Going to go broke feeding 2 Dobies

[AtTheEnd]

At first, because they were babies, I did not have an issue buying a 30lb bag of Blue Buffalo puppy food for both of them. I could make this last a month, thus only spending $50 per month in dog food, which is do-able. Now, they are 7+ months old and are blowing through the same bag in a two week period! I went to Petco to try to downgrade but every one is $40-$50 for a 30lb bag. I feel like I am literally going to go broke just trying to feed them. I mean, $120 a month is A LOT of money for dog food. I can't even pay all my bills and it's costing too much to feed these dogs!

I know you could do like a dirt cheap Pedigree or something, but then I have to deal with them getting sick as first, etc. so I start feeling edgy and just go back to the Blue Buffalo. I checked online for deals and they're not worth much in savings.

Any ideas?? This is very stressful spending so much money on food.

 

[d0ds0t]

You could try feeding raw or partly raw? If you have a butcher or meat market in your area you can try and get a deal to get the interstine and meat that is not be sold as human feed at a cheap price for a regular delivery, like once a week or every 2nd week?

 

[Lizzard]

The butcher idea is a good one. You can also mix foods, like mix 1/2 and 1/2, Pedigree with the good stuff. My mom's dobes were very healthy and happy on Pedigree (only) their entire lives.

Do you guys have a Costco or Sams Club? They have premium food in bulk. If there is one in your area, and you have a membership I would go check it out. Or go with a friend who has a membership. Sometimes they let you in to "look" at everything but if you want to buy, you have to sign up.

So you kept both the dogs! How is it going, are they a little easier to deal with?

 

[JanS]

I'm glad to hear you still have them both and hopefully things are working out for you.

The one consolation with dogs this age is that they will eat pretty much twice as much now while they're growing than when they're adult so it's not going to be that much consumption for more than a few more months.
I agree with the suggestions above to try to ease up on the costs a little, and I don't blame you for not wanting to feed the cheaper stuff because you wind up feeding a lot more anyway with all of the fillers in them.

 

[Marinegeekswife]

A cheaper food that is still acceptable nutritionally is ProPlan. A lot of Dobes do very well on it. You might also check local feed stores for Diamond Naturals brand or Premium Edge, those are also good foods that aren't too bad. One of our members said they buy a good premium food from Costco. I've never seen a good one at Sam's. I know food isn't cheap but you wouldn't feed children fast food all the time to be cheaper. It all comes back around. Also keep in mind that in just a few months the majority of their growing will be over. Once that time comes you'll see the food starting to "stick" to them more and they'll start filling out. At that point you can begin to cut back on how much they get. River is 8 months and just starting the cutting back process at 5 cups a day, down from 6 cups a day. Spock is 2 and gets 3 3/4 cups a day of the brand we feed.
How are the other issues coming along?

 

[Rhett]

At first, because they were babies, I did not have an issue buying a 30lb bag of Blue Buffalo puppy food for both of them. I could make this last a month, thus only spending $50 per month in dog food, which is do-able. Now, they are 7+ months old and are blowing through the same bag in a two week period! I went to Petco to try to downgrade but every one is $40-$50 for a 30lb bag. I feel like I am literally going to go broke just trying to feed them. I mean, $120 a month is A LOT of money for dog food. I can't even pay all my bills and it's costing too much to feed these dogs!

I know you could do like a dirt cheap Pedigree or something, but then I have to deal with them getting sick as first, etc. so I start feeling edgy and just go back to the Blue Buffalo. I checked online for deals and they're not worth much in savings.

Any ideas?? This is very stressful spending so much money on food.

Hi there. I feel you, Rhett is a pig, slim, muscular, shiny and gorgeous and just under 100 lbs. He is very expensive to feed properly. I highly recommend (at Whole Foods) Primal Defense, which is a probiotic powder and just a scoop or half scoop a day works great. It is for humans but my homeopathic vet recommended and it works. Just in case, this will ease tummy issues as you switch up foods. Online, loving Doggiefood.com (free shipping, great customer service and various discounts throughout the year). What I feed Rhett may blow your mind, but understand you can mix this stuff to make it less expensive. DNA is a freeze dried that can be served dry like kibble or water added. Rhett goes really crazy for ZiwiPeak Venison and it's $110.00 a bag, however, a serving is 3 small scoops. Also, it is dry, like jerkey so it can sit in the bowl and not go bad fast. There is also Allnaturalpets.com which has a dried 'easy raw' they make (about $60.00 per bag.) When mixed with water, the 10 lb bag makes about 50 lbs of food. Also to try is Dr Harveys Canine Health Miracle, which looks like an oatmeal breakfast with all kinds of goodness added. You add the protein to it (raw meat, eggs, etc.) I like to use the Dr Harveys as a 'base' topping it with Ziwi peak, DNA, eggs etc. We also make Chicken stock and freeze it into ice cubes. You can cook up extra pasta, Quinoa,rice, oats etc, add the chicken stock and whatever kibble. Other than the Dr harveys, I try to buy no grain, high protein stuff, figuring it is a cost savings downstream if we fix our own grains for him. Authority dog kibble, (at Petsmart) is really cheap and the ingredients sound decent and Rhett gobbles it, but I am not sure really how high quality it is. Orijen is awesome, not cheap and we did all Orijen prior to doing more of the Raw thing. We got Rhett when he was 7.5 mos old, and he stunk and had lots of issues with digestion. We even bathed him every other day and he just smelled bad. Rhett will be 2 in April. He literally glows, smells awesome, breath smells awesome and the poo is smaller between because he digests most of what he eats. Check out this site for further research and the best of luck to you in finding what works for your pups and your wallet: http://dogfoodanalysis.com/

