Advise for Dog Food

[insik]

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Hi Everyone,

i now have 5 dogs and feeding them with Vitality High Energy. Here are my dogs:

shih-tzu chihuahua (11 months)
mini schnauzer ( 9 months)
lhasa apso x maltese (8 months)
american cocker spaniel (8 months)
shih tzu( 7 months)


i feed my mini schnauzer and acs 3/4 cups every meal and i feed them 2x a day.
I feed my other 3 dogs 1/2 cup every meal, 2 x a day.
these are based on the instructions on the bag.


here are my questions:

1) my acs and schnauzer seems to be still hungry and asking for food-- should the feeding instructions at the back of the bag always followed? Am i feeding them enough?

2) is it okay to mix vitality HE and another dog food? If okay, what dog food would you recommend to be mixed?

3) do you have any other suggestions for dog food? Maybe cheaper variation?

please help me...

[insik]

Help please...

[icmmendoza]

im not an expert but let me try to help.

1) my acs and schnauzer seems to be still hungry and asking for food-- should the feeding instructions at the back of the bag always followed? Am i feeding them enough?
please help me...

the feeding guideline stated at the back of the bag serves as a "guide", you may or may not need to completely follow it. You feed based on your dogs' current state (figure, age, health, activity), not what the bag states. If you can see that your dogs are not in their ideal body condition, then adjust accordingly til you can see that it is already "enough". Let us bear in mind that some dogs like to eat a lot, free-feeding will most likely make your dog over weight or worse, obese. Satisfy your dogs' needs, not their wants.

2) is it okay to mix vitality HE and another dog food? If okay, what dog food would you recommend to be mixed?
please help me...

I, like most dog owners, only mix 2 different kibble brands when my dog is undergoing transition (dog food change), otherwise, I would pick one over the other. If you are trying to keep track of how much calories and nutrients your dogs are taking, then mixing 2 different dog food brands will just give you a hard time.

3) do you have any other suggestions for dog food? Maybe cheaper variation?
please help me...

I don't have any cheaper recommendations for you because Vitality for me, is the best among non-premium dog foods available locally. However, I recommend Acana. It is very rich in meat content and low in grains, you can check the ingredients yourself to justify that. Vitality roughly costs you 1670 for a 15kg variant, based on this, Acana is only 1960 for a 13.5kg variant, reference here. Though you are spending 290 pesos more, Acana will give you more value since it provides your dog better nutrition overall, and your dog takes a lot of meat and less grains. With Acana's more meat content and far better nutritional content, you are likely to feed lesser amount of kibbles to your dogs, so a 13.5kg variant of Acana will last longer than your 15kg Vitality Variant. You can check everything about acana and their products here.



hope this helps.

[insik]

im not an expert but let me try to help.


the feeding guideline stated at the back of the bag serves as a "guide", you may or may not need to completely follow it. You feed based on your dogs' current state (figure, age, health, activity), not what the bag states. If you can see that your dogs are not in their ideal body condition, then adjust accordingly til you can see that it is already "enough". Let us bear in mind that some dogs like to eat a lot, free-feeding will most likely make your dog over weight or worse, obese. Satisfy your dogs' needs, not their wants.



I, like most dog owners, only mix 2 different kibble brands when my dog is undergoing transition (dog food change), otherwise, I would pick one over the other. If you are trying to keep track of how much calories and nutrients your dogs are taking, then mixing 2 different dog food brands will just give you a hard time.



I don't have any cheaper recommendations for you because Vitality for me, is the best among non-premium dog foods available locally. However, I recommend Acana. It is very rich in meat content and low in grains, you can check the ingredients yourself to justify that. Vitality roughly costs you 1670 for a 15kg variant, based on this, Acana is only 1960 for a 13.5kg variant, reference here. Though you are spending 290 pesos more, Acana will give you more value since it provides your dog better nutrition overall, and your dog takes a lot of meat and less grains. With Acana's more meat content and far better nutritional content, you are likely to feed lesser amount of kibbles to your dogs, so a 13.5kg variant of Acana will last longer than your 15kg Vitality Variant. You can check everything about acana and their products here.



hope this helps.

