[Naturella]

Shane, another option is 4Health both grain-free and grain-inclusive by Tractor supply. Some formulas are about $1/lb, which is about as good as it gets with decent foods. Diamond Naturals (grain-free and grain-inclusive, both formulas are better than Pedigree) gets pretty close to your budget at 40lbs for $30, although many here do not favor Diamond due to its recall handling history, but ingredient-wise, it is better than Pedigree. You can still order them online from tractorsupply.com and have them delivered.

[Shane M]

I’ve been feeding Pedigree Adult Complete since the Diamond recalls a couple of years ago, however, I’m not really satisfied with the list/quality of the ingredients. I reviewed the list of “budget” friendly kibbles and find that many of them are still pricey for a person on a fixed income and four giant breed hounds. Does anyone have experience with a brand that is both cost effective (the Pedigree 50lb. bags are $24 at my local farm store) and doesn’t have grains a its major ingredient? BTW: I live in a rural area and do not have access to most big-box or discount stores. Thanks!

[GSDsForever]

Meghan,

First of all, can I just say what an impressive amount of thoughtful research and care you’ve provided for your dog? Honestly, wtg! Your dog is very, very lucky to have such an obviously caring owner.

I think nearly all the brands you’ve listed are really good choices made by reputable trustworthy companies, with the exception of Innova, a Proctor and Gamble product. I agree with Akari and would avoid Proctor and Gamble brands, just as I avoid Mars/Purina/Nestle/etc. and Diamond manufactured brands. P&G brands bought out from Natura include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Karma, and Mother Nature treats.

I am not familiar with Sammy Snacks Ancestry and so cannot recommend it before knowing more about the company and its history. I would advise caution with newer/less familiar brands until you have some good information beyond just ingredient labels and guaranteed analyses. This company could be great, however!

If you want to know more information about Horizon, Zignature, Earthborn, and Wellness, I am really familiar with these brands & and would be happy to share what I know.

Of those, I think the Horizon Legacy Fish and Zignature Trout & Salmon would be my first choices. And not only do they both have excellent amounts of Omega 3 (and Omega 3 to 6 ratio) from exclusively wild caught fish, and the Omega 3 is not derived from plant oils (which are unlikely to be absorbed), both are ethoxyquin-free.

I appreciate that these brands you mention are available at lower price points. I’m on a small budget too! Remember, just because a more expensive brand exists, it doesn’t always make it a better food from a better company. Ditto for who has the best marketing vs. makes excellent food with high quality ingredient & processing standards.

[Dog_Obsessed]

If you shop at Walmart, Pure Balance is a a 4 star rated, budget-friendly dry food. Remember to transition slowly to whatever you pick.

[pugmomsandy]

Check out Nutrisource grain free lamb and Pulsar fish. Natures Variety Instinct makes kibble plus raw freeze dried bits, although I wouldn’t call this brand budget friendly. Instinct also has a a freeze dried raw to use as a topper. It’s their Raw Boost powder in a canister. Just scoop and serve. Stella and Chewy’s and Primal have freeze dried raw.

[Samantha H]

There are so many bands and types of dog foods, it’s overwhelming really! I have 9 mini chiweenie’ s and only 2 of them seem to have skin issues, one of them had been on steroids for 3 months now a and she has gained an unhealthy amount of weight. So I’ve kinda been looking for a freeze dried, grain free meal for that one, without chicken. Seems like everything has chicken in it. The other dogs are perfectly happy eating the kibble, I just want to make sure they are getting a healthy kibble that is budget friendly with maybe a raw freeze dried meal topper. If you have any suggestions that would be great?

[crazy4cats]

Hi 10Vx3-
There are so many options! Like Naturella said, you just have to experiment. I regularly feed Victor grain free joint health to my dogs. I have two big guys. It is basically the same as the grain free ALS Victor with extra glucosamine added. Right now, I’m feeding California Natural grain free Pork kibble and the dogs are doing great with it. I also add a topper and water to every meal. I started out just adding canned. Then after coming to this site, I learned about adding eggs and sardines. Now I even add dehydrated, freeze dried and raw to their meals. It all happened fairly gradually. And unfortunately got,more expensive! I tend to stick to more basic budget friendly kibble so I can afford the extras to boost up the nutritional value. I just don’t think that over processed kibble can be all that healthy by itself. I feed both with and without grain kibble. I also buy kibble that is a little lower in fat as most of the toppers are a little higher in fat. Good luck!

