What do you feed your dog?

krlyr

I used to have a massive (4-5' ish) chest freezer for my two, which lived out in the summerhouse, but that did store several month's worth. Since moving, we had less space - but a single fridge freezer definately wasn't enough (for our food, let alone the dogs'!) so we bought a new chest freezer. We were debating a slimline one to go in a gab between the washing machine and chimney breast, but the space was pretty tight and we decided to go for a bigger one to have some overflow for our own food, it's about 3' x 2' ish I'd guess. It means we had to stick it in an awkward place and have to use a dining table that folds down to make up for the space it takes up, but I'm certainly glad we did as we've now switched uses - the dog food goes in the upright with the chest freezer for overflow, which we manage to fill with our own food most months!

Mine weigh about 75kg combined and eat about 2% of their body weight - it's on the low side as they don't get masses and masses of off-lead time (not many secure areas here), they're slightly older dogs now (both 7) and Kiki has a thyroid condition which makes her a bit more prone to putting on weight anyway. So it's about 45-50kg of meat a month they get through - or about 100lb.

A standard freezer is about 3-4 cubic feet of space. A general guide is about 35-40lb of meat per cubic feet. So going with 3.5 cubic feet and 35lb, that would be 122.5lb of meat in a standard freezer.

So a standard upright freezer should, in theory, fit my month's worth. It doesn't quite work that way - things like chicken carcasses, meaty bones and so on aren't perfect blocks so these tend to go in the chest freezer until I'm halfway through the month and can transfer them over (except for the really big bones that won't fit in a drawer!). But it's mostly doable in the smaller freezer. However, what's been a really big help is discovering the DAF stockist nearby has a weekly delivery round (free, too, which is a bonus) so I tend to do a big order from one supplier (TDFC - only comes every 4 weeks, charges £8 delivery, but meat prices are generally cheaper and he does a better range) to the capacity of my freezer space (not always a month's worth, depends how full the chest freezer is with our food) and then top up with the odd delivery from the DAF supplier. Also, TDFC does bones far, far cheaper so I order 2-3 months worth of carcasses if I can store them, and then just use DAF until I run out of bones and need a new TDFC order. In theory, I could just get it all from the DAF supplier and only order a week's worth at a time - so only 10kg/under 25lb a week, which would be easy to find space for in a drawer or two of a freezer, it would just work out a bit pricier.

Could be worth looking into it if you could do something like that? In regads to the OH, bear in mind there are lots of minces and blocks of meats that don't look quite as gory as giant bones and whole rabbits and things. Mine get minces as the base - I freeze these in Kongs which they'll eat before it defrosts, so very minimal mess (they've learnt to eat them on their beds so it's just a case of washing the bedding frequently - some teach their dog to use a towel which they'll wash straight after feeding). One supplier does large chunks of beef or tripe, just solid cubes, so I feed those frozen and they're pretty clean to eat too. Sometimes I'll feed in a bowl, and it's scarfed down within 20 seconds, or sometimes I'll use a Green slow feeder (tend to put this outside or in the kitchen where I can clean the floor afterwards incase of any spillage). And then bones and things tend to be an outdoor meal - though if the weather is too foul, I put a big throw down on the floor which can then be thrown in the wash straight after.

I used to be really squeamish about meat - I wouldn't even handle things like bacon to cook for myself, I'd use tongs to remove it from the pack! However, now I'll happily (well, it's not pure joy, but I don't mind it!) hand-stuff their Kongs with pieces of liver, tripe mince and so on.

Paradigm

krlyr wrote: »

Could be worth looking into it if you could do something like that? In regads to the OH, bear in mind there are lots of minces and blocks of meats that don't look quite as gory as giant bones and whole rabbits and things.

I used to be really squeamish about meat - I wouldn't even handle things like bacon to cook for myself, I'd use tongs to remove it from the pack! However, now I'll happily (well, it's not pure joy, but I don't mind it!) hand-stuff their Kongs with pieces of liver, tripe mince and so on.

Thanks for that. I'll have to have another look at it, I would definately have to get another freezer which is an additional cost but could well be worth it if I can source the food at the right price.

My oh is a lifelong veggie & still is squeamish, she won't touch raw meat at all & as she feeds them in the morning a raw diet would be a bit of a challenge Some latex gloves may be in order

krlyr

What I do for OH is put two Kongs into a carrier bag in the freezer. He then just needs to tip the carrier bag upside down, the dogs grab a Kong each and they're sorted. No need to touch any meat, and inside Kongs it doesn't really look much different to wet dog food.

Rev

Paradigm wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'll have to have another look at it, I would definately have to get another freezer which is an additional cost but could well be worth it if I can source the food at the right price.

My oh is a lifelong veggie & still is squeamish, she won't touch raw meat at all & as she feeds them in the morning a raw diet would be a bit of a challenge Some latex gloves may be in order

I'm veggie. Good pair of gloves and off you go. I feed premade minces from manifold valley meats and add a bit of liver a few times a week. So there's no cutting a chopping of meat and give bones a few times a week depending on what minces they've had. Not that is bothered me much these days. Used to when I first started raw but not now. But with the minces. You open a bag. Tip it out and you're done.

rising_from_the_ashes

Paradigm wrote: »

You could also look at http://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/#/salmon-vegetable/4567346779 slightly more expensive but it contains more salmon & less potato % wise than the other two. They also sell sample packs

I would love to feed her this - it is at the very top end of our budget but if she could eat it, I'd have it in a second

I did get a sample pack a while ago & it unfortunately went straight through :eek: have been tempted to try again (maybe I need to do a very long slow introduction) but .....

Now having a bit of a (almost) panic as I'm wondering if it is actually the Potato causing her problems - apparently it can be an allergen too

She was fine on Salmon & Rice - I just really struggled to control her weight on this as she either put on or, if I cut it down, was absolutely starving & scavenged everything in sight

She's not scavenging on the Fish & Potato & has lost 4kg but is itchy *sigh*

I've just ordered a small bag of Purizon Fish to try - it does have a bit of potato in but less than some of the others. I get 5% off at Zoo+ plus 4% cashback which helps reduce the cost down a fair bit so keep your fingers crossed it agrees with her!

harveybobbles

I feed my 4 on Symply. It's wheat free, gluten free.

Tried Royal Canin, but its mass produced,so no two bags are the same.

James Wellbeloved is good. But sometimes my older male can be itchy on it.

Arden Grange is good, but find it quite dusty.

Always end up going back to Symply.


Not bothered about prices as I get it from wholesale place where pet shops go!

lisawood78

Raw fed b*tches, 2 of them.
Weigh over 100kg between them.
Approx £100 per month on food for them.

They're happy,I'm happy and it is all stored in a large chest freezer in the garage, delivered once a month.

redrufus

2 Border Collies age 12 are fed James Wellbeloved senior and 10 year old staffy cross is fed Burns weight control so that people know i'm walking a dog and not a pot bellied pig!! :-)

ash28

We feed ours Autarky Summer Adult Dog Food......15kgs - £13 from Costco or £17 from our local petfood supplier. She has about 75gm raw mince mixed with it. And sometimes she has scraps mixed through it.

A bag lasts us around 2 to 3 months - so about £6 a month, plus £6 a month for mince.

It's a working dog food (but suitable for all active dogs) and is vat free. And wheat gluten and GM free.

Found it after trying her on loads of different dog foods - most of them went straight through her.

aileth

Pup has just joined a doggy creche and been given a free sample of Natural Instinct. Looks very promising and think we'll continue him on it! With his size, it costs us about £7 a week, which is fantastic.