22 April 2013

Thank you to everyone who completed our dog survey in March.  We have taken a look at the responses and compared them to what you told us last year.  A lot of what you are telling us is similar but there are some differences and we think that at least some of these can be attributed to the fact that most of us have less money in our pockets. 

Firstly, from the responses we received, it appears that there are fewer multiple dog households than last year, and this is most noticeable when looking at 2 dog families.  Last year responses showed that 35% of you owned 2 dogs and this year it has dropped to 25%.

Secondly whilst the number of people feeding a dry dog food for at least part of their dog’s nutrition remains the same as last year, the number of people feeding a dry food as part of their daily feeding routine, has risen from 88% last year to 92% this year.  Also more people than last year are regularly adding extras to their dog’s complete dry food, such as household leftovers and tinned food.

It is important to remember that Wagg is a complete dog food which means you do not need to add any extras to it.  If you are adding extra food items, this can alter your dog’s ideal nutritional intake and can also increase the number of calories.  If you do regularly add extras, you must be careful not to overfeed your dog and we suggest you cut back on the amount of dry food that you are feeding.
  

A new question introduced this year asked how people perceived their dog’s weight.  Most of you answering the survey felt that your dog was at an ideal weight.

Whilst we are not in a position to say whether individuals are correct or not, we thought that we would share some other research with you:

The PDSA found that whilst 84% of owners believed that their pets are the correct or ideal weight, in reality one third of dogs were actually overweight.  Their figures are based on people attending their surgeries.

We think that this is a worrying figure, as overweight dogs are more susceptible to conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and heart problems.

Whilst it is relatively easy for most people to tell from these silhouettes which dog is the ideal weight, it can be a little more tricky in real life, and, the weight  of our pets can creep upwards if we are not careful.  See the body score chart on our website for more information about the ideal weight for your dog and maybe discuss in more detail with your vet on your next visit.

When choosing a dog food, good nutrition and ingredients remain an important factor to almost everyone.   98.4% of you say that this is either very or fairly important to you.  Since last year’s survey, cost appears to have become a bigger consideration, with nearly 4% more people than last year reporting that the cost of their dog food is very important.  We understand that people need to balance their finances whilst still providing good nutrition for their pets.   

At Wagg we care about your pet and work hard to ensure we achieve a balanced level of nutrition in all our pet diets.   Our goal has always been to produce the highest quality pet foods using the finest ingredients, at the best possible price. Our price checker can show you just how much you can save each year, by switching to Wagg.

We asked everyone currently using Wagg about the health and wellbeing of their dogs.  As you can see we are really happy to report the results!

22nd January 2013

Thank you so much to everyone that took the time to complete our Small Animal Pet Survey. We are still looking through the fine details of what you told us but thought we would share some interesting findings.

We had responses from people that have used our Wagg or Harringtons diets before for their pets and from those that currently use other brands. We intend our small animal survey to become a regular feature as this will help us keep up to date with what our customers want and ensure we cater for your pets dietary needs.

Pet Ownership
We know that people in the UK love their pets; as we get many emails, comments and pictures each week telling us so!

Our survey revealed that most people own more than one small pet with Rabbits topping our pet chart for popularity.

Many of you care for two or more of the same pet whilst also having other small pets in the family. 60% of you are also dog owners and 36% of you live with at least one cat.


Nutrition
Making sure that your pets are getting the best nutrition is obviously important to you as 98% said this was a very or fairly important consideration when choosing pet food. Palatability, variety and fibre content also feature as important considerations. For 77% of pet owners the cost of your pets food also needs to be taken into account, which is not surprising in the current economic climate.

Feeding
It was interesting to hear from you what you feed your pets. It appears that when choosing a commercial food, you know what your pets prefer and you feed them this on a daily basis. This actually represents an equal split between those of you choosing a muesli food and those choosing a pellet food.

We were very pleased to see that the majority of Rabbit and Guinea Pigs are fed fresh hay each day as we know how important this extra fibre is for their digestive systems. Our survey also revealed that most Rabbits and Guinea Pigs are fed a variety of extras each day including greens, fruit and vegetables.

