Feeding the moose or you didn't WANT to retire did you?

Hi All;  
Might just have to sell the ranch, or maybe just work forever ... that dang molly the moose is eating us out of house and home!!!  She won't stop growing!
7 month old now... last weigh in at Christmas she was 75#  She must be at 90# now. I can't weigh her anymore, our scale only goes up to 300# , we are still under that but I can't pick and hold up the monster long enough for the scale to settle.
We figured it out . Right now she eats  40# of costco chow in 3 weeks , costs us $29 at the store (120 miles one way)  That's 18 bags a year at $522 plus fuel...  OMG and she is only 7 months old.... and not finished growing yet!!!  My guess is #40 will last 2 weeks by the time she is 1 year old...  of course the Giant breeds take longer to mature... might be even longer growing . Just shy of $700 a year if I'm correct ...

Well, I guess she is large, so that when Liz and I are forced live in a cardboard box... she can keep us warm...
Maybe we can salvage road kill...  wouldn't that smell wonderful!  Mastiffs are know for flatulence and drooling...  Luckily being 1/4 Great Pyrenees she is not a wet mouth nor a bad gasser. Thank goodness for small favors!


Currently at 7 months old she is acting like a teenager!  She knows what we want her to do but... she just has to push the issue.  Tell her to go lay down , and she goes to her bed and sits there looking at you ... like this is good enough RIGHT?   To make her lay down I have to threaten to stand up ... then she will drop to the floor "THUD" wagging her tail like gee dad this is fun...  30 seconds later she is up and getting in trouble AGAIN!!!   Good doggy ... just keep saying that Tom,  she is a good doggy ... she will mature eventually!

Given the circumstances, I might be inclined to join Amazon Prime and get free delivery of the food. Yes, feeding the other beast too, and yes, the mail person will hate you for it, having to lug that food to your door, but would save you a lot of gas at least!

Or, better yet, start a meat bird chicken tractor operation and feed them to the dog while you fertilize you’re pastures - stacking functions!

The good news is, they eat less when they are grown than while they are growing.  We have three dogs and the smallest is 75 lbs.  The next two are 102 lbs and 116 respectively, and neither of those is grown yet.  All I can tell you is, I feel your pain.  Feed the best quality dog food you can find.  The dogs will eat less.  It may cost slightly more, but between the smaller amount they eat and the fact that they are healthier, it's a win in the long run.  I wouldn't supplement with road kill, but I do supplement with venison.  They supplement themselves with birds, rabbits, and small rodents.  Just tell yourself it's far cheaper than raising a child  :)  The college costs alone will feed a lot of dogs, and dogs outgrow their clothing much less often.  They also house train much quicker.

Fortunately she'll actually start eating less as she matures, teenagers eat a lot more than adults.

Hah! Clever Moose. The fun thing is - she's trained YOU that if you want her to lie down, you have to start to stand up.

Yes, 7 months is a bad time. My girl's 14 months and about 50-55 lbs, and I finally have a reprieve. A 40 lb bag of dog food (plus some supplementary kefir and occasional chicken) now lasts me more than 2 months. At 7 months, she was going through a 25 lb bag in about 3-4 weeks. I find buying better quality dog food saves me money. I like to check the labels on a couple and figure out which have the highest protein + calories per unit weight.

Do you have a local feed store? You can often find off-brand decent dog food at a feed store, which might be cheaper and closer than costco.

Molly needs something to do?! ^.^  I think playing games with you because she is not otherwise occupied.  Totally normal child :=)  She is gorgeous. by the way.

At least a dog that big will add body heat to the house. You can subtract that from the cost of the food

Trace Oswald wrote:

Feed the best quality dog food you can find.  The dogs will eat less.  It may cost slightly more, but between the smaller amount they eat and the fact that they are healthier, it's a win in the long run.

"Best" does not always mean the most expensive. My friend was feeding her dogs some special brand she *thought* was good only to find out later it wasn't. She's switched to Royal Canan and since I'm babysitting her standard poodle this week, I notice a big difference. Apparently the company that produces it actually does tests and studies on the health of real dogs, which some of the fancy brands don't - they just go with what appeals to owners.

I've enjoyed seeing pictures of Molly the Moose. I was pretty unimpressed with the Christmas post, though. Do you realize that at 5 years of age, I weighed less than your dog did at 5 months. No wonder she's eating you out of house and home. In fact if your current 90# estimate is correct, that's what I would have weighed as a young teen, it just took me years, rather than months to get there!

Jay Angler wrote: "Best" does not always mean the most expensive.  

