Hello all

I choose to feed my dog on Hills Science plan and thought it would be a good idea to feed the puppies on the same as the mum , now people keep saying i should put the puppies on a more fairer priced food so the new owner can afford to buy it .

What would you do , keep them on what  you think is a good food or change ?

I would keep on the best that you can to be honest, rear them the way you want them reared, hand over a puppy pack of the hills if they do this and it would then be up to the new owner if they want to change it or not.
I would be looking at giving the pups the best start in life and if this is what is working for you and the pups then i would continue with it. Sorry but raising a pup isn't cheap and tbh for me paying an extra £10 a bag a month would be worth it knowing i am giving my dog the best and if they are thriving on it why change it.

Ignore these other people.. continue as you are if the pups are doing well on the food..

Thank you so much i am glad that someone else has the same views as me .

I have Hills puppy packs to give but would also be happy to order a 8 kg bag of food for each puppy to go with as i think it's a grate food .

If my breeder have given me an 8kg bag of food i would of beemed even more, no tbh i would stick with the puppy packs, if the new owners are planning on keeping them on the Hills then maybe they are able to get a discount through you after the pup has been purchased.
Its a kind thought though, i guess if you have the money to spend and the new owners you know will be keeping the pup on Hills for the time being then yes that would be a lovely gesture.( am i reading your posts correctly?)

If your puppy owners can't afford the food that you are currently feeding them .....can they afford the puppies?

If YOU feel that the food you are using is the best for them at this stage of their lives, then your new owners should respect that and change the food over a period of time.

To change the food just to satisfy a lower cost just beggars belief!

Stick to your guns!!!   If you are using it and have been happy with the way the puppies are coming on - then so be it!

Yes you are , the most important thing for me is that they go to there new homes with the best possible start and if that means me sending them with a bag of food and lot's of other bit's i have been buying  then i don't mind as money is not everything i never bred to make money just to get myself a nice show dog :)

Absolutely, keep them on the good stuff!

All puppies should be raised on the best, so dont allow others to badger you into cutting corners. If the families want to feed something else then they can, but not at the expense of your beloved litter.

Another of the stick to your guns club here :)

These are your pups, much loved, cherished and well provided for so anyone lucky enough to be getting one should appreciate the level of care and condition they're in by your rearing skills.

Anyone taking on the huge commitment of adding a puppy to their household shouldn't IMO give a second thought as to what the cost of the pup's diet is - if they can't afford to feed one correctly how can they afford the puppy now or the many costs involved in dog ownership over the next 12-15 years?

I hope all goes well for you in finding forever homes for these precious bundles and that there is a special puppy among them who wins your heart plus a few rosettes too!

best wishes, Teri :)

Thanks i am sticking to my gun's they love the food so much and also tripe seems to be going down very well too with them not so much with my nose lol

So far all the families have been quite happy with the food they are on and i have offered to get a large bag for them to .

It's good to have others that think the same :)

> but would also be happy to order a 8 kg bag of food for each puppy to go with as i think it's a grate food

thats nice of you :)

stick with the food you like, tell the new owners why you like it but explain about how to switch foods if they decide to.

I too would happily buy all puppy owners a large bag of food to start them off to encourage them to stay on the reared food for the first month or two at least.  Why should you feed to suit a possible puppy buyers pocket?  What puppies get at this age is most important!  Keep to your guns and  feed what you want and rear YOUR pups in YOUR way.

I send all my puppies off to their new homes with a large bag of food as well as tinned puppy meat and trays of forthglade puppy. That way I know that my babies will be fed the same food for at least a month. I give written info on all aspects of feeding as well.

I tell all my puppy owners that i have reared my puppies raw as i believe it is the best way to feed, of course that is not for everyone but i have to rear the litter in the way that i feel is best. All puppies go with a supply of food and i explain that if raw is not for them then please use what i have given you to slowly change your puppies diet. At least then i know they will have what they are used to for a while at least. I completely agree with everyone, a breeder must rear in whatever way they are happy with, not the best way to suit the new owner :)

I dont breed but I do agree that you should bring your pups up the way YOU think best. Loki's mum if someone is buying a new pup at probably not a small cost then I agree can they afford the pup anyway if they cannot at least feed the dog the way it has been reared for the first few weeks/months even if that is a more expensive food. The offer of  a bag of food as a starter is a really kind gesture. My breeder gave us a 15kg sack at the breeders price to get us going and I was delighted. I later choose to go entirely raw.

