Pete.the.dog Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Hi guys, My housemates are getting almost as sick of the bundles of individually packaged dog mince in the freezer as I am at the thought of individually packing them! So I have been looking into alternatives. After reading a lot of forums I'm very excited that I found Great Barko for $28 for 22 kilos today at my local grain feed store! Man was really nice, he threw in a pigs ear and some garlic biscuits. However one thing he did say I wanted clarification on, he asked why I chose GB and I said I had done some research and heard great things, he found that surprising and said that honestly, he has heard from people it's too oily. Can anyone elaborate? I know the texture is a bit oily but surely noone would begrude dog food for the way it looks!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoL Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 You are about to get a heap of different responses as every dog reacts differently to food. Personally, I found Barko to be too much - the oil you mention went right through them and produced HEAPS of sloppy poos, almost as bad as Supercrap. Even though it was oily, I found their coats to be harsh and they lost condition, not weight. So it's not so much begrudging the look of it, but the effect it had on them and how they went on it. Some dogs do well on certain foods, some dogs don't. Basic trial and error will win this fight for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessca Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 as emmark said, every dog is different. as i found that it is great for my dogs, nice soft, shiny coat, no smelly farts, good poos ect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnsdc Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 what jessca said for us too in regards to the oilyness of the food - it seemed to dissolve a little when i transferred it to an airtight container only had a couple of nasty poos in transition hope that you find a product that works for your dog regards phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG-DOG-LOVER Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) Can you buy smaller bags of it? I bought the big bag for my boy to try once and then he didn't like it. Ah der I just re read your post and you see you've already bought the big bag! Edited September 11, 2009 by BIG-DOG-LOVER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arawnhaus Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Can you buy smaller bags of it? I bought the big bag for my boy to try once and then he didn't like it. Not that I know of.I have only found it in stockfeeds/petstock in bulk bags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 If your not happy with the great Barko why not try Uncle Abners, same distributer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 $28 for 22kgs that's $1.27 per kg. Take off the cost of manufacture, packaging, transportation, profit etc and it tells me the ingredients have to be very poor quality cheap stuff that goes into making it. Can it possibly be good for any dog well I suppose some people must think if they're buying it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibba Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 It also has soy products in it which dogs arent supposed to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibba Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Oh and if you add water it sets like concrete imagien that in the dogs belly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Oh and if you add water it sets like concrete imagien that in the dogs belly. The acid in a dog stomach is so strong it just about dissolves anything. Many people use the great Barko and yes it does have some small amount of soy But nowhere near as much as some other brands. Here are the ingredients and no I don't work for them. INGREDIENTS Great Barko is formulated from a selection of the following ingredients. Cooked meat or meat by-products derived from beef, lamb, chicken, pork, cooked fish or fish by-products, fat, cooked cereals, wheaten bran. Canola and soy products derived from them. Lysine, methionine, antioxidant, bentonite, vitamins and minerals. Vitamins: A, D3, E, K, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6 (pyridoxine), B12, niacin, pantothenate, folic acid and biotin. Minerals: Calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chloride, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I feed Great Barko and Uncle Albers and I am very pleased with both of them. My dogs do process it well, minimal waste of reasonable quality. Shiny coats. No bad bathread. No real "doggy" smell coming from them whether wet or dry. Coated dogs maintain coat, smooth coated dogs are coated and shiny. Even the fussiest eat it. And best of all it is great for putting on weight. Too good in fact, at least one of mine only gets a "sniff" of it or she looks like a whale. Chocolate. I have spoken to the manufacturer personally and am more than satisfied with the replies I received. The manufacturer is a highly trusted Australian human and stock food producer, Laucke Mills in South Australia. They saw a need for an Australian made budget-priced dog food and decided to fill that niche. And in my opinion anyway, have done it successfully. Oh and FWIW, Great Barko and Uncle Albers are almost identical except that Uncle Albers is Chicken based and one of them has a slightly higher protein content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 $28 for 22kgs that's $1.27 per kg. Take off the cost of manufacture, packaging, transportation, profit etc and it tells me the ingredients have to be very poor quality cheap stuff that goes into making it. Can it possibly be good for any dog well I suppose some people must think if they're buying it! Agree 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I didn't find Unlce Albers oily at all, although the shiny slippery feel of it first made me think it might be. I kept some in my pocket for training treats, expecting there to be an oily patch on my pants from my body heat drawing the oil out of the kibble, but there wasn't. On further inspection, it's not oily at all, it's just the way the pieces have been compacted so they are very hard and smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 $28 for 22kgs that's $1.27 per kg. Take off the cost of manufacture, packaging, transportation, profit etc and it tells me the ingredients have to be very poor quality cheap stuff that goes into making it. Can it possibly be good for any dog well I suppose some people must think if they're buying it! Agree 100% Rubbish! Laucke Mills are sending out well over 1000 pallets of the stuff every week. They are making their money on the demand of a good product. I have been breeding and exhibiting dogs for 23 years now and I can honestly say that Great Barko/Uncle Albers are amongst the best of the "budget" priced complete foods available for dogs today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy21 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Our girl looks great on it too. She is a great weight and her coat is soft and shiny. She is happy to eat it, her poop is not sloppy or too much. We tend to switch back and forth between the Great Barko and the Uncle Alber's just for a change. Willow is doing better on GB than she was on Advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 My dogs did really well on it, to the point that I'd highly recommend it to anyone.....on a budget or not. My son was looking for a cheap, easy to source dog food to feed his kelpie-x pound puppy, as the Pedigree stuff he was feeding her exploded out the back end in a big, smelly way. He bought a bag of Uncle Albers and was amazed at the difference....not only in the dogs output (much less and much tidier to clean up) but in the dogs gereral well-being. In fact I thought it was such great value for such a good quality food, that it made me stop and wonder who's making the biggest profits from the super premium kibble! And who pays for all those gift with purchases etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 $28 for 22kgs that's $1.27 per kg. Take off the cost of manufacture, packaging, transportation, profit etc and it tells me the ingredients have to be very poor quality cheap stuff that goes into making it. Can it possibly be good for any dog well I suppose some people must think if they're buying it! Agree 100% Rubbish! Laucke Mills are sending out well over 1000 pallets of the stuff every week. They are making their money on the demand of a good product. I have been breeding and exhibiting dogs for 23 years now and I can honestly say that Great Barko/Uncle Albers are amongst the best of the "budget" priced complete foods available for dogs today. I agree, I have just slowly switched my lot over to Uncle Abners. At $40 a bag for 22Kg I think it's a good buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I used to feed my GSD's Royal Canin, ProPlan etc etc - for the price i have found my boys do as well on Uncle Albers as they did on any of the others - and i feed less of it to keep my boys in condition. They have great coats - and after steering away from it for a while i am using it to get one of my dogs BACK INTO a good condition after he lost a lot of weight. I have access to a lot of other foods on a weekly basis at work....but i still go out of my way, to another store, to buy Uncle Albers and at $29 for 22kgs it's great value, Aussie made and my dogs do wonderfully on it - i just wish they did a cat food to try my kitties on as they love to try and steal the kibble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ish Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 My GSDs are doing better on Great Barko than they have on any other food, including super premiums. No problems with yuck poo and I soak it prior to feeding and have never found it 'setting like concrete.' I did find it too rich for one of my greyhounds though, and have to watch my older, less active dogs as they put weight on very easily with the Great Barko - fantastic for high energy breeds like GSDs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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