Spending limit on dog food.

I can find good food for about $40 for a 30 lb bag. I do mostly cooked and keep a couple of cans of food on hand in case I'm lazy.

I've found I can do good quality cooked food for less than a good canned food. A store near me sells meat at 1/2 off when it's close to the expiration date. Also after Thanksgiving & Christmas I get whole turkeys dirt cheap. My budget can't afford organic any more, but I do pretty well for large dogs on about a hundred per month, per dog.

     The most I can go for a bag of adult food is about $40 and that's stretching it! It doesn't have to be ultra $$$ to be good, it just has to have good research behind it, quality control and good quality yet no frills ingredients. I can go through 2-3 40lb bags per month. Come rabbit season, I don't even want to think about how much more food they're going through For the pups, it's just so important to raising healthy babies and having bitches w/ lots of milk that I've been shelling out $27 + tax for a 15lb bag of Wellness puppy. Plus they get fresh meat a few times a week, eggs, and I just started them on liquid vitamins a few days ago. Yeah. The feed bill is out of control here ...

ron2

As many of you know, I have switched Shadow to Eagle Pack. The Lamb Meal and Rice with Oatmeal formula. I'm getting it from Green Market in Sherman, Texas. $52 for a 33 lb bag. That is $1.57 per pound.

Max eats EP too (holistic chicken & rice)  and that's pretty much what I pay for the same size bag.  I find it at a feed store about 8 miles away.  Max isn't a gulper, he's a nibbler.  It takes him all day to finish off the 1-1/2 cups and if he finishes it, he gets another 1/2 cup at night.  A 33 lb. bag lasts us about 3 months in the summer and maybe 2-1/2 months in the winter, so at about $17 a month, that isn't bad at all.  After the 10th. bag I get a free one so I should  be getting my freebie in Nov. or Dec.

Joyce

I don't know if I have a limit but I spend 59.00 on 40 ibs of Flint River Ranch.  My Swissy and Catahoula are both eathing the same food.   I buy 40 pounds every 3 weeks for about $59.00 its going up by about 2 or 3 dollars.  But they do well on it and it seems that others pay more.. so for now I will stick with it.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Max isn't a gulper, he's a nibbler.  It takes him all day to finish off the 1-1/2 cups and if he finishes it, he gets another 1/2 cup at night

That would be Shadow, as well. But lately, I've noticed him finishing what's in the bowl. At least two cups at a whack. Some days, he may leave some left over, other days, he will clean the bowl. So, he might like the EP better. As far as I can tell, his energy is just as good as it ever was.

ron2

That would be Shadow, as well. But lately, I've noticed him finishing what's in the bowl. At least two cups at a whack. Some days, he may leave some left over, other days, he will clean the bowl. So, he might like the EP better. As far as I can tell, his energy is just as good as it ever was.

I've noticed that Max is more likely to finish and get that second 1/2 cup in the winter than in the summer.  There are days in the summer when he doesn't eat one dang bite all day (except for his little treats when we're walking) and then at 9/10:00 p.m. I hear "crunch crunch crunch" and he's wiping out the whole bowl at once. I don't worry about his weird eating habits as long as he seems healthy otherwise. I just figure he knows if he's hungry and he knows where his food is.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

I've noticed that Max is more likely to finish and get that second 1/2 cup in the winter than in the summer.  There are days in the summer when he doesn't eat one dang bite all day (except for his little treats when we're walking) and then at 9/10:00 p.m. I hear "crunch crunch crunch" and he's wiping out the whole bowl at once. I don't worry about his weird eating habits as long as he seems healthy otherwise. I just figure he knows if he's hungry and he knows where his food is.

I think that has to do with the heat. When we've had a walk in the intense blast furnace known as a Texas summer, Shadow will sometimes have to rest before he can eat. And it's not uncommon, especially for northern breed dogs, to have less activity and less appetite in the summer. I expect Shadow's appetite to increase slightly during the colder weather, plus we can stand longer walks, too, which increases the kcal requirements, even slightly.

I used to not have a limit on dog food, but then when I started horse-showing again it changed, lol.

