How much do you spend on food?

[Siberian25]

So i am planning to get a Husky in hopefully 3-5 months time. How much do you spend on food and what kind of diet? Am i right to assume that feeding a "raw" diet can get pretty expensive?

[HuskyCouture]

I feed my 7 month old pup purina puppy chow large breed formula, he goes through a 13lb bag every two weeks and it's about $15 a bag.

[Mazz]

Firts off, welcome to the Pack!

Zoya dines on TOTW (Taste of the Wild), which is grain-free. It's an all stages of life food; good for puppies and adults A 30 lb. bag runs me about $44 with tax and lasts 7 to 8 weeks.

[Siberian25]

Firts off, welcome to the Pack!

Zoya dines on TOTW (Taste of the Wild), which is grain-free.  It's an all stages of life food; good for puppies and adults  A 30 lb. bag runs me about $44 with tax and lasts 7 to 8 weeks.

Thanks.

I am edging more towards mostly a raw diet. So considering the cost of that. I guess though it wouldn't be much more..as in we shop for meat anyways. I guess its more, "how much meat can a pup and adult husky eat daily" etc

[Andy]

Hi and welcome.

We have 3

but I'll break it down for one.

We feed Koda our 5 month puppy Raw

She gets chicken wings and it cost us the UK equivilent of approx $2.50 canadian

every 3 days

Raw feed is done by weight you feed approx 20% of body weight

So a 10kg puppy would get200grams of RAW chicken per sitting

chicken wings include bones good for them

UNCOOKED. . . Never give cooked bones. They splinter and can stick in the throat

RAW bones crunch and the grinding helps clean the teeth.

hope this helps

[Mazz]

Raw feed is done by weight you feed approx 20% of body weight

Wow, 20% of body weight? So, a 50 pound Husky would get 10 pounds of raw food per day? Can that be correct? 200 grams for 10 kg in body weight, from your example is 2%. So to put that into terms us Yanks can better understand, 2% for a 50 pound Husky would be 1 pound of raw food, and 2% fpr a 25 pound Husky pup would be 1/2 pound of raw food, which seems more reasonable.

I also would not think that strictly feeding chicken wings to a puppy (or an adult) would provide the broad base of nutrition needed.

[KenRC51]

I fed Stitch Innova EVO chicken and red meat. I buy four 28lbs bags at once. Four bags usually last about 5 to 6 months. I only feed her once a day.

[Tikaani&Aiyana]

Like Dave i have just put mine on TOTW (taste of the wild) which i am hoping should last 1 dog approx 6-7 weeks & that cost £47.

As for the RAW diet you should feed 2-3% of their ideal bodyweight. I have read up from a raw dog food company that you feed according to their ideal bodyweight not their actual bodyweight. Even for puppies you feed them 2-3% of their ideal adult weight. Then if they lose or gain weight on this amount you can adjust it accordingly.

RAW feeding can cost roughly £20-£30 per month depending on the size of dog and if you can find a good RAW food supplier.

Sid_wolf knows alot about the RAW diet and has posted some threads on it in the food and diet section.

[Tikaani&Aiyana]

Here is a link to my local RAW dog food supplier to give you an idea of prices

http://www.thedogfoodcompany.co.uk/products.html

You could also find a butchers who can supplier cheaper bits that they don't always use

[Lyn]

we feed mostly raw, occasional kibble. Monthy bill for 15 dogs comes in around £130 a month (about £8.50 per dog, per month) Less when we get free salmon and game.

Most of ours get about a 1lb of raw per day as 2 feeds of half a pound (working several times a week) and maintain their weights well on that. Two sedentry dogs get slightly less, 5 month old pup still on 3 feeds a day gets about 1.5lb.

[Sid_Wolf]

When feeding raw you feed 2% of the IDEAL body weight, so if your (adult) sibe is at a weight your happy with, you work out his daily amount from that, if he needs to loose or gain weight, use the weight you would like him to be.

Puppies are fed exactly the same as adults, 2% of ideal adult weight, so for a female sibe work around the 21kg mark, for a male, around the 25kg mark.

So for a female puppy, you would work out:

21kg / 100 x 2 = 0.42kg

0.42kg x 100 = 420g

so you would feed 420g per day, split into however many meals you choose to feed (I feed 2 meals per day, so thats 2 meals of 210g)

A diet of just one meat is NOT balanced, they need a variety, different meat contains different vitamins, minerals etc. Try to feed as much of a variety as possible, commonly fed foods include:

- chicken (wings, legs, quarters)

- turkey (wings, legs, necks)

- lamb (breast, neck)

- pork (hocks, shoulders)

- oxtail

- rabbit (whole)

- heart

You must also feed offal, this is very important, without offal your sibe will have deficiencies. Offal includes:

- kidney

- lung

- intestines

- tripe

You must aslo feed a little liver every week (i feed about 20g per week, but im thinking of upping this amount)

The ratio for raw feeding is 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver and 5% other offal

Try to feed meats with bone in where possible (most of the cuts mentioned above are bone in), this ensures you have a good meat to bone ratio. Too much bone results in constipation and hard, chalky stools.