[Bobby dog]

Shawn:
At Wal-Mart check out Purina Beyond and Pure Balance. They just rolled the Pure Balance cat food out so they may not have all recipes in stock. It’s 94 cents/3.5 oz. tub. I haven’t contacted anyone to confirm manufacturers, but Ainsworth manufactures the PB dog kibble and Simmons the PB canned dog food. I am assuming it would be the same for the cat food, but you never know.
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=pure%20balance%20cat%20food&typeahead=pure%20balance%20cat%20food

4Health at TSC; the canned is manufactured by Simmons, GF kibble Ainsworth, grain inclusive kibble Diamond. As I wrote in my previous post, check with Ainsworth to confirm if they still manufacture the GF kibble.
http://www.ainsworthpets.com/

I am rusty on Petsmart and Petco budget friendly brands. I order over the Internet from both stores; I haven’t stepped into one of their stores for many years. Petsmart has their house brands Authority and Simply Nourish that are budget friendly for dog food, check out those brands.

Other budget friendly canned I feed; all are pates’:
Friskies – Poultry Platter, Special Diet Turkey & Giblets, and Special Diet Beef & Chicken.
Fancy Feast – Classic Tender Liver & Chicken and Classic Turkey & Giblets
Sheba – all pates’ that don’t have fish listed in the name of the recipe
Purina One – Classic Turkey, Chicken, or Beef recipes
Pro Plan Finesse – Chicken & Liver or you might find it under it’s new name True Nature Natural Chicken & Liver entree’ classic

For all things cat related check out these sites:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

Home

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/
http://www.felinecrf.org/
The last site has info on a specific feline health condition. I reference this website for food recommendations.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Shawn:
What’s your budget? Where do you shop, on-line, brick & mortar, or both? Are you opposed to any brands?

I feed quite an array do to very finicky kitties that like what they like. So I can provide you with my list that consists of grocery store to higher priced brands. I keep carbs low for UTI health and mostly feed grain & fish free, but to keep them eating consistently I throw in grain inclusive as well as foods containing smaller species fish.

Other cat lovers will be by with their fav’s too!!

[shawn a]

what are some descent budget friendly wet food

[Bobby dog]

Love all those pics!!!!!!!!! Bruno and Tebow do look alike. 😉

Naturalla:
I think the only reason Bobby cooperates for a bath is for the coco oil rub down afterwards! He loves his coco oil.

Peggy:
That’s okay! I figured that, but I knew you would see my question sooner or later.

Too bad you don’t have those stores in your area. I was just going to share my budget friendly canned food list with you. Tractor Supply’s 4Health brand has pate’ (lamb, salmon, chic) and stew style foods for 99 cents, BJ’s & Costco has affordable canned too.

Maybe see if you have a Del’s Farm & Feed Supply in your area they also carry 4Health. The 4Health brand gets a decent DFA rating.

I had to slim down Bobby a few months ago. I also had to tweak his diet & exercise routine in the process to keep it off, you’ll get there with your pups!

[Melissaandcrew]

HI Ronald. Some people love Diamond products. Due to the extensive recalls, I personally will not use anything made by them, nor could I recommend it. There are budget friendly good foods out there. Pure balance, Victor, Hi Tek, Nutrisource, propac are just some of them.

[Akari_32]

I feed my 13 lb cat higher quality foods like Wellness and Halo, for about $20 a month. He does get some junkies foods like Friskies Special Diet and such to help keep cost down, but it is possible to feed good foods on a budget. Keep a look out for coupons and sales, and stock up when you find a good deal.

Right now, I’m switching mone to raw and am finding it be much more economical than even mid grade canned food. For example, on canned he eats 9-10 oz a day. On raw, he eats just 6 oz, and you actually want cheaper meats because of their fat and taurine contents, so you can get away with chicken thighs and quarters and pork and hearts. Might be something to look into 😉

[Kimi_forever]

I wanted to edit my last post instead of post again but it wont let me for some reason.

