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I feed my dogs dried food and the supplier has put up prices quite a bit. Would be keen to know what others are using that’s good for the dogs and well priced. My Dogs are both labs -fit and not fat!!
Tux is quite well priced but unsure about it. I have been using Wishbone Gold
we feed chunky dog roll..$7-9 per roll and each dog gets 1/6th of roll per day..... that it,total food for day. been doing so for years and the ylook great. big working days the ymight get 1/4 instead or some kibble....weve had vets ask what we feed as dogs in such good nick.
We use Coprice from the local farm supplies store. Its Australian , and has a variety of formulas for working dogs , older dogs , lawn loafers , handbag dogs etc.
Ours gets a 2 inch thick piece of dog roll and about 3 cups of pams biscuits once a day. Sounds pretty crap food but that's all he will eat. He likes the cheap stuff so we aren't complaining..
I’m feeding my non working heading dog mighty mix biscuits and she is doing well on it. I’ve used black hawk in the past which I think is better but it’s too expensive. Have also tried cop rice and tux but found it makes her crap more and gets that bad dog smell.
Coprice, mighty mix dog roll and cheap fatty dog roll.
My ridge back cross only has 200g of roll and a cup of biscuits a day. My vis on the other hand takes 800g and a cup of biscuits and is still a bloody lean even with the cheap roll.
Our dogs just love MM biscuits. Supplement with hares, possums, venison, pheasants.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taranaki bushman
Tux is the crappiest food around, I only feed it as a teeth cleaner since the big triangle biscuits are quite thick and as they bite it, it rides up the side of the teeth scraping them and reducing buildup.
Unfortunately good dog biscuits are expensive and the price of the food we feed at work went up $50 per bag a few months ago.
Most of the cheapish stuff are probably the Purina range.
I have fed in the past Royal Canin, but am currently feeding my dog Black Hawk chicken and rice and a bit of working dog. It's not cheap though, it's more of a case of how much you can spend
If your dog just lounges around the yard and gets one walk a day, just about any food will probably be fine. If the dog/s are working hard everyday the cheaper dog food might not be enough to maintain condition. Higher quality foods have substantially more protein and fat. I know for one of my dogs, Chunky roll and Tux Working Dog couldn't keep his condition, he would get really skinny from an extended bush trip no matter how much I fed him. Switched to Royal Canin 4800 and the difference was incredible. Costs a lot more per bag but I also have to feed the dogs a lot less. Buying in bulk when it comes up on special keeps my costs a little lower. When I did the maths it doesn't cost me a lot more per dog per day because they don't need as much. Of course it will also depend on how large your dog/s are. Putting a coat on your dog during the colder months of the year holds their condition better too.
Real Dog Food, Ae Kuri Mahi Working Dog - 18kg, dog biscuits, produced in West Auckland from NZ ingredients weekly $158.40 delivered
Lasts about 45 days for a 29kg vizsla, think about 450grams a day.
Was using Orijen Adult $210 for 11kg. Both were about the same in terms of nutritional value.
Talking with a store owner, the overseas stuff is good but it is packed and shipped, so might be 2-3-4 months old by the time it is consumed so will lose some nutritional value apparently. A good reason to source locally. I try to supplement with the odd egg, and frozen venison + fatty cow bones in place of a biscuit serve) to keep his fat content up as he is super active. Does much better when on veni and fatty bones, but having the biscuit option is great for hunting overnighters.
Agree with @joelhenton above. I have to try and fatten my boy up before trips (serve him more food) as he loses condition quickly after big hunting trips (and feed him more during and after). Probably fast metabolism and single coat (have to pack a puffer for him at night)
an old waterfowlers trick is to give dog bowl of milk n egg at night to perk them up after a hard day.... possum itself is one of the best for gaining weight but man are the farts foul....
It's all about nutrient density, and as Joel mentioned above when he tried Royal Canin 4800 he got great results. That will be because 4800 will most likely be MJ/kg and is very high. The Black Hawk working dog is 4050 MJ/kg and most of our 30kg dogs eat about 300g per day. but since they aren't working it is really only for Maintenace at that level. Keeping them warm during winter makes a huge difference and we had dogs that lost weight no matter how much we fed them ( you can't make a dog eat more than they want). I put heaters in the kennels and this Winter I was reducing intake since they dogs were putting on weight. One of the bonuses about feeding a high MJ diet is you need to feed less, so smaller turds :)
+1 for what Joel said
I've got 2 dogs, both pets and not a high amount of exercise either. They get a 50:50 mix of Pedigree biscuits and raw chicken necks, we've just changed from necks to raw minced products (same supplier) as Bo has trouble with the necks due to his age.
https://www.woofles.co.nz/shop/woofles-bulk
We would buy 30kg of necks at a time and freeze them in ice cream containers.
