Not much money....Any ideas for cheap & healthy dog food??

[Kevin]

My wife and I are getting a new puppy this week and want to give our pup the best but honestly do not have too much money. We are both in school so we want to spend the least amount of money possible while still giving our little girl what she needs.

Any suggestions? 

I know everyone seems to hate dog food from grocery stores but are there ANY good ones there?

Thank you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nope, you will not find acceptable dog food in the average grocery store. 

Here's a link to our Recommended Brands list: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

You may find that ordering the food from on-line sources is less expensive than purchasing it locally in stores. 

Blue Buffalo, Holistic Select, and Canidae are probably your least expensive options from our list. 

Keep in mind that you often feed less with the higher quality food, so the cost may not be any more than the cheaper foods, since you buy less. Also, saving money on the feeding end may result in much higher bills at the vet's office. :-)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Rule of thumb, ' cheap food- dog eats more to get the nutrients and calories so you buy more. Good food ( expensive) the dog eats less, you buy less. It ends up costing about the same. A $70.00, 27lbs, bag of dog food last me 7 weeks, 4 days.
Oh, and they poop less. Time cleaning up poop is also money :)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, I spend $32 on a 15 pound bag, which lasts 6 weeks.  Peri's a mini and the chihuahua doesn't eat it - so thats for a 25# dog.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yup!

I posted on the other discussion too, but we spend about $1/day on Luna's food (Acana) which is one of the more expensive ones.

[Adina P]

I keep reading this, but I still want to see the cost break down of this. Comparing a high quality food for a 50 lb dog's average needs with a Purina food for the same dog. I would imagine it is still cheaper on the Purina side. I compared serving sizes and it wasn't big enough for a difference, but I never wrote it down, I don't think.

Kevin, the reason for grocery store brands being subpar is that the same 2 or 3 GIANT companies own them all and their attention to detail and ingredient sources (CHINA for them) are not ideal and they have a past where this lack of attention has caused big problems for dogs. That doesn't mean your dog will die from eating Purina or even that he'll die younger--it's like some people eat a poor diet and live for a long time and others get diabetes or cancer at an earlier age. So many factors: genetics, environment, food, etc...etc. But if you want a quality food it won't be found in the grocery store.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a chart, Adina. It's from 2011, but prices rise across the board, so I think this is a fairly accurate comparison. You'll see that the costs per day, and cost per month for feeding a 50 lb dog were higher for some of the cheaper foods (including a Purina product) than for even Orijen. And you'll like where  Canidae came out, too. :) 

http://www.crittercabana.com/dog-food-costs-per-month-comparison/

[Adina P]

Oooh thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And here's a comparison one of our FG members did of some of our Recommended Foods.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/cost-co...

[Adina P]

Canidae and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul are the cheapest acceptable options. I think we spend $50 on a bag of food (Canidae ALS) and it lasts 5 weeks for two big dogs.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

A very good (and trusted) friend of ours who has a Pudlepointer hunting dog and we joke he treats it better than his wife (just kidding)  recently recommended a Kirkland dog food which is lamb and sweet potato. At first, I was reluctant (large bag...lb?) is $38.00  I have recently switched over from the Eukanuba the breeder sent her home with this food and she is doing very well with it.  He did a lot of research on the food so I trust him.  Good luck.

[Heidi & Milton]

We feed Milt a Kirkland (Costco) brand too because it was what the breeder sent him home with.  We planned to transition him from the Kirkland puppy to a different adult, but when I called the breeder and asked her for recommendations, she noted why switch -- it's high quality food, less expensive, and she feeds it to all of her dogs.  I assume that if a breeder, who is motivated to produce top quality dogs, feeds it to her pups then it must be good.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

The Kirkland food itself is pretty good in terms of ingredients, but the sources of those ingredients are the only questionable part.  I believe they use some outsourced ingredients from overseas and those always make me wary.