In any event, i only have an old dehydrator and it’s made of plastic and i’ve been trying to stay away from using plastic for food reasons as much as possible, particuarly when heat is involved because of the chemicals in plastic. and purchasing a new metal dehydrator just to make jerky treats is a pretty big investment, i still might do it eventually but i wont be doing it soon. On the freeze dried treats i read in another thread that you have to be careful because the fat content is too high in some of them. Does anyone know what an ideal fat content would be on freeze dried meat treats? I saw one person recomend the stella and chewy carnavore kisses, but imho those are outrageously priced and also it seems they stopped carrying them at chewy.com because i just tried to find them and this is where i do my pet food shopping so they dont seem to be an option. the most economical ones i found were sojo’s lamb/beef/turkey ones and the turkey had by far the highest protein content of the three and grandma lucy’s pork singles freeze dried, the sojo’s you can get for 7.50ish for 4oz and the gma lucy’s are 8.07 for 4oz. thats the best deals i could find for freeze dried, i tried feeding her ziwipeak air dried food as treats but she doesnt really like them anymore then her regular kibble she loves freeze dried though. i was just wondering if these more economical freeze dried treats were the ones i should stay away from. i saw someone in another thread suggest buying them from the more highly rated brands, and sojo’s only has like 3.5 stars and grandma lucy’s rating depends on the recipe so i was wondering if these ones are the not good ones or what levels i should look for as far as fat in these treats. i’m willing to pay more for good ones but also am on budget and have a large dog so i cant afford to pay 12$+ for like 2oz…

[crazy4cats]

I bought a couple today also. And yes, more expensive than I was hoping for as well. Shoot, the canned dog food is four times bigger and only 6 cents more. I don’t get it. It’s frustrating trying to feed cats a decent food on a budget. I’ll try it out in the morning. Oh and btw, they also had pure balance dry cat food that looked good too! Three or four different flavors.
Oh, and another btw,

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by crazy4cats.

[Caroline H]

Hi – Hounddog mom!

I have been using mercola’s sups and as you note they are very expensive. I have started using their joint sup but with a 96 lb golden retriever (no not overweight but tall, muscular and big boned 🙂 it is just cost prohibitive. Also there is a new similar product on the market although more expensive I believe but it has significantly more of the active ingredients, called EHP Myristin. My golden is not showing any signs of arthritis with exception of being a bit slower getting up but that may just be old age. They Cetyl Myristoleate Complex per chewable in this product is 500mg compared to the 130mg in the Mercola product so it would actually be cheaper based on how many tabs I would have to give my boy daily. Any thoughts are you familiar with this product or do you know a similar product – human one – that would work equally as well? Also wondering what else I should give him to support his older body now. He gets daily omega 3s from Northwest Naturals and coconut oil (2tsps a day is that enough without adding too many extra calories?) and I feed him small batch raw dog food with some added cruciferous veggies. He also has Mast Cell Tumor cancer (Grade II stage II) but we believe we have removed it all surgically (they don’t ever say they are in remission). The raw dog food says “complete” re other nutrients and it has bone and organ meat but I always wonder if he could use a basic minimum multivitamin. Also how much omega threes should I be giving him? Thanks so much. Sorry for so many questions. I research a lot but there is so much overwhelming info these days. My go to has been Mercola, I like Becker’s approach and trust their USA made formulas but I also have dog insurance for my boy that goes up every year and trying to manage the dog budget is ridiculous 🙂

[Peggy]

Ronald, no more wrong than I was, or 75% of the US population, so don’t beat yourself up.
After leaving Pedigree, I moved to Blue Buffalo Basics which my Tebow liked – a little too much. He gained weight like crazy. LadyBug vomited.

I think she has food sensitivities, so we switched to Wellness Core grain-free reduced fat.
They both hated it, lol. Would not eat a single bite. I was discussing other brands with members here, and how being a single mom I can’t afford the high-priced stuff. Someone mentioned Pure Balance, which I looked up here and saw the good ratings. So I googled it and discovered you can only find it at Walmart.

