# good cheap dog food?



## anoukaimee (May 2, 2015)

I just got my Enzo about two months ago, and am having trouble convincing him to eat food that is highly rated and yet cheap. He is a companion animal I'm on SSDI and food stamps myself, and while I'd love to pay $40 for a bag of dog food, it just isn't possible.

I researched foods, and found that Trader Joe's has a lamb and rice kibble that is considered pretty good. It's about $20 for 20 lbs. But he just doesn't like it. I even try mixing in some of their wet food, and he isn't thrilled.

Does anyone know of a "good tasting," very inexpensive, and healthy dog food? Trader Joe's does have a chicken version, but I haven't seen any reviews of it. If worse comes to worst, I'll try that next, and hope for the best.

Thanks for your help.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

The Sportmix Food (I feed Energy Plus, mostly but have fed the others) is about 25.00-30.00/40lbs, and my dogs have done better on it than they have things like Wellness Core which are about 3 times as expensive. I don't know where it's available besides Tractor Supply Company, though.

I also don't know how much your dog will like it, but mine are pretty inclined to scarf it down.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I like the Sportmix Wholesomes which are $30 for 40 lbs at Tractor Supply. Made by the same company that makes Earthborn Holistic. Good rep.

My dogs have also done well on the Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete which is maybe $35 for 40 lbs?

Fromm Classic is a bit harder to find since it isn't in the big stores like PetSmart, but it run about 35$ for 33 lbs and the company has a very good reputation for quality control. I have used it for my fosters in the past and for my own dogs and all have done well on it and ate it right up.

Pro Pac is another I like that is found in many pet stores, around $1 per lb. Made by the same company as Sportmix and earthborn. 

Eagle Pack is very slightly pricier, at maybe $35-40 for 30 lbs but has several options that might suit your dog's needs.


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

I feed Sportmix Wholesomes Chicken and Rice to my pack. I pay $29 for 40lbs at Tractor Supply, I can't really do much better price wise and it rates really well. My dogs have done better on it than anything else I've tried, it is the only thing my husky mix can really eat and it got rid of my bully mixes' nasty breath. I'm really happy with it. The Diamond Naturals foods are also a good price, as are the 4health foods (all available at Tractor Supply). If you have a Costco available Nature's Domain is good quality and good price (still Diamond Brand).


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I'll also recommend Sportmix Wholesomes. My dogs are doing better on it than any other food I've tried. Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete is a good one if you need a higher-calorie food.


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## anoukaimee (May 2, 2015)

Great! Thanks for all your input. Looks like there's quite a consensus. I don't have a car and would rather try these out first, so going to contact makers and see if they'd be willing to send me some samples.

BTW: do small dogs generally turn their noses up at big kibble? The Trader Joe's is pretty big. Wondering if that's part of the problem.


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

My smallest dog is 7lbs, right now she is eating my large breed puppy's food because she is weird. That kibble is huge, about the size of a quarter or a little bigger (it isn't all perfectly uniform in size). I have heard of tiny dogs being really picky about small kibble but unless there is something wrong with their teeth I think most can eat any kibble just fine. I think Blue just got bored and wanted to try something different. Sportmix is sort of in the middle, not really big but not little either.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

If you have a Tractor Supply try 4health! Its a good food! They have a grain inclusive line and a grain free line. You can get the grain inclusive for 35lb for $32, 18lb for $21, and 5lb for $7. The Grain free is a little more expensive, 30lb for $38, 16lb for $22, and 4 for $8. And you said your dog is small, they have a small breed in both varieties.

Other foods would be:
Propac
Sportmix Wholesomes
Fromm classes


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## WesS (May 12, 2015)

Unfortunately the combination of quality, tasty and cheap is not really three things that go together in dog food.
I would suggest buying in bigger bulk packages. For cheaper prices. Maybe even trying to get discounts by buying with a friend maybe.
Here is a great analysis of dog foods based on quality of ingredients.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Another important note. Is research average daily consumption of the dog permanent to each dog food. The higher quality the dog food the more expensive it is often by pound all things equal. However high quality foods need less consumption to reach satiety and the nutritional needs of dog. This makes feeding more expensive by weight foods more affordable than expected compared to cheaper by weight foods. Sometimes we pay more for weaker brands without realizing it. I think that Website will give you a good indication for your budget based on what star rating a food has based on ingredient quality.


