# Quality, reliable, available, and affordable puppy food?



## sparklebacon (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm overwhelmed by the food choices that have become available since I last had a pup and could use some advice because I have spent way too much time on this and need to get this dog off purina (the breeder had switched from Diamond to Purina due to the recalls). The vet, who was the first to say she is no dog food expert, simply said Science Diet is fine, just get the large breed puppy type (she is a 5 month old collie, the dog not the vet ha ha). I have spent a lot of time on dogfoodadvisor.com (someone here recommended, thank you!) and they are not keen on Science Diet at all...which goes to my theory that asking a vet about food is like asking a pediatrician about sleep training or discipline...their expertise is in disease and physical health, period. So I don't even know if it's necessary to purchase something specifically labeled "large breed" or whether any puppy brand will do.

Anyway, I'm looking for a dog food that is:

*Quality, but not top shelf---it doesn't need to be better than what humans eat in the Third World---but good enough that I'm not making the classic mistake of paying for extra poop (i.e. feeding a larger quantity of lower quality dog food). Also, in addition to the health concerns, the Purina poops could knock you over dead with how bad they smell.

*Reliability---I'm horrified by the chronic recalls, and since I let my daughter fill the dog dish I really would like to avoid giving her salmonella!

*Availability---I'm not running all over town looking for a specialty dealer, and in fact would prefer to order online. And I definitely don't have the time and energy to mess around with a raw diet.

*Affordability---Orijen gave me sticker shock, more than $2/lb??!! I'll do better than supermarket brand, but I'm not spending that kind of money on dog food.

So far, I'm eying Eagle Pack and Earthborn Holistic...both are stocked by Amazon (except Earthborn is not large breed puppy, just regular puppy food) and are in the neighborhood of $45 for a 30lb bag. Both get 4 stars with dogfoodadvisor, and I don't see a recent recall. But I've been out of this game for so long that I'd love some outside opinions before I commit to something as critical as food.

FWIW, a dozen years back I signed up for some organic, preservative-free, home delivery dog food, and my dog hated it, lol...so I guess I should also mention it's helpful if it's something a dog will enjoy as well. I sure would hate to be put on Human Chow no matter how many years it would probably add to my life  Thanks all!


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## Mheath0429 (Sep 4, 2011)

FWIW, we have found the cheapest food option to actually be freeze dried. At first I got sticked shock, but then I realized that a bag of Grandma Lucy's makes over 50 pounds of food. we pay 69.99 for the grain free pureformance chicken, and it ends up being about $1.3 per pound prepared. The dogs love it, its high quality and its cheaper than most quality kibbles. 

We use wag.com and they always have deals going on. Right now I think you can get 15% off as a new customer. 

We also use Blue Wilderness Salmon to supplement the Grandma Lucy's, but you don't have to.


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## Dog Problemz (Jun 9, 2012)

Yes, brands like Science Diet, Purina, and Beneful are mostly made up of meal and corn, which are not good quality ingredients by any standards. The truth is, commercial dog food brands bribe colleges to sponsor their product to veterinary students. Veterinary students are trained in dog nutrition - but from companies trying to sell their products rather than from the actual nutritional needs of dogs. When I brought my puppy home, the breeder had him on Blue Buffalo, a holistic dog food. However, he developed chronic allergies to it and had to be switched to Taste of the Wild. When he started becoming reactive to that too, we started sampling other high-quality brands of kibble like EVO and Natural Balance, only for him to get red and itchy on those brands as well. Then one day I was looking on the internet about dog food allergies and found an article on how raw diets reduce allergic reactions. I really didn't like the idea of cleaning up my dog after gorging on bloody meat, but then I found Nature's Instincts in the freezer isle of my town's pet store, which comes in patties, isn't bloody, and almost looks like a hamburger. I like it because it not only got rid of his allergies, but it also has no grains, preservatives, food coloring, and other fillers that are toxic to your dog. The food in the ingredients is all the actual fresh ingredients, ground up and shoved into a meat patty. You certainly don't have to feed your dog raw, but the benefits of it are really amazing. In any case, you should look for a holistic (human grade) dog food. I usually use http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com. They rate the quality of the food from 1 to 5, go through every single ingredient on the list and describe in detail why they like or dislike that particular ingredient, and highlight any ingredients they don't like on the list in red. According to their site, Eagle Pack is listed as 4-star, but is mainly chicken meal, rice, ground corn, and wheat germ meal. None of those are high quality nutrients and has a ton of ingredients "red listed." Despite what veterinarians and even your own doctors will tell you, grain is not a natural part of dog's OR human's diets. Ever seen a wolf eating a sandwich or some hummace and pita bread? What about a monkey in the zoo? Unless you have hooves and more than one stomach, you don't need grain, and it isn't good for you. Earthborn Dry Kibble is also 4-star and is also made up mostly of meal, and has no real meat, barley, flour, and rice. Overall, they don't look like good dog food brands at all once you look at the ingredients. Holistic 5-star dog food brands that aren't overly expensive include Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Taste of the Wild, Canidae Grain-Free Dry, and Nature's Instinct.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I thought Earthborn is grain-free? Or maybe just one formula, idk. Anyway, I think it looks pretty good and I've been planning to try it.