I was floored that a food sold at walmart had such a high rating. And except for the chicken recipe, they love it. Especially the can lamb and dry Salmon & Pea recipe. And although it’s at the very top end of my budget, I can still swing it. Carefully. 🙂

[crazy4cats]

Hmmm…, Anthony, after seeing your Avatar, I wonder where she gets her energy from? Lol! Do you think that your pup is close to full grown yet? I’m just wondering if you or others think that she still needs to be on a food with a limited amount of calcium still or that most of her growing is done and your selection of foods can increase? I believe that either Pet Smart or Petco carries Nature’s Variety. They are also a highly rated dog food. Their food is a little high for my budget. But, I would feed it if I didn’t have a zoo and college kids to pay for! You can open a lot more options if you would consider ordering food online as well. I was skeptical at first, but now do it regularly. I feed my lab mix dogs Victor grain free joint health kibble with a variety of toppers with success. But, it is sold mostly at feed stores and smaller pet boutique type stores. Good luck!

[Bobby dog]

Hi Bev L:
I agree with C4C and neezerfan’s suggestions.

Just wanted to add after you rule out any health issues and if there is no need for an Rx food maybe take a look at kibble with a little lower fat. Fat is a healthy and needed addition to a dog’s diet, but some dog’s need a little lower fat % due to digestive issues. 4Health and Pro Plan fat % minimums are 15-16%; possibly something in the minimum range of 10-12% might make a difference. Within your budget you should be able to find some well rated kibble to give a try.

[BEV L]

We adopted a Lab/Shephard mix from our local shelter about 4 months ago, he’s 2 years old. He was painfully thin when we brought him home. He has put on about 18 pounds but still looks very skinny. Can’t seem to hit on the right dog food for him. We started him on Pro Plan shredded chicken. About 6 weeks ago we put him on 4Health beef & potato (grain free). Both foods go right through him, meaning his piles of poop are huge, so I don’t think he’s getting anything from the food. We have had him to the vet and he is otherwise healthy. Looking for some suggestions on what to feed him and we are on a bit of a budget.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Melinda-
I’m sorry your pup is having issues. A little more info is needed to make a good recommendation. Do you have any idea what she is sensitive to? A certain ingredient or fat level? Where do you shop for food and what is your budget? Did the vet make any recommendations?

You could print the list of 4 star foods and bring it with you to the store and see if it carries anything on the list. I wouldn’t jump to a 5 star food from what you were feeding. It might be hard on her system. Many posters have good luck with transitioning to Nutrisource and/or foods made by Well Pet, such as Wellness or Eagle Pack.

Good luck!

[neezerfan]

I have been feeding the canned Nutrisource. The dogs are doing well on it and it’s budget friendly too.

[Kristin S]

We have two very strong chewers – an adult great dane-shepherd mix that weighs 130lbs and a bullmastiff puppy that weighs 40lbs at 4 months old. Our dogs are our children and we spoil them. I spend A LOT of money to make sure they are healthy and happy. My husband and I both work so we are in need of chew treats that meet the following needs:
1. Safe to eat unsupervised.
2. Long lasting
3. Doesn’t give stinky breath
4. Budget Friendly

We currently use hooves, bully sticks, edible nylabones, rib bones and marrow bones. I would love to know if anyone has additional recommendations. Thanks!

[Z B]

A while back someone posted a nice list of decent budget foods that are available at walmart. If you do a search of this site for Walmart you should find it, or maybe someone will come along and post a link to that thread. Just make sure whatever you use is indicated for puppies, or all life stages.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Z B.

[Z B]

This is what I am using in my current rotation :

Canned:
Walmarts Pure Balance puppy food, $1, 5 star
Tractor Supply Store’s 4health beef and veggie stew $1, 5 star

Dry:
Rachael Ray Nutrish zero grain, available at walmart and and most supermarkets $22 for 14 lbs, 4 star
Dr Tims Kinesis grain free, order online for $65-$75 for 40 lbs, 5 star

I’ve also used Whole Earth Farms grain free, Petco has it ans maybe petsmart too.

Walmart’s Pure balance Canned has a dedicated puppy food, and the others I listed are approved for all life stages.
Pure Balance also has a dry grain free line, 4 star, budget friendly, but i wasn’t crazy about it
and prob won’t use it again.

