You have a working dog, and because your dog has been bred to do a job, you wonder...what's the best working dog food?
Before I start, let me share with you the specific wording on the UK Government's website ''If a specially formulated food is held out for sale exclusively for working dogs it will come within the scope of the VAT relief''.
This means that you DO NOT pay VAT on working dog food. So yes, this is about money.
The big caveat is that there aren't specific rules as to what ''working dog food'' can be. A company can virtually label a ''working dog food'' however they want and sell it to not working dog breeds free from VAT.
Labels like ''Working Dog Food'' have zero relation to ingredients, composition or analytical constituents. In fact, the fact that ''working dog food'' is of better quality or tailored to working dogs is simply false.
Let's look at some examples of ''Working Dog Food'', and you can judge by yourself.
Skinner's Field and Trial Puppy Chicken. Young Working Dog: Poultry meat meal (whatever that means), maize, brown rice, poultry fat (what specific animal?), prairie meal (whatever that means), beet pulp, sunflower meal (what?), brewer's yeast...
Skinner's Field and Trial Adult Working Dog. Lamb and Rice: Brown rice (40%, will double when cooked), lamb meat meal, naked oats, whole linseed, poultry fat, lucerne.
Call us crazy, but giving your dog 55%-60% high glycemic carbs (also extremely cheap fillers), is not good for your dog, which is a meat eater. I bet you (as an omnivore), do not eat 60% carbs in your diet, out of which 40% is rice. Bonkers.
Chudleys Classic Working Dog Adult: Whole grain wheat, poultry meal , Whole grain maize, Lamb meal, Chicken fat, Whole grain oats, Hydrolysed chicken,Distiller’s maize grains, Unmolassed beet pulp, Yeast , Prairie meal...
Wow. Nothing to add to these ingredients really.
Autarky Working Dog Adult Dry Dog Food - Chicken. Maize, Poultry meal (min 26% chicken), Chicken fat, Rice (min 5%), Chicken liver, Linseed, Oats, Maize gluten, Alfalfa, Yeast, Peas, Minerals, Carrot, Seaweed, Milk thistle, Marigold, Rosemary, Nettle, Mint. This food will contain almost 70% carbs. Question...why does your dog need so much maize?
In fact, most ''working dog foods'' will literally copy the ingredients of their non working dog food counterpart. You can check this by yourself.
So...what should you feed a working dog? Well, the same as any other dog. A high quality protein, carb limited food. Ingredients you can recognise instead of ingredients you can't.
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