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## eduller (Apr 16, 2015)

My dog doesn't like kibble. I'm fortunate enough to have the time and money to spend on making homemade food, but I know I'm really lucky and that it's a luxury.

He does, however, have to eat kibble when he goes to doggy day care twice a week. They won't give him raw and they won't mix anything into his food (which I totally understand where they are coming from). But he came to me underweight, and I didn't really want him to skip lunch twice a week considering at the time I started him at day care, he was barely eating anything because I couldn't find anything he liked and this was before I realized there was more to dog food than kibble.

On the suggestion of a friend, I bought a bag of Stella & Chewy's meal topper. It is a freeze dried raw food that comes in little dry nuggets. I basically take 2 or 3 of the nuggets, break them up into a powder - easily done by hand - and sprinkle that over his kibble for day care. It is enough that it will coat each kibble piece, and he will eat it happily. It's not super cheap, but using just a couple nuggets at a time, the bag will easily last weeks if not months. Maybe something along that line would work for your dog. You could also try canned sardines - just mash one up and mix it with the kibble. They are good for your dog, and they are super cheap. My local grocery stores often have them 10 for $10, and each can has 3-4 sardines in it. I know you said you tried mixing canned food with it already, but if your dog is anything like my picky dog, he isn't that thrilled about canned food either. The sardines and meal toppers work better for my dog at least.

I'm not sure if ordering online is an option, but Chewy.com usually has a 20% off code + free shipping for your first order. And if your dog doesn't like the food, they will refund and return for free no questions asked, or for your first order they will refund you and just ask you to donate the uneaten food to a local shelter so you don't even have to bother going through the return process.


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## Caro (Sep 10, 2012)

You mentioned your dog is small. How long is it taking for you to go through a 20 lb bag if dog food? How are you storing the food? 

I have an 11 lb dog so only buy 4 lb bags of food....the next size up weighs more than she does. It takes her over a month to go through 4 lbs of food. If I bought a 20 lb bag, it would go bad before she could finish it.

I am just wondering if the reason your dog doesn't seem to like the food is because it is getting stale/old. If you bought a smaller bag and/or transferred the extra to sealed containers and/or froze what you won't use in the next couple weeks, I am wondering if your dog would like the food better. (Make sure you keep the original packaging in case there is a recall so you know your lot #.)

Trader Joe's has a great return policy & will refund your $ if you return the dog food - even if it is because your dog just doesn't like it. So, if it is convenient for you & you want to try a different flavor, then you don't have to waste the $ if you dog won't eat it.


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## anoukaimee (May 2, 2015)

He is small, about 15 lbs. I just ordered a bin to store his food, but you have a point: I have been storing it and clipping it shut, so it might be stale. In any case, he didn't like it when I first got it. I know TJ has a good return policy, but I had already returned the Bench and Field they sell, and felt bad about returning another one. I could try the chicken flavor, but my guess is that if he didn't like the lamb and rice, he's not going to like the lamb.

Since I'm going to have to order online, I emailed Diamond and Sportsmix to request samples. In the interim, does anyone have a suggestion for a decent grocery store brand to get him through?

Thanks everyone!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Purina Beyond is pretty good. More expensive than the others mentioned here though. But it's probably the best you could get at a grocery store.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Of the common grocery store brands, I'd go with either Purina One Beyond or Racheal Ray Nutrish. Some groceries will carry grain free even, that can be a plus as they tend not to have some of the really cheap ingredients like wheat middlings.

Look for a named meat or even better, meat meal, as the first ingredient.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Dr Tim's and Victor are nicer priced.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

While you are looking for a better dog food, try making some 'gravy' :
1. 1 TBSP of ketchup stirred in 1 cup of warm water. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tbsps over his food. OR
2. Microwave 1 plain chicken breast in 1/2 cup of water. Eat the thoroughly cooked chicken breast yourself, but let the water cool, and sprinkle 2 -3 tbsps over his food.
3. OR ... Same process, but use a small piece of your favorite fish ...

Most dogs will gladly eat one of those gravies....


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## CrimsonAccent (Feb 17, 2012)

Abound is what we feed our dogs right now, being young, in college and on a budget, but it is fairly decent. Named meat in the first ingredient, generally a named meat meal by the second or third ingredient. Our dogs like it and are in good health, get complements on their coat, etc. I forget the price exactly. Under $2/lb I believe. Kroger is where we get it. Not sure if you have those in your area or other places carry it.

The Kirkland dogfood at Costco is decent as well.

