Pet food.....

Hawthorn

.....for an English bull terrier.

Due to financial circumstances, we had to cut down on our outgoings, and have been feeding her for a few weeks on ASDAs Hero cans, and smart price mixer. Now, this was just an interim measure.
We used to BARF feed her, but our source for cheap carcasses etc dried up, and this is no longer an option.
She's 15months old, regularly wormed, and active.
She's a good weight....but she's always hungry it seems. And, she poops an awful lot compared to what she did when she was BARF fed.
We tried her on complete....she hated it, hence the wet diet. She will at least eat that.
My budget for feeding her is £8 a week, maximum.
Can anyone recommend a good wet food, as I don't want to waste any more cash on complete for her to just not eat it? Or, any ways around this problem? (we tried adding water to it to moisten it, and she did eat it, but didn't really enjoy it - it was begrudgingly)
She does enjoy the Hero stuff (positively droools) but I'm aware that it may not be the best nutritionally, and there is SUCH a wide variety out there that I'm kind of stumped.
I have noticed since changing to this diet though, that her coat, which used to be wonderfully shiny, is getting a little duller than it was.
I'm sure she wishes she could go back to getting steak once a week LOL, but it's not happening sadly.
So, to sum up - she's a full grown bull terrier, but quite petite - not much over the miniature standard, I don't think. All muscle, active, with the appetite of a wild boar
Also, I would like to avoid anything that has colourings in it (last thing I need is her hyping up.....she's bad enough already :rotfl: )

Thanks!

edited to add - at 15 months old, should she be fed once, or twice a day. I've got different people telling me different things, and I'm a little confused.

rita-rabbit

If you change food too often this makes them more fussy. Alot of pet manufacturers do free samples.

Sorry but premium dry food is far superior to any wet on the market. Think/try again - try Burns for starters & generally check out this site.

JordanShannon

I think its the hero cans as i've been getting them for a little while now and my Tiny yorkshire terrier (you can fit her in a pint glass)of 5 and a half months is very pooey and well its not normal, we used to feed her royal canin with chicken chunks but she doesn't get that as often now, I really don't know what to do as she too loves the hero tins.
..xx

moggylover

How about trying somewhere in-between. My own dogs did very well on plain Winalot (which provides bone-meal) plus cooked vegetables from our own table and a little meat by way of raw pet mince from the butchers. They also enjoyed rice and eggs (preferably raw) which are not particularly expensive.

The tins of Hero could be made to last longer by mixing with the Winalot and perhaps only given two or three times a week as a "treat". In addition, meats in jelly are usually less likely to make a dog (or cat) suffer loose motions than those in gravy.

Dobiesmon

Hi
I have three dobes and feed raw food I get mine from http://www.landywoods.co.uk/
it works out between £4 to £5 a week for each dog , nearer you is Lea at http://www.daf-petfood.co.uk/wb/ but if I feed dry I get the dog food from costco

Sagz_2

I've always found the premium complete dry foods to be the best, new dogs get fed the same as the rest but with a tablespoon of tin mixed in until they get used to the dry food.

pboae

The cheap foods will contain a lot more filler, and will therefore result in more poo. If she did well on BARF, you'd be better off looking for another supplier. If you really want to persevere with it, try Chappie, it's probably the best of the cheap wet foods, and their mixer/complete is relatively OK as well.

suki1964

Hawthorn wrote: »

.....for an English bull terrier.

Due to financial circumstances, we had to cut down on our outgoings, and have been feeding her for a few weeks on ASDAs Hero cans, and smart price mixer. Now, this was just an interim measure.
We used to BARF feed her, but our source for cheap carcasses etc dried up, and this is no longer an option.
She's 15months old, regularly wormed, and active.
She's a good weight....but she's always hungry it seems. And, she poops an awful lot compared to what she did when she was BARF fed.
We tried her on complete....she hated it, hence the wet diet. She will at least eat that.
My budget for feeding her is £8 a week, maximum.
Can anyone recommend a good wet food, as I don't want to waste any more cash on complete for her to just not eat it? Or, any ways around this problem? (we tried adding water to it to moisten it, and she did eat it, but didn't really enjoy it - it was begrudgingly)
She does enjoy the Hero stuff (positively droools) but I'm aware that it may not be the best nutritionally, and there is SUCH a wide variety out there that I'm kind of stumped.
I have noticed since changing to this diet though, that her coat, which used to be wonderfully shiny, is getting a little duller than it was.
I'm sure she wishes she could go back to getting steak once a week LOL, but it's not happening sadly.
So, to sum up - she's a full grown bull terrier, but quite petite - not much over the miniature standard, I don't think. All muscle, active, with the appetite of a wild boar
Also, I would like to avoid anything that has colourings in it (last thing I need is her hyping up.....she's bad enough already :rotfl: )

Thanks!

edited to add - at 15 months old, should she be fed once, or twice a day. I've got different people telling me different things, and I'm a little confused.

Ok Im no expert on BARF but £8 a week sounds like enough for two or three dogs tbh. From what I know its 100gr of raw meat for every 10kg of dog so a selection of offals, and carcases from the butchers wouldnt be much, veggies from the markets even cheaper and eggs, grains etc - well surely it will only be pennies a week. Sirloin steak is really going over board with the raw - I dont even feed hubby that

I personally feed my lad twice a day (complete) Now a lot of raw feeders only feed 6 days out of 7, sone feed twice a day - some three times- its all personal preference - your lifestyle and how interested in food your dog is - mines a gannat so thats why i feed twice a day

tankgirl1

James Well Beloved is very good, and assuming your pooch is about 25kg ish, she'd need about 350g per day, which would work out at around £1 a day:

http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog_food/feeding_guidelines.aspx
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/category.asp?dept_id=679

As for feeding dry, you just have to stick with it! They will and do eventually get used to it, and my old lady (see avvy) went from being a Chum addict at aged 2, to lurrrving her dry food! She hated it at first tho, but I do feel its much better for them.

Hawthorn

That's brilliant, thanks for all the info folks.

I'm going to have a hunt around to put her back on BARF feeding, if I possibly can. She was happiest with this. Failing that, I'll try the complete again, see how we do
The problem I have with the feeding - if I feed her recommended amounts, she drops weight. I have to overfeed her to keep the weight on, and ideally I would like a little more on her for cold winter walks (though this is proving difficult) She burns energy at such a rate!
I've put her on to two meals as of today, and we'll see how she does with that.

edit - lol Suki.....she never got sirloin. We used to buy in bulk from the butchers, and it would be braising steak, unless there was a particularly good bargain in the supermarket. Heart, she adores, and these are quite often in the whoopsie section. Liver? She turns her nose up at and walks away. She's a prima donna!

Milford_Cubicle

If you can't get her back onto BARF, then try Field & Trial (made by Skinner's) Duck & Rice or Lamb & Rice (http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/products/field-and-trial/field-and-trial-duck-and-rice.html) which is VAT free and a relatively inexpensive 'good' dry food. It's around £20 for 15kg, depending where you get it from, some places will sell it for £17. If you mix a little wet dog food with each meal (I buy the natures:menu http://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/ pouches which are just over £5 for 8 pouches, but my pup gets a 1/4 of a pouch per day mixed with her dried food) then it'll make it more appetising for her.