Dog Food Prices

[Bill George]

I have two wonder dogs, and I try to feed them good quality food, not the cheap stuff but not the really high priced either. Have been using Nutra****** made in Minn for years it was not cheap but it had good ingredients. Had a large increase in price a few months ago and I kind of figured that was fine. But yesterday I picked up another bag, three weeks ago it was $32,50 for the small bag and this time with the same discounts retired military and frequent buyer it was $42.50? Thinking now Purina ONE Plus Healthy Weight High-Protein Dog food would be a better slightly cheaper replacement.... yes weight control. Anyone have a better choice?

[Rich Engelhardt]

My wife feeds the goofballs Pedigree.
She gets a 40 pound bag of it delivered from Chewy every two weeks.
(Great Pyrenees/coon hound mix breed - 60 pounds - 80 pounds - 100 pounds)

Two of the dogs - Kasey and PJ - get great reports from the vet.
Quigley eats too much and the vet says he's fat. Other than that he's in excellent health.

When ham and turkey and 5 pound packs of ground beef go on sale, she'll buy them one or two of those too. Well. She buys it for us, but, she cuts the hounds in on the feast.

We fed our Great Dane nothing but Dad's Dog Food (super cheap) and he lived for nearly 14 years. As long as the dogs like the food and it doesn't short them on vitamins and minerals I don't think it matters much what brand they eat.

[Lisa Starr]

After seeing all the recalls for many of the dog foods, even some if the "good" brands, I chose Fromm Brands when we adopted this little rescue. Our prior lab lived until age 13 on Purina One, which is definitely NOT a quality product.

[George Bokros]

Our dog is a Alaskan Husky/Icelandic Sheep Dog mix 68 lbs, we feed him Blue Buffalo 24 lb bag $86 delivered from Chewy.

[Clint Baxter]

We mix Nutro with Pure Harmony to feed our two pointer types. We have a neighbor/good friend who feed Purina One to their Lab mix. Magpies in the area like to clean up the Purina One stools but don't touch the ones from our dogs. We believe they like the corn content that remains. Can definitely see the difference as the stools from our two are much darker than the Purina ones.

It may be more costly, but we like to think we're giving them a better product.

Clint

[Jim Becker]

We feed Kirkland from Costco. Oliver considers it "delicious" and the price is right. It's made by Diamond, AFAIK.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We recently made a few batches of home made rice, ground turkey and vegetables. It is less expensive than some of the better brands of dog food. The dogs sure do not like going back to regular dog food.

515365 They are also picky about their attire.

[Allan Dozier]

I feed Purina ProPlan. There is a huge amount of marketing crap out there with dogfood. I will make two suggestions to research, can take a long discussion to fully cover. One is the documented problem with cardiomyopathy (a heart disease) associated with some grain free diets. Possibly caused by the legumes that may inactivate some amino acids needed for heart health.
the other is to be careful with homemade diets. The most common. problem is a low calcium/phosphorus ratio since muscle meat is high in Phosphorus but low in calcium since no bone is included. This causes the body to pull calcium out of the dog's bones to maintain correct ration. Used to be a common problem many years ago in big cats in zoos fed hunks of meat. The osteoporosis would result in skeletal collapse.

[Tom Trees]

I feed Purina ProPlan. There is a huge amount of marketing crap out there with dogfood. I will make two suggestions to research, can take a long discussion to fully cover. One is the documented problem with cardiomyopathy (a heart disease) associated with some grain free diets. Possibly caused by the legumes that may inactivate some amino acids needed for heart health.
the other is to be careful with homemade diets. The most common. problem is a low calcium/phosphorus ratio since muscle meat is high in Phosphorus but low in calcium since no bone is included. This causes the body to pull calcium out of the dog's bones to maintain correct ration. Used to be a common problem many years ago in big cats in zoos fed hunks of meat. The osteoporosis would result in skeletal collapse.

