I’ve had my dog on Victor Professional for her entire life to this point. Recently I’ve been having a hard time locating it locally (within 25 miles). I had tried another variation by the same company and after cleaning up shitty crates 3x I threw the bag out.

Once I ran out of her food this most recent time, and the local place was out again, I decided to start cooking for her. We’re very fortunate that a local operation does military free food giveaways for local places getting rid of their expiring food. My wife brings home probably $250 sticker value worth of food a week for free, mostly breads, snacks, and deli products that the places can’t legally sell anymore but still have a week or better to use.

One item they usually have to push on people is chicken breasts, so I would wager we get about 4-6lbs of chicken breasts free every week. SO…easy/cheap dog food.

My realization came when I’m over here cooking this bitch her food and I’m worrying about nutritional macros, vitamins, nutrients…dafuq am I doing, our farm dogs ate whatever scraps looked too good for the pigs and they lived 14-15 years on average.

This one is getting about 1400-1500 calories a day (I do watch her calories so she doesn’t get fat) 50% grains, 35% protein, and 15% vegetables, mostly sweet potatoes and broccoli.

To hell with worrying about anything past calories, I realized I don’t count my kids macros LMAO. This dog is eating rice, chicken and vegetables with the occasional salmon or red meat thrown in. So eating better than me!

She gets her medicine monthly, wears a soresto collar, eats healthy ass natural foods, lives in air conditioner and gets more new toys than my kids, and I’m over here worrying about damn macros.

I realize why our hair turns grey and we die before we should on days like today. GD dog!

Yes, but...

A) Your dog will love you unconditionally and will never disappoint you; and

B) Your dog cannot advocate for itself. You have an obligation to do the best you can for it, because it doesn't have a choice in the matter.

No better way in the world to wake up then just rub muzzles with your dags … love ‘em up good before daybreak.

We get our dog food at the feed store and stock up to make sure we always have a 6 to 8 months supply these days.

My wife boils Walmart chicken breasts & microwaves sweet potatoes for our beagle as a supplement to the 1 cup of Acana Appalachian Ranch kibbles (no grain & low carb). She also mixes in chopped Italian parsley for his dog breath. Sliced carrots & cherrios for treats. The Acana is ordered online from Petflow.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Yes, but...

A) Your dog will love you unconditionally and will never disappoint you

Just to add to this.

You dog will be a big part of your life, but you'll be his/her whole life

I'm just starting out with a puppy who turned eleven weeks old today. Little guy is either charging hard or re-charging hard, right now he's re-charging. I had forgotten how much work a puppy can be. Good news he's very smart, after a week and a half he is now doing Sit on command and also knows how to ring the bell strap at the back door when he wants to go out. Bad news is that he will ring it just to go out and play but puppies do need to play. As for the House Training, he's about 90% there but improving every day. Food is a mix of Life's Abundance kibble and either chicken or turkey.

My cat gets birthday cards and other mail from my Vet. My Doctor only sends bills. After his last Vet appointment, it became clear to me that the cat has better, more actually caring health care than I do! And if cat food keeps increasing in price (was $3.99, now $6.99) I will also become his Chef. So he will have better health care and eat better than I do. Strange world, aint it?

Curious which Victor you tried?

Pro is the purple bag, correct?

We've used that or the turquoise bag and did the yellow bag once. Our dog hasn't had an issue with those three, but they've been hard to find here as well.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Curious which Victor you tried?

Pro is the purple bag, correct?

We've used that or the turquoise bag and did the yellow bag once. Our dog hasn't had an issue with those three, but they've been hard to find here as well.

It was the purple bag, she’s been on it since she weened off mama. And when we tried the turquoise bag she shit everywhere. Been very happy with the Victor and I know changing foods can upset stomachs so it wasn’t the food, but the reaction was severe regardless.

Glad you came up with a plan... seems dogs are different..

mine can eat anything and will....

even ate 1.5lbs of cooking chocolate once and did not even effect him.... he was one happy dog.

