Building a fit and healthy working dog

All dogs need the correct nutrition, however, this is even more vital for a gundog, its needs changing with the season. Fortunately, help is at hand

- CHUDLEYS

WHY keep a dog and bark yourself? And why mix its feed yourself when Chudleys’ range of working dog foods is there to do it for you? Bombarded with feeding fads on social media, it can be hard for dog owners to work out whether they should be sticking with a traditional kibble or attempting to make up their own dog foods with various high-raw, grain-free or even vegetarian DIY recipes.

Leading independent canine nutritionist Dr John Lowe is involved in the science behind Chudleys’ dog food range of formulations and he has warned: “Animal feed often follows trends from the human world. The grain-free market has certainly mirrored human trends. It is noticeable that there is so much talk around plant-based feed at the moment, too.” Fortunately for those of us trying to pick our way through the feeding minefield, Chudleys has been researching how best to feed the active or working dog long before trending posts on social media existed.

COMPANY FOUNDER

The man who started it all was Bill Chudley, more than 40 years ago. The Chudley family are famous for their success in field trialling and breeding top working labradors, springers and cockers, so they have massive experience of the nutritional needs of working breeds in all activities. This led Bill Chudley to want to formulate his own mixes of feeds to allow his dogs to perform to their best abilities. He began to develop dry feed mixes that had all the benefits of raw food without the mess and lack of precision in the feeding. At first, Chudley sourced his dry ingredients from animal feed producers Dodson & Horrell, now Chudleys’ parent company. It made sense for the two to team up and produce a whole range of different dog foods that the public could buy for their own dogs.