I feed raw on the weekends with Sea Spot Live Longer premix. Cheapest boneless muscle meats I can find are chicken hearts ($1 per lb) and pork shoulder roast, has a small bone but easy to remove ($1.69 per lb). Raw pork products should be kept frozen for 2 weeks before serving (kills parasites apparently).

Canned water packed sardines once or twice a week (65’cents per can),
and a recreational pig foot or chicken foot once a week or so ($1 per lb)

I saw frozen pigs heads at walmart for $1’per lb, but decided I don’t want that thing staring at me every time I open the freezer.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Z B.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Z B.

[Karen T]

We just rescued a 5 month old lab and we think Aussie mix. I don’t think she will get that big but who knows I guess….she is 22 pounds right now. I can’t afford the most expensive food so looking for something good, budget friendly and hopefully easy to get. Any ideas?
Thanks!

[Naturella]

@Peggy, you’re very welcome! I am not by any means the epitome of healthy dog eating, but I try to keep his diet varied and healthy on a budget! 🙂 Hence the dang near stockpile of kibble in my bathroom cabinets! LoL.

Bruno will eat ANY fruit or vegetable, raw or cooked, lol! Glad your pups at least eat the ones you mentioned cooked. I forgot, peanut butter is also loved by Bruno but he only gets it in homemade doggie treats or doggie ice-cream. 🙂

As for flax seed meal, I would just buy the cheaper one to be honest. I keep mine in a glass jar in the fridge for storage to prolong shelf life.

[Ivchister]

I would nominate a brand called Brit Care. I’m very curious about your opinon. A lot of people say that it is the best low budget grain free food but I haven’t found it in your database.

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi Andi,

Some very good budget friendly dry food brands are Dr. Tim’s and Victor. Chewy.com has Dr. Tims. You can get Victor on Amazon. Both brands have large bags 40-44 lbs for $50-65. Plus, they will last you longer because they are high quality and you will feed less of them. To stretch out the canned food, try adding other tasty things to his kibble like eggs, canned fish (sardines or salmon), plain yogurt or kefir, or healthy bits of your leftovers (veggies or meat if not seasoned to heavily.

I hope this helps. I know how expensive it is to feed big dogs. I have a 150lb Great Dane.

[crazy4cats]

In addition to what Patty mentioned, I think if the supplement actually contained what the label says it does, it would be good to use almost like a topper for some of us. I tend to buy budget friendly kibble without any extras in it. Like right now, finishing up a bag of Eagle Pak. It could pump up the protein, add some goodies, enzymes and probiotics. But since the company has some possible issues, maybe not such a good additive after all.

[Akari_32]

Guys guys guys guys guys!!!! We’re getting an Aldi’s!!!!!!!! Yay! So excited 😀 I hope their meat is cheap and they have a good variety. I know they are a good store to buy from.

Also, I’ve been price shopping online and found Raw Feeding Miami. They have pretty good prices! I’m thinking I’ll email them and see about their planning/budgeting thing they have. It’s nice they do that 🙂

[David G]

Mike Sagman – Thanks for the reply. That article was one of the first things I read here and it was awesome. Always looking to gain more knowledge on the topic. Just need help finding one that fits the criteria and our budget..

crazy4cats – Thanks crazy4cats! I’m going to go down the list and check the websites that were recommended and go with it. The Kirkland puppy food isn’t specific for large breeds so poor little Tanky’s stool is consistently soft/loose. Trying to fix the situation asap!

DogFoodie – While I understand the logic, if that were applied across the board there’s very few companies I’d use in life. Keurig, Coca Cola…I can’t say I’m surprised Costco/Kirkland didn’t reply, and don’t want to rule it out based on that. I would just say it’s icing on the cake for the companies that did respond.

Edit: I see Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain on the list actually. We may just go with that since we’re familiar and have had a good experience. I’ll double check.

InkedMarie – I’m going to do that right now. We want to get something that’s affordable, but above all else provides the nutrition and quality. Definitely not trying to cut corners when it comes to his health and growth. Thanks again.

-Dave

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by David G.

[InkedMarie]

Dave,
I suggest you print the list of recommended foods in this thread, go to Chewy dot com and Pet Flow dot com and see what ones are in your budget. Don’t forget, you get what you pay for.