I get Kira's food from a local supplier, I spend about £20 a month for a 23kg dog, this is for a fully balanced diet So it works out cheaper than a good quality kibble

[Lyn]

I've never used the weight/amount ratio to calculate food. It's ok as a starting point guide, but dogs and metabolisms vary. Some will end up overweight on the calculated amount, some won't maintain their weight on it, so you may have to tweek it a bit to suit your own dog. And ABSOLUTELY if you feed exclusively raw, it must be varied. One single item won't provide balanced nutrition. you need a mix of red meat, poulty, offal and bone to get good results. Fruit and veg are optional. We feed them, some don't.

[Sid_Wolf]

I've never used the weight/amount ratio to calculate food. It's ok as a starting point guide, but dogs and metabolisms vary. Some will end up overweight on the calculated amount, some won't maintain their weight on it, so you may have to tweek it a bit to suit your own dog. And ABSOLUTELY if you feed exclusively raw, it must be varied. One single item won't provide balanced nutrition. you need a mix of red meat, poulty, offal and bone to get good results. Fruit and veg are optional. We feed them, some don't.

Good point Lyn, yes the 2% of ideal weight is just a starting point, and a goo place to start with pups, once your dog is fully grown keep an eye on his weight and if he looses weight, feed a bit more, if he gains weight, feed a little less

TBH thats how I work out the bone content aswell, go buy how the stools are looking... not nice but hey! lol

[Tikaani&Aiyana]

Great info Sid rep added. Thats really useful to know

[Grayliana]

Here they get kibbel and some raw. i just can't see my self chop up a cow everydat to feed al 15...

but price we do 6 days with a 12.5 kilo bag and cost me € 32.

i just counted out what it cost me yearly.... but ill spare you that

[Lil Miss Bump]

sid that's awesome....so much stuff i didn't know!!! +1:)

[Siberian25]

Wow. Thanks for the informative post.

How about fish and eggs? 

When feeding raw you feed 2% of the IDEAL body weight, so if your (adult) sibe is at a weight your happy with, you work out his daily amount from that, if he needs to loose or gain weight, use the weight you would like him to be.

Puppies are fed exactly the same as adults, 2% of ideal adult weight, so for a female sibe work around the 21kg mark, for a male, around the 25kg mark.

So for a female puppy, you would work out:

21kg / 100 x 2 = 0.42kg       

0.42kg x 100 = 420g

so you would feed 420g per day, split into however many meals you choose to feed (I feed 2 meals per day, so thats 2 meals of 210g)

A diet of just one meat is NOT balanced, they need a variety, different meat contains different vitamins, minerals etc. Try to feed as much of a variety as possible, commonly fed foods include:

- chicken (wings, legs, quarters)

- turkey (wings, legs, necks)

- lamb (breast, neck)

- pork (hocks, shoulders)

- oxtail

- rabbit (whole)

- heart

You must also feed offal, this is very important, without offal your sibe will have deficiencies. Offal includes:

- kidney

- lung

- intestines

- tripe

You must aslo feed a little liver every week (i feed about 20g per week, but im thinking of upping this amount)

The ratio for raw feeding is 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver and 5% other offal

Try to feed meats with bone in where possible (most of the cuts mentioned above are bone in), this ensures you have a good meat to bone ratio. Too much bone results in constipation and hard, chalky stools.

I get Kira's food from a local supplier, I spend about £20 a month for a 23kg dog, this is for a fully balanced diet So it works out cheaper than a good quality kibble

[Andy]

Wow, 20% of body weight? So, a 50 pound Husky would get 10 pounds of raw food per day? Can that be correct? 200 grams for 10 kg in body weight, from your example is 2%. So to put that into terms us Yanks can better understand, 2% for a 50 pound Husky would be 1 pound of raw food, and 2% fpr a 25 pound Husky pup would be 1/2 pound of raw food, which seems more reasonable.

I also would not think that strictly feeding chicken wings to a puppy (or an adult) would provide the broad base of nutrition needed.

LOL sorry. . .I was on my smart (dumb) phone at work in the early hours of the morning and didn't notice the Zero had slipped in there. . talk about overfeeding.

However the example weights n measures were right. . lol

Sorry for any confusion. . .

[Sid_Wolf]

Wow. Thanks for the informative post.

How about fish and eggs?

lol no problem im our resident nutritionalist well... i might as well be

I personally dont feed eggs, only because kira wont eat them, and we rarely buy them for ourselves. She gets tinned mackrel in sunflower oil, and spratts (small fish)

If you feed tinned fih (mackrel, sardines etc) make sure its in oil, not brine. Tomato sauce is ok, but oil is better (great for the coat)

I also dont suppliment, but you can, you can also feed vegetables, I choose not to, because unless cooked or well blended dogs dont take anything from them, which to me is an obvious sign that dogs arent built to eat them! lol feeding veg or supplimenting wont do your dog any harm, whether it does them any good depends on who you talk to

Check out my raw feeding threads in the food section of the forum