I wouldn't think that a Collie would be considered large enough to "need" a large-breed formula, not that it means anything anyway.


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## sparklebacon (Apr 3, 2012)

Earthborn does make a grain-free, but not a puppy food that is grain-free. I don't consider grain-free to be necessary at any rate, as long as the grain is whole grain (and not corn) and not the top ingredient. I think the idea behind large-breed puppy food is that it isn't as rich as regular puppy food, with the idea being that too much nutrition will make them grow faster than their joints can support. I have NO idea whether there's any validity to that theory.

That's a pity about vet schools, and quite a remark on the profession that their professional organizations haven't banded together to stop that sort of thing. Can you imagine if other college majors had parts of their curriculum dictated by private corporate entities? People training as dieticians getting lessons from Coke and McDonald's?


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Are you looking at grain free or grain inclusive? Earthborn would be a good choice for either one with good prices. If you want grain inclusive, also look at Nutrisource, Annamaet and Fromm. I also order online, in addition to Amazon, look at Petflow.com, wag.com and diggiefood.com. Their prices aren't inflated and if you have to pay for shipping, their prices are good. I've used petfooddirect.com but shipping costs more and for me, food arrives at all different intervals.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

InkedMarie said:


> Are you looking at grain free or grain inclusive? Earthborn would be a good choice for either one with good prices. If you want grain inclusive, also look at Nutrisource, Annamaet and Fromm. I also order online, in addition to Amazon, look at Petflow.com, wag.com and *diggiefood.com*. Their prices aren't inflated and if you have to pay for shipping, their prices are good. I've used petfooddirect.com but shipping costs more and for me, food arrives at all different intervals.


Heehee 

Yup, www.doggiefood.com is my current favorite. Once you make an account with them they send you a 10% off coupon code every week.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Willowy said:


> Heehee
> 
> Yup, www.doggiefood.com is my current favorite. Once you make an account with them they send you a 10% off coupon code every week.


thats what I get for typing on my tablet LOL. Thanks, Willowy!


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## sparklebacon (Apr 3, 2012)

Great advice guys...and now I'm so tempted to finally get my own start-up, DiggieFood.com, that's awesome!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

All the diggie owners will be totally thrilled to have an online source to buy food for their diggies!


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## Deaf Dogs (May 28, 2012)

Acana is not nearly as expensive as Orijen, and is still an awesome food. Blue wilderness, First Mate, Go, Now, Merrick, Horizon Legacy, all good foods.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Y'all picking on me because of my typo? LOL, Sparklebacon, if you start up your own company, I get royalties since I came up with the name!


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

I like Acana. Blue Buffalo is also good, as is Wellness. I prefer the grain free versions of each one. It's not as expensive as Orijen (I agree with you on its price, BTW - yowser!). Also remember, that when you feed a good brand, you can feed less of it (making the cost almost even out) than the cheaper stuff.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

sparklebacon said:


> Earthborn does make a grain-free, but not a puppy food that is grain-free. I don't consider grain-free to be necessary at any rate, as long as the grain is whole grain (and not corn) and not the top ingredient. I think the idea behind large-breed puppy food is that it isn't as rich as regular puppy food, with the idea being that too much nutrition will make them grow faster than their joints can support. I have NO idea whether there's any validity to that theory.
> 
> That's a pity about vet schools, and quite a remark on the profession that their professional organizations haven't banded together to stop that sort of thing. Can you imagine if other college majors had parts of their curriculum dictated by private corporate entities? People training as dieticians getting lessons from Coke and McDonald's?



My sister is a dietition. Years ago I told her I was on a dairy free diet (which was working, wasn't sick with a cold all the time) and she freaked on me. You see, you MUST drink milk for calcium, it's the only nutritional source..... so I don't put a ton of faith in the medical field for everything. She had never heard of soymilk, almonds, veggies etc. having calcium in them, yet was advising people on diets.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

To the OP, I know a lot of breeders that swear by the kirkland and ND food at costco, even with the recalls. Most foods have had recalls at some time or another, and the price (in Canada anyway) is half of most of the good brands of food. A bag of BB is around $70 for a 30 lb bag, while the ND is around $30 for a 35 pound bag.

Our cats have done well on the kirkland dry cat food and when the ND cat comes up here we'll try it on them as well.

You should also feed raw bones from time to time, good 'babysitter' for when you have a busy day or puppy has to be crated, and it helps keep their teeth clean.


