Barking Heads dog food: dog handler reviews, composition, types

Today, almost every family has a beloved pet that brings joy to its owners. In order for an animal to feel good, it needs to provide the most comfortable living conditions possible. In addition, pets require love and affection. Conscientious owners, when it comes to feeding their pets, try to choose high-quality and healthy food. Today there are a huge number of them. In this article we will look at Barking Heads dog food, reviews from veterinarians and owners, as well as the range and its quality.

general characteristics

Dry dog food is the most popular type of food because it has a high-quality, balanced composition. Veterinarians do not recommend mixing dry types and natural food. It is better to choose one of these two feeding methods for your dog, otherwise your pet may experience health problems.

Barking Heads dog food is produced by the English manufacturer Pet Food UKLtd. This company is known for the careful control of the entire production process. Barking Heads food belongs to the premium line. Thanks to the correctly selected recipe, animals will always be healthy. Your dog is guaranteed good physical shape and a radiant appearance.

Are there any restrictions under which Barking Heads food is not recommended? Reviews from veterinarians confirm that this food is highly digestible - more than 90%. Thanks to a successful combination of components, the dog’s body will be provided with all the necessary minerals and vitamins. The food is available in packages of 2, 6, 12 and 18 kg.

Daily feeding rate

The more actively a four-legged pet spends energy, the more food it needs per day. The weight of the granules is indicated on the packaging. It is important to find the right category: active or sedentary dogs, and determine the pet’s body weight.

Barking Heads food contains the optimal amount of nutrients and is easily digestible, which reduces the consumption of granules. A dog needs from 40 to 220 g of food per day. The appropriate amount of food should be agreed with your veterinarian, especially if you are prone to obesity or other health problems.

If the dog leaves part of the portion in the bowl, it means the portion is large; if there is a shortage of food, the pet constantly walks around hungry, asks for food, licks the empty container where there was canned food or granules. It is important to know how many grams a puppy should gain per week and month in order to feed the animal correctly. The daily norm is divided into equal portions, the diet is followed: for puppies under 8 weeks of age - five to six times, juniors - two to three times, adult dogs - feeding twice a day.

Compound

Let's look at it in more detail. What ingredients are in Barking Heads dog food? Reviews from experienced breeders recommend using the diet as a therapeutic diet. All products undergo minimal processing during preparation, so the content of preservatives and coloring substances is kept to a minimum.

According to the information stated by the manufacturer, the food contains 23% protein, 17% fat, 9% ash, 3% fiber, 2.9% Omega-6, 2.2% Omega-3 fat. In addition, Barking Heads contains vitamins A, E, D3, zinc, copper, manganese and iron. Thanks to the optimal content of nutrients in the diet, the pet's immunity increases. This helps prevent the development of many diseases.

Description and composition of Barking Heads food

The food is produced in the famous British city of Hemel Hempstead, produced by Pet Food UK Ltd. The prepared food is identical in composition to the food that your four-legged friend would get in natural conditions.

If dogs constantly eat this balanced food, they will always be in excellent physical shape. Barking Heads improves the quality of the animal's coat and supports the normal functioning of the immune system.

Main components

Beef, chicken, lamb, turkey;
Salmon;
Oats;
Chicken eggs;
Vegetables;
Seaweed;
Rice;
Tomatoes;
Potato;
Carrot;
Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids;
Fruits;
Vitamins, etc.

Varieties

So what do you need to know about this? Let's take a closer look at one of the varieties of Barking Heads food for dogs with problem coats - Lamb & Rice Adult Dog. This food contains 26% lamb meat, 20% lamb meal, 5% trout meat, 4% peas, 4% lamb fat, 2% salmon fat, 1.5% lamb broth. 40% are cereals - oats, white and brown rice. Simple calculations allow us to determine that the food consists of more than 50% meat components. This is a fairly high figure, which is rare.

The remaining types of feed differ slightly in component composition. For example, food for large adult dogs contains lamb, and grain-free food contains turkey meat and chicken fillet. Fish-n-delish food contains trout and salmon meat.

