Feeding dogs on a budget?

[megapixie]

I have a 14 week old puppy and a 4 year old dog who has a skin condition. He currently has BETA dry food for sensitive skin and tummies mixed in with organic wet food. Pup has same brand wet food but for pup, and is still on Bakers puppy (she was on that with the people who bred her and seems to enjoy it). However, I'm trying to budget up and am wondering if it'd be okay to feed them both:

Cool boiled rice with peas, carrot and a bit of meat or fish. They both loooove rice and fish/meat. Peas and carrot are veg that I make very regularly so could just make up an extra bit for them without buying too much extra.

Would this be enough nutrition for them, considering pup is so young and 4yos very bad skin condition? (His food does help it, and especially helps his fur grow better after he's plucked himself to look like a chicken leg, he also has a tablet from the vet every morning and regular baths with sensitive shampoo as we noticed it worsened when he got dirty)

[Scuttlebutter]

I wouldn't want to comment on the specific needs of a puppy - there'll be lots of experts here who are much better placed to advise.

For the 4 yr old, rice is an excellent part of a raw diet, but I'd be concerned that there's too much rice and veggies and not enough meat and fish. Have a look at some of the BARF threads which discuss raw type feeding in much more detail. Depending on where/how you source your meat, this can be a very affordable way feeding, especially as you are rightly avoiding kibble and your dog has sensitive skin. I'd be making sure your dog has plenty of oily fish (sardines are great), eggs, cold pressed oils mixed in with food, plus a good mix of things like chicken carcases (raw), raw chicken wings (ours love these), tripe and so on. There are a number o companies that do big packs in frozen form for home delivery. If you have access to a cash and carry, meat wholesaler or good butcher it's also worth chatting to them about what's available.

You can also do what I'd call raw-lite where you can buy premixed, or preminced chunks or sausages, or say raw mince. Pets at Home do a good range of these, and ours like these mixed with say your cooked rice or leftover cooked pasta,say. This is handy when you are assessing what your dog likes/what suits his skin condition, and then you can order larger quantites when you know what you want. Many people also like Nature Diet.

We're not purists in that ours also have Bonios and sausages as treats and enjoy things like pigs ears - it really does depend on your preferences.