My old dog Freeway has always had tinned dog food with biscuit mixer. It was fine for her but when we got Bonnie as a Puppy three years ago we decided to try the less mess option! Having always hated the smell of wet dog food as well as the mess involved in serving it we decided to investigate the range of dry dog food available. We initially tried Bakers but the colourings sent an already lively puppy absolutely bonkers! The next attempt was with James Wellbeloved which Bonnie liked but it is expensive and isn’t widely available in supermarkets. Eventually we settled on Iams. Initially Bonnie had the puppy version but she has now been on the adult version for a couple of years.

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The Food
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The food comes in a green bag (or sack depending on which size you get!) and there are varieties for small, medium and large dogs. Prices vary quite significantly depending on where you buy the food. Tescos only tend to sell 1kg or 3kg bags and at a higher price than pet shops where as you can buy a huge 15kg bag from large pet stores such as Pets at home and they often have offers that will save you reasonable amounts of money although you should expect to pay around £27 for the huge 15kg bag.

The food itself is in the style of cruncy kibble. It claims to be a complete balanced dog food made from a blend of ingredients, including a minimum of 20% real chicken and the essential vitamins and minerals a dog needs to stay healthy and active.

Iams also claim that this food contains the following:

• Iams Dental Care - to reduce tartar build-up by 32% compared to standard wet food;
• Glucosamine - help support healthy joints and cartilage, improving your dog's joint mobility;
• Reduced Fat - to help maintain a healthy body weight creating less stress on your dog's joints and limbs;
• Controlled Calcium and Phosphorus - to promote healthy bone development and optimal growth;
• Quality Fibre - promoting a healthy digestive system;
• Vitamins and Minerals - to help support your dog's immune system and help maintain overall health;
• Omega 3 and 6 - to support healthy skin and a shiny coat.

I will explore these claims further in a later section of this review.

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Dinner Time
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Although this food appears to be quite expensive, a 15kg sack lasts us a very long time! Initially we had just been filling Bonnie’s bowl with this food but as she began to get a bit podgy we actually read the instructions and started measuring out her food. The bag has a useful feeding guide that tells you how much your dog should have (depending on their weight and breed). To avoid weighing out Bonnie’s food every time we found a small cup that when full, holds the exact amount of food she should have.

Bonnie gets a cup full of food in the morning and another one in the evening. Being a dry food, it is really easy to serve. You literally just scoop it and chuck it in her bowl. Bonnie is always keen to eat her dinner but as it is crunchy it forces her to chew it rather than just gulp it down like she does with anything else, so it is better for her digestive system! She does seem to quite like her food though as she always starts eating it straight away.

The individual pieces of dry kibble were also beneficial when Bonnie was younger and we were training her to be submissive over her food. As it is not messy we were able to sit with her bowl on our lap and feed her some of the food piece by piece. We were also able to put our hand in amoungst her food while she was eating to teach her not to be aggressive or possesive about her food and it worked well.

Bonnie seems to enjoy her food and it is much nicer to serve up than wet food as it doesn’t smell, isn’t messy and doesn’t involve opening a tin!

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Poop, teeth, coat, etc!
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As I mentioned earlier on in the review, Iams make quite a few claims about how beneficial this food is to doggies.

The Dental care claim I really do support. Bonnie has the whitest, cleanest teeth I have ever seen on a dog. Even the vet is amazed by how healthy they are. She does occasionally get a few roast dinner left-overs and the odd cheeky biscuit but in general we try not to feed her naughty things. This food obviously takes good care of her teeth and as a result she strongly resembles Simon Cowell! My Grandparents have a very similar dog to Bonnie, of a similar age and his teeth are stained and no where near as good condition as Bonnie’s. The only difference between the two of them is their diet. He has wet dog food and lots of snacks!

A further claim is that the food helps support healthy joints. Bonnie is only young and should not be experiencing joint problems at three years old anyway which makes it difficult to comment on this claim, but she is clearly very healthy and can run and leap around without ending up hobbling around for days afterwards. In the same way, I would agree with the food claims that it promotes healthy bone development and optimal growth.

In terms of reduced fat – the food definitely helps keep Bonnie at a healthy weight. As a puppy she got a bit chunky but ever since we have measured out her food she has been the ideal weight for her age and breed.

The claim that Iams provides quality fibre is one that I can also agree with. Bonnie is always regular and although I don’t take too much time to examine it, her outgoings are much firmer and better smelling than those of my old dog who ate wet dog food.

Bonnie has always been very healthy and so I cannot dispute that the vitamins and minerals in the food help support her immune system and maintain overal health.

The final claim was that the Omega 3 and 6 support healthy skin and a shiny coat. I believe that this is definitely the case as Bonnie has an incredibly healthy, shiny coat and we have never had any problems with her skin either. In fact after commenting on how white her teeth are, passers by always seem to comment on how shiny and healthy her fur looks.

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To Summarise.
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Bonnie has absolutely thrived on Iams and I cannot recommend it highly enough. As the food is dry, it is obviously important that your dog has plenty of fresh water available at all times although they should have that irrespective of what food they eat! Iams has so far kept Bonnie incredibly healthy. She loves it and it works out as reasonable value as long as you are not overfeeding. I would certainly never go back to wet dog food as the smell, mess, hassle are enough to put me off but on top of that, I very much doubt Bonnie’s coat, teeth and health would be anywhere near as perfect if she were on the wet stuff!

100% reccomendation from me and Bonnie!