# Anyone try Nature's Domain for large breeds?



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Confessing I didn't have much time to do proper research when I unexpectedly adopted my Lab/bully mix, I went out and got Purina Pro Puppy (Lamb and Rice). After settling down a bit, and reading up on fillers and grain in kibble, I ran across several encouraging comments about Costco's Nature's Domain. As a grain free formula, and at an affordable price point, it offered some promise. So far so good (after the gradual switch), but I'm wondering what others think of this brand.

One thing I noticed: much larger portion recommendations than on the Purina Pro bag...

Here's how the back of the bag reads:


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

> One thing I noticed: much larger portion recommendations than on the Purina Pro bag...


That would be because the Purina Pro Plan has 457 kcals/cup and the Nature's Domain has only 340 kcals/cup

Personally, I wouldn't want to feed it just for that reason because its essentially making the cost 1/3 higher than it appears and large amount food means large amount of poop.

Kirkland dog food is manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. Some people prefer to avoid Diamond produced foods based on previous recalls and sourcing vitamins from China. But Diamond does make a huge range of foods of many brands so a large portion of the market is manufactured by Diamond even if its not branded as Diamond.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Thanks for the feedback. I had read about the Diamond thing, but wasn't sure if it applied more to Kirkland's basic dog food line.


----------



## Hiraeth (Aug 4, 2015)

Nature's Domain is a good food for the price. It's manufactured by Diamond, which might turn some buyers off, but I had my dogs on it for a while and they did pretty well. I've definitely seen a big improvement in their coat health after switching to a high quality kibble, but for mid-range, I don't think you can do a lot better than ND.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Thanks, though now that Shell has pointed out why portions are larger, I'm thinking the price point isn't all that great.


----------



## Hiraeth (Aug 4, 2015)

esuastegui said:


> Thanks, though now that Shell has pointed out why portions are larger, I'm thinking the price point isn't all that great.


How much is the Nature's Domain? Price and how many pounds per bag?


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

For adult food, it's around $27-28 for a 35 lb. bag. I forget how much I paid for the puppy stuff, but it is cheaper than Purina.


----------



## Hiraeth (Aug 4, 2015)

Mmmmkay, after some maths (which I'm bad at, but I'm pretty sure this is accurate after triple checking), here are the numbers (I included a high-mid to low-high quality kibble, Earthborn, and a high quality kibble, Acana, for comparison):

Purina Large Breed Puppy (34 lbs, $42.00/bag) = 136 cups per bag, 457 kcal per cup, 62152 kcal per bag, $.000675 per kcal
Nature's Domain (35 lbs, $28/bag) = 140 cups per bag, 336 kcal per cup, 47040 kcal per bag, $.000595 per kcal
Acana Meadowland (40 lbs, $66/bag) = 100 cups per bag, 396 kcap per cup, 39600 kcal per bag, $.001666 per kcal
Earthborn Meadowfeast (28 lbs, $52/bag) = 112 cups per bag, 400 kcal per cup, 44800 kcal per bag, $.001182 per kcal

So, if your dog needs to consume 1,600 calories per day (about 3.5 cups of Purina), it would cost:

$1.08 for 3.5 cups of Purina a day
$.95 for 4.76 cups of Nature's Domain a day
$2.66 for 4.3 cups of Acana a day
$1.89 for 4 cups of Earthborn a day

Figuring out which food is cheaper is definitely more complicated than looking at kcals or price alone. And as a bonus, your dog is getting the calories from quality calorie sources in Nature's Domain, and from fillers and by-products in the Purina. So it's both cheaper AND better for your dog.


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Yeah, the Nature's Domain must just be giant or non-dense kibble because by weight, the calories are pretty similar.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Wow. Thanks for doing the math. Looks like I might have backed into a good choice after all. I might just geek out and try to reproduce your results in a spreadsheet!


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I hope ND agrees with my dogs---I just bought a bag of it because Finn doesn't like Sportmix :/. I've tried all the tough love type things but he just doesn't enjoy it at all. I got the Turkey kind because Suri is allergic to beef. Anyway, yeah, it's sort of annoying that it's so low in calories but probably that's best for most pet dogs.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Willowy said:


> I hope ND agrees with my dogs---I just bought a bag of it because Finn doesn't like Sportmix :/. I've tried all the tough love type things but he just doesn't enjoy it at all. I got the Turkey kind because Suri is allergic to beef. Anyway, yeah, it's sort of annoying that it's so low in calories but probably that's best for most pet dogs.


