Food recommendations please. Need to cut costs

[alwaystrainers]

Hi MN dog lovers. I'm currently buying butternut and tails for my dog but can't afford it now. I'm looking for recommendations of any hidden gems that might not make it into the list on the website I d used before if quality and price.
Id like a good food for him but cannot justify the £80 a month I'm now paying. It's a bit ouch. Any local recommendations in NW- will go collect if needed or other brands ? I've got a voucher for hair price raw but that's only one month of savings ! Thanks muchly

My two spaniels (sprocker 6 and cocker 12) have either Harrington's dry or Aukarky dry from Costco. They also have frozen carrots daily and treats here and there. I'll sometimes pop abit of milk on their biscuits or a raw egg. They're more than happy :)

I’ve recently changed my dog from Green Pantry to Pets at Homes AVA sensitive skin and stomach for similar reasons. I was so nervous to put him on something ‘less superior’ but he is still looking and feeling great, good poops etc.

I went to pick another bag up yesterday and it was £47 for 20kg, had a quick look online and ordered the same bag to click and collect there and then with an EASYSEPT22 code and got the bag for £30 instead.

on a different note, I’ve started using this app called biscuit. You track your dog walks to earn points which you can then swap for £ vouchers. I get about £20 a month which may be a little help.
they also have money off at pet shops which might help?
it’s kind of like strava but you earn stuff

I used Step Up to Naturals grain free. It has decent ratings on allaboutdogfood and mine has been a lot better on it.

What @bingohandjob said!
All the Marcus Muehle products are great value for money, and good quality.

If you are struggling I know that Primal Raw have a food bank in place through East Anglia East Anglia Per Food Bank

I feed my dog on raw and find it a lot cheaper and so much healthier for my dog. Healthy dog equals less vet bills :)

I have 4.collies 2 aged 8 and aged 5..I'm looking for a cheaper way to feed them .just now they are 2 sachets winalot and mixer .16 sachets a day

Tried all sorts with my flattie and his delicate tummy. Forthglade, tails etc. Spent far too much time on comparison sites!

Realised that lots of chicken didn't suit him, but lamb and duck based were okay.

Had to reduce costs and moved him onto a kibble sold by my local pet shop, lamb with butternut squash and mint and butchers wet food.

He's glossy and happy and we only get a runny pop if he gets hold of the cat food 🙄

I can't see you're going to get much cheaper than Winalot tbh.

We've ended up on Burns kibble with added raw for variety.

The kibble is about +/- 50 for a 12kg bag that does him a just over 2 months - based on his weight and if he had only kibble, obvs it lasts a bit longer than that as he has raw thrown in there too along with sardines once a week for his coat.

He has a sensitive tummy and loads just went through him. Dr Johns was ok for him and that's cheap but he had to have a far bigger quantity than he does of the Burns so he pood a lot more on dr Johns than he does now on the Burns.

My 2 small/medium sized dogs share a tin of Aldi dog food in gravy for breakfast and have the Morrisons kibble for small dogs for dinner. They have 1 biscuit or meaty stick treat each every day. On Sunday lunch they have whatever meat we have so beef, chicken or pork chopped up into chunks with mashed potatoes a few carrots mixed up with gravy on. Once or twice a week my DH cooks them a boiled egg and chops up for them to go in with their kibble. They are a healthy weight and full of energy.

Millie’s Wolfheart! My dog is a 13kg terrier cross and loves her food. I buy a 14kg bag every 3 months (ish) costing £65. And free delivery. She has salmon oil on her kibble at breakfast time (beautiful shiny coat) and sometimes a bit of chicken liver/sweet potato/scrambled egg etc.) to keep things interesting.

You may be better off going for a working dog food like Millie's Wolfheart or CSJ or even Skinners as you need less as it's better quality.

Following

How big is he?

My dog has Butchers tins (he's only 7kg so has half of a tin a day) and Lifestage kibble from the pet shop Jollies.

He seems really well on this combination, loads of energy and perfect poos!

Why not a complete dried food rather than the mix of wet and dry. Dogs don’t need “ variety”. That’s humans projecting what they’d think … also I suspect why dogs are on the whole fatter than they would be - if food is what is “ enriching “ life they willl eat more just like people do. Add enrichment in other ways

my cavvie is on forthglade dried food. Not the cheapest but reasonable quality for the money and enough bulk to keep his anal glands happy 🤣.

I know a collie who is sleek fit and beautiful on Aldi kibble.

I think the butternut box and the like “ human grade food “ is rather un necessary - dogs are dogs not people …. But that is no doubt a controversial thought.

another vote for Millie’s Wolfheart here

I do 50:50 butternut and kibble - is that an option?

I also swear by Canagan kibble which is expensive but not £80 a month and is very good quality, complete food so has all the nutrients they need. About £45 for 6kg, delivered.

I also buy bags of frozen cod and salmon fillets which are about £3.60 for a bag of four fillets from the supermarket and they get a bit of fish mixed in with the kibble, which they love. On weekends they may get steak 🙈

So very high quality kibble and human grade fish but actually works out cost effective. For a 10kg dog it's maybe £1.50 a day.

You could also boil them a chicken each week and mix chicken in with the kibble - a medium whole chicken is only about £3.80, and that's almost 1kg of food.

"Human meat" gave me a shock at first...! 😂

@Angiemcguire working dog formula complete food works well for collies, though I've always fed burns alert designed for guide dogs. Wet food works out expensive, just buy a can and split between them if you want to add some wet. Asda own brand or even Aldi

I’ve recently been through a dog food budgeting exercise for my active 27kg doggo.

I now get her Alpha Spirit cold pressed fish dry food, I think it’s called “the only one” fish or something, can’t quite force myself off sofa to check.

it works out at £60 a month for my dog.

when she was a pup we had butternut which seemed good but was pricey and also had fillers like lentils which I wasn’t that keen on.

then I went to majority forthglade fish stuff mixed with whatever decent kibble was on offer in pets at home/ zoo plus, which worked out as good value financially but my dog got a bit porky on that and at the same time not to love the food.

and then latterly the cold pressed stuff which seems excellent and the dog absolutely loves it with lip licking and everything. It’s slightly more than I’d ideally want to spend but I think we will probably settle on the current food as a good compromise.

I’d feed complete raw probably, if I could, but for various reasons I can’t do that at the moment so this feels like the next best thing

Also Tails is really, really poor nutritionally so do not feel bad giving that up!

Funnily enough my Skyes do best on DrJohn’s Silver, anything richer & they struggle growing their show coats, this stuff it grows & grows. It’s a working dog food so no VAT & cheaper than so called “ better” things they were doing less well on. My two little toy breed ones I just give cooked meat, veg & a little kibble.