[EllenCherryCharles]

I was in our local feed store today, and was checking out their selection of dry dog food. We are currently feeding Nature's Variety kibble and some of their raw medallions. With two dogs, we are going through the raw medallions a lot faster. I've had a coupon for a buy one get one for the raw that I'm able to use over and over. (www.nature's variety.com/tryit ) I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable using it b/c with two dogs....I'm in there a lot. So I thought I'd stop using the coupon, pay full price for the raw (they get about 25% raw each) and try to find a dry food that isn't quite so expensive. I'm paying about $42 for a 35lb bag of NV.

I saw this food I'd never heard of: "Exclusive" It seems to be a decent food, but I don't want to step down too much in the nutrition etc. I can get a 35-40 lb bag for about $22-25. Our first dog has the softest coat, and Lily (new dog) is going that direction as well. Does anyone have any opinions about this? Would we be giving them the equivalent of potato chips for dinner if we fed them this? There is a listing of ingredients on the site, but I can't ever remember if brewers rice is bad or good or if "meal' is a bad word etc.

Anyone have an opinion?

http://www.pminutrition.com/

Well, after posting, I did a quick search on dogfoodanalysis.com and found that while Nature's Variety is a 5 star food, Exclusive is a 3 star. So maybe we'll just change to one of the more inexpensive flavors within NV. We are currently feeding the NewZealand Venison, which seems to be the most expensive. Maybe we'll switch to chicken or beef or lamb? Is there a better choice here?

Confession: I liked buying the venison b/c some reason when I buy dog food, I have to picture a dog actually eating the base animal in the dog food. I could see deer being a possiblity b/c my dogs are always trying to chase the deer in the backyard. Beef....not so much. Cows are too big, but on the other hand are kind of slow.... so maybe they would be able to take down a cow. Well, not MY dogs, but A dog. Lamb bothers me on a different level. And chickens kind of gross me out. Yeah. I'm a nut. But I'll buy whatever's best.

[BoxMeIn21]

Don't switch. It's crap. Premade raw is probably the most expensive food you can buy. Topped off with a premium kibble, well no wonder you are spending a good penny. I would ditch the premade, if you want to feed half and half that's fine, feed the NV kibble and find a good butcher or grocery store in your area willing to sell you "off" cuts.

[Ginny01OT]

Nature's Variety also has raw patties which are larger than the medallions and more cost effective. I feed the NV raw patties and I know it is quite costly but I have found a place where I can get raw beef/liver mix and raw beef/tripe mix for half the cost. I alternate that into his diet and it brings my cost down. Regardless of how you do raw, I went out and bought a little freezer for about $60.00 and I buy in bulk and keep it in the freezer this way I don't have to run to the store too often. Nature's Variety is an excellent dog food and what is good about the patty is that it has organ meat and ground bone in it as well as other goodies but is still 95% meat. The convenience and excellent quality of the patty outweighs the cost in my opinion and hopefully we won't be visiting the vet too often...