Globalpaw.com Dog Forum » General Dog Concerns & Questions » Dog Nutrition and Dog Food Forum

[shannon25ca]

Hi

I was told that cause I have a purebreed puppy that i should get the most expencive dog food for her. Now I'm on a fixed income and have a child just wondering what cheaper dog food would benifit my situation here.

thanks shannon

[knicks]

You do not need the most expensive puppy food just a good one. you need a lot of protein and fat. Your puppy needs that to grow. Petrawedge.com sells a raw puppy mix that I heard is fantastic. Its not that expensive

[Beryl]

Shannon,
Personally, I feed my dogs a raw diet but that is only after a lot of research and time to understand exactly what they need. You have a puppy so you should be particularly careful to feed balanced diet. If I had a puppy, I would feed Sojos (Europa grain-free) mixed with raw chicken, turkey, or beef (catching all of the sales at the grocery stores) and follow the puppy-feeding instructions on their website: Sojos Frequently Asked Questions

You should read the links above so you can be clear what is meant when we say "feed good food". Here is another good link: The Dog Food Project - Dog Food Label Information 101

In short, don't buy any dog foods sold in grocery stores. Grocery store brands (even Iams, and Eukanuba) cost more and are poor quality.

If you don't want to go raw, I recommend Canidae which you can get at pet food stores (not PetsMart or Petco). The bags may cost a little more than grocery store brands but it will be less expensive to you in the long run because you will feed less. If you have access to Costco, I strongly recommend their Kirkland Brand dog food (the kibble). That food is the best quality at the lowest price around. I don't know if they carry a puppy food but when your dog is a year old, you can switch to it if money is very tight.

Otherwise, you should look at the bag and avoid by-products, non-descriptive contents (like "meat meal") and don't let corn or any grain be listed first in the ingredients.

[Ritz459]

You don't need to feed an expensive food just because you have a pure bred puppy. You also don't need to feed an expensive food if you don't have the money to afford it. I think a dog would rather eat Kibbles and Bits than starve or be rehomed.

A "cheap" high quality food you may look into is Chicken Soup. That is what I feed my two older dogs...and it is about a twenty dollar difference between it and Innova or Canidae. And that is twenty dollars we can't afford at the moment.

Here is a website you can check out: Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

The lowest I'd personally go would be a three star...but of course, any food in the catagories above are even better. Go with what you can afford and what is good for the dog as well.

[Punkygirl0101]

Someone actually told you because you have a purebred puppy, opposed to a mixed breed you have to feed the most expensive food? I hope you don't take any other advice from that person! lol

I personally recommend Kirkland Signature puppy for people with puppies..on a budget. (Its Costco's brand). Its a great food, my dogs have done amazing on it..And we don't necessarily have a low budget, but we have 11 dogs. So 30$ for a 20 pound bag of innova just isn't going to do it.

I don't know if they carry a puppy food

Mine does

[AgileLabs]

Originally Posted by Punkygirl0101

Someone actually told you because you have a purebred puppy, opposed to a mixed breed you have to feed the most expensive food? I hope you don't take any other advice from that person! lol

My thoughts exactly!

Remeber also, a higher quality food will also mean that you feed less of it and will end up balancing out budget wise in the end.

I have heard of the Kirkland being really good and inexpensive. Don't know as the closest costco to me is almost an hour away.

I feed Canidae which is $44 for 44 lbs and it lasts me one month for 3 large dogs, 2 of which are extremely active.

[EdandLauren]

PLEASE PLEASE don't feed your dog Canidae (Look at my post about it or go to consumeraffairs.com and search for it). We are now feeding our German/Antolian Shepherd Blue Buffalo large breed puppy food. We have looked into many different kinds of food after our issue with Canidae. It is not a grain based food and it is all organic. For all of those people who are going to bash me about being negative towards Canidae, most of the test results are pointing towards aflatoxin poisoning from the food.