aldi doogfood

notfromhere

anybody try it was on rc but money has gotten very tight

are you serious

notfromhere wrote: »

anybody try it was on rc but money has gotten very tight

Havnt tried it and would either to be honest. Surely there are other options just as cheap that you could use.

Out of interest how much is it and people here could give you an alternate option.

Atlantic Dawn

Put a line of 4 dishes out with 2 containing your usualy brand and 2 containing Aldi, see which the dog prefers.

mikom

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Put a line of 4 dishes out with 2 containing your usualy brand and 2 containing Aldi, see which the dog prefers.

Previously on CSI:Dogfood.......

notfromhere wrote: »

money has gotten very tight

irish bloke

What's a doog??

bluecherry74

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Put a line of 4 dishes out with 2 containing your usualy brand and 2 containing Aldi, see which the dog prefers.

That's a bit like putting 2 bowls of chicken mcnuggets and 2 bowls of broccoli in front of a child and feeding them based on their preference.

OP, Aldi food would be quite poor quality. Could you post your monthly budget and I'm sure people will suggest a few brands that don't cost the earth? Also bear in mind that the cheaper the food the more fillers it contains, and you end up having to feed more, so going for the cheapest option can often cost the same as a more expensive brand.

notfromhere

thanks, are you serious, and bluecherry74 things arnt great money wise at home and am getting it in the neck from everyone because my baby is still on rc ha.hate the tought of aldi dog food its just some months we have the 24 euro to spend and other times we dont, cant put the money away every penny goes every week if you know what i mean

are you serious

I would recommend any of the Red Mills range.

In my opinion its a good food and price wise you wont get much better for the price per kg.

Louboutfan

notfromhere wrote: »

thanks, are you serious, and bluecherry74 things arnt great money wise at home and am getting it in the neck from everyone because my baby is still on rc ha.hate the tought of aldi dog food its just some months we have the 24 euro to spend and other times we dont, cant put the money away every penny goes every week if you know what i mean

Hi there,

I was feeding my dog RC and I recently switched to Gain. She is doing really well on it. I pay €37 for a large 12 kg bag. Hope this helps

Tranceypoo

What size of a bag do you get for 24 euro? I would agree with others about Aldi not being great BUT I totally understand about money being tight, we are in the same boat, I had my two on Burns but had to find something cheaper as a 15kg bag that cost 55 euro was only lasting a month, I found Markus Muhle on Zooplus, it's 42 for a 15kg bag or they do a deal on 2 bags for 75 euro, I know it's more expensive than Aldi but it seems to be really suiting my two and it might work out cheaper than the RC for you.

Look just don't feel bad about it, you do what you have to do with the way things are at the moment, at least you're feeding your dog (just watched Animal A&E with 2 starved boxers!), also have you tried feeding some raw veg to bulk up the food? One of mine loves carrots, cucumber,the other doesn't like them so much but they both love leftover wholemeal pasta (no sauce), they're all pretty good things to bulk out the food with I think.

mymo

I saw several people recommend skinners field and trial food, they have it on amazon pretty cheap if online shopping is an option it's 22.99 sterling I think, that's the 15kg bag, it looks good quality, if you subscribe to regular delivery they knock off a couple of pounds.

Here's a link, thinking of trying it for my two,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skinners-Field-Trial-Duck-Rice/dp/B003EGMHL2/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1363898533&sr=1-1
There are other flavours too.

Bannasidhe

Have to admit my lot love Aldi's wet dog food in the pouches.

They don't get it everyday - only when I have run out of freshly prepared chicken/fish and money so it's really just a stop gap.

They won't touch the more expensive wet foods or any dried foods except the prescription one I need for a dog I am long-term fostering (:rolleyes:) so much so that I ended up simply giving bags of Burns/Royal Canin/Hills etc dried food and tins/pouches of you name it we had it to my local rescue because they just would not eat any of it.

carav10

Skinners via Amazon Uk. Good food at a very reasonable price. RC is waaay too overpriced as are a lot of dog foods here imo.

BillyMitchel

OP if I remember correctly someone here broke down the ingredients and it wasn't great. Quick search and you should find it.

I've no idea what people usually pay for Red Mills but Woodies have a promotion or special deal going on for it.

boomerang

Thumbs up for Skinners, a very good food for the price and I add in tinned fish, boiled egg, cooked chicken a lot of the time to boost the protein and I also put in any cooked green veg we have.

fathead82

I was in the same position when I lost my job a few years ago,had to put mine on massbrooks(I think around €19 for 15kg) but I gave them raw eggs or tuna or oxtail soup every second day mixed in with their food. It did them no harm & didnt effect their health or condition. The only problem was that one of them got a bit fat on it.

meoklmrk91

Another thumbs up for Skinners, my dog has been on it for a good while now and I am very happy with him, great food for the price.

