# Good yet affordable food



## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

hello all,

my doggies have been eating TOTW for years now. i am looking to cut some living expenses and am afraid the dogs food may be in my sights.

Any foods out there that are still good but noticably cheaper than TOTW?

Thanks!


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Costco's Kirkand is good, I've been using it for a few years. I started using Earthborne Holistic but I think I am going back to Kirkland.


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## Diesel and Lace (Apr 15, 2013)

I have been told TOTW ( Diamond Food Product ) Is actually not that good. ( I have also been feeding it for years and thought it was great ) I have been doing research on BARF / RAW feeding and it almost appears that it may be less expensive for us to do that. IDK if you or anyone you know hunts / fishes but if they do that is also a way to get the food for them, which I am planning on doing as well.


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## GSDGIRLS (Jan 7, 2002)

chicken soup


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Diamond Naturals. It has decent ingredients, and it costs approximately $29 for a 40# bag. 

I feed half and half DN Adult Chicken and Rice and DN Extreme Athlete. The EA is about $38 and has higher protein and fat and calories. But it also has good ingredients. 

If you are feeding a Diamond Food anyway, check them out. I have been feeding them for almost 2 years now. 

If you switch to DN Chicken and Rice, and want to feed more meat protein. You can add a raw chicken leg quarter 1-2 times a week, and a hard boiled egg every day. Also a tablespoon of Dannon's Yogurt, once a day. 

It should be significantly cheaper than TOTW.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Hey buddy!!! That sucks that you have to change foods to save money. Just thought I'd bring this up even though it's not about dog food, I just switched from Comcast over to Att U-Verse and it's saving me $50 a month for the next 6 months but after that it will be saving me $20 a month. Is switching an option for you? Also, do you buy your dog food at Petco or Petsmart? I go to a family owned feed store and they are about $8 cheaper on the food I feed Sinister than Petco and Petsmart so maybe you should look for one by you.


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## LeoRose (Jan 10, 2013)

If you have a Tractor Supply Co. near you, look into their 4Health brand. That's what I'm currently feeding my dogs.


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## desi-dav (May 25, 2013)

Victor Dog Food. Awesome food, at a great price.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

The way I see it you either will spend the money now on food or possibly spend it and a lot of it later on down the road at the vet. I think its important for them to be on the best food possible because diet can play a role in their health.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Costco's Kirkland and Nature's Domain are both very good, especially so for the price. Diamond Naturals is also a good food at a great price.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

llombardo said:


> The way I see it you either will spend the money now on food or possibly spend it and a lot of it later on down the road at the vet. I think its important for them to be on the best food possible because diet can play a role in their health.


I agree with you 100%


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

TOTW is cheap IMO, I buy Wellness Core and it's about $20 more. I am trying to cut back and save money too but I love the food Sin is on and I do not want to change it.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

llombardo said:


> The way I see it you either will spend the money now on food or possibly spend it and a lot of it later on down the road at the vet. I think its important for them to be on the best food possible because diet can play a role in their health.


I actually disagree with this. Princess and Pip both lived over 14 years with minimal vet visits and were fed basically garbage food -- purina come and get it, and dads trail mix. 

Furthermore, if you look at ingredients, Diamond Naturals beats Purina Pro Plan hands down, but Purina Pro Plan costs $10 or more dollars more than Diamond Naturals. A LOT of it is marketing.


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## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

llombardo said:


> The way I see it you either will spend the money now on food or possibly spend it and a lot of it later on down the road at the vet. I think its important for them to be on the best food possible because diet can play a role in their health.


I agree, but only kind of with this. My first dog lived to be about 16 on Joy, Baxter went the first four years on Joy, then switched to Kibbles and Bits. He's now on RAW due to a severe grain allergy, but if it weren't for severe ear infections, he'd still be on Kibbles and Bits. Finn started out on some food, I don't remember the name, but we went to Kibbles and Bits after the store that sold the food went out of business and we couldn't find it.

Only reason we switched to Blue Buffalo was because we were trying to put weight on Finn safely. I've known plenty of dogs who have lived happy, healthy, and long lives eating nothing but Iams, Purina, or other "crap" food.

Anywho...I really like Nutro Natural Choice. We feed it to the puppy and she's flourishing and growing like a bad weed. I've heard great reviews about Chicken Soup, and there's a new food by Purina that is grain free...I don't remember the name, but I liked the fact there were few ingredients.


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

Viand looks good and affordable.


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## NormanF (Apr 14, 2013)

Diamond Naturals offers a 40 lb bag for $35 which is an excellent value in competitively priced premium dog food. Most of its foods are 4 star foods. 

This is the company behind many highly regarded label brands like Costco's Kirkland, TractorSupply Health4U and Chicken Soup For The Dog Lover's Soul. And if you buy it on Amazon, you pay no tax and get free shipping!


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

Hi all, 

Thanks a lot for all the replies. On top of saving money, Cody is flat out sick of TOTW. he really is.... lol

I think I'm going to start with Selzers recommendation and try the Diamond Naturals and see how his stomach does on that. Kirkland seems good too, but I'm not a costco member.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Make sure you look at calories per cup too. While a food may be less expensive if the calories per serving are lower you may have to feed more.


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## SS-GSD (Dec 10, 2012)

I would suggest Victor, Pro Pac or Sportmix. Sportmix recently came out with a new line called Sportmix Wholesome for those who are iffy about things like corn. Good food, I've had several buddies switch to it and they like it a lot and the dogs do great on it and eat it well. The chicken formula is $29.99 for 40lb at Tractor Supply, the fish and lamb formulas are $31.99 for 40lb so still a really good deal. Looking at the ingredients, it's comparable to Diamond Naturals but unlike Diamond Naturals, Sportmix is made by Midwestern Pet Foods which uses no GMO ingredients and they don't have any recall record like Diamond does. Might be worth a shot.


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## HuskyMal89 (May 19, 2013)

I also feed 4health to my huskies and malamutes. The activity level of your dog should dictate the type of food he or she is on....30/20 is a lot of protein and fat so just be careful feeding is all no matter what brand of kibble you get. 4health is very stable and the dogs have no problem digesting it. I would feed Raw exclusively but if you do not have a contact it can get pricey for you to do so. Especially with 6 dogs plus a pup lol. I am getting a GSD pup from Czech lines next month and am gonna feed it 4health and raw combo like my other dogs.


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