Introduction
=========

When we got our second Springer Spaniel she was being feed on Iams Puppy food. Since she did well on it as a puppy we continue to purchase the Adult Small - Medium and our other dog liked it too.

Background
=========

I found this information from their website

Paul Iams founded Iams in 1946 and in 1970 Clay Mathile joined and later purchased the Iams Company. Paul Iams dealt with the company's nutritional foundation and Clay Mathile provide the vision that enable the Iams Company to become a world leader in dog and cat food.

In September 1999 the Iams Company was acquired by Proctor & Gamble Company (P&G) and Iams joined P&G's Health Care and Corporate New Ventures global business unit.

The Iams Company sells Eukanuba and Iams premium dog and cat foods (dry and canned) in 77 countries.

The Product
=========

This product is recommended for small to medium size dogs, Iams do offer this same food for large adult dogs. This food comes in a green bag; please ensure that when you are buying this product that you read the bag as the packaging is the same for both small to medium and large. I cannot recall the amount of times I have nearly bought the large instead of the small to medium one.

You can buy bags of 1kg, 3kg, duo pack 6kg and 15kg. In my experience I have found that supermarkets mainly only carry the 1kg and 3kg bags and the cost can be quite high too, nearly £9 for 3kg bags.

However I have found a way around this. My local Pets at Home store carries the full size range and they are normally on offer as well. The last bag I purchased was 15kg size and the retail price should have been £27.99, I paid £19.99 as it was on offer. I have not paid full price on Iams for months now because Pets at Home have offers on either 15kg or 6kg sizes.

The food itself is small brown biscuits (about the size of a 5p), which have a very light smell, not over powering at all. There is a feeding guide on the bag and I checked this first to ensure that I would be giving me dogs the proper amount. It looked nothing in there bowl and I remember thinking "That guide must be wrong" however I left the bowls as they were and turn to pull them on the floor.

My dogs stood there wagging their tails as they normally do and I went to put the food down. Now my dogs can be a pain when it comes to food, they mostly take a few mouthfuls then leave the rest for a bit. My dogs stuck their heads in their bowls and began to eat. My partner came in a few minutes later and said "Haven't you feed them yet?" He was asking because the bowls were empty it have been cleared up in minutes.

I do not worry about the amount of food anymore because they have never begged for more but every morning it disappears just as quickly as it did the first time. In the name of research I weighed out the same amount of their old food as the Iams amount, they had a few mouthfuls and left it, so they definitely prefer Iams.

What the product promises
===================

Iams states that it reduces tartar build up by 32% compared with leading wet food. Well I cannot comment on this because I very rarely feed my dogs wet food just purely because I know dry food will be better for their teeth and wet food can make there stools loose.

Healthy digestive system and therefore smaller and firmer stools. From my experience I would not say that their stools are smaller but they are firmer, which is better when you have to pick it up in a nappy bag.

Promotes superb skin and coat condition. My dogs coats did improve, their fur felt smoother and the shine was liked they were being bathed every day.

Customer Care
===========

I have been using this product for a while and in one of my bags I received a leaflet stating call this number and receive £5 off your next bag. Not being a person to refuses anything like that I called the free phone number.

I was expecting to speak to either a machine or someone that just wanted to take details and get me off the phone, I was wrong. I cannot remember the lady's name but she was very nice. She asked about how many dogs I had, their age, their breed, colourings, why had I started using Iams, did my dogs like, was I seeing the benefits of using Iams. It was not questions it was a conversation; you were made to believe that you had been friends for years. Now I don't know if I was just lucky but she was well trained in the different breeds, feeding, training, grooming and exercise, we also talked about her experiences as well. The conversation last about 20 minutes but remember they were paying the bill.

My voucher arrived within 4 days of having made the phone call and I could use it on any Iams Dog related product.

Ingredients
========

I have listed the ingredients below for any dog's that have allergies:

Chicken (>24%), maize, wheat, animal fat, poultry meal, sorghum, barley, dried beet pulp, chicken digest, fish meal, dried whole egg, brewer's dried yeast, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, sodium hexametaphosphate, DLmethionine.

Further information can be obtain from there website www.iams.co.uk or there Free Customer Care Line 0808 100 70 10 for the UK or 1 800 509 294 for Eire. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

Overview
=======

I know some people do not approve of their products but I prefer to feed my dogs something that they enjoy as well as a healthy diet. The price can be a little on the high side but if you shop around you can get some good deals, I do not recommend buying this from a supermarket as I have never seen any offers on it.

Even though it can be expensive than some other dog foods, I will be buying this for as long as my dogs enjoy it because at the end of the day it is there health and happiness that matters most.

From my personal experience and my dogs licks I would recommend this product as I know so many owners who have problems with loose stools and this product helps firm them up (and less smelly). My dog's coat has a great shine on them and less malting from their fur as well.

Thanks for reading.