Use Royal Canin medium dog and nothing else. My dog does high mileage each day and does well on it. Talking about price increase, gone from approx. $150 to $220 for 15 kg bag.
Blackhawk for us.
Mainly because its the biggest bag size I could find.
Dog gets nothing else apart from odd venison trimmings.
Usually about $180 a bag from Animates (with "frequent feeder" discount).
When we had 3 pointers 1 bag lasted about 3-4 weeks max.
Now with just the one milage is better but would rather old age had not stolen the other 2 :(
Some good stuff here cheers. Might have try something different for next bag.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone- lots of good info and real life experience- cheers
Not sure about the price or how good and whatnot but my dog seems to like realdogfood.
I have no affiliation with them but here you go... 20% off for 1st time order
Attachment 235339
Pays to add some of the new stuff a bit at a time to stop them getting the shits. 20% new stuff per day is the rule of thumb, so after 5 days your at 100% of the new food. It's not so much of an issue with dogs on a varied diet but if they are only eating one thing it can be a bit sloppy for a bit
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobba
I have fed Bo exclusively on RC Energy 4800 since he came off puppy food, another benefit is it contains a lot less protein from grain than a lot of others which helps immensely with dogs that get itchy and like to scratch themselves. It's expensive but a little goes a long way especially when they aren't working everyday. We always get comments about how well put together he is and his coat and teeth always look amazing and he doesn't smell like a dog at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by rugerman
Mighty Mix biscuits and Frozen concentrate for me .
Second that, while my two arent working dogs they are 70kg boys that get a good run daily. A bag of large buscuits and raw will last us a month, really good price too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chur Bay
https://www.mightymix.co.nz/
I tried Blackhawk and Science Diet, but Purina Pro Plan Performance was the one I settled on. My dog's Coat looked noticeably shinier, she holds condition better and craps less! It's about 170 bucks for 20kg though (online repeat delivery). I also substitute with small amounts of raw venison trimmings
i fed science and purina, both gave my dog runny poo and farts that could kill
settle on coprice which i buy from the local stock food place. comes in many varieties from puppy thru working dog.
good value in 20+kilo bags, bought a plastic rubbish bin with a clip on lid to store it in
2nd for mighty mix frozen concentrate and biscuits
Worked out about 5-10 dollars a week for a 30kg lab huntaway mix and a small Shepard mix. I have no idea how people can afford to feed their dogs "cheap" dog rolls from the supermarket.
Now i have to use dry food as we dont have the freezer room anymore. Costs about twice that now.
copped rice working dog and chunky dog roll plus possums&rabbits I shoot around the place and a range of bones from the butcher for my vis and lab cross
I gotta ask, what breed are they ?Quote:
Originally Posted by J-W-G
I use Black hawk in my kennels to the tune of $50 000 plus a year.Upsets the least number of dogs.But it is getting pricey.
Use the mighty mix frozen concentrate for when we have a long stay dog that looses weight.
My own dogs also eat black hawk, plus food I make(what ever I shoot mixed with veges and rice).
They run hard everyday and have a shiny coat and a heart rate that gives the vet the shits.
On advice from this thread I changed my vis to Royal canine E4800 and what a huge difference. Weight is perfect, coat looks great, will eat it while out hunting and doesn't drop the weight after few days in the hills.
The station I work on buys royal cannin by the pellet. We’re part of a big company and I now we get it at quite a discount. Wondering if there’s enough members close together in an area would it be worth approaching a supplier direct for a discount?
Crikey we run 2 EP's and no way would a large bag last a month even with supplements ...venison etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by J-W-G
Picture's of the Pointers please.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
PM your cell. Dont know how to post fotos.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikee
I freeze the veni offcuts in meal serves and give them to the dog for the arvo feed. I need to add fatty brisket bones in, as if I do the dog biscuit thing in the morning and veni in arvo, or straight veni only, he loses weight. There's just not enough fat in the veni, so I add brisket bones in - looks after the teeth also. I've also had to go to "Working Dog" in the Real Dog Food Range which has a higher fat/protein ratio - pointers are just energetic dogs, and need their fat! Need to keep dry food in the menu for when we do trips.
