# Blue Buffalo vs. Purina One



## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

Okay so I'm in a dilemma. My dogs have been on blue buffalo life protection for several months now they are 3 and 5 years old mildly active midsize dogs. I got a very underfed 9 month old puppy 2 months ago who is VERY active and much bigger than my dogs. She was on pedigree puppy when I got her and she was eating 5 large cups a day of food to compensate for being underweight and realistically I know pedigree sucks but I couldn't afford to feed her blue with her eating that much. So she's getting spayed in a couple days so I decided since she will be on a diet this is the time to switch her to blue. I took her in for a check up with the vet I followed before I left town for vet school so I respect him a lot but he recommended purina one. I have no idea why though it's rated horribly and the ingredients look like shit. My husband asked me to give it a try for just one bag but I regret it. We got purina one true instincts. If anyone can offer up advice in this area I would really appreciate it!


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

Purina is crap as is pedigree. Blue has been known to source ingredients from china and overall is overpriced for what it is- a big bag of veggie protein and rice with some chicken mixed in. For about the same price (maybe even less) you could get them all a better food like Acana, Fromm, Go, Merrick, etc. 5 cups of food a day for a puppy is nuts. A higher quality food will probably land him at 2-3 cups.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

I've never heard of those brands. Where can I get them and what is the price difference?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I won't say 5 cups is too much because I don't know how big she is. My Rott at his peak was eating 8 cups of high-quality food a day, and I didn't have him when he was 9 months old; he was probably eating more then. Anyway, how big is she? 

I don't know what you have locally, but you can find a lot of great foods online from places like www.chewy.com, with free shipping if you order enough. Fromm Classic is cheap (less than Purina ONE anyway) and is pretty good. For dogs who need a lot of calories, I like Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete---you can usually find it at feed stores or Tractor Supply. Some people don't like Diamond as a company but the Naturals line has always worked for my dogs. If you have a Costco membership, their Kirkland dog food is decent.

I don't think Purina ONE is terrible but I do think it's overpriced for the quality.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

Standing up she is about 5 and a half feet tall and weighs 56 pounds right now. Pretty decent sized dog. Okay I will definitely look into those. I used to work at a pet resort and blue was a very well known high quality food so I trusted it and I didn't wanna switch foods to begin with but my husband insisted. 


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## Woofie2 (Oct 5, 2013)

A lower quality food is going to make the dog eat a TON of food. 

I myself would be very leery of feeding these lower quality foods long-term; i.e. Pedigree

Not a fan and never will be of Blue - way too many dogs have horrible diarrhea, they don't source their ingredients from the states (which is very scary) and they're over-priced mostly vegetable food. 

For a house with 3 dogs, very active dogs - I'd be feeding Fromm's Adult Gold - good quality for decent pricing, probably cheaper then Blue and a good food for all 3, even the puppy. 

http://frommfamily.com/products/gold/dog/dry/adult-gold


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

I used to feed my last dog Purina as one of the foods she ate, looked at Blue and thought it was way too expensive compared to all the other food that Petsmart carried. I didn't know any better back then. There are a lot of better foods out there over Purina, some were mentioned but there's also Victor (may be hard to get), Annamaet, Dr Tims and if you have a Tractor Supply near you then 4Health ... I'm sure there are others.

I have fed my current dog all I mentioned except Dr Tims and they all were less expensive then the Purina and Nutro that I fed my last dog. She has done well on them all except now that she's eating Annamaet her fur feels softer but it can also be her winter coat.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

I think I might try the Fromm's food. Y'all speak pretty highly of it and it's definitely worth a shot especially if it's better and saves me some money in the long run. 


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I really don't think Purina One is that bad, especially Purina One Beyond. *shrugs*

My dogs haven't been too impressed with the Fromm Family Weight Management food. So I'd try a small bag of the Fromm.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Laurelin said:


> I really don't think Purina One is that bad, especially Purina One Beyond. *shrugs*


 Like I said, I don't think it's terrible, but the main reason I won't use it is the soy protein. I might be thinking too much in terms of cats here (soy being linked to hyperthyroidism in cats) but it just bugs me.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

I think I'm looking into Fromm's Gold


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I recommend: Wellness, Fromm, Acana, Orijen, Merrick, Victor etc.

For lower cost foods I recommend: 4Health, 4health Grain Free, Diamond Naturals, and Taste of the Wild. You can find all of these foods at Tractor Supply, Rural king, and most other feed supply stores. 

Edit to add: I do not think that 5 cups is too much for a large pup necessarily. It depends on the dog and the food. Luna is 23 pounds and was eating 3 cups of Earthborn GF a day plus wet. So 1,200 cals a day in just dry food. To get the same cals out of Pedigree puppy food she would have to eat 4 cups.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

Fromm can be found at tractor supply?


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Swmartin0518 said:


> Fromm can be found at tractor supply?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


No sorry. I ment the lower cost foods I listed could be found there. I recommend Chewy.com for the Fromm.