 

[Rhett]

A cheaper food that is still acceptable nutritionally is ProPlan. A lot of Dobes do very well on it. You might also check local feed stores for Diamond Naturals brand or Premium Edge, those are also good foods that aren't too bad. One of our members said they buy a good premium food from Costco. I've never seen a good one at Sam's. I know food isn't cheap but you wouldn't feed children fast food all the time to be cheaper. It all comes back around. Also keep in mind that in just a few months the majority of their growing will be over. Once that time comes you'll see the food starting to "stick" to them more and they'll start filling out. At that point you can begin to cut back on how much they get. River is 8 months and just starting the cutting back process at 5 cups a day, down from 6 cups a day. Spock is 2 and gets 3 3/4 cups a day of the brand we feed.
How are the other issues coming along?

Yes, totally forgot about Costco, which was highly rated! PS..I dream of 3 3/4s cups a day, LOL. Rhett still demands 5-6 cups.

 

[Quee]

The rescue I got my girl from buys the Costco brand dog food, and most dogs do really well on it. Also I second Jan's comment on them eating less as they get older. My girl gets a cup of dry mixed with half a can of canned wet food twice a day (blue buffalo) and a large bag and a few dozen cans lasts a month for her. I order food bulk from Petango which almost always has a coupon or special going on (and you can get a percentage of your purchase donated to a rescue of your choice). Right now I see a 20% off some varieties of Blue Buffalo coupon on their site. I just calculated I'm spending $4-$5 a day on Pippi's food, not including treats so $120 a month spending on the premium foods for 2 dogs doesn't seem out of line to me. Getting the Costco brand may reduce your costs quite a bit.

I hope this helps!

 

[Katja Henriksen]

Yes, totally forgot about Costco, which was highly rated! PS..I dream of 3 3/4s cups a day, LOL. Rhett still demands 5-6 cups.

Hey there!! Good to see you have joined us here. You should go to the introductions thread and post a bit about your self and the gorgeous Rhett so you can get a great big welcome.

 

[Lizzard]

Or you can just totally underfeed your dog like we seem to have been doing with Marco. Bad owners!!! He's on the lean side, but after we left him at the boarding place this weekend he was absolutely GAUNT from running around so much with the other dogs.

They told us he needs at least twice what we were giving him - we were going by what was recommended on the bag! We feed him a mix of Avoderm and Simply Nourish... now we feed him twice what we used to, until we can stop seeing his ribs!

And speaking of Costco, you can get a GIANT bag of brown rice (I think it's 10 pounds) and cook some of it up once a week with chicken broth and whatever raw type food is available at your butcher's. I think that would be more labor intensive for you, but could be a LOT cheaper. Our Costco also sells sweet potatoes in a big box - you could throw some of those into the mix. Wow actually I might start making my own dog's meals this way!!! I'm thinking I could make up a batch of "doggie food" once a week. Hmmmmmm....

 

[AtTheEnd]

The butcher idea is a good one. You can also mix foods, like mix 1/2 and 1/2, Pedigree with the good stuff. My mom's dobes were very healthy and happy on Pedigree (only) their entire lives.

Do you guys have a Costco or Sams Club? They have premium food in bulk. If there is one in your area, and you have a membership I would go check it out. Or go with a friend who has a membership. Sometimes they let you in to "look" at everything but if you want to buy, you have to sign up.

So you kept both the dogs! How is it going, are they a little easier to deal with?

Hi there, No, still not easier to deal with and some days they stay at home in the backyard. Today and yesterday were very bad rain days in Tx, so we brought them to work and the girl was a bad mess yesterday. Today she was put out in the hallway for a couple of minutes since they beg for food and stare at you when you eat (annoying) but she managed to tear a piece of tile up from the floor while she was in there. It is still pretty tough at times.

 

[AtTheEnd]

Wow, many on here are so helpful! I am not used to that! I used to be on a bunch of "car" boards where guys were rude to me. So, not all info boards are trash.

