# "GOOD" cheap dogfood?



## moab (Nov 13, 2016)

I really need some help. Is there a slight step up pricewise from Kirkland (Costco brand) dogfood and another dog food that is WAY better? Or the same price?

I fed my dogs Walmart brand Ole Roy. Until I figured out they were having to eat so much to get the nutrition they needed that they would overeat and barf. So I did some online research a couple years back. Found out just how terrible Ole Roy is. And switched to Costco brand - Kirkland. My dogs immediately felt better and put on muscle mass. I was sold.

Well now we have a GSD puppy who's about 8 or 9 weeks old. She was one of the runts of the litter and I'm concerned about her growth and size. We picked up some Pedigree puppy food that listed protein as 28%. But now after reading online it sounds like Pedigree is pretty much crap. 

Kirkland doesn't sell a puppy food. But their adult food lists protein at 26%. I haven't read great things about Kirkland. But haven't read any bad things either.

I simply can't afford $50 for a 30lb bag of dogfood. We have three dogs. A French Bulldog, a Yorkie and the GSD puppy. I'd like to either stick with Kirkland adult for all three dogs. Or buy a puppy food (if necessary) for the GSD that is maybe the same price as Kirkland or a little more. But it would have to be better dog food. Or WAY better dog food to do so. Again, I just can't afford fifty dollar dog food.

Should I stick with Kirkland adult for the GSD puppy? Or switch to something else? I had a great review website a couple years back but lost it. Kirkland seemed like the sweet spot as far as cost vs quality was concerned.

Any help - greatly appreciated.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I honestly dont know if these are in your price range but check out

4 Health (TSC)
Taste if the Wild
Victor


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## CarrieJo (Oct 1, 2016)

Okay I would like to know the answer to this as well. I don't trust Diamond company so taste of the wild would be out...

But it sure would be nice to find something good that isn't so expensive.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Victor


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Go with Kirkland adult. That is fine. 

4Health is privately labeled for TSC. It is made by Diamond which also makes Kirkland and Diamond Naturals. I haven't used Kirkland, I use Diamond Naturals. If you compare Chicken and Rice to 4Health Chicken and rice, it is virtually the same product. Except:
4 health is a 35# bag, and they charge you 35 to 38 dollars for it. 
Diamond Naturals is a 40# bag, and they charge 32 dollars for it. 

All my German Shepherd Dogs do good on it. 

It is a mid-range food. Chicken and Chicken meal are first on the ingredient lists, it does have rice. It calls out Chicken fat, which is better than animal or poultry fat. 

You can purchase large-breed puppy in the Diamond Naturals, but I wean puppies are the regular adult chicken and rice. 

You are right, Pedigree and Ole Roy and Purina Beneful -- all junk. Learn to read ingredient lists. Purina and Blue and Iams, they are putting their money into advertising. You will easily pay 10-20 dollars more for a bag of food that is no better than your Kirkland. Science Diet is also junk. You will pay more because people associate it with vets, sometimes it is hawked by vets. If a dog needs a specific diet for a certain problem and they have a formula for that, I haven't much to say about that. But, for ordinary maintenance, I wouldn't go near the stuff.


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor


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## paphlady (Oct 21, 2016)

Costco used to have Kirkland puppy food. I used to feed it to my boy almost 8 years ago and Kirkland adult dog food when he turned one. 

Kirkland Signature Pet Food and Pet Supplies > Kirkland Brand Pet Food

When I got my girl 1 year after the boy, I fed her the Kirkland adult food I was feeding the boy at the time. She's fine and healthy. I have since switched to premium dog food about 6 years ago. 

Good luck.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Kirkland still makes a puppy food. It's in a yellow bag. I've purchased it for the rescue many times (recently even). 

Selzer is right about Kirkland's adult food being a close dupe of Diamond Naturals and 4Health -- there's a thread where we had the labels of all 3 up, and the differences were vanishingly small. They appear to be sister-foods, just bearing different labels.

A lot of dogs seem to do fine on it. I've had a couple that got itchy skin (chicken allergy, apparently, as it went away by switching them to fish-based kibble). You must keep the bag date codes for every bag though -- Diamond's recall history makes this an essential practice, IMHO. You should also subscribe to one of the email blasts on dog food recalls, so you know when one is happening.

Nature's Domain at Costco is also a Diamond food. It's their grain-free line.

If you can pay about $10-15 more a bag than Kirkland (which runs about $28 at Costco), then you could look at Victor, or Fromm Classic (their entry-level line -- I feed their 4-Star Line, but I don't have experience with the Classic...I just like the company a lot). Both are companies that have good recall histories with an emphasis on quality-control. 

