Feeding Advice

When changing a pet’s diet it’s crucial to do it gradually in order to be gentle on their digestive system.

Ideally the new diet should be added to their current food in very small portions over a 5 day period, increasing this small amount each day until eventually you are feeding your pet 100% Forthglade.

Here is some advice from Dr James Greenwood, Media Vet and Forthglade Ambassador:

"When transitioning your dog onto a new diet, it is particularly important to do this gradually and to avoid any sudden changes. This allows your dog’s digestive system to adapt with the switch and remain in balance. As a minimum, allow 5 full days to gradually reduce their current diet whilst simultaneously increasing their new food with each meal. For dogs with sensitive tummies, go even slower and transition over 1-2 weeks"

Elderly pets have specific dietary requirements as they have smaller appetites, burn less energy and benefit from highly digestible foods.

All Forthglade meals are natural and full of wholesome goodness and gentle enough for all ages. We produce complete wet meals specifically designed for senior dogs (7 years+) which contain additional glucosamine & chondroitin to support their joints & bones. Our senior recipes contain 15% less fat and extra Omega-3 from salmon oil.

Our Forthglade meals for senior dogs are a lighter meal that can be fed to adult or senior dogs no matter their age.

A Forthglade diet may be able to aid weight loss if appropriate portion controls are followed. Speak to your vet to be confident what amount of food is most suitable for your individual pet, alongside an appropriate exercise routine.

Pets are great at keeping themselves properly hydrated, so you should ensure that they have access to clean fresh water 24 hours a day.

All Forthglade meals are natural, full of wholesome goodness and gentle enough for all dogs from 2 months+.

Our puppy recipes contain a tailored mix of vitamins & minerals specifically designed for puppies, and include Salmon Oil which is rich in Omega-3 and widely recognised to support your puppy’s growing joints and cognitive development. We carefully selected proteins to match your bouncy puppy's needs.

Pregnant and nursing pets have specific nutritional requirements. Our puppy recipes are formulated and tested to meet the nutritional guidelines for growth and reproduction.

While our adult recipes are complete and balanced for maintenance, they are not specifically formulated or tested to meet reproductive nutritional guidelines. If you’re unsure which recipe is best during this life stage, we recommend speaking with your vet.

Many breeders across the UK are proud to both use and recommend Forthglade.

Our Forthglade meals for senior dogs are a lighter meal that contains 15% less fat than our adult recipes. They can be fed to all dogs no matter their age. Each tray contains 60% protein and are made using good quality ingredients and we don’t add any unnecessary oils or fat.

The lighter calorie content can help support your dog in maintaining a healthy weight.

Sadly, many pet foods use colourings and flavourings which can massively effect animal behaviour and concentration.

Following a healthy, natural diet can have a positive impact on your pet’s behaviour, making them happier, healthier and calmer. We our proud that our wet food range contains no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

In the short term, you can of course feed a puppy recipe to your adult dog, however we would recommend moving to an adult recipe when it is convenient to do so to ensure that your dog is getting the tailored nutrition they need for their current life stage, which is a little different to young dogs in their first 12 months.

In the short term, you can of course feed a Senior recipe to your adult dog, however we would recommend moving to an adult recipe when it is convenient to do so to ensure that your dog is getting the tailored nutrition they need for their current life stage and to avoid any unwanted weight loss.

In order to provide your senior dog with the best possible nutrition for their life stage, we've increased the amount of lower calorie vegetables alongside wholegrain brown rice whilst reducing the quantity of higher fat ingredients.

This change helps to keep the calorie content of the food where it needs to be for older dogs who typically have slower metabolisms whilst still delivering them the expert nutrition they need to support their overall health & wellbeing.

In the short term, you can of course feed an Adult recipe to your Senior dog, however we would recommend moving to a Senior recipe when it is convenient to do so to ensure that your dog is getting the tailored nutrition they need for their current life stage and to avoid any unwanted weight gain.

Our puppy recipes contain a tailored mix of vitamins & minerals specifically designed for puppies, and include Salmon Oil which is rich in Omega-3 and widely recognised to support your puppy’s growing joints and cognitive development. We carefully selected proteins to match your bouncy puppy's needs.

When changing a pet’s diet it’s crucial to do it gradually in order to be gentle on their digestive system.

Ideally the new diet should be added to their current food in very small portions over a 5 day period, increasing this small amount each day until eventually you are feeding your pet 100% Forthglade.

