[Orwellian]

Hi Folks,
Can anyone recommend which dog food brands tend to be both healthy for dogs and less expensive than other healthy brands? In other words, which of the good brands are more affordable than others? My dog is a large breed mix (German Shepherd, Lab, etc.). She is 3 1/2 yrs old, healthy, happy, obedient, and very active. I would like to upgrade her diet from Dog Chow and Iams mixed with Alpo. Any advice about which of the better brands are less expensive than other better brands?
If this topic has been discussed elsewhere already, please refer me to that forum. Thanks.

[theBCnut]

NutriSource is a good brand that is usually easy to find and at a pretty good price point, and they have canned too.

[InkedMarie]

Fromm, dr Tim’s, victor are some to look at. Good for you to want to upgrade your dogs food.

[pugmomsandy]

For cans, Merrick’s Whole Earth Farms, Costco’s Kirkland Cuts N Gravy and I believe Simply Nourish by Petsmart are budget friendly.

[Orwellian]

Thanks everyone! You all know your stuff! Great suggestions. So far, I have looked on this website at reviews of NutriSource, Fromm, Victor and Merrick. Then, I checked prices online. They all seem good and reasonably priced. They are not that much more than mainstream brands, but they seem much more nutritious. Even Iams does not look so great anymore, too. Its second ingredient is corn. Anyway, I appreciate all your advice, just what I was hoping to learn.

As I think about it, I wonder if the reviews on this site could include those dollar-sign symbols next to the dog food names. You know those, like on Yelp I think? One dollar-sign could indicate that a brand is typically less expensive than its competitors. More dollar-signs could mean typically more expensive than competitors. That might really help more people find the best foods we can afford for our pets. It might also strengthen educated consumer demand for good value (i.e., high quality at a low price) from suppliers in the free-market.

[theBCnut]

Price varies a lot from location to location.

[Hound Dog Mom]

4Health canned (4.5 stars) is $0.99 per can at Tractor Supply. Pure Balance canned (hasn’t been rated yet but I’d guess 4 or 4.5 stars) is $1 per can at Walmart. ‘Ol Roy Healthy Mix Tubs (3.5 stars) are I believe $1.30 at Walmart. Variety canned foods and Natural Life canned foods (both 4 stars) are generally around $1.50 per can.

Some dry foods that are reasonably priced: 4Health, Pure Balance, Native Performance, Healthwise, Pro Pac, Eagle Pack, Victor (all 4-5 stars and under $50 for the largest bag).

[Mom2Cavs]

Like HDM said, Tractor Supply’s 4Health is a fantastic bargain! The regular size cans are .99, and even the biggest cans are only 1.59! I’ve started to use it to top my dogs’ food and they like it and are having no repercussions. I buy Simply Nourish sometimes, but imho it’s not all that budget friendly. On sale it’s 2.00 a can, but it’s a smaller can (only 10 oz., compared to 13.2 oz.)….it is similar to Weruva and definitely cheaper than that lol. TOTW is a little cheaper than alot of the other canned foods, too. I can usually find it for 1.99 a can. Fromm, at least where I live, is not all that cheap…the Gold cans run around 2.99 a can and the 4Star are almost 4.00 a can! I’ve decided to try and stick with 4Health, for the most part. Fyi…it does come in pate and stew styles. I believe the stews are better because they don’t contain carageenan. Also, look at the ingredients and calorie content (and the style of food your dog prefers) when making your choice. I have also recently been looking for a replacement for Natural Balance LID Fish (merger with Del Monte) and looked at Wellness Simple (transition did not go well…Laverne can’t/won’t eat the kibble due to the shape/size). It also has tomato pomace and carrots which I believe makes her allergies flare up. Bought a small bag of Simply Nourish Salmon LID, but again…tomato pomace and/or carrots….stool still not very good. I do know how to transition and can tell pretty quickly if a food is gonna be bad for the long haul. Anyway, I’m supposed to be getting some coupons from Hol. Select, but I’m not confident it will work for Laverne. So…they’re still eating the NB I have, but I did buy a small bag of 4Health grain free Whitefish yesterday. It is not a small kibble, but Laverne seems to be able to eat it better than the Wellness shape. I’m starting to use it as treats and I’ll be mixing it into their NB soon. It is kinda limited in its ingredients and doesn’t contain tom. pomace or carrots (or Rosemary). It does have beet pulp, so we’ll see. Darn merger!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hey Jan have you ever tried Addiction? They make limited ingredient kibbles that are a little low in protein, like Natural Balance. If I recall correctly the kibble is on the small side. They have a good selection of limited ingredient dehydrated foods as well that I do like, I used to mix them with canned to boost the protein.

[pugmomsandy]

Jan,

I have Sojo’s and Addiction dehydrated right now and the dogs are doing fine on it. No extra stools either. I mix other stuff with it for more protein. The Sojo’s has visible greens and meat in it but the Addiction is all mixed up and brown, no chunks. I have the Black Forest Delicasies.

[Mom2Cavs]

Thanks, pugmomsandy and HDM. HDM, I’ve never tried Addiction, but I’ll check it out. Sandy, I tried Sojos and the dogs, namely Lucy, didn’t like it at all…wouldn’t eat it. As a group they tend to not like the dehydrated foods. I was using freeze dried foods for quite awhile, but it ended up being too much fat, protein for Lucy. I will check out the Addiction, like I said, but so far I’m leaning to 4Health grain free Whitefish and 4Health, Wellness Stews, Blew Stews, TOTW cans.

[pugmomsandy]

The Addiction rehydrates and just looks like ground canned food.

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