Report back on how it works. There's also a chicken kind, and a Salmon (?). I could only find the puppy mix in Salmon. My Tessa isn't terribly discriminating. I doubt she tastes much of it in the 75 seconds it takes her to down a portion. Yes, I time her.


----------



## Hiraeth (Aug 4, 2015)

Willowy said:


> I hope ND agrees with my dogs---I just bought a bag of it because Finn doesn't like Sportmix :/. I've tried all the tough love type things but he just doesn't enjoy it at all. I got the Turkey kind because Suri is allergic to beef. Anyway, yeah, it's sort of annoying that it's so low in calories but probably that's best for most pet dogs.


I transitioned my dogs to it without mixing and had no issues, so I think it tends to be pretty easy on their digestive systems, unlike some other kibbles out there. I also know a few sensitive stomach dogs who do well on it, so I hope it works for your dogs!


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Hiraeth said:


> I transitioned my dogs to it without mixing and had no issues, so I think it tends to be pretty easy on their digestive systems, unlike some other kibbles out there. I also know a few sensitive stomach dogs who do well on it, so I hope it works for your dogs!


So far, so good with my Tessa. Her poop has gotten smaller, if a tad softer (but not much). And best of all, she seems to love it. Too bad it's the Salmon flavor, which my wife won't let me stay on once Tessa reaches adulthood (doesn't smell that bad) and which is the most expensive of the three adult choices ND/Costco offer.


----------



## Lillith (Feb 16, 2016)

I have fed Nature's Domain for about 5 months, and Ralphie has been doing well on it. Shiny coat, good energy. He sheds kind of a lot but I don't know if that has anything to do with his food for sure. I have used the Turkey and the Salmon. The Salmon has a stronger smell, for sure.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

Lillith said:


> I have fed Nature's Domain for about 5 months, and Ralphie has been doing well on it. Shiny coat, good energy. He sheds kind of a lot but I don't know if that has anything to do with his food for sure. I have used the Turkey and the Salmon. The Salmon has a stronger smell, for sure.


That's good to hear! Thanks for sharing your experience.


----------



## rkj__ (Dec 15, 2015)

My puppy started on Royal Canin Puppy Medium. That stuff did not seem to be a good value, as the general consensus seemed to be that it was an average food at a premium price. 

We tried a President's Choice Puppy Chicken and Rice food, but it made my puppy's stool too soft, even when only at a ~30% mix with the Royal Canin. 

Form there, I decided to go for the highly recommended Acana Cobb Chicken and Greens. That worked well, as expected. 

But, I was running out of the Acana food, and I don't typically pass by the pet food store that sells it at the best price. I did some light reading online, and concluded that the Nature's Domain was actually not a bad choice. Out of convenience, I picked up a bag of the Nature's Domain Salmon, hoping it would work out ok, since it is a giant bag, or no bag at all. 

The kibble looked exactly the same as the Acana Cobb Chicken and Greens. My dog is not fussy with flavours, and was happy to eat it. After a month or two, I can say that my dog is doing well on the Nature's Domain. Good stool. Good energy. No complaints.

Moving forward, I will mix some Acana back in, but I don't think I will abandon the Nature's Domain, as I like the value it provides. 

PS: My dog is a 10 month old Mini Labradoodle, weighing in at about 30 lb.


----------



## esuastegui (Aug 8, 2016)

rkj__ said:


> Out of convenience, I picked up a bag of the Nature's Domain Salmon, hoping it would work out ok, since it is a giant bag, or no bag at all. The kibble looked exactly the same as the Acana Cobb Chicken and Greens. My dog is not fussy with flavours, and was happy to eat it. After a month or two, I can say that my dog is doing well on the Nature's Domain. Good stool. Good energy. No complaints.


Thanks! That's a great data point to have. As noted prior, the Salmon is the most expensive of the 3 ND Adult formulations I have found (~$35-37 vs. ~$27-28). But since Salmon is the only puppy formulation I can find, I plan to stick with Salmon eventually, maybe trying the others some time after the switch to adultm


----------

