Product Review: Canagan Grain Free Dog Food

I think everyone reading this blog knows how rarely I do product reviews. Mostly because this is a personal blog, and partly because I think product reviews can be pretty boring and/or annoying, on blogs.

I made an exception in this case because I actually like the sound of this product and the dog food wars are always interesting to me. I hear so many people advocating raw diets as the only option for responsible dog owners, and that irks me. We all try to be responsible and feed our dogs as best we can, but we have to accept that everyone is limited by time, space, budget, and (yes) convenience. I would love to try my dogs on some kind of raw diet, but I haven’t got the freezer space! So I do the best I can, and try to make informed decisions on kibble products.

So, on to the product review!

Rio and Dylan will both be eating Canagan, a grain-free dog food made in Britain. We have the Free-Range Chicken version to try (there are also Scottish Salmon and Country Game varieties). Canagan claims to be “certified biologically appropriate for adult dogs”, mimicking canine ancestoral diets with a high meat content and grain-free ingredients. RRP for the 12kg Chicken variety bag we have here is £54.99, which I expect to last about 4 weeks feeding my two 19kg active dogs. Canagan also comes in 2kg and 6kg bags.

Canagan uses Sweet Potatoes as an alternative to grain-based products. They tell me that sweet potato provides a slower, steadier release of energy; I haven’t heard this before and can’t find anything which disproves it (although I can’t find anything which proves it either!), but if it’s true, that’s going to be great for sporting dogs who need to maintain their energy levels over a long day of competition. Canagan also says:

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.

Considering Chicken is often a source food for allergies in dogs, I’m intrigued that they decided to make a Chicken variety when marketing an allergen-calming food. Dylan historically doesn’t always do well on Chicken-based kibble, but I’m willing to give him a try with this.

I wish the Composition list indicated how much Sweet Potato percentage was being used, compared to, say, Potato. The meat content seems relatively high. The “Fructooligosaccharides” caught my attention too – don’t see that one very often! – but a bit of Google research informs me it’s a naturally occuring sugar-based carb that does have proven prebiotic benefits (although can also cause flatulence, so we’ll see how that goes!).

The kibble itself looks just like standard kibble, it’s average sized. Doesn’t smell very strong, but there is a very slight oilyness if you’re handling it for a while (using it as treats, for example!), but I’d expect that as it does contain Salmon Oil.

I can appreciate aesthetics and the packaging for Canagan is really nice, lovely colour scheme and a satin-finish bag, but it will probably contributes towards that hefty price tag. The bag contains all the relevant information; ingredients list, feeding guide, contact information, etc. I appreciate the Common Sense Feeding section they’ve included, and the Feeding Guide surprisingly seems about right. Dyl and Rio each get 125g twice a day of their current food (250g total, which fits right in to the Canagan Guide), although that does increase/decrease depending on their activity levels, and may change on this brand.

It’s hard to criticise beautiful packaging (I understand marketing!) though it’s definitely the insides that count. In this case, I won’t be judging the book by it’s cover. The results are in how my dogs will look and feel after eating the contents!

Dyl and Rio started on Canagan yesterday for their main meals. They both like it – Rio likes it so much she’s gone crosseyed! – but they both eat anything they can find, so don’t take that as conclusive just yet. I will report back in a few weeks on how they’re doing with the dietary change!

You can find out more about Canagan at Pet’s Corner.

Disclaimer: This product was provided free of charge by http://www.petscorner.co.uk/ for review. I’m not under any obligation to provide a positive review, and opinions expressed are entirely my own.