What do you feed your dogs?

[sian1971]

I'm exploring different food options for my 6-month lab. She's bored with her Arden Grange kibble.

I've looked at a couple of raw food sites and a raw food diet sounds good but it seems very expensive to buy the complete meals. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who feeds their dogs raw, where they buy from, how much it costs, etc.

What good quality wet food is there? I've thought about mixing her kibble with wet food but then I'm keen to keep her a healthy weight and it might be difficult to know how much of each is a sensible amount.

Any advice gratefully appreciated!

[abitoflight]

I have a v small dog and use a local raw food company
It works out costing less than wet food at £8 a month (11 pouches for £8)
Maybe worth looking at different raw food suppliers as some I've had from pet stores is £1.50 for 2 days

[MissShapesMissStakes]

I use Millies Wolfheart - they have two kinds of kibble, one slightly softer than the other, and wet too.

At the moment my dog is having a fussy moment with food and so I'm mixing wet and kibble. He has some allergies (not sure what) and this suits his tummy.

Their customer service is great and they advised me on the best options as they have a few flavours. They have the same flavours in kibble and wet so it's easy to change things around. They also suggest alternating flavours so dogs don't get too sensitive.

[BadDucks]

Also use Millie’s Wolfheart which I mix with one pouch of wet food each meal. One small pouch is enough to liven it up a bit but not so much that i worry about Weight gain

[habibihabibi]

Grain free light kibble mixed with homemade cooked chicken liver puree. Two spoons liver + 1 cup of kibble ×2 day. Making the puree is boak [

[BiteyShark]

For wet food I have used in the past Millies Wolfheart and forthglade.

However, he loves carnilove and aatu and doesn't seem to get bored of those so we typically stick with them. I change flavours each day so he never has the same flavour more than once a week (less likely to get bored).

[Floralnomad]

Our dog is very picky and we’ve done it all over the years kibble - he got bored , raw - he will only eat chicken , raw nuggets - they stink and he refused to even touch them , home cooking ( mainly turkey mince and liver ) was great but a pain to keep doing it . So now he’s on wet and dry mix which is Millie’s wolfheart ranger kibble and Applaws pouches and tins ( chicken in broth) , we tried lots of wet food and this is the only one he reliably eats all the time , probably because it’s expensive and doesn’t look or smell like dog food .

[vanillandhoney]

Lily's Kitchen.

We buy all the flavours and rotate them so he doesn't get bored. They do about 5-6 flavours of wet food so he rarely has the same flavour more than two days in a row (he gets half a tin a day plus biscuits, so one tin does two days).

For biscuits we use Harringtons because Lily's Kitchen worked out to be really expensive and he likes Harringtons just as much - plus they're available in our local supermarket whereas the Lily's biscuits aren't.

[sian1971]

Thanks everyone. I will check these suggestions out.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

//www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a fantastic comparison website

I mainly feed a combination of Wolf of Wilderness kibble, and Lukullus wet food. Both are German brands from Zooplus.co.uk

If I had unlimited money I'm sure he'd love to eat Butternut Box every day, but I'm on a bit of a budget and those two are a good balance of quality / price. DDog still eats better than I do

[GroupSects]

I have 2 large dogs and feed them raw, costs me approx £20 a week. Usually buy Natural Instinct but bought from Able last week as they had £20 off for new customers.
I also give them chicken wings, duck necks, chicken and duck carcasses etc.

[Pipandmum]

I've owned seven dogs in my life and never had a fussy one. Current dogs get Iams once a day. A chew treat mid day and the occasional table scrap.

[sian1971]

Thanks! Will check out that website @AvocadosBeforeMortgages

[MaryLennoxsScowl]

I think a lot of puppies go through a fussy phase around that age. Mine did, and everything online said to try raw food, but I knew a dog that ate raw and got a horrendous stomach bug and ended up with a hugely sensitive stomach - couldn’t eat anything remotely different to its boring kibble or it would be ill. Anyway, I was a bit scared to try raw food and then I found out from some other puppy owners that their raw-fed puppies went through the same phase too so I think it’s normal. My dog now had Millies Wolfheart kibble with a squirt of salmon oil on it and he goes mad for the salmon oil and would eat cardboard if it had salmon oil on.

[Pigletpoglet]

We feed Akela Suffolk Duck - dogs love it (and it's a 5* on the allaboutdogfood site)

[Takingabreakagain]

I raw feed my two dogs, small GSD and a lurcher, on Durham Animal Feeds completes (no time for DIY) and it costs me about £50 per three weeks. If you are anywhere near the Wirral I would recommend visiting the dog's diner in Moreton - they are really helpful when you are starting off. Otherwise you can get DAF and many other brands delivered to home.
There's a useful FB page called Raw Feeding UK where you can ask any questions and there's loads of files to work out how much to feed etc. www.facebook.com/groups/rawfeedinguk/?ref=share

[vagshapedbox]

We buy meat/bones/fish from a local company. We feed a variety of mince and bones.
We buy our own veg, mince this and add to the meat with Aniforte supplement. It works out about £40 p/m for each.

It's brilliant and we're really happy with raw and the dogs love it:

[Yesbutisittouching]

I have a giant breed. He is 70kg so unrealistic to purchase natural instinct etc as we’d be bankrupt 😂 I make up raw food from Lidl - mince, chicken Wings/thighs/drumsticks or whole chickens jointed etc. I add in veg and also raw eggs. He occasionally has fish too but no pork. Meat is always frozen first then defrosted to put any bacteria into stasis. Although he has a separate freezer the advantage of human grade meat is it can be stored in the normal fridge before he has it. He’s happy and not picky.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

The pricier end of Skinner's Field and Trial kibble, plus the odd can of fish or cheap wet dog food or raw mince, and table scraps and veg peelings.

[BlueSlice]

Raw; Naturaw. The price is comparable to wet and only having to pick up tiny, non smelly poos makes it worthwhile!

[tabulahrasa]

I’ve used Durham animal feeds before as well - I’d happily recommend them, but it cost me a lot more even with them than people are saying raw feeding costs on here...

Depends how big your dog is - I had a small rottie when I used them, so not a dissimilar size to a large lab (yours may or may not be large, but just as a comparison) and it’s £50 per 4 weeks... where a grain free dry food was about £30-£40 for the same time period.

[lobsteroll]

We use natural instinct too and have always got on well with it. We've a fairly small dog though so he has a sixth of a tub per meal

[welshdaisy]

Butternut Box for my pup. He won't eat anything else...

[vagshapedbox]

@BlueSlice

Raw; Naturaw. The price is comparable to wet and only having to pick up tiny, non smelly poos makes it worthwhile!

The change in poo when changing to raw is amazing! Our puppy's poo changed overnight.

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Raw for my 1yr mongrel - we use DAF through a local pet food supplier, costs me about £1/day/
Occasionally supplement with carrots, eggs, natural yoghurt, sardines, mackerel heads, bones etc.
And am also slowly using up the end of a sack of Skinners F&T which we'd bought before we transitioned to raw.
Having kibble on hand is also good for when kids want to feed hi.
He likes the raw, and is looking great on it, but doesn't wolf it down like he did with wet food like Butchers. But now on raw his poos are great, his breath is neutral and his farts that we called brown ghosts are non existent!
really surprised to hear about a fussy lab

[sian1971]

Thanks everyone. This is brilliant - so helpful.

Ha ha @Ihaventgottimeforthis - yes, it is a surprise. She eats absolutely everything usually.