Best low cost dog food

[NellaBean]

I for years and years fed Pro Plan dry food to my dogs. Now that I have 4 who go through insane amounts of food, I have switched them all to Pedigree. That seems to work fine although one dog very recently has started throwing up here and there. He was on Pedigree for months before this started.....but I am considering switching him to something else that isn't so "pretty". I remember when dog chow used to be big ol brown chunks. Now it is dark and light pieces, red pieces, etc. Any dog foods left out there without coloring?

Other than going to a high cost food, are there any other decent less expensive foods? I currently go through about 20lbs a week for the 4 dogs....And pay about $20 for 40lbs.

 

[redhen]

I've heard of folks feeding Old Roy.. (i think its a walmart brand?)
they dont seem to have much trouble with it... but..i dont know.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I was going to say that I get a 44# bag for 39.99 and it's the "cheapest" of the holistic premium foods. You have to take into account that if you are feeding something crappy like Ol Roy, they will have to eat twice as much just to TRY to get the same nutrients out of it. When you switch to "better" food, they will actually eat a lot less.

For even less money, you could go with Costco's Kirkland dog food - which, believe it or not, is higher quality than Iams. No by-products, no excessive use of wheat and grains.

For about the same money as a Iams, you could get Canidae, a REALLY good dog food.

Plus;

While doing research to find a good dog food years ago, I found more than one source that stated that Ol Roy, adjectives Kibbles n Bits products, and all Nutro dog foods were found to enjoy traces of pentabarbitol in them. This is the drug that is used to euthanize dogs, accordingly, these companies are using deceased animals in the production of their dog food. For that source, I would never touch a bag of any of these brands. I was horrified at the time, and I own informed everyone of these findings. It is said there are other companies that do this, the list I found be only partial.​

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Yeah.. well see how that actually works out for us..
We just switched over to TOTW...
for saint bernards... this aint gonna be pretty...

ETA: actually... what they recommend on the TOTW bag to feed my dogs weight..is only like 2-3 cups less then what i was feeding with purina one large breed.... soooo... i dont know

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I have a 110# Shepherd that eats only about 4 cups/ day and a 140# Mastiff that eats about 5/6. (And she is still a growing pup)


For your money you really can't beat Canidae's price. (TOTW is great too, I feed it to my cats, but for dog food Canidae is cheaper).

 

[redhen]

Quote:
I'll check into Canidae too... thanks!

 

[Morgan7782]

When fed a better quality food also there is less waste

less poop to clean up lol. I switched my dog Tommy from Pedigree to Diamond because he is a pitbull and has allergies to corn and stuff. I was paying 24.99 for 40 lb of pedigree, now I am paying 26.75 for a 40 lb bag of Diamond which is corn, wheat and soy free

plus the ingredients are totally easy to understand.

I've noticed Tommy is a lot more energetic, less BM's, and his weight is better balanced rather then being mostly fattyish he has gained more natural muscle

I am pretty happy with the switch. I don't know what else diamond goes by but here is the site: http://www.diamondpet.com/ Hope you can find something reasonable!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I've fed Ole Roy for years. I got the Puppy Complete and neither of my dogs had an issue digesting it. Stay FAR away from the maintenance and the hi-energy dog feeds though. Very greasy.

Weight maintenance works somewhat well, it used to be in a green package.

Since Pogo has started losing weight, I've switched both dogs onto a higher fat diet (Authority). Absolutely no throw-ups at all, no sick stomachs or loose stools and the dogs go CRAZY for it.

It's way too expensive for several dogs or for a large dog, but while I have only the two small ones, it does great!

 

[Buugette]

We have used Ole Roy for years... our dogs love it. No tummy troubles...

 

[joedie]

The cheaper brands usually have more fillers. Remember the more that goes in , the more that comes out.

Just saying.