[Trout-lily]

I’ve rotated her food frequently since we brought her home in June and to be honest it was only because I was trying to find my medium with budget and a quality puppy food. She did well on Dr Tim’s kinsis for a while and then I recently switched to Innova large breed puppy. I also couldn’t resist the Black Friday deals for wellness core grain free. Denali was having small issues with th innova before I started to introduce the wellness bag. I thought about switching her back what she was previously eating, dr.tims kinesis, but I might try the digestive enzyme first to see how that works. We eliminated the cat food temptation over the weekend and it made her accidents less frequent but it still isn’t solving our issue

[Bobby dog]

Hi kelsey s:
Wal-Mart has Pure Balance stews for $1/can and small tubs for 68 cents each. Here’s a thread that has suggestions for kibble sold at Wal-Mart. There is also info on where to find coupons for a few of them:
/forums/topic/need-advice-about-walmart-brands/

Like Akari suggested, stop by the coupon thread for sale info. Come over to the cat food thread, we have lots of budget friendly suggestions for cat food there. 😉

Consider rotational feeding. I feed my dog this way so he gets a healthy variety. Find at least three different brands of food with different carb and protein sources that your dogs do well on and like eating. Once your dog is used to eating a variety you never have to worry about a recipe changing and the possibility of your dog not liking it, a recall (can happen to any food at any time), or your food just not being available. The added benefit is that you can take advantage of sales and coupons to help with your budget. You can read more about it here:
/frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/

Edit: Also check out Tractor Supply and local feed, hardware, or garden supply stores. One line of food I like that you might find at feed stores is PMI Nutrition. If you can find it check out the Exclusive and Infinia lines. Here’s a store locator: http://www.pminutrition.com/main.html
Tractor Supply has 4Health kibble and canned food (99 cents). I would recommend the GF turkey, beef, or whitefish kibbles. Print a list of the 3, 4, and 5 star foods from the review side and take them with you to where you shop for food to see what is available within your budget.
3 star food list: /dog-food-reviews/dry/3-star/
4 star food list: /dog-food-reviews/dry/4-star/
5 star food list: /dog-food-reviews/dry/5-star/

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Bobby dog.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Walt-

I second Victor as a budget friendly brand if it is in your area. I feed it frequently. I’m giving Eagle Pack a try right now made by Well Pet, the same company that makes Wellness. So far so good! I prefer to use inexpensive dry and supplement with fresh, canned or frozen protein rich toppers.

I’ve never fed it, but Fromm Family Classics is another budget friendly food made by a reputable company.

Good luck to you and your buddy!

[Sadie’s Mom]

@ BC do you use the liquid or powdered Cortaflex? I am also looking for a budget friendly glucosamine supplement for my dachshund.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I don’t know about food that is good for back problems, but there are some good budget friendly foods. Pure Balance is a poplar one at Walmart, that is pretty reasonably priced. NutriSouce is also good. Victor (at stores, expensive online), Earthborn Holistic, and Merrick/Whole Earth Farms are also good options. What does she eat the rest of the year?

[Sadie’s Mom]

Surprisingly, the first thing I look for in a treat is the texture. My mini dachshund HATES crunchy treats. It’s the strangest thing! The only crunchy/hard things she likes are the rawhide dental chews (Dentley’s brand is the current favorite). I also have to factor in price, as I am a college student living on a tight budget. The best thing I have found are the Zuke’s Mini Naturals. They are soft and squishy, grain free, and low in calories. Sadie likes all of the flavors, but the chicken seems to be her favorite. I’ve been wanting to try the Wellness Petite Treats Soft Mini Bites, but they haven’t been on sale for a good price. The Zuke’s are a better deal because they are less per ounce and last a really long time. I give her 3 or 4 at a time as a normal treat to make her feel better since the other 3 dogs my parents own get small milkbones lol. She also likes the Milkbone Brushing Chews after her evening meal. I give her half a mini bone. I am currently on the hunt for a treat with added glucosamine that is reasonably priced. Any suggestions?

[crazy4cats]

Oh, poor baby! How is she doing? Have you checked out the review side of this website? There are several 4 and 5 star foods, both dry and canned listed.

