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Affordable Meat For Dogs?

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  • 24-06-2009 8:13am
    #1
    Lemlin
    Registered Users Posts: 22,249 ✭✭✭✭


    Looking to get a bit more meat into my dog but don't want to pay anything over the top. Liver is very cheap but is it really that good?

    Also, should I be cooking the likes of liver before I give it to the dog? Some people have said to me that it can give dogs the runs if not cooked.

    Does anyone know an affordable meat that is good for dogs? I'm looking to put a bit more conditioning and muscle on my cocker.


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    #2
    Whispered
    Registered Users Posts: 14,772 ✭✭✭✭Whispered


    We feed a combination of royal canin for large dogs, we subsidise this with whatever we're eating (I think some people think this is a bad idea) we're careful in that we don't give him scraps etc but he does get a lot of tuna in oil, boiled eggs if we're making them anyway, and then we get bones from the butcher which we don't cook (never leave dog unsupervised with bones). Despite having parvo and promises of a dog with digestive problems, he's a picture of health. Shiney coat and very muscly. Granted, thats part of his breed but you can see he's a healthy strong boy.

    I think the main thing is to add some variety to his food, and protiens from fish & meat do them good. Our butcher does something called dog mince, we don't get it but a guy we walk with feeds this to his dogs and they bulked up on it. If you ask your butcher for dog meat/scraps he might be able to help you out.


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    #3
    abbey2000
    Registered Users Posts: 138 ✭✭abbey2000


    Liver is very good for dogs, my two love it. I always cook it for them. I use it as treats to when training them. I give them tuna to, oils are very good for their coats.


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    #4
    leopardus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 105 ✭✭leopardus


    As far as i remember liver should be fed sparingly to dogs. You could look up RAW or BARF diets for dogs to give ideas of cheap sources of suitable meat. I know turkey/ chicken necks (uncooked!!!) and pieces often form the base of these diets, with added green tripe (seem to remember seeing this advertised on Irishdogs.ie??), minced beef/ turkey, heart in moderation too.


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    #5
    looserock
    Closed Accounts Posts: 302 ✭✭looserock


    leopardus wrote: »
    As far as i remember liver should be fed sparingly to dogs.

    I've always believed this to be true but I cant remember why now, is it too much iron?


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    #6
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    What are you feeding the dog at the moment, if it's dry food then check the packaging because although there's a rough guide if your dog is more active then you just increase the amount of dry food given.

    Meat wise offal is cheap in butchers liver is high in vitamin K as far as I know but all in all offal is a good choice just as long as it's varied and other meat is fed too (if you haven't already Google BARF diet it will give you more info on what's best to feed meat wise).

    Aldi do free range chickens for under a fiver, and they have Angus beef mince for under 4 euro and other irish meat as well nothing wrong with the quality of it. Dunnes also has irish mince for fairly cheap. Just check out every week what offers are on in the supermarket sometimes there's a section where they are selling things off cheap and you can freeze them straight away if you need to.


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    #7
    palaver
    Closed Accounts Posts: 216 ✭✭palaver


    I buy 'dog mince' at the local butcher's. It's cheap (at my butcher about 10 Euro for 2 kilos) and usually contains beef and/or lamb with less desirable pieces the butcher wouldn't sell for human consumption or leftovers. I mix it with oatflakes or cooked vegetables, whatever is at hand. My dog loves it.


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    #8
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    Remember to stay way from anything that may contain raw pork.

    Pigs can be infected with the Aujeszki virus (aka pseudo-rabies) which is totally harmless to humans but potentially lethal for dogs.

    As it poses no risk to humans, it doesn't always get picked up in tests.


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    #9
    Lemlin
    Registered Users Posts: 22,249 ✭✭✭✭Lemlin


    Guineapigrescue wrote: »
    What are you feeding the dog at the moment, if it's dry food then check the packaging because although there's a rough guide if your dog is more active then you just increase the amount of dry food given.

    Meat wise offal is cheap in butchers liver is high in vitamin K as far as I know but all in all offal is a good choice just as long as it's varied and other meat is fed too (if you haven't already Google BARF diet it will give you more info on what's best to feed meat wise).

    Aldi do free range chickens for under a fiver, and they have Angus beef mince for under 4 euro and other irish meat as well nothing wrong with the quality of it. Dunnes also has irish mince for fairly cheap. Just check out every week what offers are on in the supermarket sometimes there's a section where they are selling things off cheap and you can freeze them straight away if you need to.

    I feed her James Wellbeloved but she doesn't seem that keen on it or any other dry food. I'm planning to get a bag of Orijen when this bag of JWB is gone as I'm told it has more meat in it.

    Some days her appetite seems very poor and she eats very little.


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