Is Barking Heads dog food good for digestion? Reviews from experienced dog breeders confirm that dogs who eat this product do not have stomach problems. Barley is present in the diet. As you know, this cereal contains a large amount of quickly excreted cleansing fibers. Prebiotics, flax and sunflower oil also have a beneficial effect on the dog’s gastrointestinal tract. To maintain normal functioning of the animal's brain, the food contains docosahexaenoic acid. Glucosamine helps strengthen joints, and methylsulfonylmethane relieves inflammation and accelerates tissue regeneration.

What can replace Barking Heads?

If it happens that you do not have the opportunity to purchase Barking Heads, then you can replace it with a good food of another brand:

premium class: Hills Ideal Balance, Royal Canin;
super-premium class: Guabi Natural (“Guabi Natural”), 1st Choice (“Fest Choice”), Gina (“Gina”);
holistic class: Applaws, Almo Nature, Innova Evo.

I once had a situation where I had to look for new food. The vet recommended several foods that suit my cat and also gave me a rough feeding schedule. In our case, it was important to change food gradually. On the first day, I only added a few pellets of the new food to the bowl with the old one. The next day I added a little more new crickets and slightly reduced the amount of old food. After a week, the cat calmly ate the new diet. During this time, I managed to observe the condition of the animal. If a cat were allergic to a new product, I would immediately notice it and stop feeding it the new food.

Table: food that can replace Barking Heads

Name	Flavor options	Type of feed	Protein sources	Unwanted Ingredients	Guaranteed performance	Calorie content	Price
Hills Ideal Balance	Fish, poultry, meat	Dry and wet	poultry/fish meal, potatoes (and gluten), pea flour, broth	Potatoes, pea flour	protein - 29.8%; fat - 20.6%; fiber - 1.8%; ash - 5.5%; calcium - 0.9%; phosphorus - 0.69%.	Up to 4010 kcal/kg	From 270 rubles (300 g)
Guabi Natural	Fish, poultry	Dry and wet	Fresh meat, fish, meat meal, offal, gluten, powdered eggs	Yeast, sugar	protein - up to 36%; fat - up to 10%; fiber - up to 5%; ash - up to 8%; calcium - up to 1.3%; phosphorus - up to 0.6%.	Up to 3915 kcal/kg	From 570 rubles (1.5 kg)
1st Choice	Fish, poultry	Dry	Fresh meat (fish), meat/fish meal, powdered eggs, hydrolysates, gluten	Pea fiber	proteins - up to 30%; fats - up to 10%; moisture - up to 10%; fiber - up to 6%; ash content - up to 9%.	Up to 3190 kcal/kg	From 560 rubles (900 g)
Orijen	Poultry, sea fish,	Dry	Fresh meat, whole eggs, organ meats, fish/meat meal	Potato	proteins - up to 40%; fat - up to 20%; ash - up to 8%; fiber - up to 3%; calcium - up to 1.4%; phosphorus - 1.1%.	Up to 4160 kcal/kg	(340 g)
Applaws	Chicken, fish, meat, fruit	Dry and wet	Dried chicken, minced poultry, broth, egg powder,	Brewer's yeast, potatoes		Not specified	From 300 rubles (400 g)
Almo Nature	Chicken or fish with shrimp or pumpkin, rabbit, seafood	Dry and wet	Fresh meat, vegetable protein extracts	Yeast	proteins - 34%; fats - 14%; fiber - 2%; ash - 8%; humidity - 9%.	Up to 4300 kcal/kg	From 80 rubles (70 g)

Photo gallery: food that can replace Barking Heads

All Applaus products are manufactured in accordance with UK quality regulations

Holistic class cat food "Almo Nature" is produced in Italy

Guabi food is produced in Brazil by Guabi Petcare Alimentos

1st Choice cat food formula developed in Canada (PLB International Inc.)

Hill's has several different lines of food (you can choose a veterinary diet)

For puppies

What is special about this type of food for animals? The food in this line is designed to meet the needs of a growing organism.

