How much does food cost?

mfpost

New member
My family and I are considering purchasing a Newfy puppy. We have been considering this for over a year and have ready a lot about the breed. We have read a number of things that talk about how expensive a Newfy is, so we are now trying to put a number to that.

Could any of you tell me how much you spend on dog food per month?
Also any info on dog food brand, or other monthly expense would be helpful.
 

Angela

Super Moderator
I am in Canada so the figures are in Cdn $.

splash is 17 weeks and eats Taste of the Wild. A 30 lb bag lasts a couple of weeks and costs about $55.00

The other 2 eat ProPlan Select Turkey and Barley, a 30 lb bag coste $68.00'and lasts about 3 weeks.
 

wrknnwf

Active member
Speaking from my own experience...everyone's mileage will vary.

My Newfs as puppies ate considerably more than they did as adults. Where my pups would eat from 4 to 6 cups of food a day split into three meals, as adults they ate 2 rounded cups per day, split into 2 meals (one rounded cup per meal). I feed Taste of the Wild (rotating the protein source with each bag) and a 15 lb bag, at $33.00 US, lasts one adult dog nearly a month, so a puppy is roughly double that amount. But I also give plenty of very tiny treats when training, so you need to factor that in as well.

Puppies eat a lot until they are around 7 to 12 months and then they don't seem to want or need that much food any more. If fact, they will often tell you they aren't that hungry at certain stage. So if you can hold out cost wise until then, you might be pleasantly surprised.

The biggest thing to consider is that you want them to grow slowly and then remain lean and muscular all their lives. It's far too easy to overfeed a Newf. We often tend to overfeed thinking it will make them grow bigger, but the emphasis should be on keeping them thin and healthy rather than big and heavy. You shouldn't try to make a dog grow bigger than he is genetically programmed to grow. Trying to do so, will only cause health problems. You can get a rough estimate of his adult size by looking at his relatives. Not just the parents, but the siblings and grand parents, too, if possible.

Newf weights vary greatly. So a trim and healthy 120 lb male is far more desirable than an overweight 160 lb male and will be less likely to develop health issues, especially orthopedic ones. Be sure you are familiar with the standards for the breed (especially structure), and also learn to recognize when a dog is overweight or lean. The numbers on the scale are not as important as getting your hands on a dog and feeling his ribs. If you can, go to any dog shows in your area to get an idea of what a Newf should look and feel like as far as weight goes. Talk to the handlers (after they've shown in the ring) about feeding and ask them if they will show you how to check for healthy weight on their dogs. Or ask your vet. DO NOT RELY on what the dog food bag suggests for amounts to feed. It's very, very wrong. Each dog is an individual whose food should be adjusted to him, not what some marketing person decides.

As an aside, it's funny that when people (non Newf owners) look at my dogs, they estimate their weight to be anywhere from 200 to 300 lbs and think they eat 8 cups per day. Seriously! When I tell them my dog weighs 125 lbs and eats 2 cups, they are astonished. Newfs don't need to be huge in order to be impressive.

Feeding a quality adult food is paramount to health, so look at prices on premium foods in your area. I believe you will substantially lengthen your dog's life if you feed good food and keep him reasonably active. All my Newfs have lived well over 11 years with the oldest one being just shy of 14. He was active all his life and ate the best (not the most expensive) premium food which I felt I could afford.

My sermon for the day:
Make sure you are buying from a quality breeder who emphasizes health and working ability over size. If the breeder continually boasts about how large their dogs are, consider that a red flag. And if they tell you they have never had health issues in their lines of dogs, then run like all hell broke loose. Also find out if they show their dogs or their dogs participate in working events or other activities. Even if you have no desire to show or work your dog, Newfs are meant to be active to a certain degree, though we think of them as couch potatoes most of the time. They can't be athletes in the sense of jogging partners, but should be able to do the work they are bred to do. Strong, steady workers.

There are plenty of threads in this forum on selecting responsible breeders, so spend some time reading those and learning what to look for in a breeder.

In any event, just remember, bigger is not always better. If you are going to err, do so by feeding slightly less rather than over feeding.

Best of luck in your decision making.
 
