Friday, 21 December 2012

Canagan grain-free dog food review


The Madhouse doggies have been getting lots of things to review recently but by far the biggest was this enormous 12kg bag full of Canagan dog food. Labelled as "The Food of Their Ancestors", it is the first British made grain-free dog food. I didn't know that it was advisable to switch dogs to a grain-free diet, but Canagan explain : "Changing to a grain free diet has many benefits, such as a shinier coat, less allergies, increased energy levels, healthier digestive system and much more. Canagan provides your best friend with an array of biologically appropriate nutrients, picked one by one to give your dog everything he deserves and more. This highly digestible kibble will ensure to deliver optimum nutrition and great flavour, without the drawback of a high carbohydrate diet, making this food highly palatable." Sounds good on paper, time to investigate.


I opened up the bag and though "poooo it smells of fish" ! But a look at the side of the bag explained this - we've got the Scottish Salmon variety for adult dogs, so the fact that it smells of fish is actually very reassuring ! You can also buy Free-Run Chicken or Country Game flavours.



The food comes as dried pellets so feeding time is extremely simple and mess free. We use a small plastic cup to scoop out some pellets from the bag each time.


I noticed that there was always some left in the bowl after the dogs have finished eating, whereas with their normal food, they always scoff the whole lot. I wasn't sure if this meant that they weren't keen on it (but they always come over to eat it every time I put some in the bowl) but the website offers an explanation : "Due to the high amount of quality meat and beneficial ingredients, grain free feeding can seem expensive to look at, however when you’re feeding considerably less to fill hungry tums your money is stretched a lot further." So maybe they are just full up quicker ? I've also noticed that they often take a mouthful of Canagan out of their bowl and eat it off the floor, leaving several pellets behind - I have no idea what this behaviour means but they don't do it with their usual food !


Canagan uses sweet potatoes as an alternative to grains, which I would have found a bit strange, had I not seen how much the dogs loved the Sweet Potato treats from the Pooch Pack. Canagan (which, incidentally, is an ancient Celtic word for wolf) say that if your dog suffers from bad skin, a sensitive stomach, allergies, or any other discomforts, Canagan could be the answer to help calm the effects or diminish them altogether. I didn't notice any difference in the dogs' skin or coat but their poo did seem firmer and they did seem to be pooing less (not as in they were constipated but the poo just seems less bulky - sorry if that's TMI !). This would suggest that the claims that it is easier to digest are true.

We received our bag of Canagan from Pets Corner who offer a 100% guarantee throughout the store, so you can take the bag back for a refund if you're not totally satisfied.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP :  £11.99 for 2kg, £31.49 for 6kg, £58.99 for 12kg


Disclosure : We received a bag of Canagan dog food in order to write an honest review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

The Madhouse Doggies' Dream Christmas Stocking



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