# What do you feed your Great Pyrenees?



## Green Acres Farm (Jan 6, 2017)

Curious to what everyone feeds their Great Pyrenees LGDs. Thanks!


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## Latestarter (Jan 6, 2017)

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-dry-dog-foods/

I feed mine a mixture of 2 feeds. The vary between 4-6 brands. mostly depends on sales/price/availability. Right now the combination is 4 Health turkey & potato http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/4health-dog-food-dry/
with Blue Wilderness Chicken Recipe (Adult) w/life bits. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/blue-buffalo-dog-food-wilderness-dry/

The other 2 primary brands I alternate with are Pure Balance chicken & brown rice http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/pure-balance-dog-food/
and Rachel Ray Nutrish zero grain http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/rachael-ray-nutrish-zero-grain-dog-food/
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/rachael-ray-nutrish-zero-grain-dog-food/
I've also used;  Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/earthborn-holistic-primitive-natural/
and Taste of the Wild High Prairie Formula http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/taste-of-the-wild-dog-food-dry/ 

Another brand I used to mix in was Purina Pro Plan Focus (don't use any more) http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-pro-plan-dog-food-dry/


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## NH homesteader (Jan 6, 2017)

Wow is feeding a dog complicated! Lol I do not have a LGD but I do love Taste of the Wild! 

My dog with higher protein needs I used to mix puppy food with regular, and my other dog got the regular only.  Now I use Rachel Ray's food and give the more energetic,  hunting dog,  eggs,  organs and cottage cheese,  etc for extra protein. 

Like I said not a LGD but dog food nonetheless.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 6, 2017)

Well...I feed my dog ordinary dry dog food...but...I cook for her in the winter...LOL...yes...make a week's worth at a time and put it in containers for morning feedings (I feed twice a day)...combination of deer, chicken and fish with eggs, carrots and peas, creamed wheat and oatmeal.  If there is not much fat and it is really cold...I add some bacon fat that I saved...sounds crazy, but she loves it and goes crazy happy when she sees me coming with a container of "her" food


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## OneFineAcre (Jan 6, 2017)

Retriever High Protein from Tractor Supply.


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## Baymule (Jan 6, 2017)

We were buying Victor dog food, but they stopped eating it in favor of the cheaper Tractor Supply Retriever dog food. We fed the neighbors dogs while they were out of town and our dogs went nuts for the cheaper dog food. So we bought them some and they still like it. I figure they will tire of it and we'll go back to Victor. I like the Victor better, they have MUCH smaller piles of poop.

http://victorpetfood.com/products/dog/victor/professional/

When I cook sausage or chicken fried steak or other meats, they get the pan drippings over their food. Tonight they got a quart of canned chicken backs, with broth, split between the 2 of them, over their TSC dog food.

Sometimes they also get scrambled eggs-they love them!


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## frustratedearthmother (Jan 6, 2017)

Pro Pac mini chunks and 4-health.  Tonight, because we have unusually cold weather for our area I cooked a little bonus so they could have a warm meal.  Made a pot of rice and added a dozen eggs and about a half cup of lard along with some leftover roast.  Also in the colder weather they eat about half again as much in volume as they usually do.
No idea why there's a 1 at the beginning of my post.  Just proves that posting from my phone stinks!


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## bonbean01 (Jan 6, 2017)

Baymule...if you have an abundance of eggs...which we do...it is great to cook or scramble them for the dogs!  Not just the LGD, but house pets too   Stretches the dog food with a high protein!


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## Bruce (Jan 6, 2017)

I fed Merlin what he and his family of Pyrs ate: Sportmix Wholesomes Fish meal and Rice. For some reason he also thought he should eat the alpacas' pellets from their "treat feeder". I don't know what would be in there that would interest a dog but I didn't let him. The boys don't get very much as it is. 

He did get excited about the Earthborn Primitive Feline that our 3 indoor cats would *NOT* eat. $15/$16 for 4 pounds. I got tired of adding it to the chicken's morning "snack" of kitchen scraps. Figure it was kinda stupid to feed it to chickens when 50 pounds of chicken feed is $3+ less than the price of that 4 pound bag. It is still a lot more expensive than the Sportmix ($33/40 pounds) but at least it is a LITTLE closer in price per pound. I dumped about 3 pounds of it into the can that had his food and mixed it in.


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## Latestarter (Jan 6, 2017)

Hey @bonbean01 great to have you back! Seems like you've been gone for an age. Hope all is well with you and yours.


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## babsbag (Jan 6, 2017)

I feed whatever is on sale up to a point. I won't buy Old Roy from Walmart. Pedigree has been the choice right now, Purina dog chow is common too. My house dogs get grain free from Costco.


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## Latestarter (Jan 6, 2017)

I feed myself junk food and crap... really unhealthy dietary habits over all   I figured I'd try to do a better job with Mel (& I'm really trying to improve my diet as well). He does also get any meat/fat scraps when I cook meat, bones from cooked hams/beef, and cooked eggs every now and again. He also gets a large dog biscuit and ~1.5-2 cups of yogurt most every morning, sometimes milk, sometimes cheeses. He eats pretty well (for a dog) all things considered... With all the incidental stuff he gets, it's really no wonder his dog food lasts as long as it does... which is kinda nice when the food is costing $40-60 a bag for ~28-40lbs


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## NH homesteader (Jan 6, 2017)

Isn't it amazing how expensive it is?