Can I say, I find it hard to put into words how thankful I am to have stumbled across your post Allan.
I certainly owe you a virtual handshake.
Having been trying to find some answers for so long, with seemingly the only option being to buy an industrial mincer to ground up everything,
should it even be possible to find everything necessary.
Having had Akita's for a long time, which have allergies, my old fella used to get raw chicken, and was a trooper for 15 years,
he had a lot of issues on the dry food, so I wasn't having that no more. (fits and severe hot spots, unable to walk etc)
We've got another one now, and she's hyper allergenic also, though was always pukey unlike me old friend, and the chicken doesn't agree with her.
Extremely difficult to find something she's not allergic to, and now we're feeding her ground beef one day, and this new rocket fuel called "butternut box" the next.
lots of options of various stuff, what you won't find anywhere here (Eire), plus the organs and that.
(I'll be looking into the legumes, considering the name of the stuff, though not even sure how much squash might be present in these packs
the equivalent of spinach and Popeye kinda thing, ner seen anything like it TBH)

We've rescued a grumpy ol shepherd too for company, since we can care for a dog not so good on the legs.
He's starting to have a few clicks, and it's been worrying, and just as every other time we've asked in the vets, who simply push whichever brand sticker is on the window,
which all seem the same.
Can I ask you are you on any forums, or do you have Dr Ian Billinghurst's book, or perhaps Dr Karen Becker's book, should she have also published something...
or other author likewise?

Never thought to think about the tiger king type folks in the USA, but was often thinking of visiting our version, namely the bear man from Buncrana.
Often thought about calcium supplements before, but have heard of excess calcuim causing problems with the heart IIRC.
Seems from what you say, it might indeed be a non issue, in the right quantities, that is.

Did I say thanks, well I meant it.
Would love to read if you had some suggestions, as pretty much every website I've came across regarding K9's haven't been what I'm looking for.
To tell the truth, I haven't looked at any in the last decade, they were that lousy I can't remember what info they had, it must have been very off putting not to visit again,
as I was desperate at the time, as the allergies were real bad at one stage.
but perhaps there's good ones these days, ?
Would love to hear of any such suggestion.

Thank you is an understatement, good vibes, humble blessings and well wishes might be more apt.
And all the best too.
Tom

[Alex Zeller]

I spoil my big puppy. She's a rescue large breed mix. I mostly give her beef (since it's the only way to sneak her meds into her). But I also feed her a mixture of 4Health and Diamond Naturals (that has fish oil added to it) I get at Tractor Supply. Pricewise they aren't bad. She's starting to gain weight now that she's having difficulty walking but she's always been over 100lbs and is closing in on 15 years so what I'm doing must be working.

[Alan Lightstone]

We've given our Cavalier King Charles Spaniels - Hills Prescription I/D food for years. It started with our first Cavalier not having many dry foods agree with her, but it seems to work best for all of our Cavaliers. We get it now from Chewy.

Our last Cavalier lasted almost 16 years without mitral valve disease, which our vet had never seen. Our oldest now, almost 10, does have moderate mitral regurgitation. Sadly, pretty common in the breed.

But so many recalls and issues with the "fresh" dog food you see massively advertised. Not something we're going to ever get for them.

[mike stenson]

Our mastiff is allergic to chicken. While trying to find a food he could eat, and our stupidly picky dane (she was a good girl, just a picky eater) would eat we had a talk with our vet. Her comments were pretty much exactly what's been a stated above, and she also commented that she trusted major brands more, because they have nutritionists and the boutique brands don't.

Anyway we feed Purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach currently. It's salmon based and health is all good. We get it form chewy because they're consistently not only the cheapest, but have it in stock and fresh. We also supplement with green beans or sometimes pumpkin.

[Tom M King]

My Wife is considered a top breeder of Havanese for 28 years now. We fed Purina Pro Plan for years and had some live 18 years on it. For at least a decade we've been feeding Fromm. Fromm is a family owned business and has never had a recall. Pam tops it with various things like Freshpet loaf. The dogs have never tired of it. No health or food related problems ever. Nothing about this is low cost as we are feeding a dozen dogs and often litters of puppies. We get weekly automatic shipments.

[Pat Germain]

My beagles got Pedigree their entire lives and those were long and healthy lives. We chose Pedigree because it's inexpensive, it's on the shelf at local stores and it appeared to be a good quality food. Interestingly, during the big toxic pet food scandals, Pedigree was not among the problem pet foods. Some more expensive pet foods were a part of the problem. And I remember many people trying to make their own pet food and finding out how hard it is. As Tom pointed out, it might seem best to feed your dog or cat fresh or frozen meat, but that lacks a lot of nutrients they need.