So, we can highlight the following:

Heads Puppy. The food is suitable for young dogs of any breed. Its main components are chicken and salmon meat, rice.
Puppy Grain Free. Grain-free diet. The composition contains up to 50% trout and salmon fillets, rich in fatty acids. This is necessary for a young body to fully grow and develop.
Little Bigfoot. Suitable for young animals of large breeds. Contains salmon and chicken fillets. Thanks to the optimal content of proteins and fats, calcium and phosphorus present in the food, the dog will grow strong and healthy. It is also worth considering that large breed puppies need more time to switch to dry food - approximately 15 months.

What does the ingredient list look like?

Having taken up the review of Barking Heads food, we noticed that its composition in English is indicated in an unusual way: the components that make up 60% of the food are combined and put in first place. Here's what it looks like: Chicken, salmon and trout (60%) (includes 22% Chicken, 18% Dried Chicken, 8% Salmon, 5% Trout, 3% Chicken fat, 2.5% Chicken stock, 1.5% Salmon oil) - that is, "Chicken, salmon and trout (60%), including 22% chicken, 18% dried chicken, 8% salmon, 5% trout, 3% chicken fat, 2.5% chicken broth, 1.5% salmon oil."

Perhaps such a combination of components is permissible under British law. In the Russian translation, fortunately, there are no such liberties - here the components are listed in the correct order, that is, in descending order.

For adult dogs

Let's look at this aspect in more detail. There is a wide range of Barking Heads food for adult dogs on sale.

Namely:

Big Foot Lamb: This product is suitable for large breed dogs. The main component is lamb. The fat of this animal contributes to the proper functioning of the heart and blood vessels, and also provides the pet with energy.
Lamb&Rice Adult Dog. This Barking Heads dry food receives extremely positive reviews. This food is specially designed for breeds with hair problems. The main components of this product are lamb fillet and rice porridge.
Turkey Delight Free. This food is grain-free and contains 50% turkey fillet.
Quackers Grain Free. Grain-free food based on duck fillet. Suitable for dogs of various breeds.
Big Foot Chicken. A diet specially designed for large breed dogs. It has a hypoallergenic composition and contains chicken fillet and rice porridge.
Fat Dog Slim. This food is intended for dogs with digestive difficulties. It is low in fat. It uses chicken fillet as protein.
Fish-n-delish Grain Free. Suitable for dogs of all breeds, based on salmon and trout meat.
Fusspot Barking Heads: a dog food that has overwhelmingly positive reviews from veterinarians. 45% consists of fresh meat. Dry potatoes are used as a filler.
Tender Loying Care. Contains chicken fillet. Can be prescribed as a therapeutic food for dogs with gastrointestinal hypersensitivity.
Tiny Paws Quackers Grain Free. Grain-free food for small breed dogs. It consists of 50% duck fillet and 11% trout fillet.

Where to buy, price overview

The problem for many dog breeders will be the difficulty of obtaining this food; Barking Heads is not sold in all pet stores. You can call the numbers listed on the official website of the manufacturer and find out the addresses of the nearest stores. It is much easier to order Barking Heads in the online store and have it delivered to your home.

Approximate cost of Barking Heads:

Name	Weight	Price
Canned food	300 g	290–300 rub.
Adult Small Breed Chicken/Rice	2 kg	1200–1300 rub.
Adult Health/Shine Lamb/Rice	1.5 kg or 2 kg	1300 rub.
Adult Light Chicken/Rice	2 kg	1300 rub.
—	12 kg	5000 rub.
Quackers Grain Free	12 kg	6000 rub.
Adult Large Breed	18 kg	7300 rub.
—	12 kg	5000 rub.
—	12 kg	5300 rub.
Puppy Large Breed	12 kg	5400 rub.
—	18 kg	7900 rub.
Grain Free Adult Dog	12 kg	6400 rub.
—	2 kg	1500 rub.
Grain Free Small Breed	4 kg	2900 rub.
Senior 7+ Chicken/Rice	12 kg	5400 rub.
—	18 kg	7800 rub.*

Holistic specialists will provide the dog with first-class balanced nutrition

Peerless Holistic is extremely beneficial for animal health. It is made from excellent quality products and contains many vitamins and microelements. Most Barking Heads food is grain-free, so animals are reliably protected from allergies.

