On-air with BBC radio Cambridge

Richard and  I were up with the larks on Monday morning to go on BBC radio Cambridge breakfast show to talk about overweight dogs.  Dottie Mcleod was delightful and very easy to talk to, she put it to us that a survey had been carried out (by Pedigree petfoods) which suggested nearly 50% of pet dogs were overweight...why could this be? In the main it's hidden sugars in cereal based dog foods which had been added to give this bland diet palatability (sounds familiar?). Also the shocking reality that many dogs are not getting walks or enough exercise, this fast pace life that so many of us lead really has really impacted on our beloved canine companions.The irony is that many of the larger manufacturer's and brands that we know so well are the main culprits of sneaking in various sugars in both dog and cat foods and they wonder why our pets are overweight!  In an ideal world we would  hope that we would all have time to read pet food labels and reject brands that have unhealthy ingredients but that's not always possible, so we would hope that people in and around Cambridge would come into Grumpy Pets and get some advice about what to feed.  Having been in the trade for nearly 30 years I have come to understand that the best dog and cat foods are made by small companies (like Symply and Canagan) who really care about quality of ingredients, so as a brand they're a great place to start.Sadly there was not enough air time to really expand upon the perils of feeding cheap dog foods but one thing is for sure an overweight dog will have a shortened life.  In all my years in the pet trade I have realised the benefits of feeding a super premium dog food, less trips to the vets, great skin and coat quality, optimum health, no 'dickie' tummies.You can listen to us again here:[audio m4a="http://www.grumpypets.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/grumpys-on-BBC-radio-cambridgeshire-09-02-15.aifc-AAC-audio-1.m4a"][/audio]Finally the proof is in the pudding...