This is a difficult subject because there is just so much hype in the world of pet food. It's no coincidence that all the pet articles I see pop up online recommend some uber-expensive, boutique brand only available from my local veterinary clinic. If anything claimed in such articles is true, wolves would have gone extinct a thousand years ago.

The Mrs. Pat cat currently gets dry kibble and canned food from Blue; again because it's reasonably priced, it's on the shelf at the grocery store and the cat likes it. But I'm sure many people would insist the cat will starve to death if we don't feed her something sold only my local vet's office.

[Lee Schierer]

My Brittany lived to be 16-1/4 years old and he ate Purina One dry dog food twice a day every day. During hunting season, he was fed the High protein performance Purina One. He found his first pheasant at 6 months and hunted pheasants every year he was alive up to age 15-1/2 and found more birds than any other dog he hunted with.
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Here are two of the birds he found on his last hunt.
515408

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

My Brittany lived to be 16-1/4 years old

Beautiful dog. I grew up with a neighbor's Brittany following me all over the countryside while I worked my paper route. He and I spent countless days with him sitting in a red wagon, with me pulling him up a hill and turning around at the top and us both riding on it down the hill while I steered with the handle. He was the most loyal and gentle dog a kid could grow up with.

... and yes. I agree. Dog food prices are high, but it's a price people will bear because we love our dogs.

[Brian Elfert]

How did dogs survive in the wild before they were domesticated without nutritionally complete dog food?

[Mel Fulks]

How did dogs survive in the wild before they were domesticated without nutritionally complete dog food?

The big dogs ate the smaller dogs.

[Walter Mooney]

Bill, I caution you about changing dog food. Several months back the wife decided one of our three rescues should maybe lose some weight, go on a ‘healthy’ food. I’m not sure what brought on that decision. Long story shortened, three days after the change in food (from one quality food brand to another), the little guy spent an entire day at the vet’s, with what was ultimately diagnosed as pancreatitis! When I asked the vet what brought this on so suddenly, she gave a two-word answer — food indiscretion! The little guy (a pug) survived and is doing well, back on the food he’d been eating for the umpteen years we’ve had him. It was an $1800 lesson! That money would have bought A LOT of food!

[mike stenson]

How did dogs survive in the wild before they were domesticated without nutritionally complete dog food?
With shorter lifespans. Just like humans.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

"The big dogs ate the smaller dogs"
We feed the neighbors dogs out at our wood lot. They are about half wild and do not get fed regularly. When they have full tummies they are good playmates. When they are starving they are very ornery and aggressive (Gus gets treated like he would be good a snack). For the country dogs I get the cheapest food available in which ever store I happen to stop at. When I give them Always Save brand they give me the stink-eye and hesitate before eating. They like the store brand from Aldi. We give them flea and tick treatment too.

515433 515434
The Akita mix-breed survived getting run over, but did not survive the winter. Gus still looks for his young playful friend. The Akita mix could keep up with Gus in their games of catch me if you can. The black dog plays some. The big dog is way too serious for play but likes to have his ears rubbed. It took 3 years to earn the trust of the big dog.


https://youtu.be/HmYxaTaQp90

[Derek Meyer]

We have 5 small dogs - one chihuahua, one terrier/havanese mix, two standard dachshunds and one miniature dachshund. Four of them eat the same food, which is Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight formula. This costs us about $100 for a 29 pound bag that lasts 5 to 6 weeks.

The fifth, our 6 year old red dachshund, developed a pancreatic insufficiency a few years ago, where her pancreas no longer produces the enzyme she needs to be able to digest her food. After some expensive tests done by the Texas A&M vet school, she is now on a supplement powder that we add over her food at each meal. It tastes like chicken and she loves it. We mix in a little warm water to make it like a gravy for her. She also has to have the Hill's Low Fat food, which is not sold at our local pet stores, so we have to either get it from the vet or from Chewy.com. That food is double the price of the other Hill's food, at $200 for a 29 pound bag. At least it lasts a lot longer as only one dog eats it. The powder we buy, called Pancre-pro, is $240 for a bottle and lasts about 2 months. She also has an anti-inflammatory we give her for back pain, as she has a slipped disc and can't jump anymore. That is $100/bottle for a month's supply. So, she's an expensive girl, but we love her.