BURNS Real Dog Food

[Soroush]

I went to Ryan's Pet Food today and told them about my problem with Lucy.

Lucy no longer likes the food she's been on. The guy at Ryan's said that she hasn't been missing anything as Nutrience is one of the crappiest brands out there.

He recommended BURN's Real Dog Food over Solid-Gold.

I gave Lucy a sample of the food and she loved it, so I bought a 4.4lbs bag for $20(very very expensive food).

I don't mind the cost as Lucy only eats 1/3 of a cup everyday(if she does!), but I'm still not sure whether I should trust all these recommendations. The ingredients in most premium foods look the same but at the same time I hear horror and happy stories about all of them.

Is BURNS a good brand? It's made in the USA but the original producer is a vet in the UK. I did a bit of research and found nothing negative about them.

Does anyone approve or disapprove of this brand? It's a very expensive food so I don't want to waste money thinking I'm giving my dog good food while she's really not eating the stuff she should.

Thanks.

[jawert1]

Hit the dog food forum Soroush or wait till Prin sees this thread and replies She's the food goddess! I personally adore Solid Gold Wolf King as do both my doggies, if their coats and skin condition weren't endorsement enough, my Pointer darn near herds me to the pantry if I'm more than 30 seconds late with dinner.

[rainbow]

I hadn`t heard of Burns Real Dog Food so I went to their website. They use chicken instead of chicken meal. I think both Solid Gold Wolf King and Timberwolf Organics are better. Alot of people in this forum use Wolf King and love it. I just switched to Timberwolf Organics and think it`s great. If you want to check their websites they are:

www.solidgoldhealth.com
www.timberwolforganics.com

But the bottom line is what Lucy likes and does well on.

[chocolatecoffee]

I also went to their website (www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk), and it looks like not only do they use chicken instead of chicken meal, it's not even first on their ingredient list before cooking. I'd be worried that there's not enough meat, but like rainbow said, it's whatever Lucy likes and does well on.

Have you ever tried Merrick (www.merrickpetcare.com)? It's what I feed and absolutely love it. Solid Gold is a great food, but my dogs didn't want anything to do with it (then again, Mocha's a ridiculously picky eater). All three get dry Wilderness Blend and Panna and Cannelle get various canned food mixed in (Mocha hates any moisture in her food...). Everything's human grade and they just started using organic chicken in their dry formulas that contain chicken last month. The improvement has been amazing and they LOVE it.

Good luck!

[Prin]

Yeah, it's kinda weird that they admit (and seem to brag a bit) about how much rice is in their food. One formula is 65% rice... Kinda weird... The meats in all their foods drop down below all the others..., Of all of them, I like the fish and the venison ones the best, but neither is as good as the Timberwolf Organics, and frankly, even though Wolf King is grainy, I still like my meat to be #1...

Their fish one has fish and fish oil, so the dog would get quite a bit of Omega 3, but the rest, with their animal oils would probably have a lot of saturated fats, which are definitely not as nutritious as fish oil (too much saturated fat is bad, as we all know).

"Real" food shouldn't have beet pulp either, as their active and maternity foods do.. I dunno... Nothing really special about this food, sorry.

[mafiaprincess]

I have no helpful opinion on the food itself. I just wanted to add that I wouldn't take anyone's opinion who works at a pet food store. Even one that sells the high quality brands. At Ryan's and at Pet Valu I've been told by multiple sales people I shouldn't feed any of the brands that are considered to be top ones.. including solid gold, wellness and others. They've tried to push the products they apparently feed their doggies. And everything I've looked at had scary or at least lacking ingredients lists.
Short of doing research myself, I've given up on people's opinions in real life.

[Soroush]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

The bag is going back to Ryan's Pet Foods tomorrow eventhough I've opened it. I've had enough of this crap. They just wanna sell you the most expensive thing available and most people(including me) are stupid enough to believe them.

