Does anyone feed a puppy/dog on a budget?

[2plus2makes4]

We are getting a puppy soon (cockapoo) and so I have been doing some research - a lot actually in to different foods and what’s best nutritionally. I have joined the cockapoo owners club and I’m surprised to find that very few people (or those who will admit) feed their dog a lower priced ‘budget’ food. I guess I was naive regarding dog food as growing up all of our family dogs just had a massive cheap bag of wagg or the like, it seems like everyone feeds raw or (what I would consider) expensive foods. I completely understand different nutritional content and meat content etc and people have said to others on the group ‘why would you pay that much for a dog and feed it rubbish’ which I understand to a certain extent but my point is, aren’t dogs fed on a budget food such as Aldi, pets at home or others just as well as dogs fed on premium foods? Genuine question - does anyone get by just fine with it?

I have 3 small breed dogs between 6-8kg, I feed barking heads which isn't the cheapest nor is it the best but it's ok and my dogs do really well on it. It costs around £45 a bag but a big lasts me about 7 weeks feeding 3 dogs twice a day. It really doesn't work out expensive per meal. I tried feeding my dogs Carnilove which is around the same price but better with a higher meat quantity but it gave them bad wind and soft poos. I also think the RDA can be too high for some dogs. I feed less than the RDA with a couple of high quality natural treats a day like seatreats fish jerky and every time I go to the vets they always comment on how lovely it is to see my dog breed that's slim and not overweight.

I spend around £50 a month on mine, Natures Menu. It's the first food he's ever eaten with gusto so he's stayed on it. I've spent a fortune on cheaper foods I've thrown away!

the vet was quite happy when I said Wagg, sometimes i get Wagg, sometimes Tesco or Asda own, Even Aldi own
in life there are always people who spend more on anything.

To me it’s not a question of will the dog get by just fine on cheap food because I treat my dog the same as I treat the rest of my family and I don’t feed them inferior quality food , ready meals or take away every night which would be the human equivalent of Aldi / Asda dog food IMO . I feed Millie’s kibble and a mix of Natures menu pouches or Lily’s kitchen wet food , he likes it and it seems to suit him .

there you are op, see above. Different folks, different views.

You want to feed your puppy/dog on a budget, ask your vet, dont ask poncey mumsnetters with more money than sense you

I feed my three on a budget. It costs me £1 a day for 15kg of dogs ( 3 smalls) and I feed them RAW from my local butcher. it is 10% ground bone, 10% offal and the rest minced meat. they have mixed veg 1-2 a week with raw egg and coconut oil.

RAW is by far the best food that we have ever fed our dogs. Not only is it biologically appropriate but they also poo a lot less and it barely smells . It is grains and carbs that make dogs poo soft and sloppy and stink to high heaven. Carbs and grains also cause skin allergies. It is worth looking at your local butchers or try Natures menu. one square pack of their complete working diet should do a cocapoo a aday so would be around £1 a day for that , possibly as low as 60p a day from the butchers.

It’s not just a case of spending more though is it , infact cost has nothing to do with it it’s about ingredients and nutritional values .

My dog is absolutely fine, as are her poos and her digestion op.
they Sell these foods in the shops, so someone is buying them.

probably those dont admit to it 2plus2, owing to the criticism from others

my concern would be worrying about the costs before you even have the dog though I don’t recall saying in any of my posts that I am concerned about costs. I may have said some foods seemed expensive (to me) but that doesn’t mean I’m concerned, nor does it mean that I wokldnt buy it! I find it expensive when I need new glasses or a prescription but it’s just one of those things, they are needed so they are bought and the same will go for dog food regardless of what I buy.

ok in your household are you value foods person, or are you champagne life style

My previous dog was raw fed, it was vert cheap as I bought from an abattoir rather than from a shop but it cost me a lot in time. Current ddog is on Wainwrights which is a Pets at Home brand and worked out best for us when taking into consideration nutrition, cost, availability etc

Disgusted well I suppose somewhere in between! Definitely not champagne lifestyle, which btw champagne is rank in my opinion anyway but I would say we are regular shoppers, we buy some branded and some ‘value’ because some things I only like the branded version (such as red sauce - ketchup if posh) but other things I buy value because I know from experience they taste just as good if not better in some cases than the brands.