Here's the Fromm Classic in case you want to compare it:
https://www.chewy.com/fromm-family-classics-adult-formula/dp/32646

Here's one of the lowest priced Victor foods:
https://www.chewy.com/victor-select-beef-meal-brown-rice/dp/120668


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I'll give another vote for Victor. I feed the Hi-pro formula which is for "active dogs and puppies" It's a 5star rated food and costs me $38 a bag which lasts about 5 weeks for 1 large high metabolism GSD


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I fed Fromm to my dog when he was a pup. He did well on the Fromm Gold line (large breed puppy). He also liked their Gold adult (regular, not large breed, I didn't care for the large breed's fat %). Eventually, I went with something with higher protein/fat, but not Fromm. He didn't care for their grain free.


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## Dotbat215 (Aug 19, 2015)

All good suggestions so far. I would add Sportdogfood (manu. by Pioneer Naturals) and Sportmix wholesomes.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

I use Taste of the Wild for one dog who loves it and never had a problem with it at all. I got my other one off another Diamond food from the breeder, moved to Fromm.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

LuvShepherds said:


> I use Taste of the Wild for one dog who loves it and never had a problem with it at all. I got my other one off another Diamond food from the breeder, moved to Fromm.


Taste of the Wild is also a Diamond food. Which is funny, because that stuff I actually took to the shelter because my dogs did not do good on it.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

selzer said:


> Taste of the Wild is also a Diamond food. Which is funny, because that stuff I actually took to the shelter because my dogs did not do good on it.


I know that, but it was also rated very high on the index I used. NOT Dog
Food Analysis, I did my own based on the quality of ingredients


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I feed Diamond Naturals, Beef..I find my dogs don't seem to do well on chicken based foods, and I've tried them all, I just always come back to the Diamond Beef, coats are gorgeous, they keep a good weight, stools are good..Tractor Supply, I usually pay around 34$ for 50#..I never really look to see how long it lasts with 4 dogs..


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Another shout out for Victor. Over a year now. Perfect blood panels, hard stools, good coats. I use the Victor hi pro which is a 30/20 food


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

I realize this is an old thread, but if anyone else is looking for a decently priced quality food check out American Natural Premium. Very good food and their original formula is about $42 for a 40 lb. bag.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Liffey (Jan 12, 2017)

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/diamond_dog_food.html

I would stay away from Diamond pet food. Came across this while researching food when my dog got sick recently. 

I can't speak from my own experience, but my friend has two 30 to 40lb dogs that she feeds Rachael Ray dog food and she says they like it and are doing well. The ingredients list doesn't look bad and I think it's relatively cheap.

Good luck!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Looking at the ingredients is not enough. 

Rachel Ray Nutrish is a food made by Ainsworth. Ainsworth also makes Walmart's Pure Balance store-brand. They're a contract manufacturer for private label and other foods. They're not free of recalls.

The difference with Victor and Fromm is they are small family-owned companies that own and operate their own plants and have control over the quality of the manufacturing process_._ They've been in the pet food business for decades, and they formulate their foods based on that experience, with control over the supply chain (since they are sourcing what goes into their plants).

The difference with Kirkland, 4Health, Nutrish, and scores of other foods is that they are just contract manufacture foods -- some company hires a big factory owned by someone else (Diamond, Ainsworth, or some other company) to produce a food (and usually source the ingredients) pursuant to some set of specifications they send over. They have to trust the factory to get it right because they're just slapping their label on a food made in the contract-factory. That saves cost -- by a lot -- but it also gives up control. _That _is the trade off you have to make in deciding how much or little to spend on food.


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## maxtmill (Dec 28, 2010)

I just switched from $78 for a 37 # bag, to Kirkland, since we rescued an Irish Wolfhound recently! The PriceSmart here sells Kirkland, and they did have a puppy food - perhaps you can ask the store about getting you some.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

I feed Victor Salmon and sweet potato-
rorie is doing well on it -it seems to work better for her than acana or orjen which were more expensive foods


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## 115pounds (Aug 27, 2015)

Because of money issues I have been feeding 2/3 Canidae Grain Free PURE and 1/3 Orijen. I also feed a fresh meat, usually a chicken thigh. I think my dog is part pig, he even ate a celery stick and loves carrots.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I'm not sure where you live but I feed Beaverdam. It is another small family owned company and not only do my dogs do well on it but my cat became sassy and silky on their food. Unfortunately it is sold only regionally since they are so small.

