My opinionated guide for buying dog food

My opinionated guide for buying dog food

The three key things

I remember back on December 2020, when I first welcomed my dog into my house, how confusing it was to get into this inmense industry. From bedding, toys to food and treats. A whole world to choose from.

I’ve come along way since December 2020, ok ok it’s barely May 2021 and it’s only half a year, but listen I’ve been thinking and trying out different diets with my dog. And this entry is to help you out on how to get started.

There’s 3 things to consider before and during while you choosing your doggy’s food.

1. How much 💰 you can invest and where can you get it?
2. What type of food you want to feed your doggy?
3. How many times you want to feed your dog?

It’s not only training a dog, is also training one self.

How much 💰 you can invest and where can you get it?

When I first chose Maya’s food, I decided I wanted to give the best of the best to her and went for the expensive ones. After two months I quickly started to realize that it wasn’t really scalable long-term. Maya was 7-8 months, this is the age when they eat the most!

So my first advice, which maybe is also something you want to think before getting a dog, is to realistically know how much money you can invest in your dogs meals. And commit. Make up a monthly budget for your dog’s meal, trust me, it’s really useful as this will become a fixed expense. And it’s totally fine if you can’t afford that ultra-premium-brand, just keep it real!

When you are in the search for your dog’s food keep these questions in mind:

• Can I buy it nearby?
• Can I get it delivered?
• Do I have enough space to store the food?

My dog falls in the category of medium sized dogs, she’s as of now 1 year old and weights around 23.5 kg. So if talking kibble (dry food) she eats around 350 grams of dry food a day! In a week, this adds up to 2.5 kg/week. So I’m looking around 10 kg of food a month. No worries, I’ll later mention how much grams of food you need to give your doggy. But if you’re in the same situation than me, or even worst, you need to think ahead when fetching your groceries 🛍. This is why it is super important that you can buy your dog’s food in a nearby shop.

Now, if you’re like me and you don’t use your car to do groceries, can’t, or don’t want to carry a hefty bag of 10+ kg, no worries! I also don’t carry my dog’s food home, I get it delivered 🚚.

How you get it delivered is up to you, but if you rely on your dog’s food being delivered be 100% sure that you can still get your dog’s food in a nearby shop. This will be handy if you messed up the delivery schedule of the dog food or if the delivery is delayed and you ran out.

Why can’t I just like buy a different one while mine arrives? Well, you totally can. Just keep in mind that changing your doggy’s food often or very quickly can upset your pal’s belly and result in “not so easy to pick up” 💩 (aka diarrhea); more info here. If you want to know my experience on changing my dog’s food, check this post

Aren’t we talking money here? Yes, but knowing where you can get your dogs food directly influences the cost of the food you’ll be getting your 🐶.

Now, if you already chose the food and had a budget, the only thing left to keep in mind is if you have a dry space where you can keep the food. Some food bags may come in a reclosable bag, these are amazing, but if your chosen food doesn’t have that zip, you may want to ensure the space you will keep your dog’s food is dry. If you don’t have it in a dry place and you forget to close the bag, well, you’ll have to buy another bag sooner than needed. If you don’t close the bag properly, the food can go rancid and can taste/smell bad or can hurt your pal. If you want to read more, take a look here.

So to add it all up, 1) set a monthly budget, 2) know where you can buy it, and 3) have a dry space to store it.

Maya’s food budget

I live in Berlin, in the area of Kreuzkölln, and my dog’s food of choice is Bosch’s Medium Junior HPC of 15 kg and the closest store I have around me is Das Futterhaus at Hermannplatz.

The price of the 15 kg bag of the Medium Junior in Das Futterhaus is 40€, which matches the online retail price. Since I prefer not to carry the 15 Kg bag all the way to my place, I chose to order it online every month. I take advantage of Amazon’s Subscribe and Save to automatically get it shipped once every two months, get cheaper price and get it delivered to my door step.

So, as of the time of writing this post, the price of the 15 kg bag is 40€, at Amazon around 29€, if using Subscribe and Save you get 15% off, ending at 24€ for 15 kg. A 40% off! And if I ever run out of food, I can safely rely on Das Futterhaus to supply my with a smaller bag while I wait for the big 15 kg bag! 🕺

This means that my monthly budget for dog food is 25€, plus the treats, some chicken legs here and there, so that all adds up to around 30-35€ every month. For me, knowing an approximate is enough, if you need a more accurate budget, then go ahead!

What type of food you want to feed your doggy?

Of what I’ve navigated through the internet and talk with other dog owners, I’ve come to a conclusion around what people feed their dog.

• Dry food / kibble
• Wet dog food
• Raw food

The easiest, most simple one, is the kibble. Kibble or dry food is the easiest to start with, it’s easy to store, lasts long, and it’s easy to prepare when you’re busy. I, personally, give Maya dry food as her default meal. But what I also do is prepare her some nice warm meal or raw meal.