So I need to look into ProPlan, Diamond, Costco, and maybe cook for them. I eat really good so that would work. It sucks cuz I want to feed them good stuff but when you don't make a lot you have to cut back and figure something out. I'll dig deeper and see what I can do.

 

[Marinegeekswife]

So I need to look into ProPlan, Diamond, Costco, and maybe cook for them

If you look into Diamond make sure it is the Naturals version. Much better nutritionally than their regular recipes.

 

[Lizzard]

I wonder how many calories per day - on average - does a doberman need?

 

[JanS]

I wonder how many calories per day - on average - does a doberman need?

Hmm, I think someone posted some good info on that a while back so I'll have to see if I can find it.

I honestly don't go by it myself since I adjust according to how they look. Little Della is doing well on about 2 1/3 cups of TOTW per day, and growing Albert gets nearly 8 cups per day of the Fromm Gold LB puppy food...

 

[Marinegeekswife]

I honestly don't go by it myself since I adjust according to how they look. Little Della is doing well on about 2 1/3 cups of TOTW per day, and growing Albert gets nearly 8 cups per day of the Fromm Gold LB puppy food...

I have yet to see a bag with the correct amounts on it. Especially when it comes to puppies. If we fed Spock by the bad he'd be fat and if we fed River by the bag she'd be emaciated. You have to go by body condition. When it comes to new puppies I like to go by the you can never feed too much philosophy. Give them more than they can eat at first and then adjust from there. Granted, that doesn't work for all of them as some will eat till they explode.

 

[freem6]

You can write or email the dog food companys and explain your economic hardship and many of them will send you coupons.

 

[Quee]

I have yet to see a bag with the correct amounts on it. Especially when it comes to puppies. If we fed Spock by the bad he'd be fat and if we fed River by the bag she'd be emaciated. You have to go by body condition. When it comes to new puppies I like to go by the you can never feed too much philosophy. Give them more than they can eat at first and then adjust from there. Granted, that doesn't work for all of them as some will eat till they explode.

Amen to that - I was feeding Pippi based on the bag/can instructions on the Blue Buffalo bags, and she was getting very fat and round after awhile. She had an episode recently where she had severe stomach problems and she lost about 8 lbs in less than 2 weeks, and started getting gaunt. She's been on prescription (Science Diet) I/D food for the last week and a half, and has filled out now - the instructions for that one per the vet were right on target. I have to wean her back onto her Blue Buffalo now - I'm going back to the cut down dose of 1 cup and 1/2 a can twice a day, which is much less than the 4 and 1/2 cups dry or 4 cans per day that is recommended on the bags/cans. The higher quality foods you typically need to feed them less of as adults.

The body charts that you see in your vet's office or online are the best way to judge whether you're feeding them enough (or too much).

 

[Casi]

I recently had to switch my dogs from Diamonds Hi-Energy to the Extreme Athlete formula. I'm a pretty poor person but its affordable and while not the best out there its certainly not the worst either. Saint is notoriously hard to keep weight on since she never stops moving. I was feeding her about 5-6 cups of the Hi-Energy and now she's down to 3-4 and actually gaining weight. I'm feeding 3 dogs on it...one Rott x Pit, Doberman and a herding mutt. The bag is on week 3 and still half full.

 

[Dobs4ever]

I have yet to see a bag with the correct amounts on it. Especially when it comes to puppies. If we fed Spock by the bad he'd be fat and if we fed River by the bag she'd be emaciated. You have to go by body condition. When it comes to new puppies I like to go by the you can never feed too much philosophy. Give them more than they can eat at first and then adjust from there. Granted, that doesn't work for all of them as some will eat till they explode.

Well stated Jess - Puppies like people are individuals and I have yet to see the puppy that can read a bag and tell you what is right you just have to watch the outward condition of the puppy.

I have stayed purposely away from this thread as I do not want to upset anyone but I feel that this needs to be said and it is NO reflection on the OP we have to count on breeders to have most of the intelligence when Doberman puppies are concerned.

But this is just one more reason why a responsible breeder will not place two puppies at the same time. All dogs are expensive if you are going to feed them well. You do not have to spend an arm and a leg but a good quality med priced dog food will work. I appreciate that the OP felt she wanted to feed the best but in the end over counter dog food is still over the counter with preservatives, fillers etc. So as long ss the first ingredient is a specific meat - chicken, venison, salmon and the second brown rice with no corn or soy it is a decent dog food.. The other thing to watch is protein count 24% or less is best for commercial dog foods.

The other thing a breeder should consider is medical expense - is the prospective owner financially stable - one accident can put you under with just one puppy but two could put one in a position of making some very hard decisions.

Over the last few years we have seen many dog food recalls so I prefer a dog food when are ingredients are from the good ole USA.

I know a lot of folks get upset with breeders when we seem so picky but it can save a lot of heartache down the road and there is no reason to put someone in financial jeopardy just to place a puppy.