Something Fishy Going On? (James Wellbeloved Crackerjacks Fresh Fish)

Member Name: AJ26

Product:	James Wellbeloved Crackerjacks Fresh Fish
Date:	04/09/08 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty dog treats, hypo-allergenic, healthy and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives

Disadvantages: More expensive than other treats, need to wash your hands after handling as very fishy!

What are they?

Crackerjacks are a range of hypo-allergenic dog treats made by James Wellbeloved. These are the Fresh White Fish biscuits. They come in a 225g bag and retail for around £2.29. You can buy them in pet shops or online.

What is in them?

The ingredients actually sound quite tasty, there is fresh white fish, rice and tomato. They are seasoned with parsley and thyme. Looking at the analysis of the biscuits it isn't all good there is still 4% Ash - why do you need to put ash in any product?? In addition to the ingredients above there is also potato, olive oil and fish oil. The product has a minimum of 55% rice and 14% fish.

What is not in them?

They do not contain artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They do not have any beef or pork, only fish. There is no wheat or gluten. There are no dairy ingredients and there is no added sugar.

What is the packet like?

The biscuits come in a foil packet. To open you simply rip the top part of the packet off then you can open it up. There is a resusable seal which you just push the edges of the packet together to close. The seal keeps the smell in (these biscuits are fishy!) and keeps the biscuits fresh and crunchy. The seal keeps its use for the whole time you are using the biscuits unlike many seals which lose their "sealability" after a few uses.


What are the biscuits like?

The biscuits are a dark brown colour and shaped like little bones. They smell fishy, you really have to wash your hands after handling them. The biscuits are quite crunchy (not that I have eaten them but they sound and feel crunchy!) but you can snap them in two quite easily if you want to just give your dog a smaller treat if you are using them for training purposes. Each biscuits weight about 9g.

Why does my dog need hypo-allergenic treats?

James Wellbeloved believe it is wrong for dog treats to be full of chemicals and rubbish because it is unhealthy for your dog, bad for their teeth and also fattening. Hypo-allergenic treats are important as many dogs are allergic to the chemicals are other ingredients used in dog biscuits, these allergies can show themselves in skin irritations, ear infections, vomiting or diarrhoea. James Wellbeloveds philosophy is that you should be able to "indulge your dog and feel good about it" and by giving them treats which are high quality and kind to their stomachs will allow you to do this.

What do I think?

We have a 2 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback called Oscar and he loves his food, any food he can get hold of! This often leads to stomach problems as he picks up things in the street, bark from the garden and jumps to pull plums of the tree! I apologise for the next sentence if you have a queasy stomach you might want to miss it out! He has had several ear infections and also has a problem with a build up of fluid in his anal sacs. For those of you not aware of this what happens is that when a dog goes to the loo he should excrete fluid from these sacs along with his poo. However if fluid builds up and does not empty out the dog feels irritation here, he will lick his bottom a lot and then will scoot (drag his bottom) along the floor. The fluid has a very horrible fishy smell, its really not something you want your house to smell of and its also uncomfortable for the dog. When Oscar gets this problem we have to have a visit to a vet who puts on his rubber glove and sorts the problem out!

Now Oscar is already on a high quality food as when he was younger Pedigree food did not agree with his stomach but our vet suggested that the rawhides and other dog treats we gave Oscar might be affecting his stomach as he may have a intolerance to some of the ingredients. He suggested cutting out the treats for a couple of months and see if it helped.

We did this but felt a bit sad at not being able to give Oscar a little treat now and again, especially as he was in a routine of getting a little treat when we left him by himself or when we are doing training. We saw the James Wellbeloved Crackerjacks and thought that this would be a great alternative as they were hypo-allergenic.

Oscar loves these biscuits, as soon as we give them to him he munches away. He seems to enjoy the crunchy biscuit, and crunches them up before eating them. We have now been using these biscuits for about 4 months and they have not appeared to upset his stomach in any way. He has had to have his anal sacs emptied but not as often as before. The vet has suggested that it might be he is one of these dogs that has a problem with the sacs and it isn't necessarily due to his diet. However it is now 4 weeks since the last visit to the vet and Oscar shows no sign of any discomfort around his bottom so fingers crossed the problem might have settled. Previously we were going anywhere between 4 and 6 weeks.

He usually gets about 2 biscuits a day although I am sure he would love to have much more! They are more expensive than the other dog treats we have used in the past but I feel happy to pay the extra money knowing that they are kinder to Oscars digestion and won't make him feel unwell. I will continue to use these and perhaps try out some of the other flavours in the range to give Oscar a little change.

I would recommend these treats if you dog has a tendency to get an upset stomach or if you just want to give them a healthier good quality dog treat. James Wellbeloved do say on the packet that you should try it for 8 weeks and if signs of the allergies disappear then you can continue to give the biscuits. They do recommend that you seek a specialists opinion and there is a nutritional adviser you can telephone for further advice.

Oscar loves these biscuits and comes running whenever you open the packet. There are other flavours available which I might get for him to try for a change but at the moment I am going to stick to the fish to see how he goes.

Summary: A hypo-allergenic dog biscuit made with fish.