I'm just gonna tell them that Lucy hates the food and is very hungry. They have this guarantee of the dog liking the food or your money back.

[Prin]

But if she really loves it, let her have it. It's not a bad food, just not crazy great or anything. Sometimes, you have to go with what works.

[Soroush]

Originally Posted by Prin

But if she really loves it, let her have it. It's not a bad food, just not crazy great or anything. Sometimes, you have to go with what works.

Prin read my other post! There's a bigger problem! Lucy doesn't eat the BURNS either... :-(

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=25487

[benuasalbarb]

Hi There,

I am from the Uk and am feeding my puppy burns chicken and rice food pup has been ill and as some kidney damage. She loves it and is doing really well. I called them and spoke with the nutrionist before making my decision. It is food for dogs that have been ill or have some kidney or liver problem or oldies it is lower in protein than some foods but has all the best ingredients. They are a very established company over here. I was feeding nutro which comes from America before but it is too high in protein for her now.
Many breeders and owners of dogs with skin problems or allergies use burns because of the natural ingredients
good luck
Barbara

[gomez]

Burns is one of the more respected brands of dog food in the UK - Gomez has been on the chicken and is now on the venison and is doing very, very well.

Not only is it created by a vet with ALL natural ingredients, but Gomez' vet is quite happy wit with his condition and how his system is developing. ( I know you all think vets are quacks when it comes to dog food, but if you knew who my vet is, you would see what I mean)

For what it's worth, over here it is not the most expensive food - but it is considered one of the top brands.

On the food rating "test" that was posted a few weeks ago, Burns came out with a higher score than most - the thread is around somewhere...

So if you returned it because Lucy won't eat it, that is one thing, but don't return it b/c of differing opinions, every dog is different and needs different things from their food, as long as it is complete and healthy.

Gomez the 12 pound terrier puppy does not need to overload on protein everyday to be healthy and happy...

And hey, if it's good for Iditarod dogs....

[OntarioGreys]

Very few premium food here actually contain more meat than grain, Barking at the moon and EVO are probably the only 2 that contain more meat than grain or I should say starch, most contain multiple grain sources that when totalled together equal more than the meat or they do what is called grain splitting(multiple forems of rice listed in the ingredient list eg rice, rice bran, brown rice, milled rice, rice hulls, rice flour) by splitting the rice into different form they can get around the labelling and use meat as the first ingredient, most of their foods contain just brown rice which is a heck of a lot better quality and better nutrition than white rice, also adds oats an easy to digest grain. Their phosphurous levels in most of their foods is much lower than many of the premium brands here which are 1.3 to over 2% and that is where the problem with kidney disease comes into play, by keeping under 1% the dogs are less likely to develop kidney disease. Protein is not what cause kidney disease. If one of my dogs developed kidney disease I would be trying their duck, fish or chicken foods before going a prescription diet, because the quality way, way better than anything you would find in a kidney prescription food.

[Prin]

Definitely don't switch if she likes it.

OG, sure some foods trick about the meat being first, but these foods, the ingredients are grain, meat (not dehydrated), so it's even worse, IMO. They might be good for dogs with allergies, but otherwise, there really isn't anything too special about them (ok, the little meat they use is good quality, but to me they offset the cost by using so little).

[OntarioGreys]

For less money you could go something like California Natural also available thru Ryans , would have more chicken as it uses meal and you are not paying the overseas shipping which makes up a lot of the added cost for Burns

ingredient

Chicken Meal
Ground Brown Rice
Ground White Rice
Sunflower Oil
Natural Flavors
Taurine
Flaxseed
Vitamins/Minerals

The California Natural Herring and sweet Potaoes ingredients which I like better than the Chicken

Herring
Barley
Oatmeal/Rolled Oats
Herring Meal
Herring Oil
Sweet Potatoes
Sunflower Oil
Dicalcium Phosphate
Natural Flavors
Calcium Carbonate
Vitamin E
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamins/Minerals
Potassium Chloride
Rosemary Extract