I have a 10? 11? y-o dog whom I brought here with me to Finland. We struggled with money so he always had the cheapest food possible and now I want to buy something better for him.
At least from where I come from its very hard to get a decent dog food as brands have all these fancy words but at the end are misleading and end up charging for brand name.
Anyone has any idea of a good dog food that merits its price? Or know which to avoid? Any and all info it’s amazing thank you
I’ve had Pure natural for my cats, it’s fine. Dagsmark is available in groceries, it’s Finnish brand. Worth a try. I use again the cat food version, but it’s been wheatless, sugarless so good
Isn’t science plan the best regarded brand?
Check out Alvar pets. They offer a dog food subscription, and I have been very happy with their brand and customer support. They will send you a 2 kg sample of food for 2 euros, so you can see if your pup likes it.
Dagsmark is another good brand, and not insanely expensive. Also, it’s made in Finland, which is more than most dog food brands can say.
If there is tokmanni near you you can find pet store quality food from tokmanni with typical tokmanni prices.
Look at the % of grain/corn being added. Usually you want less of that and more meat. That being said, we get hauhau as base and usually mix it up with raw meat or wet food. Dog is happy and healthy
Just make sure the first ingredient is a source of protein. Stay away from wheat (Pedigree sucks big time, seriously it should be banned). Some dogs react to corn with skin issues.
Pet stores like Musti&Mirri and Peten koiratarvike (they’re basically the same thing) offer a taste guarantee so if your dog doesn’t like it you can return the bag.
I would also supplement with glucosamine (depending on how much the dog gets from the kibble), as your dog is senior.
My dog eats Brit care rice and lamb for medium breed in a 50/50 diet, so half is kibble and half is meat + zinc, salmon oil, sea weed. Liver and vitamin D once a week.
I usually wait for some sort of discount and buy then, sometimes I’ll have much left but last time we were running out with only few portions.
On cheapest tier there is Jahti & Vahti, which is available at least at Hankkija, Puuilo and Petenkoiratarvike. For the price it is excellent.
On the other end there is Platinum, which is about 6 euro per kg of semi-dry kibble.
Is your dog ok with wheat?
Best-in and Oscar are also Finnish, both produced by Eläinruokatehdas Lemmikki Oy in Kuopio. They don’t make kibble but stuff like treats, different types of meatballs and frozen foods, real bones etc. See them usually in most large chain grocery stores.
Smaak is a fairly recent brand launch, it’s by Musti & Mirri and they advertise being Finnish, although I haven’t checked where their meat is sourced. My cats eat some of their raw foods and have liked it.
Thank you all for the advice, faar more responses than I expected c:
I like the taste of pedigree
We’ve had both SMAAK and PureNatural for our dog, both chicken. Works well for us. Every now and then we supplement with a bit of fish oil. Our other dog is a big breed and she eats Brit Care, which works for her.
Just try to get clean, high protein food where there is no wheat or other junk “fillers” added. Grocery store stuff might a bit so-so, but dedicated pet stores usually have high quality stuff.
You should gradually introduce the new food, first giving it alongside the old food and upping the amount gradually, especially if the source of protein is different.
Canagan and Acana are the tier 1 options.
We recently switched to Acana, four months ago and both dogs have better and more regular poops. One of our dogs had bad GI issues before so she has a a low-fat version. They sell it in petenkoiratarvikeet and musti ja mirri
Rokka is good too. And its made In finland!
I haven’t involved in dog world for at least 10 years but I saw some brands which considered ‘high quality’ in my home country during my dog show life. To name some Acana andTaste of The Wild.
Other than that Royal Canin and Science Plan (Science Diet in my home country). I know there are Finnish breeders using Eukanuba or Pro Plan here also.
I personally doesn’t have any experience with the brands that are suggested here such as Smaak or Pure Natural, but I know that Mush is made in Finland (Jakobstad), I had a friend working there and looks like they are producing quality product.
There should be some review about the ingredients in the dogfood of your preference and of course try to avoid brand with too many fillers for their products.
If you are feeding BARF then I can highly recommend locally produced MUSH. They also sell dried organs but that’s more as treats. It’s not the cheapest option though.
