Find the right food: from your dog's problem to a recipe
Start with what you are seeing, not with the shelf. Each section below takes a symptom or situation to the two or three recipes that fit, and says when it is a vet question instead.
Before you choose. If your dog is well on chicken or lamb, with firm stools, calm skin and clean ears, stay on it. Novel proteins are for dogs that react to the usual ones, and keeping them in reserve is the better plan. Why we say that.
Itchy skin, paw licking, recurring ear infections
See the vet first to rule out fleas, mites and environmental allergy. If food is suspected, run an elimination diet on one protein the dog has never eaten, for six to eight weeks, with nothing else. Choose the protein by what your dog has not had.
How to run the diet properly.
Sensitive stomach, soft stools, wind
First check how fast the last food change was and whether treats and chews are in the mix. Then a highly digestible single-protein recipe, switched over ten days.
The switching schedule and the poo chart. Persistent or bloody diarrhoea is a vet visit, not a food change.
Yeasty smell, scooting, smelly ears
Anal glands and worms first, with the vet. On the food side the cleanest choices are yeast-free single proteins.
Note that Africa dry contains yeast; if yeast is the concern, choose the wet recipes or Montana.
Overweight
Weigh the food, cut the treats, and use a lower-energy, higher-fibre recipe so the bowl still looks full. Your vet can recommend the dietetic diet if there is a lot to lose.
The 10% rule and rib check.
Puppy
Two phases: Puppy to about seven months, Junior to eighteen, then adult. Large breeds need the slower-growth recipe. Switch foods at 10% a day.
Older dog
Moderate protein, lower calcium and phosphorus, about 20% less energy than adult food, plus joint support.
A diagnosed condition
Kidney disease, struvite stones, liver disease, pancreatitis, IBD, EPI: these need a dietetic food chosen with your vet. We stock the full VET range and will help with amounts and the switch once the vet has named the diet.
Healthy dog, no issues
Fit & Vital by size, or NaturCroq if you prefer a classic recipe. Keep the novel proteins for later.
Still unsure? Start with a trial pack and judge at week three, or take the quiz and we will match a recipe to your answers.
Take the 60-second food quiz