Here is some advice from Dr James Greenwood, Media Vet and Forthglade Ambassador:

"When transitioning your dog onto a new diet, it is particularly important to do this gradually and to avoid any sudden changes. This allows your dog’s digestive system to adapt with the switch and remain in balance. As a minimum, allow 5 full days to gradually reduce their current diet whilst simultaneously increasing their new food with each meal. For dogs with sensitive tummies, go even slower and transition over 1-2 weeks"

Complete' means that you can feed the meal to your dog without needing to mix it in with anything else - all the nutrition your dog will need is contained within one product.

Yes!

Our wet dog food can be used as an accompaniment to a good quality, natural dry food – just make sure you adjust the quantities to avoid over-feeding.

You can use whichever split of wet vs dry food suits your dog best, but as a start point if you’d like to feed a 50:50 mix of wet and dry food – simply feed 50% of the daily recommended allowance of wet food alongside 50% of the recommended daily allowance of dry food over the course of the day.  

Absolutely.

Most of our customers like to mix wet & dry food together at mealtimes, so you’re not alone!

You can use whichever split of wet vs dry food suits your dog best, but as a start point if you’d like to feed a 50:50 mix of Wet and Dry food – simply feed 50% of the daily recommended allowance of Wet Food alongside 50% of the recommended daily allowance of Dry Food over the course of the day.  

A complete meal contains everything your dog needs to stay happy & healthy - so it simply means that you don't need to mix it with anything else for your four-legged friend to get all the nutrition they need from their dinner. Most of our recipes are complete, with the only exception being our 'Just 90%' range which is a complementary food.

A complementary food is designed to be fed alongside something else for a balanced diet. Feeding a complementary food alone will not give your dog the balanced meal and nourishment they need - so you have to add either your own selection of carbohydrate and fibre filled vegetables or a good quality mixer.

We spoke to media vet and Forthglade Ambassador, Dr James Greenwood to get his insight on what you should do if you suspect your dog has a food intolerance.

‘One of the main reasons dog owners suspect their dog has a food intolerance is because of itching or poor digestive health. Whilst a food intolerance may be the cause, there could be other factors to also rule out such as environmental or infectious causes.  It’s important to first properly establish the root cause of any ill health or adverse reaction in our dogs. To truly understand what is causing the problem in your dog, it’s important to work closely with your vet so you can follow an elimination diet as well as ruling out any other causes that may be to blame’.

Dr James Greenwood, Media Vet and Forthglade Ambassador

• It reduces the risk of adverse effects in your dog by avoiding artificial colours and preservatives.
• Forthglade recipes contain added vitamins and minerals that help to support your dog’s overall health and wellbeing
• Our recipes do not contain any artificial colours, preservatives, additives or chemicals that can be difficult for dogs to digest
• All our recipes are made with natural ingredients and high-quality proteins with clearly labelled ingredients
• Single-source protein diets make it easier for you to identify any proteins your dog is intolerant to

All of our wet recipes are hypoallergenic. This means we carefully select our ingredients to ensure that our recipes are of the best quality for your four legged friend. We use simple, quality ingredients with no junk or nasties. This means delicious and nutritious recipes that are kind and gentle to your dogs tummy.

For a food to be truly hypoallergenic for your dog, it’s important to understand what their intolerance is. A product may be labelled as hypoallergenic but if it contains ingredients your dog is sensitive to, they may still experience an adverse reaction. For this reason, we ensure all our ingredients are clearly labelled including proteins e.g. if it states chicken on the front, this will be the only protein in the recipe.

We’ve not formally tested freezing our wet dog food, so we can’t guarantee the impact on quality or texture. If you do choose to freeze it, transfer the contents into a freezer-safe container and use within three months.

All of our wet recipes are hypoallergenic. This means we carefully select our ingredients to ensure that our recipes are of the best quality for your four legged friend. We use simple, quality ingredients with no junk or nasties. This means delicious and nutritious recipes that are kind and gentle to your dogs tummy.

We recently made some changes to help make sure our food gets to you in perfect condition. While we wanted to make sure your dog's dinner arrived safe and sound, we certainly didn't mean for you to need sheer determination to peel the tray open.

Our team is busy working on tweaking our plastic film, and our mission is to find the perfect balance - secure enough to protect the food, but easy enough to open by hand.

We really appreciate your patience while we get this right and if you have any other questions on this please get in touch.

