Shooting UK: Questions for the start of the season

Firstly with the start of the shooting season i normally change my dogs food over from eukanuba maintenance to eukanuba performance. Each month it costs me the best part of £80 to feed my dogs, however ive noticed the increasing number of ads for working dog food such as sneyd's wonderdog etc. Looking at there make up they basically contain less protein and oil etc. Is it basically a case of you get what you pay for or could i start to feed an alternative and supplement it, or are the percentage differences negligible after a certain point. Can anybody recommend an alternative feed.

Secondly for the general scratches n cuts that dogs incur whilst on a days shoot ive been using hibiscrub to bath them in when I get home, however after a conversation with my vet he said its probably a bit harsh, what do other people use. From experience I know that the day after all redness and irritation surrounding any wounds are gone using hibiscrub.

Thirdly at the start of the season nettles still usually have quite a bit of bite in them, whats a good soothing agent for this. Can anybody recommend anything other than bicarb or watered down white vinegar ?