# Barking heads



## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

Have just heard on another forum that BH are adding Barley to all varieties except salmon. Apparently Barley is not good for dogs and can make them very windy..be warned


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

just had a delivery today of the lamb one - will look at ingredients.


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

I just checked my new bag of chicken & yes it has barley in it. So why have they added it & do we think it is bad for our dogs? Should I be changing now? Not sure I can face it!!!


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## TraceyT33 (Jun 25, 2012)

millie went off barking heads so she doesn't have it anymore.... seems strange why they would add barley to one flavour and not another???? wasnt aware barley wasnt good for dogs either... interesting x


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

I wonder why ????? Going to check their site x


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

I have been researching. Barley is a grain - and dogs don't need grains. Barley is not so bad as some other grains, but now BH has both barley and oats in it - although I don't know if they are putting some barley instead of some oats or as well as (i.e. I don't know if the total grain content is increased). Gisgo started on his new bag 5 days ago, and we have not noticed any difference so far......although the kids were complaining of bad wind when he was in the back of the car with them earlier today.....but that may be coincidence.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

I have spoken to the manager of the local pet supermarket and she insists that the barley has always been in there?!? I am not so sure, can't remember seeing it but it could have been. What I don't like is that BH promote their food as wheat free, which technically is true but aren't barley and wheat very very similar?
The manager told me than BH are in the process of taking the barley back out and replacing it with white rice. They will be taking the oats out of the salmon and potato and increasing the potato/ sweet potato, making it grain free along with their new flavour of duck and sweet potato. All very confusing!!
I just don't like the way companies begin with a recipe that dogs and owners love and for the sake of squeezing a few more pennies ( pounds) out of a bag of food they sneakily adjust ingredients, meaning there is more profit in the food. It's annoying!!
So am now trying Acana.......


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

I was wondering myself if barley was always in there - but I don't have the old packet. However, looking on Amazon website now, they have not updated the ingredient list and it shows "ground oats" only.....so that convinces me that when I first started buying it, there was no barley in there. I am looking perhaps at Fish4Dogs.......although we will finish the 12kg bag I have just opened, I think, unless we notice any ill effects in the "wind department". I will also keep a close eye on their website for updates.....or perhaps get their salmon variety next time.


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

I think it's new because if you look at the pictorial ingredients barley isn't in there but it is listed in the written ingredients. Yes would be interesting to know if its instead of one of the other carbohydrate ingredients or as well as , barley has a lower GI than the oats and brown rice that they already use so less of it to turn to sugar .
They haven't put it in the puppy days x


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Here is a link to a site with the original ingredient list........no barley!

http://www.viovet.co.uk/Pet_Foods_D...ood_Hair_Day/c233_234_1762_3054/category.html


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

The person I heard it from is a stockist....she was very annoyed that they had not notified her....little black mark for BH I'm afraid.


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## flounder_1 (May 12, 2011)

colpa110 said:


> The person I heard it from is a stockist....she was very annoyed that they had not notified her....little black mark for BH I'm afraid.


Interesting. I think I might email Barking Heads tomorrow for clarification.


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## Skyesdog (Jun 7, 2012)

I wonder what prompted the change? Hopefully there is a benefit to the dogs x


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

I bought the new treats today , I bought the puppy ones purely because they were small the others in the range were about the size of a ten pence piece. Just wanted to say that Mable didn't find them that tasty , so they wouldn't be that high value, she dropped it and left it twice before eating it as there was nothing else..... And Mable is one greedy poo, that's probably why she eventually ate it. Has amyone else tried them ?? x


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

I have been feeding Barking Heads to my dogs for a long time now and reviewed and tested many of their recipes, my dogs are not windy at all and rarely do botty burps lol

I emailed Barking Heads a couple of days ago and have be told that the barley is being removed from Tender Loving Care (chicken recipe) and from Good Hair Day (lamb recipe, renamed back to Bad Hair Day too), and all the new packaging will clearly state the ingredients ...

Also there are some lovely new recipes due to be launched in a few months time... they sound so yummy! 

Hope you have all tried the new range of dog and puppy treats for your dogs from Barking Heads ... my dogs adored them .. and no wind still from my lady like dogs  

Barking Heads is still the best dried dog food at present in my opinion.


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

wilfiboy said:


> I bought the new treats today , I bought the puppy ones purely because they were small the others in the range were about the size of a ten pence piece. Just wanted to say that Mable didn't find them that tasty , so they wouldn't be that high value, she dropped it and left it twice before eating it as there was nothing else..... And Mable is one greedy poo, that's probably why she eventually ate it. Has amyone else tried them ?? x


So shocked Mable didnt enjoy the treats, my dogs loved them ... the bigger size treats Nities Nites and Minties smell scrummy and may suit Little Miss Mable much better, as Milkies are aimed for puppies, I know they are a good size for treating on walks etc but Mable may want more flavour


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

Yeh JoJo I think you're right, she's not fussy at all usually the reverse. I presumed they would be tasty to treat a pup, I'm sure the others would be great. 
Did they say why they have decided to take the barley out or how long it's been in? x


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

wilfiboy said:


> Yeh JoJo I think you're right, she's not fussy at all usually the reverse. I presumed they would be tasty to treat a pup, I'm sure the others would be great.
> Did they say why they have decided to take the barley out or how long it's been in? x


Well I am not sure when they added the barley etc but I was told it has now been removed from these two recipes, so I guess the next batches made may be barley free .. when buying in your local stores just check the list of ingredients as all new packaging will list all the ingredients  

I am really looking forward to the new BH recipes .. a new puppy recipes and grain free recipes ... oh our dogs will be wagging their tails  just a few more months to wait ....