There are great benefits to both wet and dry dog foods and it normally comes down to personal preference.

With its stronger smell, taste and softer texture, wet food may be a better option for fussy eaters and older dogs. On the other hand, dry dog food may be that don’t finish their meals all at once, or who have beards.

To help with this topic further, we've created this handy blog which should help to answer if wet or dry food is better for dogs. You can read the guide on is wet or dry food better for dogs here.

Yes!

Our wet dog food can be used as an accompaniment to a good quality, natural dry food – just make sure you adjust the quantities to avoid over-feeding.

You can use whichever split of wet vs dry food suits your dog best, but as a start point if you’d like to feed a 50:50 mix of wet and dry food – simply feed 50% of the daily recommended allowance of wet food alongside 50% of the recommended daily allowance of dry food over the course of the day.  

Your puppy needs more food in it's younger months to support its growth & development, so as it reaches 6 months the amount you feed should reduce slightly and this is reflected in our feeding advice above.

Get a more detailed guide on how to feed your puppy with our feeding guide.

Our Just 90% range is designed to help you tailor mealtimes and can be used alongside a good quality mixer, as a treat or alongside your own choice of healthy vegetables to create a balanced meal.

The amount you should feed will depend on how you choose to use our Just range because the calorie content of what you choose to add will vary. Our feeding advice below gives you a rough idea on how much to use, but you, of course, know your dog better than we do - so keep an eye on their weight and adjust the quantities as needed.

Our recommended feeding amounts are here to help you, but no-one knows your four-legged friend better than you do, so do feel free to tailor them based on your dogs individual lifestyle.

As a general guide if your dog is very active you should consider feeding a little more, and likewise if your dog isn’t very active you may want to consider feeding less. Lifestage is also an important factor when considering your dogs feeding amount as puppies are growing rapidly so feeding guidelines are based on their additional calorie requirements compared to older dogs who require less food to avoid putting on weight.

The amount of calories per 100g is also important as some recipes contain higher calorie proteins so it is worth checking this against the individual needs of your dog. All calorie information can be found on the individual product pages.

Please see any product page on the website that shows the recommended feeding guide or use our Feeding Guide page for specific feeding information tailored to your four-legged friend.

We absolutely think so! But of course, that's easy for us to say.

To help validate this, All About Dog Food is a trusted industry tool which compares all foods available on the market to give a fair and unbiased rating. We're pleased to report that Forthglade has an excellent rating at 70-87% across our wet food offering.

You can find this impartial information across all of our ranges here. We're also lucky enough to have thousands of verified customers who also love our food, our full list of reviews can be found here.

We work very closely with a team of like-minded dog lovers to produce our range of lightly baked natural dry food for dogs.

We're very lucky to have found a team who are both experts, who share our belief in nourishing the relationship you have with your dog through a good quality natural diet.

Cold-pressed dog food stands out for its ability to preserve the most nutrients compared to extruded food. While extrusion uses high heat and pressure to cook the food, cold pressing uses a much gentler approach. By cold pressing the ingredients it helps preserve natural flavours, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats, making it an excellent choice for dogs who need highly nutritious food.
Read Our Blog on Baked vs extruded vs cold pressed dog food: what's the difference & what's best?

We’ve used Sweet Potato as a delicious and nutritious complex carbohydrate (that most dogs love!), in place of things like grains to ensure that each meal is nutritionally balanced for your dog(s).

Sweet potato is also a great source of Vitamin A and energy within your dog’s diet.

All our food and treats have a shelf life of 18 months from the date they were made - you can find the use by date printed on the short side of each individual tray for our wet food, or on the back of the pack for our dry food & treats. Once you have opened them they are best enjoyed within the following timeline:

• Wet food: consume within 2 days
• Natural Dry (Cold Pressed): consume within 1 month
• Natural Dry (Lightly Baked): consume within 2 months
• Dental Sticks: consume within 10-15 days
• Treats: consume within 4 weeks
• Treats (Meaty only): consume within 14 days
• Salmon Oil: consume within 6 months

Our recommended feeding amounts are here to help you, but no-one knows your four-legged friend better than you do, so do feel free to tailor them based on your dogs individual lifestyle.

As a general guide if your dog is very active you should consider feeding a little more, and likewise if your dog isn’t very active you may want to consider feeding less. Lifestage is also an important factor when considering your dogs feeding amount as puppies are growing rapidly, feeding guidelines are based on these additional calorie requirements compared to older dogs who require less food to avoid putting on weight.