ISDW

fathead82 wrote: »

I was in the same position when I lost my job a few years ago,had to put mine on massbrooks(I think around €19 for 15kg) but I gave them raw eggs or tuna or oxtail soup every second day mixed in with their food. It did them no harm & didnt effect their health or condition. The only problem was that one of them got a bit fat on it.

my dogs eat Massbrook Trial and working dog, and do well on it.

borderlinemeath

Would you consider raw feeding OP? What type/size dog have you got? If you do it right you can feed your dog very cheaply. It does take a bit more effort but it's worthwhile doing. I feed 2 x 25kg dogs for about €2 a day and I could cut back on some of the fish and feed more chicken for cheaper. The only catch is you have to buy in bulk so you would need room in the freezer.

Nody

BillyMitchel wrote: »

OP if I remember correctly someone here broke down the ingredients and it wasn't great. Quick search and you should find it.

I've no idea what people usually pay for Red Mills but Woodies have a promotion or special deal going on for it.

You mean this thread? But yea, RC is like Whiskas/Felix etc. (spend to much money on deals/commercial and not enough on the ingredients to motivate their price).

Binka

+1 for the Skinners. If you look on Amazon the field & trial range starts at around £15 to £24 stg per 15kg and there's quite a good selection. The puppy and senior are a bit more expensive. The exchange rate is better for us at the moment as well.
It's well worth buying this instead of Red Mills as a bag of say, Winner, will set you back around €28.

btw, OP, as a comparison how much would 15kg of Aldi dry dog food cost you?

Nody

Binka wrote: »

btw, OP, as a comparison how much would 15kg of Aldi dry dog food cost you?

Aldi's website wrote:

Complete Moist & Meaty
each €3.99 *

---

(3kg. €1.33 per kg

Earl's Complete Dog Food
each €9.29 *

---

(10kg, 92.9c per kg)

OP; you can always argue (correctly) that buying quality food (i.e. not Royal Canin as that's just expensive mediocre quality food but Skinners etc. noted above) will save on your vet bills etc. which for obvious reasons is worth a slight monthly investment by getting better food.

I could not find an exact break down on Aldi's page but this was what I found googling:

Cereals, Meat and animal derivatives ( Chicken 4 % minimum in the moist meaty chunk biscuit with chicken) Derivates of vegetable origin. Oils and fats.Vegetable protein extracts. Vegetables (4 % in the green kibble) Minerals with antioxidant. EC Additives. Coloured & Preserved with EC Additives.

That's just a recipe for problems down the line if true (cereals is a big no no for dog or cat food).

Oh and I found this dog food review link where you can get a very good break down, ranking and review of the various dog food brands but they don't have Earl's as far as I can find . Look at getting at least a 3 star brand if possible; once you walk away from the commerical advertised once (i.e. RC etc.) you can usually get them at a very competative price.

BillyMitchel

Nody wrote: »

You mean this thread? But yea, RC is like Whiskas/Felix etc. (spend to much money on deals/commercial and not enough on the ingredients to motivate their price).

Sorry I meant broke down the ingredients for the Aldi food.

With all the comments and stuff I'm seeing about RC I beginning to think of other food for my dog.

What would be a good alternative to RC for giant puppies? At the moment I'm feeding him RC junior giant as the vet and breeder said its great for their growing bones. Some days he'd also get beef, chicken, rice.

I'm not having problems with RC but if there's a better alternative I'd sooner have him on that.

Nody

BillyMitchel wrote: »

Sorry I meant broke down the ingredients for the Aldi food.

With all the comments and stuff I'm seeing about RC I beginning to think of other food for my dog.

What would be a good alternative to RC for giant puppies? At the moment I'm feeding him RC junior giant as the vet and breeder said its great for their growing bones. Some days he'd also get beef, chicken, rice.

I'm not having problems with RC but if there's a better alternative I'd sooner have him on that.

It's going to be a boring list as it tends to always be the same

Raw feeding (best option)
Taste of the Wild (kibble)
Orijen (also known as Acana) who do a puppy large bred version (kibble)
Full list of 6* dry food

Here's the beginning of the comments on Orijen Large Breed Puppy:

The first three ingredients of this food are all named meat products, two of which are in meal form. There are further meat ingredients fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth, twelth, thirteenth and fourteenth (10 in total) on the ingredient list. We can thus have a high level of confidence in the meat content of this food, which the manufacturer states to be 70% of the total.


