Feeding a dog good nutritious food - but with minimal packaging?

[fastliving]

I've been on allaboutdogfood as I feel I could be feeding my young 8kg dog better quality food (at the moment she gets 50% dry 50% wet).
The dry food is easy to get good quality and with little packaging (I buy a massive bag which I can store, and she just eats her way through it).

I am struggling with finding a good quality wet food which doesn't have loads of packaging. In an ideal work I would like to find something (I guess frozen - which I know isn't ideal environmentally as you obviously use energy to store it) in large bags which I can just de-frost the daily amounts as needed.

Anyone know of a good (not crazy expensive - she's a young hardy mixed breed with no health issues) wet dog food which has minimal packaging?

[Thedeadwood]

Try Pooch and Mutt. They’ve recently moved to Tetra Pak to be far more environmentally friendly:
www.poochandmutt.co.uk/products/grain-free-wet-food?variant=12969881698392

If you go down the raw food path, nature’s menu has great raw food pellets, allowing you to defrost what you need as you go.
www.naturesmenu.co.uk/

[DogInATent]

Focus on how recyclable the packaging is, not the weight of it. Steel cans in a cardboard case are fully and easily recyclable. And they can be recycled into the same value of product.

Tetrapak can be recycled, but not easily and the polyethylene content can only be downgraded in terms of use. It's not "environmentally friendly".

[fastliving]

I agree doginatent I hate dealing with cans - the constant decanting and washing! (I know, lazy!)

[Heismyopendoor]

I make my own. Works out well and much less packaging.

[Yamihere]

If ddog is getting quality dry you can top it up with meat, offal from butcher and fruit/veg like sweet potato, carrot, peas.
Can be cooked or raw meat, whatever is best for your dog. Better for environment and dogs health.

[Thedeadwood]

Well Pooch and Mutt claim there’s is 100% recyclable, which is why I suggested it.
Stats compared to normal tins include:

Fully recyclable

80% lower global warming potential Vs a can

Lower packaging weight (more efficient for both retailers and customers to transport)

Lower energy consumption and CO2 emissions Vs a can

Reduced number of lorries on the road, and associated emissions

31-44% less shelf space taken up both in store and in the home

Made from sustainably-sourced, renewable material

www.poochandmutt.co.uk/pages/tetrapak-food-for-dogs

[Scattyhattie]

Tetrapak is a pain to get recycled locally as council won't take it & found quite a few didn't while I was hunting for a recycling point, luckily can go in my dads recycling so I save it up for his visits rather than bin.

My friend fully home cooks for her dog due to kidney issues, does a big batch then freezes so you could do that & with small dog also on dry wouldn't need to do it often. I agree with others you'd get better quality ingredients, variation & less waste by supplementing with meat/veg from own shop.

[DogInATent]

Heading off at a tangent, the problem with Tetrapaks is how many are recycled. Steel and card are easily sorted, widely collected and easy to get into the recycling chain. Tetrapak needs specialist facilities, is difficult to sort/separate, and has multiple laminated layers of aluminium, plastic and cardboard that must be separated before they can be recycled.

What's theoretical with recycling and what's achievable are very different things. This is common with a lot of environmental issues (don't get me started on tree planting, promoted because it'e easy to count).

[adaline]

We can't recycle Tetrapak here - it has to go in the normal bin unless you're willing to cart it to a specialist facility 25 miles away.

We use food that comes in tins, packaged in cardboard. All fully recyclable and easy to deal with. Nice and straightfoward and the tins are only the size of tuna tins so easy to wash out.

[Lara53]

Edguard and Cooper

[Flibbertyjibbit]

We use lily's kitchen tins which come in cardboard outer box. Both fully recyclable at the kerb, other than rinsing out the tin it's no faff. And ddog loves it!

[Mominatrix]

I make my own - no additional packaging. The dog's meals are taken from offcuts of our meals based on the raw diet. I just count her as an additional portion when buying fish/meat and buy additional chicken things for her. The butcher gives free offcuts for her which also helps with stocking the freezer for her.

[MikeUniformMike]

Tripe and offal from the Butcher's.

[JonestheRemail]

I feed a mix of a high quality dried food plus stuff I make myself out of rice, potatoes, meat or fish (whatever I can get cheaply) plus veg of various kinds and the occasional fish oil capsule. It works out much cheaper than pre-made food and I tend to cook a batch every 2-3 days when I am cooking supper (ie I cook extra for the dogs) and keep it in the fridge in-between.

It helps that we are fairly plain eaters ourselves so most of the time I am not cooking anything different for the dogs although they get the cheapest cuts of meat and fish..

My dogs stomachs are much happier on this than on pre-made wet food.

I also throw in the odd raw carrot, which they love, and an occasional raw apple or pear (no seeds). The huge hit, much to my surprise is melon. They go mad for it, even my very fussy old girl, so as a treat they sometimes get 2-3 cubes. They would happily eat more, but I think more would result in upset stomachs.

[fastliving]

I haven't got time or the schedule to cook from scratch for my dog - I barely have time to go that for myself!

I've found this, which scores highly on allaboutdogfood and also comes in 'chubs' which although the plastic is not recyclable, will be minimal?


https://www.nutriment.co.uk/raw-dog-food/adult/turkey-formula-raw-adult-dog-food-with-superfoods/?attributepaasize-click-to-select=500g-tub&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIotj--snR5gIVirHtCh08xAM1EAQYCyABEgJwDPDBwE

[fastliving]

My old dog loved raw carrots, would go nuts for them.
New dog will not eat any fruit or veg in its natural state, she's actually not particularly interested in food - I always have to tell her to eat her breakfast/supper, otherwise she just would forget! And the cat would eat the lot