Not sure if you can go to either of these places in your area, but just more options. I personally would get the best brand for pricepoint you can at Tractor Supply, they tend to have better prices.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

anoukaimee said:


> I just got my Enzo about two months ago, and am having trouble convincing him to eat food that is highly rated and yet cheap. He is a companion animal I'm on SSDI and food stamps myself, and while I'd love to pay $40 for a bag of dog food, it just isn't possible.
> 
> I researched foods, and found that Trader Joe's has a lamb and rice kibble that is considered pretty good. It's about $20 for 20 lbs. But he just doesn't like it. I even try mixing in some of their wet food, and he isn't thrilled.
> 
> ...


I personally wouldnt touch sportmix with a 10 foot pole,I know there are people here who like it and their dogs do well on it, but it just has to many crap ingredients for my personal liking. I have known some people who find it cheaper to cook for their dogs themselves, as opposed to buying food, since food stamps cover most "human" food and you can even ask the local butchers for their leftovers for their dogs who eat raw. If you dont want to feed them raw, you can cook the meat, just dont use any seasonings or oils.

As someone posted www.dogfoodadvisor.com is a good place to start, I personally wouldnt feed anything under 4 stars. 

Here is a list of foods that I personally would feel comfortable feeding:
4 Health
taste of the wild
Victor

foods I would personally stay away from
purina (this includes beneful)
Iams
Rachel Ray's food (I was disappointed to see that it had the artificial Vita K in it )
Pretty much everything else they sell at Walmart and other grocery stores.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

OwnedbyACDs said:


> I personally wouldnt touch sportmix with a 10 foot pole,I know there are people here who like it and their dogs do well on it, but it just has to many crap ingredients for my personal liking. I have known some people who find it cheaper to cook for their dogs themselves, as opposed to buying food, since food stamps cover most "human" food and you can even ask the local butchers for their leftovers for their dogs who eat raw. If you dont want to feed them raw, you can cook the meat, just dont use any seasonings or oils.
> 
> As someone posted www.dogfoodadvisor.com is a good place to start, I personally wouldnt feed anything under 4 stars.
> 
> ...


The Sportmix Wholesomes line is pretty dang similar to the 4Health grain-inclusive. Are you talking about the original Sportmix as having crap ingredients?

Sportmix Wholesomes Chicken:
Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols) Dried Beet Pulp, Flaxseed, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

4health chicken and rice:
Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, millet, brewers rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried plain beet pulp, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, fish meal, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, yucca schidigera extract, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.


Now, since the OP has a small dog, unless he has freezer space to store a larger amount of dog food so it doesn't go bad before the dog can eat it, then the large Sportmix bags might not work even though the per lb price is nice and low. 

Another lower priced food that I know a few dogs doing well on is Professional. I've used the active formula and the chicken and barley. It is produced by Diamond brands.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

With a small dog, you could even feed something like earthborn holistic (what I feed) and still stay under $20.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Yeah, I wouldn't feed regular Sportmix (well, maybe if I really had to for financial reasons---it seems a little better than Dog Chow, at least) but the Wholesomes line is pretty similar to 4Health, Diamond Naturals, Kirkland, etc. And the chicken and rice formula does have 4 stars on dogfoodadvisor. My dogs are doing better on it than the others, idk why---the protein/fat levels all seem about the same.

And Purina and Iams have some new higher-quality foods that aren't half bad. I think the larger companies are jumping on the bandwagon now.


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

My dogs do much better on the Sportmix Wholesomes Chicken and Rice than on anything else I've tried them on. I assume it has something to do with where the ingredients are sourced or how they are processed. They didn't do well on Diamond Naturals at all or on Nature's Domain (Freyja has to have grains in her food) or Nutro. Lad is on Muenster, he did poorly on Fromm. It is a more expensive food though. If you were feeding a very small dog it wouldn't cost that much to feed but I can't say it is necessarily a better food, it just has the right numbers for a large breed puppy.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Honestly, the Sportmix Energy Plus stuff I feed? It's crap. Ingredient wise, it looks just about like dog chow. I don't feed it to ANY of the girls, instead switching them around other assorted grain feed foods, but bottom line? It is what has put coat and condition back on my boys, when Jack was emaciated and going bald and Thud reeked and his fur felt crappy. I'm assuming it's just the protein/fat ratio - I don't know, and to be quite frank I don't care. It WORKS.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

CptJack said:


> Honestly, the Sportmix Energy Plus stuff I feed? It's crap. Ingredient wise, it looks just about like dog chow. I don't feed it to ANY of the girls, instead switching them around other assorted grain feed foods, but bottom line? It is what has put coat and condition back on my boys, when Jack was emaciated and going bald and Thud reeked and his fur felt crappy. I'm assuming it's just the protein/fat ratio - I don't know, and to be quite frank I don't care. It WORKS.