*Prices are as of November 2022.

For dogs over 7 years old

As pets age, they require a diet that is low in fat. This will prevent muscle atrophy. Especially for such pets, the Barking Heads food range includes the Senior Dog line. This food contains a large amount of antioxidants that strengthen the animal's immunity. It also has a high content of chondroitin, a substance that strengthens joints.

How much chicken and salmon?

On the front side of the pack there is an icon with images of fish and poultry and a description of the diet - “60% Chicken, Salmon and Trout” (“60% chicken, salmon and trout”). When you get acquainted with the composition, it becomes clear that this 60% consists of raw and dried chicken, two types of raw fish (salmon and trout), as well as fats and broth obtained from them.

Of course, the dosage of animal proteins here is really not that small, but, as the Barking Heads analysis for puppies shows, minus the chicken and salmon broth, it is still less than 60%. This means that we cannot add 5 bonus points to the rating of this food (for 60% or more meat and fish in the diet).

Peculiarities

Barking Heads cat food gets pretty good reviews from owners. For its production, only high-quality components made in England are used. More than half of the food consists of pure meat. All products included in the feed are processed using a two-stage system. This allows you to preserve all the beneficial substances. Vitamin E and tocopherol are used to preserve ingredients. The food contains no flavors, synthetic dyes, soy, GMOs, corn or wheat. It is hypoallergenic and suitable for cats of all breeds. Barking Heads cat food is perfectly absorbed by the animal's body and does not cause digestive problems.

Advantages and disadvantages

Despite the relative youth of the company and its product, Barking Heads has already received “five stars” from consumers

Dog breeders focus on the following characteristics of food:

high taste qualities;
maximum naturalness of all ingredients;
a large amount of meat;
mineral and vitamin complexes included in the composition;
quite varied assortment;
product availability.

There is only one drawback to such healthy nutrition - high cost. Within its class, the pricing policy is no different from other brands, but the holistic category has always been considered elite, and therefore expensive.

How to choose food?

Animal owners should familiarize themselves with this aspect first. There are only a few items in the Barking Heads cat food range, but you can easily choose the best option for your pet.

Here are some options:

Kitten's Delight. The food is suitable for kittens and young cats. It consists of 49% chicken meat. Small granules are designed for a kitten's small stomach. The food has a balanced content of phosphorus and calcium, and also includes a large amount of docosahesaenoic acid. This component contributes to the normal development of the animal’s brain. Kitten's Delight is suitable for feeding cats from three weeks to 9 months of age.
Hey Good Looking: Barking Heads food for adult cats. Reviews confirm that this diet is suitable for any breed. It consists of 70% chicken meat, eggs and fish.
Pur-Nickety: food suitable for even the most picky cats. It contains a lot of salmon, animal protein and taurine.
“Losing Fatty”: this product is recommended for cats prone to excess weight. Its main components are carrots, alfalfa, peas, yucca and a special complex that provides joint protection.
“Wise Years”: a special diet has been developed for pets over 7 years old. The food contains plant fiber, natural antioxidants and prebiotics, as well as a special complex to maintain healthy joints.

The best foods for dogs' musculoskeletal health

Foods for joint health are especially recommended for large breeds and aging pets. After all, they need an increased portion of chondoprotectors, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D.

Advance Veterinary Diets Articular Care Senior +7 Years Canine Formula – for aging dogs

5.0

★★★★★ editorial assessment

92% of buyers recommend this product

Articular Care Senior +7 Years is designed specifically for older dogs and maintaining the health of their musculoskeletal system. The food belongs to therapeutic diets and is prescribed by a veterinarian for pathological diseases, during the recovery period after injuries, as well as to support animals with osteoarthritis.