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## Dagger (Jan 23, 2014)

I'd steer you away from Blue Buffalo and Purina One.

I have my dog on Merrick. His farts peel the paint, but he does really well on it. You can get it at like Petco.

Holistic Selects is also a good one. It's not carried in big box pet supplies stores so it can be a pain in the butt to find, depending on if you live out in the sticks. Earthbound is good too, but it's also only carried in certain stores.


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## Kyndall54 (Apr 26, 2013)

I feed Ammy Blue Wilderness when we're having a tough financial month. She does really well on it, but didn't do great on the blue buffalo puppy food. She's on Orijen about 75% of the time, and it's been the best food for her yet. She's a picky eater but eats the 6 fish orijen food up like no one's business. I agree, with a high quality food your pup will probably eat less.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Meh. BB is just as crappy imo. I'd honestly probably choose Purina One (specifically Beyond) before trusting Blue Buffalo. I do wish Purina would stop using menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity). 



Dagger said:


> I'd steer you away from Blue Buffalo and Purina One.
> 
> I have my dog on Merrick. His farts peel the paint, but he does really well on it. You can get it at like Petco.
> 
> Holistic Selects is also a good one. It's not carried in big box pet supplies stores so it can be a pain in the butt to find, depending on if you live out in the sticks. Earthbound is good too, but it's also only carried in certain stores.


How can a dog be doing really on a food if they have farts that peel the paint? Do you think it's not a digestion issue...? I just wouldn't consider farts that bad or often to be normal at all. I've maybe heard/smelled LOL Jackson fart less than 10x in his 5 years of life, and each time I usually knew the reason (particular food, etc).


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

Jacksons Mom said:


> Meh. BB is just as crappy imo. I'd honestly probably choose Purina One (specifically Beyond) before trusting Blue Buffalo. I do wish Purina would stop using menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity).
> 
> 
> 
> How can a dog be doing really on a food if they have farts that peel the paint? Do you think it's not a digestion issue...? I just wouldn't consider farts that bad or often to be normal at all. I've maybe heard/smelled LOL Jackson fart less than 10x in his 5 years of life, and each time I usually knew the reason (particular food, etc).


really?!?! you're lucky. I've tried Levi on 4 or 5 different foods in the past 2 years and he's been horribly gassy on all of them. I think he's just a gassy guy. His farts are loud enough that they scare him and he chases them in a circle. and they make my eyes water. just horrid.


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## Dagger (Jan 23, 2014)

Jacksons Mom said:


> How can a dog be doing really on a food if they have farts that peel the paint? Do you think it's not a digestion issue...? I just wouldn't consider farts that bad or often to be normal at all. I've maybe heard/smelled LOL Jackson fart less than 10x in his 5 years of life, and each time I usually knew the reason (particular food, etc).


His flatulence didn't get more frequent. Just more... pungent. 

When a person is on a very healthy, natural diet then his/her farts and bowel movements will generally smell a lot stronger than those of someone who isn't... _Omivore's Dilemma_, the more you know, heh. I read it cover-to-cover on a long flight recently so now I know a lot more about food and human eating habits than I ever cared to. Anyhow, I don't see how it's any different for dogs.


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

I second the Fromm's Gold...

I feed the 4H puppy cause its readily available and cheap for the quality, and I am always at TSC for goat supplies....


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

Swmartin0518 said:


> before I left town for vet school
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


If you're in vet school I'm sure there is a food program that will allow you to purchase good food at a discount.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

NicoleIsStoked said:


> Purina is crap as is pedigree. Blue has been known to source ingredients from china and overall is overpriced for what it is- a big bag of veggie protein and rice with some chicken mixed in. For about the same price (maybe even less) you could get them all a better food like Acana, Fromm, Go, Merrick, etc. 5 cups of food a day for a puppy is nuts. A higher quality food will probably land him at 2-3 cups.


Yeah like most of the dog food companies ... they were bought out by a bigger company (mars I think) when that happens you might as well right them off, same with seeing tv commercials. Once you see a add for a dog food you didn't before, you might as well cross them off your list LOL,

I don't feed them because they get their ingredients from china and most of their foods are chicken or fish, which doesn't allow me fore much lead way with rotation because mine don't like fishy foods.


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## Swmartin0518 (Jan 21, 2014)

OwnedbyACDs said:


> Yeah like most of the dog food companies ... they were bought out by a bigger company (mars I think) when that happens you might as well right them off, same with seeing tv commercials. Once you see a add for a dog food you didn't before, you might as well cross them off your list LOL,
> 
> I don't feed them because they get their ingredients from china and most of their foods are chicken or fish, which doesn't allow me fore much lead way with rotation because mine don't like fishy foods.


That's too funny I was just thinking about that earlier today! That I used to not see blue buffalo commercials and as of lately I do. I ordered the Fromm's Gold today so we will see how it works out! 


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Fromm is good too  so is castor and Pollux though there is not much lead-way if you want to rotate within a brand. I know that others don't really like Merick but I am feeding that now and have had good results with it.


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