 Yeah, whatever they do best on, right? Moose used to do GREAT on the chicken formula of Member's Mark Exceed (Sam's Club brand), even though it didn't look great from reading the ingredient list. But they changed the formula and nope :/.

I don't like it when people feed their dog the cheapest food available even if he doesn't do well on it, just because it's cheap and they don't care. But if your dog does best on a cheap food. . .how can you argue with that?


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Yep. It's a fluke I found and fed that stuff at all. Before that 'temporary state of desperation', I'd been through just about every 4 and 5 star food out there and some flirting with raw trying to find something that worked for Jack. I have no doubt that neutering him made some of the difference, but even the change to him eating this stuff was kind of amazing. I can't feed it to the girls since they all blow up and get fat if they look at carbs/grains, but it's done really, really good things for both the boys. Given the YEARS of issues I've had with both (Thud with smelling gross and/or having massive blow out poops/hot spots and Jack with being skinny and way too sheddy), this is one crap food that will be pried out of my cold, dead, hands. 

I really have no idea why it works for them. I mean I really, really don't. The ingredients aren't great, and I'll be the first to admit it. It's chock full of 'allergens' including corn, but I just... you know, going with it and being, I guess, happy that it's cheap and easy to find locally. Also god I hope if they change the formula they wait until Jack's dead.


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## Denisekay (Apr 22, 2015)

Willowy said:


> Yeah, whatever they do best on, right? Moose used to do GREAT on the chicken formula of Member's Mark Exceed (Sam's Club brand), even though it didn't look great from reading the ingredient list. But they changed the formula and nope :/.
> 
> I don't like it when people feed their dog the cheapest food available even if he doesn't do well on it, just because it's cheap and they don't care. But if your dog does best on a cheap food. . .how can you argue with that?


I agree with that, many people nowadays don't make wise choices with the foods they consume yet many of them are doing just fine.


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## anoukaimee (May 2, 2015)

I'm the OP. Just wanted to inquire: on dogfoodadvisor, the Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete gets five stars. He can certainly use it because he is EXTREMELY high energy (still an adolescent and I think just wired that way. Although honestly, the ingredients look a lot like the Trader Joe's Wholesome food--different from the Lamb & Rice, and not reviewed on dogfoodadvisor (which, in a different post, I listed the ingredients). He likes that one. Do you all concur that it is similar? 

Also, I didn't know freezing preserved kibble--good to know. What about bins that are airtight? Is that good enough?

Thanks


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

CptJack said:


> Yep. It's a fluke I found and fed that stuff at all. Before that 'temporary state of desperation', I'd been through just about every 4 and 5 star food out there and some flirting with raw trying to find something that worked for Jack. I have no doubt that neutering him made some of the difference, but even the change to him eating this stuff was kind of amazing. I can't feed it to the girls since they all blow up and get fat if they look at carbs/grains, but it's done really, really good things for both the boys. Given the YEARS of issues I've had with both (Thud with smelling gross and/or having massive blow out poops/hot spots and Jack with being skinny and way too sheddy), this is one crap food that will be pried out of my cold, dead, hands.
> 
> I really have no idea why it works for them. I mean I really, really don't. The ingredients aren't great, and I'll be the first to admit it. It's chock full of 'allergens' including corn, but I just... you know, going with it and being, I guess, happy that it's cheap and easy to find locally. Also god I hope if they change the formula they wait until Jack's dead.


Boo ... I wish our girl could look at calories and be fat, she has the opposite problem


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

If you have Walmart, Pure Balance is decent and worth a try.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/pure-balance-grain-free-dog-food/


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

anoukaimee said:


> Although honestly, the ingredients look a lot like the Trader Joe's Wholesome food--different from the Lamb & Rice, and not reviewed on dogfoodadvisor (which, in a different post, I listed the ingredients). He likes that one. Do you all concur that it is similar?


Look at the guaranteed analysis---the reason DN Extreme Athlete is for high energy dogs is because it's higher in protein, fat, and calories.


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