10 week old puppy, is Coscto Puppy Food ok?

[Ollie's Mom]

I'm totally feeling horrible that all the foods listed look fancy/organic. My vet wasn't worried when I told her I am feeding Ollie IAMS, and I am transitioning to Costco bc the pet store told me it's good quality. He is digesting (no runnies etc) fine and growing nicely (is about 13 pounds). Am I a horrible person?!?!

[Ollie's Mom]

Ok Ok I hear you guys loud and clear. What is the recommendation for puppy food for frugal types such as myself. Anyone have thoughts on Natures Domain?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not recommended. It's another Kirkland food. I'm afraid that nothing on our recommended brands list is available at Costco, Walmart, Target, etc.  

As others have mentioned, you cannot go by the price on the bag. If you go through two bags of the cheaper food in the same amount of time that you would go through one bag of the more expensive food, the "cheaper" food will actually cost more.  

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well, what I do for my dogs is take a look at the ingredients and check the omega 3/omega 6 ratio.  It should be no more than 1/4, but I try to get 1/2  (3/6).  Prebiotics or probiotics are good things to look for too.  But absolutely no ingredients or products from China.  Choosing a great food is important.  I use Natural Balance with Prebiotics.  Fish and sweet potatoes are main ingredients.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I believe Canidae is typically considered the most cost-effective of the recommended list. Chewy also has excellent prices on Earthborn Holistic.

Just as an example of the difference in feeding/costs: I had my family switch our Great Pyrenees from Beneful (yuck) to Earthborn and she eats about 40% of the volume she was eating of Beneful per day. That, to me, is incredible. Most importantly, her whole body (hair, composition, eyes, ears, etc.) changed for the better. She is whiter, softer, more lean, her eyes are brighter, and her ears are cleaner. You won't regret the change. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Please take a look at the cost comparisons in this discussions, to see how that "bargain" priced food is not really a bargain after all. It's a real eye opener: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/food-co...

[Ollie's Mom]

Thank you Karen! I will likely switch Ollie to Orajen but I did want to post this Nature's Domain review. The pet store said it's a good quality food:  http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natures-domain-dog-f...

So, just trying to weigh all the options. Thank you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amanda, the dog food advisor doesn't consider sourcing, manufacturing, or recall history in the ratings; this is only one shortcoming of these "rating" type sites, as the dog food advisor himself freely admits on his website. 

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dog-food-reviews-pr...

The Problem with Dog Food Reviews

"Dog food reviews have at least three valid shortcomings. They can never reveal the true quality of the raw materials that were used to make the products they attempt to judge.

Or the important research and nutritional design effort that went into making these products.

And they cannot evaluate the safety with which the raw materials and products were handled by a company when manufacturing, storing and shipping the finished goods."

This is why we do not use "ratings", stars, etc. here, and why we recommend brands only after researching the sourcing, recall history, and manufacturing practices of the company.

 Another problem with these ratings sites is that they are not updated often enough to reflect changes in companies and in formulas. Just looking at the ingredients is not enough. You have to be sure of where those ingredients come from. This is the point we have been trying to make here. 

When this group was first started, we relied on these "ratings" type sites a lot. We've moved beyond that now. Safety is our first concern. After that, it's about choosing the right formula for the individual dog. 

I've also already mentioned that pet store clerks are not educated in nutrition and are probably not the best source of advice, either. If you are going to stay with a Costco brand, you might as well just stay with the one you're already feeding. Nature's Domain is Kirkland. 

There are literally dozens of "options" between Orijen and warehouse brands. There are also dozens of opinions on what constitutes a "good food". I've seen people recommend Purina. I'll bet there is even some Purina formula that gets a high rating from the DFA site. 

But we use different criteria here in this group. 

[Shari Becker]

Hi Amanda, So, Lexi is full grown, hovering around 38ish lbs. I use 40 for ease because she's always up and down a little. She gets a heaping 1/2 cup per serving, but I mix raw and kibble during my day, so she's a bit hard to judge by. Vet says she looks great, so I don't worry too much. Also, she never ate puppy food because of suspected chicken and grain allergies. We did all raw then added in the 6 fish, which has been excellent. I think there are others here who can better address the puppy food quantity, but, my understanding is that Orijen's foods are so high quality that you don't need to use the puppy food. Am I right Karen?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There's very little difference nutritionally between puppy formulas and adult formulas. Tiny differences in mineral content, and puppy formulas are usually higher in calories. But that varies from one brand to another. 

A lot of formulas are ALS: "all life stages". Obviously, that must mean that puppies can eat the same foods that adults do, lol.

But you do want an AAFCO statement that the food is approved for whatever life stage you're dealing with. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am curious though as to what kind of pet store is recommending Costco brand foods, since they don't sell it anywhere but Costco, lol. Kind of unusual for a retail store employee to recommend something they don't sell. 

[Ollie's Mom]

It was a lady at Pet Supermarket. She was walking around the store with 3 birds on her shoulders so maybe she's not very credible. LOL.  Thank you and I really appreciate all your feedback, this is a great website and I have a feeling it will help me with a lot of questions I have about raising a doodle. Ollie is 75% poodle and 25% golden. I also have two kids agest 10 and 8 and work fulltime so I need all the help I can get!