19 comments
I have a 10? 11? y-o dog whom I brought here with me to Finland. We struggled with money so he always had the cheapest food possible and now I want to buy something better for him.
At least from where I come from its very hard to get a decent dog food as brands have all these fancy words but at the end are misleading and end up charging for brand name.
Anyone has any idea of a good dog food that merits its price? Or know which to avoid? Any and all info it’s amazing thank you
I’ve had Pure natural for my cats, it’s fine. Dagsmark is available in groceries, it’s Finnish brand. Worth a try. I use again the cat food version, but it’s been wheatless, sugarless so good
Isn’t science plan the best regarded brand?
Check out Alvar pets. They offer a dog food subscription, and I have been very happy with their brand and customer support. They will send you a 2 kg sample of food for 2 euros, so you can see if your pup likes it.
Dagsmark is another good brand, and not insanely expensive. Also, it’s made in Finland, which is more than most dog food brands can say.
If there is tokmanni near you you can find pet store quality food from tokmanni with typical tokmanni prices.
Look at the % of grain/corn being added. Usually you want less of that and more meat. That being said, we get hauhau as base and usually mix it up with raw meat or wet food. Dog is happy and healthy
Just make sure the first ingredient is a source of protein. Stay away from wheat (Pedigree sucks big time, seriously it should be banned). Some dogs react to corn with skin issues.
Pet stores like Musti&Mirri and Peten koiratarvike (they’re basically the same thing) offer a taste guarantee so if your dog doesn’t like it you can return the bag.
I would also supplement with glucosamine (depending on how much the dog gets from the kibble), as your dog is senior.
My dog eats Brit care rice and lamb for medium breed in a 50/50 diet, so half is kibble and half is meat + zinc, salmon oil, sea weed. Liver and vitamin D once a week.
I usually wait for some sort of discount and buy then, sometimes I’ll have much left but last time we were running out with only few portions.
On cheapest tier there is Jahti & Vahti, which is available at least at Hankkija, Puuilo and Petenkoiratarvike. For the price it is excellent.
On the other end there is Platinum, which is about 6 euro per kg of semi-dry kibble.
Is your dog ok with wheat?
Best-in and Oscar are also Finnish, both produced by Eläinruokatehdas Lemmikki Oy in Kuopio. They don’t make kibble but stuff like treats, different types of meatballs and frozen foods, real bones etc. See them usually in most large chain grocery stores.
Edit: Webstore. https://www.elainruokakauppa.com/
Smaak is a fairly recent brand launch, it’s by Musti & Mirri and they advertise being Finnish, although I haven’t checked where their meat is sourced. My cats eat some of their raw foods and have liked it.
Thank you all for the advice, faar more responses than I expected c:
I like the taste of pedigree
We’ve had both SMAAK and PureNatural for our dog, both chicken. Works well for us. Every now and then we supplement with a bit of fish oil. Our other dog is a big breed and she eats Brit Care, which works for her.
Just try to get clean, high protein food where there is no wheat or other junk “fillers” added. Grocery store stuff might a bit so-so, but dedicated pet stores usually have high quality stuff.
You should gradually introduce the new food, first giving it alongside the old food and upping the amount gradually, especially if the source of protein is different.
Canagan and Acana are the tier 1 options.
We recently switched to Acana, four months ago and both dogs have better and more regular poops. One of our dogs had bad GI issues before so she has a a low-fat version. They sell it in petenkoiratarvikeet and musti ja mirri
Rokka is good too. And its made In finland!
I haven’t involved in dog world for at least 10 years but I saw some brands which considered ‘high quality’ in my home country during my dog show life. To name some Acana andTaste of The Wild.
Other than that Royal Canin and Science Plan (Science Diet in my home country). I know there are Finnish breeders using Eukanuba or Pro Plan here also.
I personally doesn’t have any experience with the brands that are suggested here such as Smaak or Pure Natural, but I know that Mush is made in Finland (Jakobstad), I had a friend working there and looks like they are producing quality product.
There should be some review about the ingredients in the dogfood of your preference and of course try to avoid brand with too many fillers for their products.
If you are feeding BARF then I can highly recommend locally produced MUSH. They also sell dried organs but that’s more as treats. It’s not the cheapest option though.