My dogs also get an egg every morning and mine also like celery on occasion and one loves big crunchy carrots for dessert. One gets a bully stick for dessert (bought online in bulk. less expensive that way)


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## Ziva Fl (Aug 4, 2014)

Just a thought,I work construction and have seen many times that cheaper is not always better! I am sure that would also hold true for dog food Just a thought My Ziva is allergic to chicken and grain so her diet is very limited


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Ziva Fl said:


> Just a thought,I work construction and have seen many times that cheaper is not always better! I am sure that would also hold true for dog food Just a thought My Ziva is allergic to chicken and grain so her diet is very limited


While this is true, more expensive is not always better either. Hands down, Diamond Naturals is better than purina one or purina pro plan, and the purina costs much more. 

My dogs were very sickly on Canidae. They are fine on Diamond Naturals. Canidae is supposedly a better food. 

I have fed Wellness Core, Solid Gold, Prairie Raw Instinct, Taste of the Wild, and my dogs do better on the Diamond Naturals. They might do even better on Orijen or Fromm or FreshPet Vital, that would be out of the ball park, and there is no guaranty that they would. I know you don't generally have to feed as much of higher quality kibble, but some dogs do not do as well on a kibble that is concentrated to the point of 500-700kcalorie/cup. Nor is it necessarily better to have higher protein and fat ratios.


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## Eva Jones (Jan 26, 2020)

Judging about dog food quality by the price or brand popularity can be bad decision. There is affordable dog food that provides all the necessary ingredients for your pet health and well-being. There is expensive dog food that is full of useless fillers, artificial tastes and cheap products which are low in protein. Famous dog food brands are everywhere on the store shelves and advertisements, they have more budgets on promotion and usually cost more than other similar products.

Dog owners believe that high price corresponds with high quality. It’s only half-true. Surely, there are reasonable prices on vegetables, fruit, meat and vitamin ingredients, which are basic supplements for healthy dog food, but there is a price on marketing promotion as well included, and it adds a n expenses for a manufacturer to the product’s price. According to the general tendency to a healthy diet, people get more educated on how proper food should be chosen.

Nowadays cheap dog food brands try to compete with the top resellers by quality and price on their products. They improve their recipes with fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and Omega fatty acids to sustain the dog’s heart, digestion, immune system, and other vital organs. There is plenty of dog food for the price which complies with the highest pet care and veterinarian standards and doesn’t cost a fortune.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Another vote for Victor. I switched to kibble because raw was just too expensive for two GSDs. Because my knuckle head dog ate something somewhere that did not agree with him we were at the emercency vet last night (he is fine). Anyway, his chem panel, and all other bloodwork looked great. Their coats look great, energy levels are the same high level, their poops are HUGE compared to when they were raw fed lolol BUT they are nice, uniform, and firm. 

It is currently costing me 48 bucks every 3.5 weeks to feed a 96lb 2.5 year old and a 80lb 11 month old on Victor. 11 month old gets 4 cups per day and 2.5 year old gets 3 cups. Moderately active dog, with a few low activity days here and there.


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## McGloomy (Mar 13, 2018)

ProPac has really decent ingredients for the price. It's on Chewy.com


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## McGloomy (Mar 13, 2018)

and American Journey on Chewy also


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## atomic (Mar 28, 2016)

This was a helpful read, I had been feeding my dogs TOPS brand from my feed store and it “appeared” to have decent ingredients especially for $27 for a 50# bag until recently. I ended up with a rancid bag and it made two of my three dogs severely ill with food poisoning, they were miserable, costs me ruined carpets and a vet visit. My moms dog got sick too because we often share bags. My one dog that didn’t get sick, my GSD, is because he was too smart and refused to eat it. My senior dog took a full week to bounce back from it. Never again!!! I also told my feed store and wrote the company a scathing letter that they have denied comment on. My vet also advised against grain free, which the kibble was, and that it’s linked to heart disease. Since then I bought a bag of Diamond but haven’t been sold on it so I think I will check out Victor. I will say they have good poops and nobody’s been sick on the Diamond. I do also add toppers to their kibble including boiled chicken, mackerel, duck eggs, sweet potato, pumpkin, rice, and on occasion wild game like trout and squirrel.


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## Buckelke (Sep 4, 2019)

It's all relative. We switched to expensive dog food trying to overcome Lucky's occasional diarrhea because it was costing a lot to take him to the vet every few months. Here, that requires testing ($183) because the health dept requires it. What we were saving on dog food was going to the vet for testing and antibiotics. So we do not mind paying more for dog food that agrees with them.


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