Many of you also provide your pet Hamsters, Gerbils and Mice with extras but this is less likely to be every day.

Wagg Comment: It is important to introduce new foods to your pet gradually over several days as a change in diet can result in digestive upsets. Remember fresh vegetables are great for your pet in small quantities but be careful what you feed, too much can result in diarrhoea. Fresh fruit should be fed as a treat forming part of a balanced diet; its higher sugar content can lead to weight gain and impact on dental health.

It is very important that you don’t overfeed your pet.

Wagg Small Animal treats
As a thank you for taking part in this survey you had the option of choosing a free packet of our small animal treats. The most requested treats were our Wagg Apple Bakes but we don’t know what gave them the “edge” over the others. We would really love to know how much your pets enjoyed trying our Wagg small animal treats so please get in touch and let us know. Maybe you could include a picture. We are on facebook and twitter. Or email us so that we can share your feedback with our other customers.

31st December 2012

We have taken the decision to close our shop as there are now many online retailers offering a good quality delivery service.  We are therefore confident that you will be able to continue to buy our full pet food range and all our treats for home delivery, at a very competitive rate.

 

11th December 2012

Wagg is pleased to announce the launch of Wagg'mmms the tasty crunchy biscuit treat. Available in three lip smacking flavours; Salmon, Liver and Chicken.

The delicious bone shaped biscuits are a handy size to take out and about whilst walking and can be fed as a treat or reward.

November 2012
Congratulations to Sarah-Jane from Honiton who wins an Apple iPod Touch 8GB in our latest competition.   10 lucky runners up won some delicious Wagg dog treats to keep their pets happy!

26th Sepember 2012
Our new look website is launched!  It has taken us a while to design and get ready, but we think it is now even easier to find out about us and our food.  We would love to know what you think.

23rd August 2012
Wagg has branched into Cat food
Wagg has launched a new Complete Cat food with Chicken and Veg. Wagg Cat is formulated to fulfill the requirements of a cats specialised digestive system and contains many key ingredients to help keep your cat in top condition.   It is available in 500g boxes. 

Watch out for more exciting varieties!  If you have a special current favourite flavour, why not let us know?  It might be the next one on our agenda..........

Congratulations to Tracey from Walsall who is the winner of our latest competition.

She wins an 8gb ipod touch for answering the quesions correctly and 10 runners up received a free box of treats.

Thank you to everyone that completed our dog survey in March. We have taken a look at all the responses and are now able to share the results with you. We had responses from people who have used Wagg before and those that have not tried our food for their dogs. We intend to carry out an equivalent survey annually and your comments (good or difficult) will help us keep our business focused on your pet needs.

First, we know that people in the UK love their pets and particularly their dogs, but what we found surprising was that most people responding to the survey own more than one dog, with 11% owning four or more dogs! That’s a lot of dogs to feed. A huge 97% of people told us they use a dry complete dog food for at least some of their dogs’ nutrition. 

Most people said that they use a dry food daily but also add other items, such as tinned food, fresh meat or leftovers more than once a week.

Wagg’s comment: Remember – when adding food “supplements” not to overfeed your dog; if necessary, adjust down the dry content. 

Just 21% of people said that they only ever use dry complete food for their dogs, although some of them do use treats as a reward.

Making sure that their dogs are getting good nutrition is obviously important to most people with 92% saying this was very or fairly important to them when choosing food.

Wagg’s comment: We agree. Good nutrition is the key to owning a healthy and happy pet.

With a tightening of many people’s purse strings, 39% of people stated that cost was a very important factor when choosing a suitable food. People who do not need to follow a tight budget still take the cost of their dog food into consideration with 79% saying that cost was very or fairly important to them.

Wagg’s comment: If you have not visited our price check on the website, please do. The results are startling – feeding Wagg can save you £100’s each year in food bills.

We understand that every food does not suit every dog so we asked how many people who had tried Wagg were still feeding it to their dogs. 71% said that they continued to feed Wagg and told us about their dogs’ health.

 

Finally we had some great comments from our customers and here are a few of them: