We'll tell you which links pay us.
This isn't a shop. It's a list of what we feed and use ourselves, with links out to wherever it's genuinely cheapest. Some of those links earn us a small commission and some earn us nothing at all — and this page tells you which, next to each one.
Links marked unpaid — Earn us nothing whatsoever. They're here because they're the right answer
Nothing is here for the commission — Where the paid one isn't the best one, the best one goes first
We've used all of it — On our own animals. We don't link to things we haven't lived with
Chews that splinter — Rawhide and the cheap pressed stuff. Vets see the results of both
"Dental" treats that are mostly sugar — Read the second ingredient. A toothbrush costs about three pounds
Anything claiming to treat a condition — No food cures anything, and that conversation belongs to your vet
Subscription boxes — You end up with a cupboard full of things your animal didn't like
Anything that arrived with a discount code — If we didn't buy it ourselves, it isn't on this page
Food and chews
The everyday food
A mid-price complete food with a named meat first on the label. The expensive ones are mostly better marketing and the cheapest are mostly filler — the middle is where the sense lives.
For the fussy ones
Wet food stirred through dry, bought in a smaller bag so it doesn't go stale before it's finished. A big bag is only cheaper if the food actually gets eaten.
Chews that last
Single-ingredient, hard, and always supervised. If it's gone in ninety seconds it wasn't a chew — it was a treat with a chew's price on it.
Kit that outlasts three cheap ones
A harness, not a collar, for pulling
Y-shaped and front-clipping, and one that doesn't cross the shoulder. Cheap ones do cross it, which is why the dog moves oddly the moment it goes on.
A long line
Five metres, biothane rather than rope — rope burns your hands and holds water. This is probably the single most useful object on the whole list.
A slow bowl and a mat
Between them they solve gulping and most of the mess. Neither costs much, and both will outlive three cheap replacements.
The chew links — Paid on some and not on others. Each one is marked where it sits
Harness and long line — Unpaid. There's no scheme for the ones we like, so there's no fee
Anything sent to us free — Marked as sent free, whether or not we ended up keeping it
What the commission does — Pays for the site and for the samples. It has never paid a wage
“Bought the long line on your say-so after two years of a retractable. It is a completely different walk and I'm annoyed nobody told me sooner.”
A reader
By email
“You told me not to buy the expensive food and to put the difference into a harness instead. That isn't what a shop would have said.”
A reader
By email
Ask before you buy
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.