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## Spiritwind (Mar 4, 2011)

Willowy said:


> I thought Earthborn is grain-free? Or maybe just one formula, idk. Anyway, I think it looks pretty good and I've been planning to try it.
> 
> I wouldn't think that a Collie would be considered large enough to "need" a large-breed formula, not that it means anything anyway.


Earthborn does have grain-free formulas. 4 of them, but not grain-free puppy formula. With that said, I would consider a collie a large-ish breed (males getting up to 75lbs). I have Collies, I actually have a litter of rough coats right now, Almost 3 wks old. I just ordered them a bag of Earthborn for when I start to wean them. However I do not feed my Collies puppy food for very long.. usually up to 3-4 months old, then they get moved to what my adults eat.. which is an ALS formula. 



sparklebacon said:


> Earthborn does make a grain-free, but not a puppy food that is grain-free. I don't consider grain-free to be necessary at any rate, as long as the grain is whole grain (and not corn) and not the top ingredient. I think the idea behind large-breed puppy food is that it isn't as rich as regular puppy food, with the idea being that too much nutrition will make them grow faster than their joints can support. I have NO idea whether there's any validity to that theory.


Check out waggintails.com for dog food as well. They have the BEST prices for Earthborn that I have seen anywhere. You can get the large bag of the Puppy food for $42.99.... I just placed an order with them actually. 



Willowy said:


> Heehee
> 
> Yup, www.doggiefood.com is my current favorite. Once you make an account with them they send you a 10% off coupon code every week.


I placed an order with them once, a month or so ago, and it took them FOREVER to ship my food, close to a week and a half and I was in the 1-2 day delivery area on the map they have on their site......Never have gotten any coupons from them either..hmmm


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Spiritwind said:


> Check out waggintails.com for dog food as well. They have the BEST prices for Earthborn that I have seen anywhere. You can get the large bag of the Puppy food for $42.99.... I just placed an order with them actually.
> 
> 
> 
> I placed an order with them once, a month or so ago, and it took them FOREVER to ship my food, close to a week and a half and I was in the 1-2 day delivery area on the map they have on their site......Never have gotten any coupons from them either..hmmm


I had that happen with Pet Food Direct, not Doggiefood.com. Sorry you had that experience!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Spiritwind said:


> I placed an order with them once, a month or so ago, and it took them FOREVER to ship my food, close to a week and a half and I was in the 1-2 day delivery area on the map they have on their site......Never have gotten any coupons from them either..hmmm


Yeah, shipping takes 7-10 days for me (I think I'm in the 4-5 day area). But I am NOT going to complain about the speed of free shipping, especially when I'm ordering 300 pounds of canned cat food . I ran my usual order through petfooddirect as an experiment, and the shipping was $200! I just order in advance.

As for the coupon codes, did you make an account or check out as a guest? They send me the e-mails 2-3 times a week, ever since I made an account. But if you check out as a guest, they won't send the e-mails. If you did make an account, go back and check to see if your e-mail address is correct. And look at your junk mail folder. You usually have to buy $75 worth to get the discount.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Like Willowy, I get the emails too. Spending $75 at any dog food supplier is no problem for me. I did go to WagginTails.com wow, they have fantastic prices and free shipping over a smaller amount of money ($49.99??). I signed up for their emails and got a 10% off coupon in the email


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## Spiritwind (Mar 4, 2011)

InkedMarie said:


> Like Willowy, I get the emails too. Spending $75 at any dog food supplier is no problem for me. I did go to WagginTails.com wow, they have fantastic prices and free shipping over a smaller amount of money ($49.99??). I signed up for their emails and got a 10% off coupon in the email


Yes.. free shipping, however free shipping from them is only up to 120lbs... which isn't alot, but I don't have a lot of storage space for dog food bags, so I just buy 3 or 4 bags at a time (8 dogs).. and reorder when I need to. The last order I placed with them I ordered my food on Sunday night, I got my order via UPS on Thursday.. so it was quick shipping. 



Willowy said:


> Yeah, shipping takes 7-10 days for me (I think I'm in the 4-5 day area). But I am NOT going to complain about the speed of free shipping, especially when I'm ordering 300 pounds of canned cat food . I ran my usual order through petfooddirect as an experiment, and the shipping was $200! I just order in advance.
> 
> As for the coupon codes, did you make an account or check out as a guest? They send me the e-mails 2-3 times a week, ever since I made an account. But if you check out as a guest, they won't send the e-mails. If you did make an account, go back and check to see if your e-mail address is correct. And look at your junk mail folder. You usually have to buy $75 worth to get the discount.


I'm not complaining so much about the time it took (for free shipping) but I just wasn't expecting that since I was in the 1-2 shipping day area, and it took closer to 10 days.. so I was pushing it on running out of dog food... since I have 8 dogs...

I did sign up for an account through them, did not check out as a guest.. checked junk mail and everything.. no coupons lol My email is correct as when I placed the order they sent me an email confirming the order.. and again sent an email when it was shipped... oh well..


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