 Wolfie eats Eagle Pack Holistic small breed adult which I think is $16 for a small bag (lasts about one month).  Falon eats Natural Balance Potato & Duck which is $45 for a 30lb bag (also lasts about one month), and they both get Avoderm canned which is about $24 a case (again, one month).  The cats eat Chicken Soup Adult Light dry and that's about $25 for a 20something lb bag which last two months.  I guess I spend about $100/month on dog/cat food and it's not a damper on my wallet at all.  I guess the only thing different now than before is that I will not buy the food I really want for Falon or the two cats because of price.  Ideally I want to feed Falon Wellness CORE, but there is no way you can get me to pay $50 for a 15ish lb bag...it's just not even worth it!  I also used to feed the cats canned food only (with Before Grain dry mixed in) in the past, but that was running me $100something/month alone.  

 Oh well, at least everyone's healthy and happy and I get to show my horses more!
 

absolutely agreed. If the daytime temp is 70 or just a bit over that which we've had sparingly but a couple time...she eats MUCH more willingly and quickly. Otherwise she nibbles aside from the morning canned.

She's up around 5c per day plus the can...

I'm afraid to answer......hehehehe!

Seriously, I'm not quite sure yet.

We switched to homecooked a few weeks ago, with the help of Preference, from the Honest Kitchen, between that and cooking, on average 10-15# of meat a week, it does add up.

BUT, I have seen a huge difference in quality of health, this coming from dogs that ATE top quality dog foods to begin with, i.e. Orijen, Innova, etc

They're not getting a hint of grain at all at this point, but that may change, just a little.

I think I paid $25 for 12 pounds of Wellness Core the other day.. I have no clue how long it lasts, lol. Maybe like 2 weeks? Both Cherokee and Jaz eat it, so my sister and I alternate who buys it. They're 8 1/2 and 10, both probably have a bit of arthritis, plus they both just do better on grain-free food, so..it's worth it. I might switch them to Orijen at some point.. It's not that much more expensive (in fact, it might not be any more expensive..I think I saw it was $32 or 33 for 15 pounds at the same store I buy Core..so that's basically the same price) and I think I like it better..but I'm afraid Jaz will get all gassy and stuff again, so...we'll see.

 Well, Emma eats premade raw, which is the only thing she looks good on. When I made the raw, she looked "good enough" but not great. Now? She looks like awesome.

Ena B eats Natural Balance, right now, because I haven't figured her out, yet. She gets half canned, and half dry, and is a tough keeper. It's not especially cheap. 

I really don't have much of a limit. Both of the dogs are small and I'd rather pay for the food than the vet bills.

 I have no idea how much dog food costs over here.

I get pet grade meat delivered in bulk. Just today I got 5kg of chicken mince, 5kg of beef mince and 10kg of roo tail for a total of about $52, which should last a month or more for two dogs. I generally do an organ meal a week and add mashed vegies to the mince. They usually get chicken wings a lot as well, but I pick them up whenever it's convenient. Minced meat costs about $25 for 10kg, which is about equivalent to 20 pounds, nearly. Roo tail is $18 for 10kg and chicken wings vary depending on where I get them. There's still lamb breast in the freezer (the dogs have decided they don't like it at the moment) and that costs about $25 for 10kg as well.

Some of that roo tail still has hide on it. Still, it's less smelly and bloody than any kangaroo meat I get from the pet store.

I draw the line at a meal that costs, like $4 per dog. Every now and then I splurge and buy lamb neck or osso bucco, but if it's getting up around $10/kg I don't do it much! I've been wanting to give them lamb shanks for ages, but they cost about $7 for two and having had slow-cooked lamb shanks I find it difficult to justify giving it to the dogs rather than eating it myself. Plus, I try to avoid the big weight-bearing bones for the most part.

 I don't really have a limit, but I also only have one dog to feed.  If I had multiple dogs it's possible I wouldn't be able to afford to feed what I do now, and also possible that they wouldn't all do well on what I feed now.  For the moment, with just Ben to feed, I don't really look at the price. 

corvus

I've been wanting to give them lamb shanks for ages, but they cost about $7 for two and having had slow-cooked lamb shanks I find it difficult to justify giving it to the dogs rather than eating it myself.

I'd pass on the lamb shanks. I tried them once and had to take them away because they splintered.