Everythings Shiny Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Long story short, I may be keeping a puppy from a litter I have here at the moment. Pup is a border collie cross Kelpie. Currently been fed Dogpro puppy food. Currently looking into a more cost effective diet for her and just looking for ideas. I was considering feeding beef mince (uncooked) with dogpro puppy food until she is twelve months old, then switching her to an adult food with the mince. I have financial constraints atm so I can't afford to be feeding her to top range food, but I want to feed her something cost effective but good for her. My other dogs are on dogpro adult and are doing great on it so far (recently changed to it) and our oldest dog is on homecooked diet (he is my mums dog) This pup will be trained as a worker (hopefully) to replace our older dog who has to be retired due to medical issues (not PTS, just retired). I asked my co-workers, but they all feed hills food (which is fine if you can afford it, but I work one to two days a week and will be studying fulltime as well soon) Is there anyone who feeds mixed who can share any pointers? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 What about staying with the mince/ raw meat and adding the Vet All Natural complete mix? It's all the vitamins/minerals/amino acids plus adds some roughage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 I looked at that one, but for the amount of weight the bag holds its a out of my price range. I've really gotta be cost effective until I can get more hours. Once money is a bit more free I'll switch to that one or something similar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 She doesn't need mince, if she has teeth, and is over 9 or so weeks ;) try lamb flaps, chicken frames .. beef offcuts/rootails . let her use those teeth and help her strengthen her muscles That, and teh dry We use supercoat here when we have a litter - that and lots of RMB's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 At around $85 - $ 90 for 20 kilos you can feed him Black Hawk, but if that's still out of your budget, then maybe look in to something like Bonnie Puppy available at Produce stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 A lot of Farmers feed their working dogs Bonnie and they seem to do well on it. If you can access cheap raw meaty bones and offal you can feed raw pretty cheap but it can be time consuming organising it all. I mix up my own BARF and freeze in meal size packets...works great for us. Lots of threads on BARF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I feed my pup human mince what ever is going on special then just add some brown rice ( or white but brown is better) and carrots broccoli pr any veg really just look up to see what veggies they can't eat I add a little bit of reduced salt veg stock just for a bit of flavor and that last a week remember to freeze half tho and I get chicken frames from the local butcher as it's cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) Don't feed mince unless it has bone in it. It will create an unbalanced calcium/phosphorus ratio which could be disastrous for the puppy's bones. Can't think of a faster way to give a dog rickets than feeding meat without bone. Feed meat on the bone - chicken frames are cheap. I know you say you're on a limited budget but you've got one chance to raise a healthy working dog. Frankly I'd see what I could do for the next six months to feed the best diet I can. Once the pup is mature, you can worry less. You don't have to spend a motza and frankly the better quality kibbles have a lower feeding amount because you're not feeding a heap of grains that have no nutritional benefit whatsoever to the dog. I don't know what most owners of working dogs feed but it might be a good idea to ask around. I think Bonnie is pretty popular. Edited September 4, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) Don't feed mince unless it has bone in it. It will create an unbalanced calcium/phosphorus ratio which could be disastrous for the puppy's bones. YES! We raise any pups on supercoat and heaps of fresh - goat, rabbit, roo- on the bone . Adults get fresh/raw and /or Uncle Albers . No veges, no extra rice etc. Edited September 4, 2011 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minyvlz Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Feed meat on the bone - chicken frames are cheap. Do chicken frames have enough meat on them? The ones I get from the butcher near me have minimal meat on them. Pet mince is usually minced chicken frames, not something I would feed my dogs anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Feed meat on the bone - chicken frames are cheap. Do chicken frames have enough meat on them? The ones I get from the butcher near me have minimal meat on them. Pet mince is usually minced chicken frames, not something I would feed my dogs anymore. I know plenty of dogs fed frames and good kibble and they look a treat. They usually have plenty of fat which is what growing pups also need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minyvlz Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Feed meat on the bone - chicken frames are cheap. Do chicken frames have enough meat on them? The ones I get from the butcher near me have minimal meat on them. Pet mince is usually minced chicken frames, not something I would feed my dogs anymore. I know plenty of dogs fed frames and good kibble and they look a treat. They usually have plenty of fat which is what growing pups also need. I've always thought that RMBs stood for raw meaty bones, don't see where the meaty will be in terms of frames. I've also heard that some people like to feed their pups (esp large breed ones) adult food instead of puppy food which has more fat, so I guess it boils down to individual choice ETA: Also, how would adding frames to kibble result in balanced calcium : phosphorus ratio when you're adding more calcium to balanced ratios in kibble? Edited September 6, 2011 by minyvlz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Why not just get pup onto the same adult food as the other dogs? Puppy food isn't really necessary - how many generations were raised before that came out? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 I only want to put her on puppy food as she is going to be a big girl. i want to give her the best start I can even though my budget is really tight (I recently lost my job). I wasn't intending on keeping Priya, but my friend is adopting her mother and we really need a working dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 I've got large breed puppies here, 4 greyhound pups, 10 and 1/2 weeks old. They had their last feed of puppy food yesterday, bag is finished. Now they are getting 2 feeds per day of Bonnie adult or working dog and one feed of chicken necks. I've always had large breed dogs and once the puppy food was finished around the 10 to 12 week mark that was that. I might add that since they were weaned they have had adult and puppy dry food on alternative feeds, so have never been soley on puppy food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Been raising my BC pup on Adult Kibble plus RMB since I got him at 11 weeks & he's never looked back. I did this on the advice of a lot of people on this forum including breeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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