Thanks so much... it helped me a lot.

When i used to have only one dog, my shihchi, i fed her with premium ones, canidae and go natural but then she seems not to like it gyud...thats why i shifted to vitality and so far, nakauyon mn gyud sila... Do you think Vitality is okay?

[darsmith13]

i think vitality is great.. =].. mao na ipakaon nako sa ako GSD ug lhasa apso.. pero vitality valuemeal lang ako ipakaon nila, not the high energy..

[insik]

i think vitality is great.. =].. mao na ipakaon nako sa ako GSD ug lhasa apso.. pero vitality valuemeal lang ako ipakaon nila, not the high energy..

Adult na imu dogs boss?

[khayru]

pakan-a lang na boss kay puppy pa man pod. building up pa man pod nga stage... take advantage lang ka ana nga stage while wala pa nawala ang gana (gamay na lang kan-on)...

[P-Chan]

1) my acs and schnauzer seems to be still hungry and asking for food-- should the feeding instructions at the back of the bag always followed? Am i feeding them enough?
-if mo nah ang gi hatag nga instructions then yes.

2) is it okay to mix vitality HE and another dog food? If okay, what dog food would you recommend to be mixed?
-I used to mix high quality(a.k.a. expensive dog food) with "normal" dog food as filler..

3) do you have any other suggestions for dog food? Maybe cheaper variation?
-We have 2 dogs (minpin ug shitzu mix) currently feeding them orijen it is expensive pero mao man gusto sa mga tao sa house.. mo complain sila(akong siblings ug dad) nga dili dry dog food ako i.hatag sa mga dogs.. pero before ako gi feed sa akong minpin (kato siya pa usa) chicken thigh (currently @P135/kg 100g/day so the 1kg is good for 10 days, just thaw and feed at room temp) for cheaper alternative "sawdust"( ask sah meatshops if naay sawdust.. best to ask around mid to late afternoon.. last nako kuha was at P45/kg, usually i.pa thaw ra man ni then feed when at room temp nah ang food)..

[insik]

pakan-a lang na boss kay puppy pa man pod. building up pa man pod nga stage... take advantage lang ka ana nga stage while wala pa nawala ang gana (gamay na lang kan-on)...

Nakbasa mn gud ko bro sa net na ili daw ni dapat sila e overfeed na breed kay dali kaau mutambok...

[insik]

1) my acs and schnauzer seems to be still hungry and asking for food-- should the feeding instructions at the back of the bag always followed? Am i feeding them enough?
-if mo nah ang gi hatag nga instructions then yes.

2) is it okay to mix vitality HE and another dog food? If okay, what dog food would you recommend to be mixed?
-I used to mix high quality(a.k.a. expensive dog food) with "normal" dog food as filler..

3) do you have any other suggestions for dog food? Maybe cheaper variation?
-We have 2 dogs (minpin ug shitzu mix) currently feeding them orijen it is expensive pero mao man gusto sa mga tao sa house.. mo complain sila(akong siblings ug dad) nga dili dry dog food ako i.hatag sa mga dogs.. pero before ako gi feed sa akong minpin (kato siya pa usa) chicken thigh (currently @P135/kg 100g/day so the 1kg is good for 10 days, just thaw and feed at room temp) for cheaper alternative "sawdust"( ask sah meatshops if naay sawdust.. best to ask around mid to late afternoon.. last nako kuha was at P45/kg, usually i.pa thaw ra man ni then feed when at room temp nah ang food)..

Thanks for the insight. The reason why wala ko nag attempt ug BARF or sawdust is di mn gud kaau ko mglito sa balay..masconvenient ang dog food. I fed my first 2 dogs with canidae and go nat and pro plan but unfortunately dili kaayo mukaon. Nidhift ko vitality puppy and so far ok ra mn... Ako fear lng is i read sa net it contains vitamin K daw ehich is not good for the liver