RachelleBuck Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Good Afternoon Everyone, I am after some help for a friend of mine. Long story short, she has just become a single mum of 2 small children with a limited income and also 2 dogs, a Lab and a Staffy. The dogs have been feed Science Diet but this is now just too expensive. She has asked me of ideas of a dry food that is a fair bit cheaper but not just rubbish. I have suggest raw but as she said she really does not have the time or freezer space to do this. If anyone has any suggestions I could pass on that would be a big help. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) I feed Bonnie Working and am very happy with it. They get raw meat too & if she does a bit of looking around she could probably get some bargains as long as she has a *little* bit of freezer space (for example we pay $1 kg for chicken bodies, they come in bags of 8 or so). Bonnie Working is around $40 for 20kg and my very active dogs do great on it. The adult is a bit cheaper but doesn't suit my dogs - might suit hers? Coprice is cheaper again and some people swear by it - mine weren't big fans and they'd lick the paint off a board if you told them it was food :D The only problem would be if any of her dogs have allergy issues she might be limited to what she can feed. Personally I'd consider Science Diet to be a way crappier food than Bonnie :laugh: Edited December 17, 2012 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I feed Pal Pedigree dry food to my dogs mainly Sometimes it's Supercoat or Bonnies but mainly Pal. It is the only food, when I had 4 greyhounds, that they would all eat and do well on. I tried more expensive brands but nothing suited all of them and I wasn't having several different brands taking up space. Throw in the occasional egg or sardines, occasional feed of chicken wings or necks and your friends dogs should do fine. Might take a bit of trialling to see what works best but you don't have to feed expensive food to have healthy dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I have been told the Costco food is quite good, I think it is called Kirklands Signature. Don't use it myself but have had it recommended as a good cheap option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 My dogs didn't do very well on Science Diet - and I had to feed them as much of it as a cheaper brand of food just to keep them on condition. I've now switched to Nutro - they eat less, poo less, and are doing great. Nutro is a bit expensive though. I used to feed my dogs Bonnie Adult Complete, and they all did great on it - and it's around $45 for 20kgs at Pet Barn. Not to mention that most dogs eat it quite happily. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Supercoat here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 We feed raw now, but in the past our dogs have had Supercoat, Purina, Pedigree dry and the dry food from Aldi. They scoffed every single one and looked great. I might just be lucky but my dogs aren't fussy at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I have had a dog do brilliantly on Bonnie and others do very well on Optimum from the supermarket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DobieMum Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 If you want a cheap but decent quality meat for you dogs, go to the local butchers and ask them to collect the bone dust for you. You know how when you are sawing wood, you get sawdust, the butcher saw dies the same thing. In it is all sorts of meat and bones. My dogs love it, I mix it with the dry. My butcher charges me $1 per kilo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I fed Coprice for a long time but found it either dropped in quality or just stopped suiting my dogs. So I changed to Cobber (Working) and can't recommend it highly enough. Much less needed, hold weight on them beautifully, their coats are lovely. Plus they have nice small, firm output which is good!! And I feed mince from the local butcher which is $2 a kilo, a little goes a long way - it really, really would go a long way with labs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Some other suggestions - Woofbix from one of the chain stores - kmart? big w? target? is meant to be quite good - said to be the plain pack version of some reasonably well known brand :) Forgot, I have also used Uncle Albers which would probably be as cheap as you can get, produces very large poos but the dogs did well on it - seems to be quite oily/fatty which doesn't suit all dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brighton Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Good Afternoon Everyone, I am after some help for a friend of mine. Long story short, she has just become a single mum of 2 small children with a limited income and also 2 dogs, a Lab and a Staffy. The dogs have been feed Science Diet but this is now just too expensive. She has asked me of ideas of a dry food that is a fair bit cheaper but not just rubbish. I have suggest raw but as she said she really does not have the time or freezer space to do this. If anyone has any suggestions I could pass on that would be a big help. Thanks Try XP3020 - $55.00 for a 15 kg bag - it is a super premium food sold direct - details on website www.xp3020.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipsqueak Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Bonnie Adult here. With two large dogs (~30 kg each), it just became to expensive to feed Hills. Each dog eats 3-4 cups of food a day, so a 20kg bag lasts roughly a month, give or take. Cost of a 20kg bag is $40-$50 (usu closer to $40 if you time the specials right) from PetBarn. ETA - as much as I would like to feed raw, one dog doesn't tolerate it. Edited December 17, 2012 by futuredogtrainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) I've heard a few folk say that Optimum is the pick of the supermarket brands. Add a few meals of raw chicken wings, the odd bone and decent table scraps to that and the dog should do fine. Edited December 17, 2012 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashlee08 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 VIP pet foods from the supermarket is okay and cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesluvscavs Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Because Ive got one of our cavs on an exxy vet dry food now for her health problems , Im trying out VIP Petfoods Nature Goodness Grainfeed dry food from Woolies on our other cav. Hes doing ok on it atm :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I've just bought a 15kilo bag of All Natural Dried biscuits online from Priceless Pets. Depending on which one you buy, it now costs $100 or $110. I've never had a dog dislike it and the biscuits are small in size. I guess it's not that cheap but it is really good for dogs with sensitive skins/ear/eye probs and that's why i've just bought it again after a long break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 VIP have just put out a grain free dry that is available at Woolworths only at the moment. Similar price Optumum and comes in two flavours with Dog Rolls to match from the dog chiller section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I know a few Costco wholesale outfits have opened in Oz. In the US, the Kirkland Nature's Domain product is pretty much the same as Taste of The Wild and very reasonable . . . around $30 for a 15.87 kg bag. That's salmon and sweet potato, grain free. I'm sure it will be more expensive in Oz, but even if it's twice as much it would be worth looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Mutt Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 we feed RAW as the main diet but also have ... 4x2s bought a box of them 200 odd biscuits one a day and it was under 40 dollars from a local livestock barn they work out cheap and last forever. my girl loves them I've given some away for friends to try with their dogs, not one dog refused it, labradoodle, collie, staffords, cattle dogs. are all on 4x2s for breakfast now. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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