# Belcando dog food - Highly recommended



## Paint Me Proud (13 November 2012)

Just read the Bakers thread so though I would introduce some people to a new dog food I have been feeding this year - Belcando.

I came across the stand at Crufts this year and was incredibly impressed with the product.

We have been feeding it to our three dogs (one easily puts on weight, one is gluten intolerant, and one is just a picky bugger!) with  really good results.

If you join the breeders club (you dont actually have to be a breeder) the price per bag works out the same price as Wainwrights.

I am very picky at what I feed my dogs 

Take a look at their website - http://www.bewital-petfood.co.uk/belcando.html


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## s4sugar (13 November 2012)

I looked & I wouldn't feed it!

Too many dodgy ingredients and too much BS on the website.


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## CorvusCorax (13 November 2012)

A lot of the working trials people I know feed this, it is very popular on the continent


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## Paint Me Proud (13 November 2012)

s4sugar said:



			I looked & I wouldn't feed it!

Too many dodgy ingredients and too much BS on the website.
		
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I must be looking at a different ingredient list to you then


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## s4sugar (13 November 2012)

Poultry meat meal, low-ash (23,5 %); Maize; Rice; Potato starch (14 %); Herring meal (3 %); Sugar beet pulp, dried; Carob groats; Grape seeds, de-oiled (2,5 %); Brewer's yeast; Poultry fat; Vegetable oil, refined; Chia seeds; poultry liver, hydrolized; Di-calcium phosphate; Sodium chloride; Potassium chloride; Herbs (total 0,2 %: Nettle leaves, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Blackberry leaves); Yucca schidigera


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## millimoo (13 November 2012)

I stopped at Meat Meal & Maize ... As for the Grape seeds, thought grapes were a no no for dogs?


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## Toffee44 (13 November 2012)

There's actually no meat in that.


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## Cinnamontoast (13 November 2012)

Isn't mistletoe poisonous?! Why all the cereals?

2nd, 3rd and 4th greatest ingredients are all useless fillers to make it bland and to not upset tummies, none of which dogs need. 

If you're going to say a food is really great, I'd want to see shed loads of meat, zero cereals/fillers. Some dogs might do well on it, some might not, but it's not something I would feed.


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## EAST KENT (14 November 2012)

Good grief,they must tour the rendering yards to fill their bags ,would you feed a dog on sugar beet pulp?If so,why?? Can never understand how difficult folks find it to feed proper raw dog grub,and pay through the nose to do it!


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## Paint Me Proud (14 November 2012)

It stacks up better against Wainwright though -

Wainwrights
Brown Rice (38%), Duck (30%) (Duck Meal Meal, Duck Gravy), Barley (14%), Sugar Beet Pulp (8%), Rapeseed Oil (4%), Whole Linseed (3%), Alfalfa (1%), Minerals (includes Yucca Extract 200mg/kg, Marigold Meal 50mg/kg, Rosemary Extract 5mg/kg), Seaweed (0.5%).

30% duck meat meal in wainwrights, and it's not low ash so most likely mostly bones. Atleast the Belcando is low ash, she a high proportion of the meat is actual meat, not bones. 

Slightly less rice in Belcando granted but it contains other beneficial ingredients that Wainwrights does not. Sugar beet pulp in wainwrights too!


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## Paint Me Proud (14 November 2012)

cinnamontoast said:



			Isn't mistletoe poisonous?! Why all the cereals?

2nd, 3rd and 4th greatest ingredients are all useless fillers to make it bland and to not upset tummies, none of which dogs need.
		
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The 1st ingredient in wainwrights is a 'useless filler' then but everyone is always raving on about wainwrights.


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## s4sugar (14 November 2012)

Rice is a filler but it is pretty safe & unlikely to cause reactions. 

Splitting the cereals is all part of label manipulation to fudge buyers but maize is dodgy for many dogs and some of the listed ingredients have no known value and are toxic.

BTW dogs naturally eat some cereal -whenever they eat the guts of a prey that has eaten cereals.


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## lexiedhb (14 November 2012)

Wow if it is true that grapeseed and mistletoe are indeed poisonous i am shocked they made it into a dog food.........


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## misterjinglejay (14 November 2012)

I know grapes and raisins shouldn't be fed to dogs - possibly due to the tanin(???) not sure if this is in the flesh or seeds.

Also, not sure about the mistletoe - birds eat it, and spread the seeds, but it is poisonous to humans.

The is a theory (haven't read too much on it) that wild dogs etc don't tend to eat the guts of prey animals, and therefore don't ingest the grain/grass/veggies that the prey has eaten.


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## Cinnamontoast (14 November 2012)

Paint Me Proud said:



			It stacks up better against Wainwrights
		
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Paint Me Proud said:



			The 1st ingredient in wainwrights is a 'useless filler' then but everyone is always raving on about wainwrights.
		
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Isn't that the dry, though? Never seen the dry being raved about, only the wet. And as already mentioned, rice is harmless. Belcando has some seriously dodgy stuff in it. Mistletoe is not a ground level plant so not a natural dog food.

From the vet medecine website:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/toxicology/qt/toxicplants

Mistletoe and Holly
A couple of holiday plants, specifically Mistletoe and Holly, are considered to be moderately to severely toxic, and you should call your veterinarian or poison control center immediately for specific advice.

If you're 'very picky', there are better foods out there without the fillers. 

I'm surprised you think it's brilliant.  Is it a similar price to say, Orijen or Acana?

belcando-junior-maxi-15-kg &#8364;45. Isn't that very expensive?


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## lexiedhb (15 November 2012)

cinnamontoast said:



			I

From the vet medecine website:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/toxicology/qt/toxicplants

Mistletoe and Holly
A couple of holiday plants, specifically Mistletoe and Holly, are considered to be moderately to severely toxic, and you should call your veterinarian or poison control center immediately for specific advice.
		
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Thats decidedly scary!


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## misterjinglejay (15 November 2012)

Is there a nutritional benefit to mistletoe that outweighs the toxicity??? Why put it in?


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## Cinnamontoast (16 November 2012)

Apparently quite widely used but there's a risk of convulsions!

http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail427.php


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## misterjinglejay (17 November 2012)

Thanks for the link CT - interesting reading. Why is it needed in a dog food, and why not use something safer.

Sounds very risky, IMO


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## Cinnamontoast (17 November 2012)

No idea. Some of the alleged health benefits are covered by much safer ingredients eg turmeric. Very strange.


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