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## babsbag (Jan 6, 2017)

The price of dog food is insane and my cat's  super high protein diet is more than that for 1/2 the amount.


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## Latestarter (Jan 7, 2017)

Yeah...  Kinda like us humans... it costs a LOT more to eat right/healthy than it does to eat junk/crap food... Probably why only the rich can afford to eat that way   I can't imagine spending that kind of $$ to feed a cat... sorry, just not a cat person at all. At least the cat won't eat the same quantity as a dog, so though the price is the same for 1/2 as much, it should last as long I would think.


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## babsbag (Jan 7, 2017)

Fortunately my cats don't eat like the dogs. I have three cats and one of them had IBS, we tried everything, and a switch to super high protein food solved the problem but that means all three cats eat it. I will say that their coats are gorgeous and they don't shed anymore.  And believe me, paying what I pay is better than what I was cleaning up every day.

I don't understand how someone that likes animals can not like a cat   I have owned a cat, or been owned by a cat, since I was old enough to say the word.


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## Latestarter (Jan 7, 2017)

If I'm sitting down and a friendly cat jumps in my lap, I'll give it love and attention. I don't "mind" friendly cats, and I do like kittens (all baby animals actually), it's just most cats are so independent and want to own me, and I don't wish to be owned. They are also so/to temperamental... friendly one moment, then biting and scratching the heck out of you... They are also a feral animal nightmare and the largest single killer of native wildlife such as song birds and small mammals. And they do it for fun, not for food. I shoot feral cats.


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## babsbag (Jan 7, 2017)

You make some valid points. I have one indoor/outdoor kitty that found me a few years ago, the other two stay inside and can only hunt in their dreams. Now when outside kitty brings me a mouse/gopher/mole/vole/rat she gets my blessings and praises but I prefer that she keeps them outside.   I have never seen her with a bird but not saying that it doesn't happen. The chickens have taught her a thing or two so maybe she avoids feathers. But you are right, they are very independent and can be very fickle; I think that they still have two feet in the jungle.  But I like them all the same.


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## Latestarter (Jan 7, 2017)

No problem at all with the cats killing vermin... rats, mice, moles, voles, gophers, but they generally don't stick with just those...  Had stray cats in CO and would find "exploded" doves in my back yard too frequently... I have seen a cat here on my property on several occasions and have not shot it. I have a pretty decent gopher/mole/vole population right now making dirt piles all over my yard an fields. Long as the cat's killing them, it's welcome here.


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## NH homesteader (Jan 7, 2017)

Yup I am not a cat person either. My parents had one that acted like a dog and rough housed with my dog,  only cat I ever really liked much. Stray cats are a very bad thing for wild animals,  very true .

People can eat healthy without being rich.  It's just a lot of work.  Eating naturally and raising your own food...what can be healthier than that?  

That being said I tried to make  dog food and it would be fine  for my mutt but did not work for my alano. So back to the dog food aisle I went.


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## dejavoodoo114 (Jan 7, 2017)

I feel like I am slacking on the feed for my LGDs. I feed my injured Pyr Sportmix for Coop that has highest protein and fat content. I feed my other Pyr their cheaper food for maintenance, this is what works the best to keep him in shape. The puppy gets Diamond Naturals Large Breed puppy food. I never imagined I would ever have 3 different diets for 3 different dogs....


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## Alexz7272 (Jan 7, 2017)

Dont have LGDs but we feed out four pups chicken hearts & gizzards & cooked rice mixed with retriever bites from tractor supply then topped with fish oil. Oddly enough that is what they prefer over the expensive stuff. They also get goat or beef bones from a local butcher/acquaintance once to twice a week and also whatever they scavenge around the farm during the day.


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## Ferguson K (Jan 7, 2017)

We feed our dogs retriever hi pro from tractor supply. My dogs eat it just as well and do fine compared to the no grain whole feed we were eating. Obviously more biproduct means more waste....and tons more poop.... and gas....

They don't mind and eat it right up.


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## Green Acres Farm (Jan 10, 2017)

@Southern by choice and @BrendaMNgri, what do you feed your dogs?


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## Beekissed (Feb 4, 2017)

I feed Good Friends brand dog food from Rural King....the dogs LOVE it!  And they look glossy on it, so I'm quite pleased that it only cost $11 for 40#.  Feed the same brand to the cats and they are healthy and glossy on it too...$7 for 18#.  

They all also get a lot of veggies, fruit, and raw meat scraps and bones from various butchering seasons and even from a fresh road kill deer.  The dogs also get a raw egg now and again.  The dogs, cats and chickens also eat whatever they catch...rabbit, squirrel, rodents, etc.  Kitchen scraps every other day or so.  

They pretty much eat by the seasons~I forage for apples and pumpkins in the fall, which turn into dog and chicken feed(they all prefer the pumpkins well rotted), many deer killed here in the fall result in tons of fresh meat and offal, with bones and scraps saved in the freezer for later in the year, chickens killed twice a year and they get bones and scraps from that, they eat dropped fruits from the peach trees...Ben usually picks his own right off the tree, that rat!, in garden season they are getting canning scraps, spoiled veggies, etc.


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