cost of food etc

[Birtles]

  dont shoot me for talking money
Monty (15wks old) is going through 15kg of food within a month and its nearly £40 a bag.  I do want to feed him good food with no additives etc but I just think that its so expensive. I have heard Burns is good and they dont need as much of it as JWB and its cheaper per bag, anyone looked into all this?  Don't want to bulk up his food with other rubbish stuff just want something as good as JWB but less expensive.
All these calculations that are shown about how much its costs to feed a dog, think about £5 a week was the general impression given.......... what planet?
Dont get me wrong anyone and dont shoot me for talking about the cost....we love Monty and yes he is worth every penny but just wondering if anyone has managed to cut some costs down.  with all the insurance etc its about £60 a month and with all the toy/treats  that im guilty of buying him ..... its an arm and a leg and don't mention vets fees 
I think all these sites that say the cost of owning a dog should be alot more realistic....
Having a moan day 

[*jean*]

puppy food is expensive compared to adult dog food. have you thought of barf at all? theres loads of threads on here about it if you do a search.

[Saffie]

Does that not work out at half a kilo of food a day!!! A pound of found is alot of food for a 15 week old. Saffie has 200 grams a day so a 15kg bag lasts 75 days so over two months.

[lyn]

i don't think jwb is that expensive.ellie is still on the puppy but she also is fed barf.paddy won't eat raw meat so he just has the jwb adult.maybe because ellie only eats half jwb and half raw it doesn't seem so expensive.
sounds like he is being over fed

[Rachel B]

We fed Burns puppy food and a 2kg bag lasted us over a week...

[Birtles]

Hmmm have been looking at BARF think i'll have to read p more.
Montys on about 300grams a day of JWB........ apparently Burns you only need 200grams a day.... different foods need different amounts.... it is alot of JWB but its what is recommended.

[PennyB]

At the end of the day I sometimes think you have to feed what you can afford.

I fed mine on Burns initially which they loved. As they got older I found they needed/wanted more food than th erequired amounts for Burns, and the trouble with Burns is if you do increase the amounts given then it can give them the squits. I was also needing to look at my finances and so changed to csj champ which they love and is £8 for 15kg (even at giving twice the amount of Burns per day its still worth it and my two feel like they're eating something more substantial and aren't hungry all the time)

[Saffie]

Saffie is on Arden Grange but will not eat the RDA so is on 200 grams.

A 15kg bag of JWB should last you 50 days then. Dont PAH have those bags on special, 3 for the price of 2 often?

[*Jay*]

I've read that the new Wainwrights food is very similar to JWB but is cheaper. When I was last in P@H, they were giving samples away so might be worth looking into that.

[Jane S]

Hmmm have been looking at BARF think i'll have to read p more.
Montys on about 300grams a day of JWB........ apparently Burns you only need 200grams a day.... different foods need different amounts.... it is alot of JWB but its what is recommended.

It's not just different foods that need different amounts - all puppies are different and some will need more and some less than others to maintain optimum weight and growth. The guidelines given on food bags are just that, guidelines not to be taken as exact amounts for every puppy given that food. You may think you would need to feed less Burns but when we trialled this food for our dogs, I found they lost too much weight so I was actually feeding them more than when they were on their normal food. If you are after a good quality complete that isn't as expensive as JWB, then Autarky may be worth considering.

 

[Birtles]

thanks everyone for the replies
JWB certainly isnt lasting 50 days so possibly getting slightly overfed but as Jane S stated all puppies are different, we dont weight exact amount put just 3 cups a day and hes eating it all.  We are nearly at the end of our 2nd 15kg bag of puppy JWB....... hes nearly 16 weeks so yes he is eating roughly a bag a month plus all the JWB minibites etc as treats.  Wonder if we put a bit less out he'd be bothered, maybe try that, it could be that hes eating it all because its there but maybe doesnt need that full amount, he does have the fuller figure  .  Obviously dont want to change foods and upset his diet but do feel its alot a month to pay.  Think when we did all sums before getting a puppy we allowed £20-25 a month for food but with his treats etc its working out double that, and with essential insurance its just working out alot more than thought.  Maybe look into other foods to reduce bill slightly, i ahve heard that once they go onto adult food its cheaper though.

[Birtles]

At the end of the day I sometimes think you have to feed what you can afford.

very true !!

[isla]

I used to feed JWB and now feed Burns (she didn't like JWB)

Jem is a small dog and is about 10.5-11kg. We feed more than 200g a day. I don't measure it specifically but its probably more like 300g. She eats what she wants and sometimes she'll leave a bit and other times she'll cry for more.I buy the smaller bags so I can change the flavour to keep her interested. I go through about 3-4 a month. Its about £6-7 a bag although if you buy the bigger ones its cheaper so its about £24- 28 a month.

I must admit I'm really impressed with Burns. Her coat is gorgeous and she has loads of energy. I really like thats its organic and there is no cr*p in it. Good luck 

[Saffie]

Saffie should be on more but she never eats it. Some days she doesnt even manage 200grams. She is 36 weeks and is small for her age I think. She weighed 10kg on 22 September but she does look abit like a barrel a the moment but is due a growth spurt. She only has a few months left of growing so might alwasy be little cocker.

[Max X 2]

I used to feed JWB and now feed Burns (she didn't like JWB)

Jem is a small dog and is about 10.5-11kg. We feed more than 200g a day. I don't measure it specifically but its probably more like 300g. She eats what she wants and sometimes she'll leave a bit and other times she'll cry for more.I buy the smaller bags so I can change the flavour to keep her interested. I go through about 3-4 a month. Its about £6-7 a bag although if you buy the bigger ones its cheaper so its about £24- 28 a month.

I must admit I'm really impressed with Burns. Her coat is gorgeous and she has loads of energy. I really like thats its organic and there is no cr*p in it. Good luck 

I don't know how the food quantities differ from puppy food to adult food, & I'm talking adult food here so whether this is cheaper I really don't know. But I agree totally wth isla.  Max is also a tiny one, only weighing 10.25kg at 17 months although he is a little on the skinny side & I'm trying to fatten him up by a kg or 2.  He is fed on Burns, the recommended amount for a 10kg dog would be 100g, but this just doesn't look enough so we gradually built it up & now he has 160g-180g per day.  We tried 200g in the passed but with Burns you know if they're being fed too much as their motions will be too loose! 

Good luck in your search.


oops edited to add I've just read an earlier posting

puppy food is expensive compared to adult dog food. have you thought of barf at all?

So it should be cheaper as he gets older.