.com Forum · Real Show Dogs

I would like some recommendations for an affordable dry dog food. I am getting a NSDTR pup in May and looking for a high quality food to put the pup in and to grow up into. I currently feed my senior (14) field lab Nutro Natural Choice venison, sensitive skin and stomach. She's been on this for the past 8 or so years and it worked well enough for her.

I am looking for something comparable in price. I buy a 30lb bag for about $60 but I often bring the price down $10-15 with coupons It also would preferably be found in a petco so I could put rewards coupons towards it.


What do people recommend? and are all puppy formulas chicken based? so far most I've looked into are. Is this good? Bad? My older dog never seemed to do well on chicken formulas, but that could just be her.

I was thinking maybe trying Nutro Ultra? Any reviews?

BB

Chicken is fine for most dogs, it's only an issue if your dog is sensitive to it.

I'm not a huge fan of Nutro, only because I think you pay a lot more than you should- ie, you can get similar foods for a LOT less.

Petco has TONS of nice choices though. But really, most feed stores and chains like Pet Supplies Plus, also have free bag programs.

Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice, for instance, is about the same quality, if not better than the Nutro (although obviously not for allergies) and costs $30 for 40lbs.

Or, you can go grain free with Taste Of The Wild for about $44/ 30lbs. That food has the advantage of having some formulas that might work for both dogs.

Of Petco's offerings I'd consider-
Blue Wilderness
Wellness
Natural Balance
Canidae
Nutro Ultra
Solid gold
Merrick
I And Love And You

Keeping in mind that on higher quality food, you'll feed less, so price/bag size is not ALWAYS indicative of actual cheap price. (ie, if two foods cost $50/30lbs, but on one food your dog eats a cup a day, and on the other he only needs 1/2 cup- the 1/2 cup food lasts twice as long/costs half as much overall!)

I'd research a bit, and come up with a few options you like, and then see what works for the pup. Congrats on the new addition!

That was me. Timed out.

For what it's worth, my dogs are doing great on the Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete. They are very active dogs though, especially my specials male who is being conditioned. We get a good price at Tractor Supply and Menards though we have some other feed stores that carry it too. I know they have a large breed puppy formula but I'm not quite for sure what the difference is vs their adult formula.

Merricks Grain free is by far the highest quality food for ALL life stages and offers "allergy" alternatives such as pork,venison and buffalo based formulas, but is not always available at many of the "generic" pet food outlets. Wellness grain free is also a great food but incredibly overpriced and contains chicken. Taste of the Wild is a good quality grain free adult food and there is a fish formula available. Interestingly, Costco's Natures Domain grain free is exactly the same food made by the same company only almost 1/2 the price . I am with the above posters and don't consider Nutro a quality food by virtue of the main ingredients and consider it insanely overpriced for the poor quality of it, but I'm glad it's worked so well for you.

I currently feed Taste of the Wild and for the price, I love it. There are about 4 different formulas, so I can change it up for my picky eater and not upset his belly since the basic formula is the same. They also offer puppy formulas for a few dollars more per bag - but the adult is formulated for all life stages and if you look at the nutrition info, there's hardly any difference, I fed my GWP pup the 'adult' formulas while she was a puppy too. You can get ToW at TSC and most other pet stores, it's roughly $48 for a large bag.

I've also heard good things about Fromms, we fed that at the rescue where I worked and hardly ever had any issues with dogs that came through.

I've also been feeding my Afghan Hound the Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete and have been very happy with it. When he was very young, I fed him the Costco Kirkland Signature Puppy Food and was pleased with how he did on it.

I feed Nutrisource grain free. I rotate the 4 different formulas (chicken, bison, salmon, lamb). My dogs do great on this food. I have tried many others including Fromm and Taste of the Wild. This is by far the best in my opinion! Before this I fed Taste of the Wild and I switched because of all the recalls with Diamond. Nutrisource is family owned and operated and is a small company compared to others. It is about $50 for a 30 lb bag. May be hard for you to find because it is mostly sold at pet food specialty stores and it isn't in Petco. There are great deals online though. Best of luck but just wanted to give a recommendation for Nutrisource.

ETA: Link www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nutrisource/

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Last edited by Everdale Goldens on 4/14/2014 2:45:50 PM

I also feed Nutrisource grain free and love it. I pay about 49.00 for a 30 pound bag.

Jana

I tried some of the Natural Planet Organics (rabbit) and LOVED it but it was dreadfully expensive up here in Canada and found no real difference in my dogs when they were fed Merricks (GF).

Nutrisource looks good, but no local dealers in my area.

Also I had a question about protein%. Is there too much for a growing puppy? Is there any fear of growing them too fast?

The food the pup will have been transitioned onto when I get it will be Life's Abundance. Protein 26% Fat 16%.

Compared to:

Merricks Grain free at Protein 38% fat 17%.

Diamond Grain Free at Protien 24% fat 14%

I wanted to find a similar level food to switch the pup too, but is 30+% too high?

For a NSDTR I wouldn't worry about it, your protein levels on either should be fine.

You really only need to start worrying about protein levels and growth rates and calcium/phosphorus balancing etc with truly giant breeds- lke Mastiff and Danes. A bit more attention for large breeds like labs or goldens maybe, but it's really borderline. For a medium breed like an NSDTR, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

I DO NOT condone Blue Buffalo. I had my bc pup on it for a few weeks and he had very loose stool and seemed very under the weather. I've read a lot of similar reviews on it too. Great ingredients, but somethings not right.

I have him on Diamonds All Natural Grain Free right now, the chicken and sweet potato blend. His stool hardened as soon as he was put on and he is growing quite nicely, not too fast, but steadily and at a good rate. His coat shines and he is very active (of course he is a border collie, so that goes without saying lol).

and FYI Diamond also makes Kirklands and TotW if anyone was curious