# best food for my puppy on a budget



## buckeye1 (Jun 17, 2013)

I'm looking for the best possible puppy food that I can find a small budget. Currently we are feeding Maggie Kirkland. This is our second bag of this and she is doing ok with it but has gas at times. But we don't have a membership to Costco (my mother in law does) but its not always convenient to go their and pick some up. We are looking in the $20-$30 range. Like I said we are on a budget and not looking to spend a fortune. Pet Supply Plus recommended us Nutro Max Puppy. I saw some mixed reviews. Was looking into Orijen but that's way out of our price range. TOTW sounds good but made by Diamond (lots of recalls). Seems like everything I wanna try there's something bad about it. I don't think Kirkland is giving her enough nutrients. Its giving her dry skin. She is getting low on food wanna try something new before the bag runs out. Any suggestions.


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

Im curious how long a 30 dollar bag of food lasts? My pup gets mostly chicken for under 70 cents a lb plus extras, maybe 60 dollars a month for raw.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I don't think there's a food of comparable quality to Kirkland in the same price range. It's really in a league of its own in basically being very similar TOTW at a very lower price point. Both are mfr'd by Diamond, and the ingredient list is pretty darn close. (You mentioned being wary of Diamond...but you are already feeding Diamond if you are feeding Kirkland.)

I think if you want to move up in quality from there, you have to be prepared to pay much more per pound -- $55-60/bag instead of $30. I personally think Nutro would be a step down, but every dog is different.

Kirkland just added a grain-free line for a few dollars more. If you are feeding the basic Kirkland Super-Premium, maybe move up to the grain-free offering, and get yourself a Costco membership, or see if you can get added to a family membership and get a card (they allow 2 cards per membership). I think there's a fish-and-sweet-potato option in that line now, which would be the first thing I would try in that price point. 

For the dry skin, you can supplement with fish oil (human grade capsules that are frequently Buy-One-Get-One-Free at CVS and Rite Aid, or the Kirkland brand sold at Costco are very reasonable options). For gas, I think a digestive enzyme supplement helps (I use one called Prozyme, available on Amazon). A protein-source change (e.g., to a fish-based food) may also help.


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## buckeye1 (Jun 17, 2013)

Magwart said:


> I don't think there's a food of comparable quality to Kirkland in the same price range. It's really in a league of its own in basically being a dupe for TOTW at a very reasonable price point.


Thanks. But at almost 9 months can we start to feed her adult instead of puppy? It seems that Kirkland has a few more choices in Adult than puppy. Also before I start a new thread, why is Maggie keep getting "sleepy" under her eyes? It started when we got her. I can wipe both eyes and 10 min later its there again. Can it be the food or maybe allergies? As I said she has those the day we picked her from the dog warden. It started with 1 eye and now its both. Now big deal...just one wipe and thy are gone.


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## maureen_mickel (Jul 17, 2011)

buckeye1 said:


> Thanks. But at almost 9 months can we start to feed her adult instead of puppy? It seems that Kirkland has a few more choices in Adult than puppy. Also before I start a new thread, why is Maggie keep getting "sleepy" under her eyes? It started when we got her. I can wipe both eyes and 10 min later its there again. Can it be the food or maybe allergies? As I said she has those the day we picked her from the dog warden. It started with 1 eye and now its both. Now big deal...just one wipe and thy are gone.


Hi there, buckeye1! I work at one pet supplies in the Toledo area, I saw that you had mentioned them in one of your posts. Usually, our stores carry a grain free all natural dog food made by diamond, its he cheapest grain free natural dog food around. Quite a few of the members on here feed it to their dogs, and are satisfied with the results. I believe the biggest bad is $30-40 (i cant remember exactly!) Earth born is also a good food, though it may be out of your price range. Another cheap natural dog food is chicken soup for the dog lovers soul. It still has some grains in it, but your can get a HUGE bad for $30-40 (again, I cannot remember exactly!) much better then nutro in my opinion. 
And if your really in a pinch, Iams Simple and natural (dark blue bag!) is probably one of the better grocery store brands. I also saw some of Rachel Ray's dog food and does not look too bad. You could also get science diet, they recently edited their recipe though im still not a fan. Corn is not "bad" for dogs and if ground is completely digestable though it obviously has its downsides (it can mess with the glycemic index, not good!) and science diet also has low protein (some vets claim high protein is linked to kidney disease, this origenated on studies with rats, they did a recent study and found out that high protein does not cause kidney disease! Many vets still believe this so that is one of the reseasons that they recomment this dog food!), and it also has things like animal fat in it (NASTY!). I would say give the diamond naturals a shot, if you dont trust it try the chicken soup.
And as for switching your dog to adult food at 9 months, I would go for it. It helps them grow slower so they wont have issues with their pasterns. I've fed Celia adult dog food since she was 8 weeks old, and she is in perfect health. But, that is just my experience and she was eating it rather young. I would say anywhere after 6 months for a large breed dog should be fine 
For Celia's food I personally trust wellness core (id switch to origin or fromm if we carried it!!!) and i supplement with primal frozen dog food by mixing it with her food. 
Im not a pro, these are things i found during research and reading dog ingredients on bags at work when im not busy and doing alot of research, i do suggest you do your research aswell! Not every dog food is perfect, some people may even disagree on some of the things in this post.


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## NateB (Nov 16, 2012)

Hey Buckeye1! I fed my dogs Eukanuba for a long time until I found Orijen. Orijen, and similar foods, are pricey. However, because the food is higher quality, dogs don't need to eat as much to get the same nutrition etc. Therefore, it is not quite as expensive as it seems. It may still be out of the price range, but at least it is something to consider when looking at other brands of dog food. 

GoBucks


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

How long is your bag of Kirkland lasting you? You can get Arcana (Other line from makers of Orijen) for around 60-70/bag, but it'll last you a solid month at 3 cups per day. I know with some foods you have to feed 5 -6 cups, so the cost works out to be the same when you compare the overall costs to feed.

I fed my dog Orijen until she a few months ago, and just switched to raw. On raw, I'm feeding about $40-50 a month. That's pretty similar to the Kirkland price point.


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

I feed what my breeder fed, Exclusive Adult chicken and rice

Exclusive Pet Food - Dogs

I buy it at a feed store, it is a 35lb bag for $35 and after 8 bags you get one free. My dog does very well on it and the breeder fed it b/c it is not made by diamond and the majority of her dogs did well on it. I supplement with fresh foods and will be changing him to raw like our adult dog eats when he is a yr old or so.


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