We used to have 4 Airedale's and bought the premium dry foods for them at over $100a bag.
I began to think about what I was actually feeding them despite the cost. I realized that no matter what you pay for its still Dog Food and made with the worst possible ingredients, Paying more does NOT equate to much better quality.
I'm 71 and always remember as a kid that my parents NEVER bought Dog food, our dog always ate table scraps. All our Dogs lived long healthy lives.
I decided to make my own Dog food. I bought a huge Stainless steel pot and cooked huge batches, divided it up into smaller bags, and vacuum sealed, then froze the bags.
I used Pot roasts from Costco or whatever cheap meats I could spot along with the 80% ground beef from Costco. I ground up and added, Sweet Potatoes,Pumpkin,Apples,Beets,Bananas,1/2 dozen eggs, a bunch of carrots, and left overs in the fridge. The Dogs loved it and there coats and activities reflected the new diet.

We now occasionally Dog sit an Airedale. The owners spare no expense with the Dogs food. All the food they provide us for the Dog is EXPENSIVE! Ground up animal guts that need refrigeration, frozen pork bones with meat, Tubes of refrigerated tubes of mystery meat etc.
Despite what these foods cost I doubt they are better than what I used to make and I know exactly what my Dogs were eating when I made there food.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: armored,

I feed my pup a partial raw diet, a homemade cooked diet and to make sure that she is getting everything, some human grade, dehydrated food, The Honest Kitchen.

My pup is a very active, healthy, beautiful pup with a shiny, soft beautiful coat.

Her Vet always comments on how beautiful her coat is and her great health.

Recipe for the homemade cooked "puppy casserole"

1 large sweet potato chopped
2 large carrots chopped
2 or 4 beets
1 bunch of Kale
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch of parsley
(Destemed and finally chopped)
1 cup Green beans cut in small pieces
1 apple
A handful of blueberries
1 container and chicken liver
1 package of chicken hearts and gizzard
1lb of ground beef
1lb of ground turkey or chicken
3/4 cup brown rice
1/2 cup oats meal
1/3 cup quinoa
1/4 cup of ground flaxseed

2 cups or so of water or bone broth
Cook until tender/done
Then add 3 or 4 eggs shell and all, mix to combine the eggs will help bind it together.
Then 1 can of mackerel
1 can of salmon
1 can of pumpkin puree.
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp olive oil


Mix well breaking up the pieces, it will look like canned chunky dog food.
Let cool and put in containers/bags.

I have a 8qt instant pot, it will make enough for two 1 gallon riplock freezer bags.

One goes in the freezer, the other the fridge. I feed a 1/4 cup per meal and the bags last two weeks.

If you were to feed exclusively, it wouldn't last as long (unless you have a very small dog)

My pup loves it!

I also will add other things to it here and there, depending on availability of leftovers, market, sales and such.

The last batch also had beef tongue, and kidney.

This usually cost me around $30.00 - $40.00 bucks, and I always try to buy organic.

ARman

I don't cook specifically for the dog. However, she usually gets to clean the plates, bowls, pots, and pans, unless there is garlic in it. After she's finished, they go in the dishwasher.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Fenris,

I have never understood why some people feel you have to spend big bucks or your dog is not eating right...or something like that. I feed my retriever Purina Pro, just like every other dog I have owned. He loves it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
I have never understood why some people feel you have to spend big bucks or your dog is not eating right...or something like that. I feed my retriever Purina Pro, just like every other dog I have owned. He loves it.

We've always kept two labs at a time. An old one & a young one, and we've fed them Purina Pro Plan for at least 20 years. They've all lived long & happy lives. I'm not about to pay big bucks for gourmet dog food, when they'd just as soon go out in the field & eat horse turds. You never know how much of the world is edible until you own labs.

Jelly, I do not understand. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed James?

He is a sweet, sweet boy. You, not so much.

Btw, get rid of the soresto thingy. He don't need that shit.

quote:

1400-1500 calories a day

Holy crap how big is your dog???

AND WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?

At 10 months, active and 55 lbs for a female 1400 calories is her low point. When she starts running with me in a few months it’ll likely be 1700-1800. As you can see from the photos she isn’t putting on unnecessary weight. And the soresto collar is a new thing for me, but after my first spring in this area I noticed it helped with the insane number of ticks.

Tab's cockatoo sits with her every night and has his own portions set aside on her plate.

She cooks breakfast for both every morning. They get eggs, veggies and toast.