[ClifftheBRD]

i recently adopted a 9 month old blue heeler mix(collie i think). i have had her about a month or so. i have been feeding her ol roy dog food. now i have read some reviews about this food killing dogs? and being unhealthy? i want her to have a good quality dog food, but i dont want to spend an arm and a leg either. my dog i had growing(R.I.P Bilbo) up was on prescription dog food nearly his entire life(15 years). i think it was around $50 for a 20lb bag. i cant even imagine how much my folks spent on just food alone for that dog. it isnt that i dont want her to have the best, but i just cant afford something like that.

so if you could please recommend a good quality dog food for someone on a budget, that would be great.

also, how much food should she be getting each meal? she is about 50lbs right now, but i think she added a few lbs due to 2 weeks of meds and no exercise per vets orders. she weighed about 40 when we got her.

any info on this will be much appreciated!

thanks
Cliff

[sheltiemom]

Ol' Roy is Walmart brand, right? If you're shopping at Walmart, they carry two foods that are decent quality, one is Maxximum Nutrition, here it's $15 for a 20lb bag, and the other is Natural Life, which is $19 for a 20 lb bag. I have fed both these foods to my dogs and been happy with them, the only reason I don't feed those foods anymore is that Walmart isn't very close to my house.

[rosemaryninja]

I have found Natural Balance and Premium Edge to be pretty affordable foods of decent quality.

[2Catahoulas]

There are a lot great foods out there. Like any of us, pick the best food you can as I don't think there is a top formula or brand.

Try this site:
The Best Dry Dog Food

[MyRescueCrew]

www.dogfoodproject.com is a good site to tell you what to avoid in foods, how to interpret labels, and which foods are a bit better than others, according to their ingredients.

As far as good foods for a good price, I agree with rosemary - Premium Edge is fairly low priced, but has good quality ingredients. Natural Balance isn't too bad either.

Run far and fast from 'Ol Roy, or pretty much most of the brands that you can find in a Walmart or grocery store.

[ClifftheBRD]

thanks for the info. i just got back from petco. i decided to go with natural balance, i got her the sweet potatoe and fish blend. the price was a little high, but not too bad, plus they carry several flavors. i had my wife research it while i was in the store and everything she found was good, so i went with it.

when i got home from work earlier i put her evening meal of ol roy in the dish, she didnt touch it. a couple hours later when i got back from the pet store, i dumped the ol roy and replaced it with the natural balance, man she tore it up!! gone in seconds it seemed! i feel much better now knowing she is eating a good quality food. i also got her a "kong" toy, she is still trying to clean it out as i type. and i also got natural balance for our cats too, why should the dog get special treatment right!? they loved it as well.

again thanks for the info, being a new dog owner, i am sure i will have plenty more questions to ask. i feel i am in the right place to get good answers!!

Cliff

[kpollard]

We have Teddy on the Natural Balance sweet potato and venison and he loves it as well. I predict in about two weeks or less you'll see her coat get shinier and her energy will pick up a bit. Yay for puppy liking her new food!

[Willowy]

OK, this is random (but sorta related), but I was at my vet's today with my new kitten , and the lady before me was asking about dog foods. He told her that any brand name food is dandy (), but to avoid Ol' Roy like the plague, because he's "seen dogs starve to death on it". Interesting. I know the dogs I've seen on grocery store brands look terrible, but I don't know how they'd starve to death.