Cheap Dog Food Advice

I mix some canned with the dry, making a stew type meal. That usually get the dog interested. I think plain old dry food is pretty boring for dogs. And I make a little dinner dance and tap the spoon on the bowl and sing a little ditty about how good their meal is going to be....I know, sounds odd, but really my dog seems to get more excited about meal time if I'm into it too.

Have you tried those refrigerator rolls at the dog food store?

How about mixing a glob of canned food with the dry? It worked for our dog and it was a good way to hide pills as she got older and higher maintenance. A can could last you 3,4 or 5 days, depending on how much you need to mix in.

I like that you are thinking "out of the box" to find what works best for YOUR dog. Years ago, with our first Ridgeback, we were told they needed a "rough" diet (i.e. cheap-o dog food). She ate it, seemed to like it, kept weight OK... but she pooped 7 times a day! So we moved up the feeding quality scale.

I like a nice, basic kibble, but there are varieties. My dogs go on a chicken-based kibble, so I can easily switch between brands if traveling. Our breed tends to not do well on a richer meat, such as lamb, but you may find your dog has a preference for one meat over another. Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish are all pretty common, & have different flavors.

Look for the middle of the road brands @ a local pet shop (either independent or chain). I have fed Nutro, Royal Canin & Eukanuba, both of which I believe are national brands. In the midwest, we have Fromms & American Natural Premium, which are locally made & may not be available where you are. This way, you can keep costs down, but also have a variety of tastes/textures that might appeal to your dog.

We mix our kibble with water, so that our dogs don't choke, since they feed like a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos, but it also brings out the scent/flavor, so that might help. Also, feed very small meals, but often. That way, you aren't throwing out an entire meal if not eaten.

If you do not have luck with some of the varieties, I would recommend going with a grocery-brand food. There is concern regarding contamination, so be aware & stay on top of recalls. I would start with Pedigree, it is a basic chicken/corn product, nice & greasy. Purina One is also a good choice. I've also read good reviews on Costco brand food, if you are a member.

If kibble just isn't working, consider switching to a raw diet. It takes more preparation/storage on your part, although you can get pre-made packages (they are significantly more costly than buying bulk chicken, etc. & making your own). It is more than just tossing raw meat to the dog, however, you need to make sure the diet is balanced with other foods, such as vegetables.

Finally, I am attaching a link for Satin Balls, which is a complete-food recipe for dogs. We've used this when our dogs are sick & go off their food - you can make marble sized balls & force feed if necessary to keep energy on a dog that is going downhill. But it can also be fed in larger sizes for the dog to consume on their own.

Best of luck, I hope something works! T. :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Put-weight-on-your-dog-wi...

My dogs eat plain old Purina Dog Chow and love it.

Every dog is different. And some can be quite finicky, as you've discovered. Using a raw meat diet probably contributed to her pickiness. I don't know at what age you began that or what her exposure to dry kibble was prior to that.

We also have a GSD. Unlike many dogs, she is not really food motivated. She is picky. She is attention oriented. Anything for attention, but some days she just doesn't eat. She eats mostly at one sitting, and not at all the rest of the day, even when food is available. When we travel she loses weight b/c she will not eat (if we kennel her).

GSDs are also known for having sensitive stomachs. I can't give ours greenie treats, b/c they make she tends to throw up after. Many treats she doesn't eat at all, and simply hides, never to bother with them again.

When she was a puppy, Iams was what we used. But she began having larger/softer stools (and more often) than she had during her first year. My SIL used Purina One with her labs and had good luck, so we tried that. it definitely was a better fit for her (smaller stools and fewer of them, means less filler in the food).
I did try one other food for her around that same time (a high end specialty food, can't recall which one now) and it had her vomiting with diarrhea every 2 hours round the clock for 24 hours... until I took her to the vet and they gave her some herbal concoction. Never switched again.

She will eat some types of cheese for treats (not just any cheese), and she will eat dried liver/chicken treats (actual pieces of freeze dried meat, not "biscuits"). Most other dog biscuits/treats, she won't even hide them. She'll accept them from my hand, then immediately drop them on the floor and ignore them.
She, too, loves raw meat if I give her scraps from dinner prep, or left over scraps from the grill.

But, they are just that... a treat. If you are offering lots of goodies throughout the day, or every other day on a regular basis, it will affect her view of her kibble. Just like kids learn to hold out for junk food when they know it will be available if they skip the broccoli.

But, for whatever it's worth, we still use Purina One. Dry kibble. She stays on the thin side, too, and always has been. The heaviest she ever was was after a hospitalization where they put her on steroids for about 2 weeks and she ate and ate and ate... LOL
Once she was off those, she went back to her normal eating patterns and stays around 55 lbs. She's 11 years old.

I never buy cheap market stuff. Not too long ago dogs died and it was traced to Beneful. Once in a while mix some canned food with the dry food. They love canned food.

