just launched Vital Protection - available as a complete dried or wet food - and the trial involves feeding Stevie a mix of the wet and dry food. I'll blog more about in future posts and will share how the trial is going along with details of what's in the food and other things I learned whilst at Waltham.


*Mintel Cat and dog food, UK, report – March 2010
**Disclosure: I have been provided with  3 months' supply of Vital Protection food by Pedigree  as part of a feeding trial.  I have not been paid for my views and all views expressed are my own.

A Greyt Summertime Read - Dash, Bitch of the Year

If you love dogs - particularly greyhounds - and if you like a good read, then Dash - Bitch of the Year is well worth adding to your summertime reading list.  The book is written by Andrew Dilger and chronicles his and Dash's journey from the initial adoption of Dash through to Andrew organising his wedding with Dash playing her part as ring bearer.

Me ,with Dash, at Crufts 2011

I met Andrew and Dash at Crufts back in 2011 and made sure I got my hands on a copy of the book, which had a special 'pawtograph' from Dash too.

For any greyhound owner, the book may well raise a wry smile of the early days of sharing a life (or should that be sofa?) with a greyhound.  It can be a steep learning curve, especially if you've not owned an ex-racing greyhound before.  Dash raced at  Oxford Greyhound Stadium and had won Bitch of the Year - hence the name of the book.

Andrew & Dash

There are some 'oh no!' and touching moments in the book as well as some real laugh out loud moments too.  Andrew succumbs to greyhound accessorizing (a fatal habit that afflicts many a greyhound owner) but doesn't say whether it extended past coats to tassels and encounters many different dogs and owners on his walks with Dash. And the description of Dash's first roach made me chuckle (to anyone who doesn't know what a greyhound roach is, Google it.  You're sure to come up with some great photos).

One of my favourite parts of the book are Andrew's accounts of meeting fellow dog owners on his walks with Dash. Ryan and Tolstoy made an impression as did Sally and Kate with their greyhounds.

The book works on many levels - it provides a heart-warming (and at moments, heart -stopping) insight into novice owners adjusting to a greyhound, running parallel with the love story that builds into the finale of Andrew and Sarah's wedding...

...if you want to know how Dash's role played out on the big day - you'll have to read the book.

Win a copy of Dash - Bitch of the Year*

Luckily, I have a copy up for grabs! It's signed by Andrew and also has Dash's pawtograph.

To be in with a chance of winning*, all you have to do is leave a comment and let me know the funniest thing your dog has done.

*Terms & Conditions:
Prize consists of one signed copy of Dash - Bitch of the Year.
The winner will be sent the book by 1st class post or international equivalent.
Closing dates for entries is 12 noon on Friday 24 August 2012
The winner will be chosen at random from the entries submitted
The winner will be notified by email and/or via my blog