The formula is based on hydrolyzed chicken and salmon protein, as well as processed rice. These ingredients are easy for older dogs to digest.

Concentrated pea protein prevents muscle loss and promotes muscle recovery. Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and fatty acids support healthy cartilage tissue.

Lemon verbena extract reduces pain in the joints and slows down oxidative processes. All this helps to increase the pet's activity. Hyaluronic acid is added to prevent joint diseases. Vitamin K reduces the risk of fractures and prevents osteoarthritis.

Pros:

convenient packaging with a clasp;
no breed restrictions;
effective prevention of skeletal diseases;
well absorbed;
reduces pain.

Minuses:

expensive (from 6 thousand rubles for 12 kg);
wheat and corn flour in the composition;
may cause an allergic reaction.

Advance Veterinary Diets are suitable for daily feeding of aging dogs. However, the chicken in its composition can cause allergies. At the first sign of intolerance, food should be removed from the diet.

Farmina Vet Life Canine Joint – dietary food for bone disease

4.9

★★★★★ editorial assessment

89% of buyers recommend this product

Farmina Vet Life Canine Joint is a food from the medicinal line of the Italian brand. It is prescribed by veterinarians as an aid to inflammation of the bones or joints. The balanced formula is based on oats and spelled with a low glycemic index. They normalize blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes in animals. The protein component is high-quality chicken meat.

The composition also includes chondroprotectors for the restoration of cartilage tissue. A precisely selected ratio of antioxidants and fatty acids relieves inflammation and pain. The crude fat and oil content is 12%. This ensures the shine of your pet's coat. It also contains extracts of herbs and berries. They aid digestion and are a source of fiber, natural antioxidants and vitamins. The food is available in packs of 2 or 12 kg.

Pros:

natural composition;
gradually restores cartilage tissue;
relieves inflammation and pain;
has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin and coat.

Minuses:

difficult to find on sale.

Feeding an animal with Farmina Vet Life Canine Joint does not replace trips to the veterinarian and complex treatment of problems with the pet’s musculoskeletal system. But it can support the health of the animal, so it is worth using as part of therapy.

Royal Canin Maxi Joint Care - a universal diet for large breed dogs

4.9

★★★★★ editorial assessment

85% of buyers recommend this product

See review

Royal Canin Maxi Joint Care is an everyday dry food recommended for large breeds. The calorie content of the diet is reduced to reduce stress on the joints and increase the dog's activity. Despite the reduced energy value, the food is nutritious and does not require larger portions. Fiber at a percentage of 6.5% helps satisfy hunger and improve digestion.

The formula is based on poultry meat and easily digestible hydrolyzed animal proteins. Collagen improves the condition of bone tissue. Marigold extract is added as a source of lutein, and cartilage hydrolyzate is added as a source of chondroitin. Fatty acids have a beneficial effect on joint health and also give the coat a beautiful shine. According to the manufacturer, after a month of daily feeding Royal Canin Maxi Joint Care, 97% of dog owners note an increase in their pet’s activity.

Pros:

reduced calorie content;
economical;
increases dog activity;
sold in almost every pet store;
has a beneficial effect on the condition of bones and joints.

Minuses:

contains corn and wheat;
may cause allergies.

Royal Canin Maxi Joint Care is a daily balanced diet for adult dogs weighing over 25 kg. It helps maintain or restore activity and also keeps the animal’s weight under control.

Reviews

Why do many pet owners today prefer Barking Heads food? Reviews will help you understand why. Some owners note that after such nutrition, the coat of their pets becomes much better, and this is a direct indicator of health. In addition, even the most picky cats and dogs switch to this food without any problems because of its excellent taste.

Some claim that after their pets started having problems, they decided to switch them to Barking Heads dog food. Reviews confirm that after changing the diet, the dogs’ health has improved significantly.

This also applies to cats. Experts recommend using Barking Heads cat food to prevent urolithiasis. Reviews from veterinarians indicate that this diet significantly reduces the likelihood of developing the disease.