What kind of food should I get on a budget?

[Shianne Mack]

Hi! I am currently feeding my 11 week old pup some not so good food (I know because after I joined this group I have been educated) and I want to switch asap! I am a college student so I don't have tons and tons of money to spend on food, but with that being said, I am willing to spend a good amount in order to make sure my puppy is being fed healthy food. What would you guys recommend for me? He eats about 2-3 times a day, so I don't want to spend $60 on food that will only last me a week. Thank you and I am willing to hear your suggestions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Shianne, as I mentioned in your other discussion, the food is not bad in terms of ingredients and macronutrient percentages; in fact, it's pretty good. The problem is with the manufacturing and sourcing. But it's going to be very hard to find a grain-free salmon based puppy food at any price, and since she is doing well on it, I'd stick with it for a while. Once she's older and can go to an ALS or adult formula, you will have lots of choices. 

[Shianne Mack]

Oh okay! Good, thank you so much for your help. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's one food you might look at. I don;t know how the price compares to what you're currently feeding, but this food has 70 calories per cup more than your current puppy food, so you would feed less and not got through it as fast. It's an all life stages food, grain free, fish based. http://www.zignature.com/zignature_trout.html

[Laura and Angus]

I feel the same way as you, Shianne. We are about to switch from Blue Buffalo (in light of recent concerns) to Earthborn Holistic. Now at our local pet store a 28lbs bag costs $63, but I just found out that on Amazon you can buy the same bag for $45. Not sure if that's cheap enough, but just a thought! It is comparable to what we're paying now with BB, but a much better product/company apparently. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

I was thinking about that too. It is one of the cheapest of the recommended brands I think. I see it at Family Farm and Home and Pet Supplies Plus. FF&H has it on sale quite often too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Remember that you cannot judge the cost solely by the price on the bag. You have to look at how much you feed, because if you have to feed more of the "less expensive" food than the one with the higher price on the bag, you will have to buy more bags in the same period of time. If food A costs $60 per bag and food B costs $50 per bag, and you have to buy 3 bags of food B in the same time period that you would only have to use 2 bags of food A, then food B is more expensive over time.  

[Laura and Angus]

Very true. It's hard to tell since with foods like Acana and Orijen my puppy would get about 1/2 C less than what we feed him now per day on BB. But with Earthborn Holistic (for example) he would get about 1 C more per day until he's an adult. That being said...the difference between EH and Orijen from what I've seen is about a $40-$50 difference for a bag the same size and the recommended amounts are not actually substantially different - surprisingly - for an adult dog weighing 55 lbs (1/4 cup at the top of the range). There is a big difference, however, for a puppy where you're feeding close to 2 C more per day --- can that be right??

Now since my puppy is almost 10 months, I think it makes sense for us to look more at the adult feeding guidelines since he wont' be on puppy food for much longer...

[Amy and Annabelle]

This is true. It takes Annabelle 2 months to go through a 15lb bag of Orijen eating 3/4 cups a day. I think with Earthborn she would be eating 1 cup a day at her weight. Although EB  doesn't have activity level listed on the website, just weight. So I guess in reality it could be about the same.

[Shianne Mack]

This is very true! 

[Shianne Mack]

So I have just purchased the Wellness grain free food for puppies and I am hoping that he likes this. I am sure he will. Thank you everyone for your help!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that's a good choice.