The amount of calories per 100g is also important as some recipes contain higher calorie proteins so it is worth checking this against the individual needs of your dog. All calorie information can be found on the individual product pages.

Please see any product page on the website that shows the recommended feeding guide or use our Feeding Guide page for specific feeding information tailored to your four-legged friend.

There are great benefits to both wet and dry dog foods and it normally comes down to personal preference.

With its stronger smell, taste and softer texture, wet food may be a better option for fussy eaters and older dogs. On the other hand, dry dog food may be that don’t finish their meals all at once, or who have beards.

To help with this topic further, we've created this handy blog which should help to answer if wet or dry food is better for dogs. You can read the guide on is wet or dry food better for dogs here.

Whilst there isn’t a set definition for hypoallergenic we know that, as all our recipes are clearly labelled with fully transparent ingredients, including clearly identifiable protein, our food is considered hypoallergenic. However, it is always important to read the ingredients carefully because whether or not a recipe is truly hypoallergenic for your dog, depends on the intolerance they have. If there is anything you are unsure of, we would recommend you reach out to your vet.

Our Lightly Baked dry food recipes are not recommended for puppies (or dogs under 1 year old) due to the fact that puppies require quite specific nutritional support during this important stage in their development.

We don’t yet have a Lightly Baked recipe designed for puppies specifically but won’t rule it out for the future!

We do have a range of complete puppy recipes that provide the best possible nutrition to your growing puppy during their first 12 months of life. You can check out the range here

We work very closely with a team of like-minded dog lovers in the EU to produce our range of cold pressed natural dry food for dogs.

We're very lucky to have found a team who are both experts in the technique of cold-pressing – and who share our belief in nourishing the relationship you have with your dog through a good quality natural diet.

Absolutely.

Most of our customers like to mix wet & dry food together at mealtimes, so you’re not alone!

You can use whichever split of wet vs dry food suits your dog best, but as a start point if you’d like to feed a 50:50 mix of Wet and Dry food – simply feed 50% of the daily recommended allowance of Wet Food alongside 50% of the recommended daily allowance of Dry Food over the course of the day.  

Our ‘Small Dog’ cold pressed recipe has been specifically developed to provide the right amount of nutrition to small dogs and puppies.

In addition, the individual ‘pellets’ are smaller than in our other Cold Pressed recipes, making them perfect for smaller mouths. 

Dry dog food sometimes gets overlooked, but at Forthglade, we take pride in offering something special. Our Cold Pressed and Lightly Baked Dry Food recipes are carefully crafted with high levels of protein and are free from unnecessary fillers. Each recipe is complete and balanced, providing everything your dog needs for their daily nutrition.

To give you extra peace of mind, our dry foods are independently rated by All About Dog Food, a trusted resource that compares a wide range of products on the market. We’re proud to have achieved a fantastic 77% rating for our Cold Pressed Dry Food and 70% for our Lightly Baked Dry Food. You can explore these ratings and more details across all of our ranges here.

You can find this impartial information across all of our ranges here. We're also lucky enough to have thousands of verified customers who also love our dry dog food, our full list of reviews can be found here.

Store in a cool, dry place. Once opened, store in an airtight container for maximum freshness. Our Cold Pressed dry dog food can be kept for up to one month once opened and our Lightly Baked dry dog food can be kept for up to two months.

All food comes with a best-before date on the outer packaging and unless otherwise stated will have at least one years shelf life.

We want all dogs to enjoy our cold pressed range, this is why we have created a recipe specifically for smaller dogs and puppies, with smaller pellets for small mouths.

Our soft treats can be enjoyed from 2 months + making them perfect for dogs or puppies.

Whilst our natural cuts treats can be enjoyed by slightly older puppies 4 months +.

Our dental sticks are suitable for dogs aged 1 year +.

Treats are for special occasions, and should only play a small part in your dog’s balanced diet. Calorie information across all of our treats can be found on the individual product page and we wouldn't recommend feeding more than 10% of your dogs total daily calories on treats. Unfortunately we can't make a recommendation around how many calories your dog should have, this will need to be checked with your vet.

Even if they use their most convincing ‘puppy eyes’ to try to persuade you otherwise. For small dogs or puppies over 2 months old, we recommend breaking the treat in half for the perfect bite. You can view more information about how much to feed my dog here.

Make sure fresh drinking water is always available.