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I bought some of the bed time treats, Dudley has a couple of these in the evening when we have a hot drink and biccy's (sad I know!), just had a bag of the lamb delivered, it does have Barley in, still figure it'll still be better than most dog foods out there, have been putting about 10% of other foods in that we have after picking up lots of free samples from crufts anyway! (all good quality ones).


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Mine are happily munching away on the Good Hair Days and Puppy Days at present .. no windy bums and perfectly good poos ... so all happy here  

Yes the Nities Nite treats are scrummy Dawn, lucky Dudley.. I couldnt stop sniffing them when I had them here, really love smell for dried dog treats ... we do have lucky dogs


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## kippaxlady (Feb 19, 2013)

Can I have a bit of advice from you experts. 

Our 13 week old puppy has had the runs for over a week (we've had him nearly 3 weeks). We took him to the vets last night and she has given him anti biotics and 2 tins of Royal Canin to feed over 3 days to try to settle everything down (he's absolutely fine in himself). 

We are nearing the end of the bag of Wuffitmix that the breeder gave us so we were about to embark on a change to Barking Heads over the course of 5-7days. Given he's on this canned food for 2 days would you continue with this plan or go straight to BH's once the canned food is finished? 

Any advice much appreciated.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Personally I would go ahead with the swap to BH, otherwise he will be changing food a third time. Wuffit-cans-wuffit-BH.....
I hope his tummy settles soon. You can always try fresh fish/chicken and rice for a few days, this is normally a great way to settle a tummy but obviously you are under vets advice.


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## JasperBlack (Sep 1, 2012)

Jasper as a pup had all sorts of tummy troubles and I thought he would always have a dodgey tummy. He is 8months and has been on barking heads a long time now and it suits him. I called BH up to check which food is best at this stage and was advised to keep him on puppy days until12 months. His tummy is really settled on it and no wind at the mo. good luck with the change x


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Agreed I would go onto Barking Heads after feeding the wet/canned food given by your vets. One of my dogs had a bad tummy and had the same canned for a while.... puppies do tend to pick up things at this young age ... Hope his tummy settles soon   Barking Heads puppy days is a really nice recipe and I hope he enjoys it.


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## kippaxlady (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks for your replies. He's picking everything up in his mouth, it's a nightmare. We do have some of the wuffitmix left, maybe we could use that for treats?

He's 13 weeks and 5.1kg, how much BH's would you recommend. The last thing I want to do is overfeed him and risk a bad tummy again.


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

There are feeding guidelines on the package, I haven't got any bags here to check but it is only a guideline and I tend to feed around the guideline amount but also weight my younger dogs to make sure they are gaining weight each month, also remember all cockapos have very different builds.. mine are all different


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## 3boys1pup (Jan 13, 2013)

Post removed


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

To be honest I can't remember amounts but I know I always gave Dudley much more than the guidelines said, he is very active and must have been burning it off, I just went by how he was looking, if he started looking a little porky I cut back a bit but that wasn't very often, he would leave some in the bowl if he was full too.


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## JasperBlack (Sep 1, 2012)

Same here dawn, I go with jasper! I don't think I have ever measured it! Jasper's not fat or skinny so it must work for him. Jasper's not greedy with his food either and tends to just eat what he needs. If he leaves any I just remove it 


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## kippaxlady (Feb 19, 2013)

I've measured out 3 x lots of 25g as we are back to hard stools I don't want to risk another bout of the runs. He wolfed it down this morning along with his anti biotic, so keep your fingers and your legs crossed for us. He's with my mum today. Eeek


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Paws and legs crossed here ...  

Keep us posted on Wilf's toileting please ... only dog owners could talk like this and find it interesting lol


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Biscuit still has one meal of BH a day and has never been windy. However, little Miss Honey is on a totally raw diet and can be very windy! 

I've just ordered the BH treats (Digesties) to leave for dogs who might stay at our holiday cottage as I love the look of their packaging and thought that the ingredients looked good compared to a lot of the mainstream treats out there and very good value too! x


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## JasperBlack (Sep 1, 2012)

Jasper on BH too with no wind! Unfortunately for jasper the rest of the family aren't on BH and he's rather put out hahahaha! He stomps off to his bed with an extremely disgusted look...


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I was at the groomers with Dudley yesterday (me learning not him being done), she is into raw feeding and Dudley had some lamb ribs and another lamb bone whilst there, he had a couple of windy episodes last night - yuk - was surprised raw did that.


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## kippaxlady (Feb 19, 2013)

Update on Wilf. Well we went straight to BH's after the Royal Canin special dietary tinned food and we are delighted. His poo's are solid and he's pooing less. He's still on anti biotics but thank god for solid poos. 

I was weighing out 3 x lots of 30g but he does seem hungry, maybe I should up it, I just don't want to risk a relapse.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

kippaxlady said:


> Update on Wilf. Well we went straight to BH's after the Royal Canin special dietary tinned food and we are delighted. His poo's are solid and he's pooing less. He's still on anti biotics but thank god for solid poos.
> 
> I was weighing out 3 x lots of 30g but he does seem hungry, maybe I should up it, I just don't want to risk a relapse.


Brilliant - I think maybe Barking Heads should use the solid poo thing in their marketing as it is such a great thing for us owners!!


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