Hi Waterbabies - another vote to sticking to the food you like :)

Like someone else has said, my breeder offered to get extra bags of food at breeders rates for each of us to collect when we picked up our puppies.  Her pups were fed on Nutro then and there was a big difference in prices between her stockist and our local pet food suppliers.  Later we were able to make a deal with a local breeder who would order for us.  I was completely happy to buy the recommended food but it was even better to get it at a lower cost!

Another cost saving by the breeder was to buy a large roll of vet bed to be divided amongst any of us puppy owners that needed it.  I used it as an opportunity to buy extra's for both dogs and it cost less than half the price of the smaller pieces.

New puppies are expensive in all manner of things but it seems daft to pay full prices if you can save a bit here and there by shopping around.  Another thing I found very helpful was the list on online stockists that my breeder suggested.  If you have any favourite suppliers for dog medicine, food, training aids etc it can be very useful to give to your puppy people - particularly if this is their first dog.  For anyone who is suddenly finding themselves counting pennies this is a great way to save money. 

Im going to be weaning my pups onto RC, one of my new owners has asked me to wean onto a cheaper brand as she cant really afford to pay RC prices.....ok.. so lets say out of a litter of 4..1 has to be weaned competely diffrently... I explained that all the pups would be weaned exactly the same and would be going with a bag of food etc, she then said that she would have to think about it and get back to me........pups havent been born yet(anytime) and I think I might have lost one of the buyers because I wont do what she wants!!!!!

TC, Maybe its a blessing in disguise if they are rethinking about the food side of things. If they honestly can't afford RC for a pup how on earth are they going to afford all the other bits and pieces when raising a pup for the first year, so many things crop up as well. If this is their real worry i would be glad that they are re-thinking this, i can't see how an extra £10p/m on food is really going to break the bank?? That is what we would be really lookng at for a cheaper type complete food. - Some people huh!!

You are even going to be giving them a small bag of food, its then up to them if they decide to change it, many people do i know. From the litter where my boy came from he was raised on RC, i still have him on this as it works for him, was told that many owners are changing the diet to Burns, but i don't know of anyone who would ask a breeder to raise one of the pups out of the litter on something different. Its not on!!

A good friend of mine wasn't happy with the food that the breeder raised their pup on, changed it for something more expensive and better quality. Funny isn't it..

> one of my new owners has asked me to wean onto a cheaper brand as she cant really afford to pay RC prices

Major warning bells   - a potential new owner assuming they can dictate to the breeder - I think not!

> she then said that she would have to think about it and get back to me........

Were this a prospective new home for one of my precious pups I'd be advising that the decision wasn't theirs to think about but mine and that I'd made the decision already this was not a suitable home for my puppy.

> pups havent been born yet(anytime) and I think I might have lost one of the buyers because I wont do what she wants!!!!!

Don't look at this as having 'lost one of the buyers' - it's far better that you've found out sufficiently early on that this home is entirely unsuitable!  As has been pointed out, if someone can't (IMO easily ) afford the price of the food you're intending to wean onto then they cannot possibly be in a position to assure you of a life time of best care and commitment to this puppy.

Chase this 'buyer' with a flea in his/her ear and count yourself lucky that you have at least 8 weeks to find a proper forever home for this puppy.  Genuinely good homes are priceless so worth waiting for :)

Good advice from everyone else.. they are your pups...

The only concession I make for puppy owners regarding weaning is feeding processed as opposed to raw.

All my pups are weaned onto raw, but I appreciate this does not suit everyone, its a personal thing, and I am happy to accomodate.. but, all pups who are not fed raw arre weaned with Burns, not a cheap food, and this is what my pups go to new homes with..

If anyone had made a request to put onto cheaper food, I would seriously rethink about the home..

the difference is cost is not that dramatic.. RC is around £40 per 15k bag, burns around £37, beta around £28 and other around £18.. the amount they are looking to save is around £5 per week.. not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things..  :-(

Try this offer I have found on the Internet for FREE dog food.. All my friends have requested it.  My French Bulldog is chuffed I did...
Happy to help all like minded Dog Lovers..

http://pet.superoffers.co.uk/info/eukanuba-dog-food-try-it-for-free/

You can get free samples from all dog food munfacturers if you give them a call. :)  It's only a small sample bag though, not going to save you money but are great as treats. :)