I have found that to be true as well, but Royal Canan is quite expensive too.  A quick search says it's anywhere from $58 dollars for 35 lbs on up.

Wow! Ok. So, here are some numbers we're dealing with, right now. Interestingly, our closest Costco is also about 120 miles away, lol. Bailey, also a giant breed - Irish Wolfhound - weighed 32#, when we brought her home, on 11/25 - just before she was 10wks old. (Let that sink in - 32# at 10wks old!) At her last visit to the vet, a couple weeks ago, she was at 50#. I am 5'4", and haven't had to bend at all, to scratch her ears, for weeks. She should reach her full adult weight, by 18mos, and 90% of it, by her first birthday - her mom weighed about 160#, and her dad weighed right at 180#. We had to switch her to a slightly pricier food, because she was having some wicked digestive trouble - and no one around here carries it. Yay.

After doing the math, hubs opted to order 2 foods, that he blends together. They cost $56@, and he gets 1@/mo. They only add up to 50#, total, and we aren't supplementing with anything else - but they're nutritionally very dense. The cool part? They get delivered to our door! So, $112/mo ($1,440/yr), delivered. So, it's not cheap, and it may go up, a bit - but, it's good quality, and we don't have to trek out, to get it, so no gas, no added maintenance, etc. The giant breeds all eat like crazy, the first year, or so - but, once they're done growing (because believe it, or not, they do, lol - we've been calling Bailey 'Clifford'😜🤣), it drops down, again.

Carla Burke wrote:Bailey, also a giant breed - Irish Wolfhound

She is just beautiful.  I'm thinking of getting a female Wolfhound after I retire.  I want to breed her to a male APBT.  It creates a dog called a "lurcher". Lurchers are different mixes of breeds, but adding APBT to Wolfhound or Deerhound adds a lot to the longevity of the dog and gives it gameness, while the Wolfhound add the size and speed.  Lurchers are used in competitions and for hunting in Europe quite often apparently, but are hard to find in the US.  Maybe by that time I can find a breeder that already specializes in lurchers, it's hard to say.  Greyhound/APBT is another popular mix.

Thank you, Trace! We kinda like her, too...

Carla Burke wrote:Thank you, Trace! We kinda like her, too...

Maybe you'll decide you would like to make lurchers  some day 😊

Hi Thomas

We have been considering a Great Pyrenees.   We have held off for all of the reasons you mention.

Hi John;   She is huge, she is a headstrong teenager, she eats MORE than a horse, and she may turn out to be the best doggy we have ever had!
And considering the current civil unrest, I don't mind having a #100 guard dog sitting in the front yard!

We always had big dogs, there is something comforting about having them around.  Now we have 3 I guess they are medium technically, but to us they are small at 21lb.  Long story short we brought in a stray and she had 2 puppies the night we brought her in.  Fell in love and kept all 3.  We have been having a hard time making ends meet, so I did some research and started buying  Diamond Naturals LAMB MEAL & RICE FORMULA  It gets good reviews for pet health, my daughter has a site she goes to that tells if the pet food has lots of recalls and law suits ect. and they are good there.  It cost me about 36.00 for a 50lb bag at Tractor Supply.  The cool thing is it's costing me a little less then I was spending on a not as good dog food at Walmart, and it last twice as long as the old dog food.  I always thought feed stores were more expensive then stores like Walmart, but it isn't necessarily true.  You can get this one on Amozon and it does qualify for free shipping with prime.
I have only been using it for a couple of months now, but am very happy so far.  The dogs seem to like it.  Thanks for sharing your pics.

Hi Jen;
Funny you should mention that.
With Costco food unavailable, I reverted to what we fed our large Golden Retriever.
Diamond Naturals! Ordered it thru Amazon prime and signed up for auto ship!  First sack was 25$ delivered! Will be here Thurs.

thomas rubino wrote:And considering the current civil unrest, I don't mind having a #100 guard dog sitting in the front yard!

Oh, how I hear that!  For some mysterious reason I just can't figure out, nobody ever seems to come into our yard any more.  Nanook is a total peach, but he looks pretty impressive.

And here we have some current photo's.
Molly is now just 9 months old... only nine more months before she might stop filling out!
We are currently keeping her on a chain.  We would not care for her to get in a family way... WE hate It!  
Molly does not seem to mind, although she does roll her eye at you like Really ? Really? Promise I'll be a good girl...
EDIT)  She's lying! The puppy in her won't let her!
Just a few more months and we can get her fixed... that is if things are back to normal by then.