Some dog food is insanely priced and a complete rip off imo. A cheap bag of dry from the farm shop and the occasional tin of Butchers Tripe (boak)

Another vote for Skinner's maintenance, it's been brilliant and is half the price of a lot of other good quality foods.

We never feed rawhide or those sort of chewy bone treats as it gives them the runs.

@DisgustedofSouthend if I want nutrition advice the LAST person I'd be asking is a vet. The vast majority of them have comparatively little training in that area (and I don't expect them to as they treat so many different types of animals) - I would as a specialist canine nutritionist, and they will tell you Wagg is crap (and I say that as someone who used to feed Bakers and who educated myself)

but other things I buy value because I know from experience they taste just as good if not better in some cases than the brands

That works for the examples you gave as you are comparing like for like. The problem is dog foods contain a variety of different ingredients so whilst your dog might 'like' two different ones they could be a world apart on nutrition.

This is why you need to play around on that website to compare quality, ingredients and cost to narrow down some possibilities for your new puppy. Then you could order a small amount from that range and see how they get on with it.

We got a mini labradoodle in May. At the moment he is on puppy food so we kept up with the cheap wet food (as it's also easier to get) changed him to tins. He's on pedigree puppy £3.50 per tin and will get through one every two days. We didn't cheap out on the dry food (as you get much better quality for less compared to wet) we brought a massive bag of iams puppy food. For treats we got a free large bag of premium puppy food- he loves it and it saves us a fortune in puppy treats we just give him a few rather than one treat when he's good. The only other thing for food is dentastix. He didn't have them until 4 months and it took him a while to like them and we get them from Costco or online. He also has a medium Kong. We fill it with his dry food. Hope that all helps

I second the advice not to buy too much up front. My pup is a right pain in the behind and changes his mind regularly about what he will eat. I try to buy grain free and then look for proper meat and not meat derivatives. I get him both wet and dry food in smallish quantities so I can change things up when he gets fed up and stops eating. It is the only way I've found to keep him at a healthy weight. I also sometimes resort to making him something fresh just to get him to eat something!

However good your intentions to feed a wholesome food, it comes down to what your dog will actually eat.
Mine is so fussy, and we have tried expensive ones and cheaper ones. Lilys kitchen? No. Forth glade? No. We have eventually settled on Butchers tripe mix, which she loves, supplemented with kitchen meat and veg scraps. I know some dogs are total hoovers and will wolf anything down, but some dogs are really picky. The local dogs home has benefited from the wide variety of dog foods that were sitting uneaten in my cupboards. They must think I'm some kind of wierd dog food hoarder!

Mine gets james wellbeloved... suits them and they look fab

Costs approx £40 a month just for their food (for 2), so pretty good tbh.

Used to feed them Beta - then read the bag

I wouldnt feed my dogs "cheap crap" unless they needed it from the vets (requested)

Thanks everyone. I appreciate everyone’s reply. I still have a fair few weeks before she can come home so plenty of time to do research and for her to then completely reject any food I try her on most likely lol she will of course be having the same food as she has at the breeders for a little while.

Dogs are scavengers and can live off almost anything, as they do in all poor countries. I actually feel it’s immoral to feed pets luxury foods which are better than most kids get.
Feed your pup a complete puppy food, which will contain all he needs. A mix of wet and dry and occasional extras is more attractive than boring kibble every day.

I actually feel it’s immoral to feed pets luxury foods which are better than most kids get.

almondsareforevermore feeding my dog cheap scraps rather than a high quality food isn't going to make any difference to what 'most kids get'. What an odd thing to say