We use Hills Science dry food for dogs 7+ age. I have picky dogs too... I mix chicken or beef broth in their food daily. When I cook with any homemade broth, roast chicken, etc, I save the broth and use it for my dogs.

If they have a sore tummy or something, I boil hamburger meat and mix it with rice. They like that. I've also given them chopped up boiled chicken.

We hide their medicine in bits of beef hot dogs, cheese or peanut butter.

Good luck!!! We love our fur babies and make sure they have the best!!!

My dog is fairly picky and the ones she likes are 4Health grain free (sold at tractor supply stores) and taste of the wild.

The one dog food I have never seen a dog turn down is Orijen regional red. Now, that will break the bank. But it smells like juicy steak when you open the bag. If cost isn't an issue, you can probably get a free/cheap sample to make sure your dog will eat it.

Our dog eats beneful mixed with real chicken meat cooked with garlic. She's spoiled. Dad gets a costco batch of chicken on the bone, marinades and bakes it, de bones it and minces it, and puts it in zip lock sandwich bags. Most go in the freezer, one lasts a week. He adds two table spoons of the chicken, and about 1/2 cup water to the dry food and lets it sit for a minute or two, then gives the whole thing a good stir before serving. If it is not well incorporated, the dog will methodically find and only eat the chicken.

since it seems that your dog will strike for a few days straight, when you first offer the cheap brand, just mix a small amount with the dehydrated stuff. a mouthful or two. If she eats it, you can always serve up more. if she walks away, you won't have tossed a whole bowl.

Best,
F. B.

Our dog is 14 1/2. We've found that as long as we mix a little wet food in, he'll eat just about anything. However, about the only brand he will eat without wet mixed in is Beneful. He seems to like that one a lot.

We feed our lab Authority grain free for large breed dogs from PetSmart. She eats anything in sight though.

Dogs often like the cheap stuff better because it is full of fillers that taste good but are horrible for the dog, and encourage the dog to over each since they get less nutrition from each cup of food (it will also cause them to poop more times each day). I am confused why you are throwing out food just because it was not eaten, dry food sometimes sits in my dogs bowl a couple of days, but is still just fine. And ignoring new food for a couple of days is totally normal dog behavior when you switch, especially if it is something that is higher in nutrition and lower in fillers. My dogs get taste of the wild and yes, it took them a couple of days to start enjoying it, but it solved skin and ear infection problems we had with them that turned out to be a direct result of cheap foods using grains as fillers.

We get Taste of the Wild from Amazon. Different flavors. 30 lb bag delivered for about $32. They have salmon, buffalo, fowl flavors. My dogs love them all. Meat is the primary ingredient.
If that won't work for you could you mix in some people food flavor i.e. a spoonful of scraps from last nights dinner or some broth or a big spoon of leftover soup and use up what you have first.

Have you tried mixing a small amount of "people food" in there? I would put out a very small amount of the dry food even if that means you feed 3 times a day. I would use a high quality dry food so that what the dog eats is at least nutrient-laden. The cheaper stuff makes it hurt your budget less if you throw it away, but usually they have a lot of fillers in them I think.

Our dog isn't all that interested in eating, but we don't give her treats during the day either. She's trim but a healthy weight. We use Wellness brand - we start with the "Core" grain-free but can't always get it, so we have used the same brand but just the regular adult version. She gets about 3/4 cup a day (she's about 17 pounds and mostly an inside dog - not doing the run-around-all-day thing that labs and other big dogs do).

Anyway, if it's getting late and she hasn't eaten, we take a half a slice of turkey, slice it up in small pieces (about the size of a dime) and put it in there. My husband has taken to adding a little water to it and microwaving it for a short time just to create a turkey "broth" that mixes with the rest of the dry food. We've also used bacon grease - we use uncured bacon (no nitrates) but pour off the drippings in a small container and keep it in the fridge. Then as needed, we microwave about 2 teaspoons until it's melted, and mix it in with the dry food. She devours it every time. I wouldn't use other lunch meat due to the preservatives, but plain turkey or beef would work.

You could also try melting/softening some peanut butter and mixing that in.

Good luck!!

My dog has the opposite problem, we are trying to have her lose a few pounds...but one thing we replaced some of her dog food with is canned pumpkin and she loves it.
So maybe you could mix your dry food with that and see if the dog will eat it?

I'm not sure about brands, but I have this suggestion: when we had a finicky dog, we went to a nice pet store, a "mom and pop" type of store, rather than the large chains or supermarkets. They offered us samples to take home and try. And they offered a return policy if the dog didn't like the food. You might try bringing your dog to one of those independent or smaller stores, and talking to them. Sometimes the pet store owners have really good advice.

canidae brand dog food. my dog is sensitive to beef. she will vomit if she eats any beef at all. (even human grade beef scraps from the table) she loved and ate/gained/ and thrived on canidae brand dog food. its a little bit pricier than the food you can get in a box store but the quality is worth it.
just another food to try if your current feeding plan stops working.

we revitalized our old dog by getting him blue seal dry food. i swear he dropped 5 years!
khairete
S.