Where do you shop? What is your budget? Have you considered feeding a home made diet with a premix? What does the vet recommend? Sorry, so many questions. It would be great to hear back from you. Good luck!

[Dog_Obsessed]

Oops, I meant NuriSource, not Nutro. Nutro is pretty good too, but the price is about average for a food of that quality, not particularly budget friendly.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[crazy4cats]

OooH! A Christmas puppy! Fun, fun, fun! I don’t think a border collie is considered a large breed, is it? IF not, then calcium isn’t that much of a concern. First of all, I’d try to find out what puppy is eating now and buy some. It’s best to keep them on the same food they are currently eating for a while until they get acclamated to their new home. Once things are settled, you can slowly transition to a new food. IMO, it’s not necessary to spend $100 on a bag of food. I choose to buy budget friendly kibble and add a little extra canned, fresh or frozen protein to it to make it more nutritional.

You could always print the best puppy foods list and take it with you to the store to see what is available locally. It would be great if you could post a picture of your pup when you get it. Good luck!

[Dog_Obsessed]

There are some budget friendly options that are good! Nutro is a good option, and is usually pretty easy to transition to. I know a lot of forum users really like Victor, and from what I understand it is pretty budget-friendly if you can find it in a store (I can’t). Other good budget friendly foods are Earthborn Holistic, Dr. Tims, and Merrick/Whole Earth Farms. If you can’t find these brands locally, Chewy.com has a pretty good selection. I’m sure other users will give their suggestions, too. Good luck!

[Elizabeth G]

I am not sure if Big Dog Natural is budget friendly but their chicke surpreme dehydrated 1 pound makes 4 pounds @ 2.00 a pound

$1.65 if you purchase 5 pounds and it makes 20 pounds 1.65 per pound
they have many varieties let me know what you think. They sell direct to public

https://www.bigdognatural.com/chicken-supreme

[Naturella]

@Akari_32, AKARI, AKARI, and everyone!!! I did it! For the first time! It is so exalting!!!
Soooo…

I went to buy Snowy food today and I had prepared the following: 4 Wellness $7-off coupons + 4 $5-off specialty brand PetSmart coupons together, and 3 $5-off Castor and Pollux Organix/Ultramix coupons + 3 $5-off specialty brand PetSmart coupons together.

I got:
2 x Wellness CORE Original @ $14.99 before coupons, at $2.99 after coupons.
1 x Wellness CORE Puppy @ $16.99 before coupons, at $4.99 after coupons.
1 x Wellness Simple LID Salmon @ $16.99 before coupons, at $4.99 after coupons.
2 x Castor and Pollux Ultramix GF Adult (with and without poultry) on sale at $15.99 (Original Price $19.99) before coupons, at $5.99 after coupons.
1 x Castor and Pollux Organix GF Adult (with and without poultry) on sale at $14.99 (original price something above $14.99) before coupons, at $4.99 after coupons.

The manager was so nice to override and get all coupons in on the same order! Such a kind person! Total is 7 bags of food, 31lbs total, at $37.49, with square $89.00 in savings!!! HELLO!!! I can’t believe it! I had budgeted exactly $40 to spend and the bill fit! I am so excited, Snowy is set with great foods for 6-7 months, and coconut oil, and I just couldn’t be happier! 🙂

NOW… I want to outdo myself for Bruno… I am so sorry, I can’t resist these deals. I won’t buy anything else anymore after this as he will be set till like Jan. 2016 or beyond, SO… Here is my plan… I will use:

4 Wellness $7-off coupons + 4 $5-off specialty brand PetSmart coupons together, and 3 $5-off Castor and Pollux Organix/Ultramix coupons + 3 $5-off specialty brand PetSmart coupons together for almost the same items, except I want to buy Wellness CORE Puppy, Small Breed, Ocean, and Wild Game. After coupons those should add up to $24.00 (Ocean and Wild Game are $18.99 a piece! So after coupons, $6.99 ($7)). Then the Castor and Pollux, same ones, for $17. And then, I have a $3-off Nulo plus $5-off specialty brand, that will make $8-off Nulo, it sells at $15.99, so I will get it for $7.99 (8). THEN, I have a Buy 4, get 2 free Nulo cans, selling for $2.00/can, I will spend $3.00 for 6 cans (I will use it with the $5-off Specialty Brand coupon). Also, I have a Petland Coupon that I hope they honor for $10-off $25+, and another PetSmart coupon for $5-off total purchase. SO, this should add to:
$37.00 (when rounded up) before taxes. With taxes on the total purchase it may go to $45.00 or so.