This is an entirely grainless dog food. The major carbohydrate source is potatoes, which are also a good source of B vitamins and other minerals. There is a good range of fruits/vegetables in the food, whole eggs and a good range of probiotics.


This food is outstanding in that it contains no grains whatsoever. Grains are not a natural part of a canine diet and it is pleasing to see dog foods on the market that exclude grains completely from the diet. This is a far more natural food concept and combined with a complete lack of any low quality or controversial ingredients is the reason this food is placed in a class above the more conventional form dry dog foods.

Full details and comments are here.

Here's RC Maxi Large Breed Puppy as comparison:

The first ingredient in the food is a named meat product. It is the sole significant meat product in the food, and our confidence that this product contains a decent amount of meat is low. There is a further meat product 6th on the ingredient list, but this is not only a minor ingredient but is inclusive of water content (about 80%). Once that is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, and the dehydrated ingredient would probably be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list. It is highly unlikely that this ingredient makes any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food.


The main grain in the food is rice, which is a decent quality grain. Corn, however, is a low quality ingredient. It is a difficult to digest grain that is commonly associated with allergy problems. Corn Gluten Meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. In plain English, that bit of the corn leftover after most of the nutritious bits have been removed. The husks of psyllium seeds are more filler.


Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required. Soya oil is a further substance commonly linked to food allergies. We would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food.

Full details are here.

bluecherry74

I looked as Skinners last year when I was trying to find a food that suited my dogs (I eventually switched to raw) and the Field & Trial looks great for the price.

Don't be afraid to add healthy leftovers to your dog's dinner as well, OP. leftover cooked spud, veg, meat trimmings etc - basically anything that's not heavily spiced can be given to bulk out the meal. Just avoid things that are overly fatty or contain a lot of onions (a few slivers of onions in a spoonful of stew is fine, but they're toxic in larger quantities).

ISDW

Just one point about eggs in commercial food - egg white is not great for dogs, it can bind them. egg yolk is fantastic, which is why some of the dried foods use 'egg product' and not whole eggs.

boomerang

Never heard that before ISDW. Do you mean the egg white constipates them?

Egg whites are a fantastic source of protein, as are the yolks, but the yolks are more energy dense so we've gotta think about calories if the dog is already at optimal weight. I think a whole egg yields about a 100 calories.

Bannasidhe

boomerang wrote: »

Never heard that before ISDW. Do you mean the egg white constipates them?

Egg whites are a fantastic source of protein, as are the yolks, but the yolks are more energy dense so we've gotta think about calories if the dog is already at optimal weight. I think a whole egg yields about a 100 calories.

I was interested to hear that too as my foster dog has a liver shunt so his diet must be carefully monitored.

I have been advised that he does need some animal protein and research on-line suggested a cooked egg a week mixed in with his dried food is a good way of making sure he gets this I should not under any circumstances give him the yolk- only the white.

ISDW

boomerang wrote: »

Never heard that before ISDW. Do you mean the egg white constipates them?

Egg whites are a fantastic source of protein, as are the yolks, but the yolks are more energy dense so we've gotta think about calories if the dog is already at optimal weight. I think a whole egg yields about a 100 calories.

Raw egg whites contain avidin, which can bind with biotin (Vit B7) - i.e. impair the absorption of it.

ISDW

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I was interested to hear that too as my foster dog has a liver shunt so his diet must be carefully monitored.

I have been advised that he does need some animal protein and research on-line suggested a cooked egg a week mixed in with his dried food is a good way of making sure he gets this I should not under any circumstances give him the yolk- only the white.

Who advised that? If it was your vet, I would obviously listen to them, if it was one of us keyboard warriors, I'd do further research.

paultf

ISDW wrote: »

Just one point about eggs in commercial food - egg white is not great for dogs, it can bind them. egg yolk is fantastic, which is why some of the dried foods use 'egg product' and not whole eggs.

I don't know much about this area but one of Burns moist foods has whole eggs in it:-

www.burnspet.co.uk/products/burns-for-dogs/penlan-farm-range-egg-brown-rice-vegetables-moist-dog-food.html

Ingredients:
Free Range Egg (Min 20%), Organic Brown Rice (Min 20%), Seasonal Vegetables (Min 20%), Minerals & Vitamins

Also they suggest if your dog has digestive problems that you can use cooked egg instead of chicken with rice:-
www.burnspet.co.uk/petcare/burns-pet-nutrition-advice/digestive-problems.html