# Barking Heads dog food



## s&h2008 (May 12, 2009)

Hi guys, new to the forums. American, living in London via Tokyo (long story...). Have been surprised to find a general lack of good pet supply stores here in London; even the online offerings are rather sparse.

However, I did stumble across this brand: Barking Heads, which looks quite good:

http://www.barkingheads.co.uk/


Ingredients: Fresh Lamb (min 26%), White Rice (min 26%), Dried Lamb (min 26%), Ground Oats, Lamb Fat, Salmon Oil, Whole Linseed, Minerals, Dried Tomato, Natural Seaweed, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM, Vitamins.

Typical Analysis:Typical Analysis: Protein 22%, Fat 16%, Fibre 3%, Ash 9%, Moisture 8%, Vit A 13,500 iu/kg, Vit D3 1,200 iu/kg, Vit E (tocopherols) 400 iu/kg, Copper (copper sulphate) 12mg/kg, Omega 6 (linoleic acid) 3.1%, Omega 3 (linolenic acid) 1.0%

This *looks* to be a good, natural food with a high meat content, and a puppy-friendly lower protein content. I can't find any other info (reviews etc) on the web, however - anyone familiar with this brand?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

How about emailing the company for a complete analysis? It is the calcium that needs to be lower, not protein. It does sound promising.


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## s&h2008 (May 12, 2009)

Would a calcium percentage of around 2.2% (phosphorus 1.3%) be on the high end? (Maybe not if the food is easy to digest?)


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## s&h2008 (May 12, 2009)

**Bumpity**


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## s&h2008 (May 12, 2009)

*UPDATE: Barking Heads dog food*

This company has -just- released a new brand for puppies (see end of post)

I contacted the company for a full analysis. They were fairly prompt in sending me some data, but...well, here is a direct quote: 



> Please note our confidentiality statement below. Sorry to raise this but this information is sensitive as it shows the exact levels of our products and to a trained eye, how we are striving to provide the very best in dog and cat nutrition.


When I queried further, the company said they were worried about 'competitors seeing the information'. 

This somewhat confuses me, as it's not like they can have any real corporate secrets in terms of ingredients and nutritional value; it's not like any competitor couldn't buy a bag and do their own analysis. So I don't quite know what the company is trying to hide (for that matter, I have no idea if there is any legally binding issue to their request for confidentiality; certainly I would have expected the files they sent to be encrypted/password protected etc). 

On the other hand - the products themselves seem really good. I have a mild concern that the calcium content for one of the brands might be on the high side, but perhaps this isn't so much of a problem if the food is easily digestable. Anyway, here is the ingredients (from the website) for the new puppy food:

"Puppy days"
Information
Ingredients: 

Fresh British Chicken (min 22%), Dried Chicken (min 21%), BrownRice (min 21%), Ground Oats, Dried Salmon (min 10%), Potato, Chicken Fat, Sunflower Oil, Dried Egg, Salmon Oil, Minerals, Dried Tomato, Dried Carrot, Natural Seaweed, Viatmins, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM 


Typical Analysis: 

Protein 28%, Fat 18%, Fibre 2.5%, Ash 8%, Moisture 8%, Vitamin A 20000 iu/kg, Vit D3 1800 iu/kg, Vit E )Tocopherols) 690 iu/kg, Copper (copper sulfite) 11 mg/kg, Omega 6 (linoleic acid) 4.4%, Omega 3 (linolenic acid) 1%


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