This is going to be 35.5lbs of food plus 6 cans (4.8lbs of wet), for $45.00, let’s say. It is 40.3lbs for $45, ALMOST nailing the $1/lb for top notch food ($1.12/lb, and that’s AFTER taxes…$.92/lb before taxes). Booyaaaaah! I will have no regrets.

And THEN… I will stop. Forreal.

So let’s see how I do tomorrow… Wish me luck, I will post pics too!

P.S. Akari, will they let me make a similar purchase to today’s on the same Pet Perks, Pet Rewards, or whatever they call it account? I have my husband’s, but I can open my own under my phone number and our new address, should I? And I know I could just go for the cheapest Wellness CORE Original at only $2.99 after coupons, and I MAY substitute the Puppy one and the Small Breed for the Original, I was just protein-level greedy, but maybe 2% more protein is not worth the extra $2.00/bag? If I do, my total should be about $41.00 after taxes, so damn near hitting my $1/lb… Maybe I will do that! And instead, use the new $2.00-off canned coupons and buy as many CORE cans, 95% cans, and Petite Entrees as I can use coupons for and enough so I can use one more $5-off Specialty Brand PetSmart coupon. So my total may remain at $45.00 or so, but my volume will increase. So yeah. And I REALLY want to try the Ocean and the Wild Game ones, so I will bite the bullet on the price, meh… 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Naturella.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Naturella.

[Naturella]

Rich, I am not a pro at senior dogs, but many brands do contain some glucosamine and chondroitin, just not in high enough amounts. Supplementing should be better is what I’ve read. But other higher-protein, grain-free, and budget-friendly options are the Victor Grain-free line (the green one also has extra Glu-Chon) and the Earthborn Holistic Grain-free line. Both are for all life stages if I am not mistaken, and are affordable, quality products. I have personally fed and still have in my stash bags of both, and I can report great success with my “youngin”, almost 2-year old pup. As others have mentioned, rotation is best, so if you can get your new friend on Fromm Grain-Free, Victor Grain-Free, and Earthborn Holistic Grain-Free, you can alternate the flavors between the brands and see what she (or he) does well on.

[Lynn J]

I am in the same boat. I was feeding a rotation of Orijen and Acana foods, but despite the fact my dogs were doing great on them, it’s really beyond my budget to keep it up. I’ve added Wellness Core to my rotation, both the original and the ocean. Wellness Core is still a 5 star food and the company seems to be reputable. For a cost comparison using Chewy.com, Acana Grasslands (15 lb) is 45.99 or $3.066/lb. Wellness Core original (12 lb) is $25.95 or $2.16/lb. My dogs are doing very well with this in their rotation.

[DogFoodie]

While not particularly budget friendly, Nature’s Variety Instinct LID meets your other criteria. It’s calorically dense, so you do feed less than you might of some other foods. Also Wellness has a LID line that it’s pretty budget friendly and is also lower in protein.

[Jennifer H]

Hi all! You all gave ma great advice when my Kaia was suffering from some intestinal issues, so thought I would get some additional ideas on foods. We currently have her on Canidae Pure Sky, which she seems to love. The vet recommended a hypoallergenic food, but the prices at the vet’s office for those foods is astronomical. They said Canidae would be a good option. However, after reading some other things on this site. I’m beginning to wonder if we made the right choice? She was on TOTW Roasted Fowl, which she loves as well. But I also noticed the Canidae was extremely high in protein.

Can anyone recommend a budget-friendly dry food, that is lower in protein, that is grain-free and is a LID diet? What do you all think of Natural Balance?

Thanks so much!

[theBCnut]

For a good food that is budget friendly and made the list, look for NutriSource Large Breed Puppy. For training treats I use freeze dried or dehydrated meats and liver. My favorites are Vital Essentials and Pure Bites.