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lmfoltyn

New member
We have 2 newfs and a lab...we feed Taste of the Wild and a 30 pnd bag is $52.00. This only lasts us a week and a half. We feed our lab 2 cups per day, our large male newf gets 5 cups per day and our little girl newf gets 4 cups per day. They are fed twice a day. It is expensive to feed them...we also have our male newf with chronic ear infections so he goes through a bottle of Zymox a month and that costs $32.00. Our youngest newf is the only one who is on pet insurance and that runs us $50.00 a month.
 

Kimkc

New member
We adopted our Newf about a year ago, and have found food to be the least expensive aspect of owning a Newfoundland. We feed Taste of the Wild. A 25 lb bag is about $55 and lasts almost a month- we feed almost 2 cups, 2 times a day. We supplement with Salmon oil and a joint support daily. I groom myself (except for nail trims -$25 about every 6 weeks). The biggest expense is veterinary care. Our girl has seasonal allergies and suffers from frequent hot spots and ear infections during certain times of the year, thus extra trips to the vet. Also, flea and tick and heart worm preventative. Our girl is on Heartguard and requires two chews (so double the expense) and the largest flea and tick topical available. With that being said, I wouldn't trade it for the world! The love and devotion from a Newf is unlike any other. Hopefully, our house will never be without one of these gentle giants <3
 

Jeannie

Super Moderator
As said before feeding is the least expensive thing. I feed Taste of the Wild and a 30 lb bag costs about $42. Chase gets 1 cup twice a day. She also get 1-2 apoquel per day for allergies cost $1.70 per pill. I'm a certified master groomer so I don't have to pay for grooming. IMO the biggest expense is vet care. All meds are usually higher dosage so they cost more. I got insurance for Chase but I never used it and after the 1st year the cost doubled. I figured I'd be ahead just to put that much money per month in a account for her expenses. I've never even come close to using it all.
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
We've only had adults (rescues). Our first girl went through several varieties of high quality kibble which we found out she was allergic to. We ended up with a combination of a raw and homemade diet which cost us about $300/mo. But it worked. In the course of the 5 years we had her, we spent $4000 on insurance and another approx $4-5000 on various things that were not covered by insurance (pre-existing conditions, etc), deductibles, cost sharing, etc.

Our current newf eats Tuscan Naturals lamb now. A 30lb bag is $55 and lasts us 3-4 weeks. She gets 3 cups a day.

Supplements, any medications, pet insurance or a savings account, training classes, grooming if you don't do it yourself, etc make up the bulk of the budget for newf ownership.

And all the stuff they eat/destroy when you aren't watching them.
 
Wow..after reading all the posts on food I am beginning to think that Ella is getting too much food. I feed Annameat grain free scacha. I love that it's a small local company that uses hormone and antibiotic free chicken, however, its 80.00 for a 30lb bag. She eats 2 cups 2 times a day with 1/2 pound topper of fresh pet. So I end up spending around 80.00 a month for kibble and 60.00 a month on fresh pet. Like the other members posted, I don't think a Newf is overly pricy to feed. My mastiff ate twice what Ella eats. And it depends on what you buy. Taste of the wild is a really good food and not too expensive. You can always do a little research on dog food advisor and see how different kibbles compare to each other. https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
 

mfpost

New member
Thank you everyone for your help. I looked up some of the dog food brands you mentioned. Based on the input here & what my local cost is for the dog food it sounds like a puppy is going to average around $74 per month and an adult Newfy is going to be more like $45 per month.

Thank you for the other input and advice too. I will be following up with other posts related to those topics.
 

victoria1140

Active member
Ours are raw fed due to allergy issues.

Costs us approx £110 per month and that's 3 dogs at 3kgs of meat per day.veg/fruit and supplements
 

Sound Bay Newfs

Active member
I feed Pro Plan which is a moderately priced food. Check out Chewy.com. They have great prices on food and they deliver right to your door!
 

Angela

Super Moderator
I feed Pro Plan which is a moderately priced food. Check out Chewy.com. They have great prices on food and they deliver right to your door!
Interesting that you say it is reasonably priced.
I feed ProPlan Turkey and Barley to Evan and Owain and converting it to US$ it would be $85.00! Cdn it is $68.00
 

mfpost

New member
At current exchange rates that comes out to about $45 per month per dog. Does that sound accurate? Would you mind sharing your recipe?
 
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