If you think about it, kibble is like eating cereal every single day. Yikes! I’m sure it gets boring sooner rather than later. So I also try to mix things up from time to time. For example, I’d serve her bowl of dry food but on top I’d put a little bit of pure tomato sauce with some low-fat goat cheese. Or as simple as adding on top some low-fat yogurth. This keeps Maya always intereseted on her next meal. But what’s important on kibble, is the protein percentage and the type of protein. Prefer animal sources, e.g., chicken, lambd, rabbit, duck, over plant proteins.

I’ve also tried wet dog food and my dog loves them. At the very beginning, I gave my dog half dry food and dry wet food. This is how most dog blogs suggest to feed dogs. The main reasoning is because dry food absorbs liquids and may cause some belly issues. And this is where the wet food comes in the picture to balance things out.

As I said, my dog loves it. I just have some minor problem with the way my dog deals with it. She would 💩 more liquid than solid and definetly way more smelly than with kibble and cooked food.

My dog has a very sensible belly and gets upsets rather easily, so also changing foods is something that she doesn’t handle good at all. So the main reason why I opted out from giving her wet food as part of her daily meal is because it made her 💩 smell bad and it’s really super hard to pick up #keep-the-streets-clean. That said, the brand that I trust the most, is available at Das Futterhaus, and can be delivered to me is Rinti Sensible and also really good the Kennerfleisch.

Now, there’s this other side, raw diets. Raw diets come from the idea that dogs are descendants from wolfs, and therefore they’re digestive system cooperates better than feeding them dry food or (canned) wet food. Which I understand and agree, but if you’re like me and you have a budget and no space in the fridge or freezer to store the meats, well then it’s tough to have them around.

Now raw diets aren’t simply given your dog left overs, that’s a big NO. This is getting them the appropiate meat cuts that have enough protein and fats that will keep your dog healthy. In my little experience with raw diets, the main meats are chicken legs or wings without the skin, turkey, and salmon. I’d always encourage people to check this type of diet out but to always consider that storing this meats is a challenge. Cuz if you don’t your dog will get sick. But for a more official voice, you can take a read into WSAVA Global Nutrition Committe: Raw Meat Based diets for pets. This diets also tend to be expensier than kibble or canned wet food, so be sure to allocate a budget that fits this diet and commit to it.

Before starting a raw diet with your dog, always talk to your veterinarian about his/her input on the matter.

For what has been working great for me and Maya, is a diet based on kibble, with added topings. Filled Kongs or LickiMats with frozen low-fat yogurth, with a little honey and peanut butter to kick things off. The ocassional chicken legs without skin and the “Markknochen” (marrow bone). And when the time is available, some tomato chicken soup with potatoes is her favorite dish.

But whatever you feed your dog, make sure you give your dog their favorite dish once in a while.

Quick list of what you should not feed your dog

• Almonds
• Macadamia nuts
• Garlic
• Onion
• Sugar
• Ice cream
• Chocolate
• Cinnamon
• Avocado

For more information read this post from the American Kennel Club.

How many times you want to feed your dog?

Overall, there’s three ways of feeding your doggy:

• Once, at morning.
• Twice, morning and dinner.
• Three times, morning, lunch, and dinner.

I personally think that dogs are wild animals and are not like us, humans, that require fixed meals throughout the day. But what’s really important is that your dog gets its meals consistently at the same time.

Once a dog is used to get its meals at a certain time in the day is really hard to change his feeding time. Reducing the feeding frequency once your dog is already used to a schedule may cause hunger pukes. Hunger pukes are essentially the effect of a dog’s stomach being too acid. Hunger pukes are most common on raw-fed dogs as kibble tends to stay in the stomach for longer time compared to raw meats.

So chosing one and commiting to it is key to keep your dog healthy, I don’t personally think there’s advantages and disadvantages over the other unless a veterinarian instructs you to do so in a specific way.

What has worked the best for me and Maya, is twice a day. Though, Maya seems more inclined on eating more during the morning rather than in the evening. Therefore, I tend to give her a heavier breakfast than dinner.

For example, if Maya eats a daily 350 grams a day of kibble, breakfast would look like a 250 grams kibble bowl and at dinner around 100 grams. This is the outcome of, me paying attention at her eating preferences, so first look at your dog’s eating preferences!

Now, if your dog simply eats everything doesn’t matter the time, then you just might want to be sure that your dog is eating enough and having enough exercise. For starting you can take a look at the kibble’s recommended amount of food per weight/age and increase as needed, do not go too high over the recommended limits! If your dog is eating way too much, ask your veterinarian for advice!

tl;dr

So to sum it up, 1) have a monthly budget for your dog’s food, this will help you to have a financial overview of your dog’s cost and adjust as needed. 2) Choose the type of food you want to give your dog, this will avoid your dog having an upset belly and pooping all liquidish all the time. Remember, if it’s not solid it’s not healthy and you most probably won’t pick it up in the street. So keep your dog healthy and keep the streets clean! And lastly, 3) feed your dog in a schedule. Don’t keep your dog hungry in limbo! Have your feeding schedule, and remember feeding time is also an amazing trainging opportunity!

If you’re looking for some good reliable food bowls take a look at these ones: