Best Food?

1314 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by championlab1, Jun 21, 2009

nikkiluvsu15

Discussion Starter · Jun 18, 2009 (Edited)

Hi, my name is Nikki and I'm new here.
I was wondering what the best food would be to feed my dog?
I have a Great Dane/Bullmastiff mix.. She is currently 4 months old.
I have been feeding her the worst possible food there is.. Are you ready? PEDIGREE! I know it's horrible, but I can't find a good food that is pretty inexpensive. I am still in high school so I don't have that much money to spend of the REALLY expensive dog foods like Orijen, even though I know that is good for her.

The reason I am wanting to switch foods really bad, is not only do I know it is not healthy for her, she is beginning to lose some hair from scratching some much (which I am not sure if this is the reason why..) and she has been eating the cat's poop lately (GROSSSSS!), I have read where dogs may eat cat poop if they are not getting the right amount of food they need. Or something like that. Anyways... So that is one of the reason I wanted to switch..

I came here to ask if any of ya'll knew of any dog foods that were good for her, but that were at a price I could afford? Right now I have "Diamonds Naturals Large Breed Adult" dog food in my shopping cart at Amazon, I have not purchased it yet because I was waiting to see if there was any better ones, that are cheaper.

This dog food is about $35 for 42 pounds. I haven't been able to find much better. Any help would be great! Thanks!

Also, have ya'll heard of a treat called "No Grainers"? I recently stumbled upon those while I was grocery shopping with my sister. Harleigh (my dog.

really likes them. I am pretty sure they are okay or at least better than "beggin strips" or any of those other treats, but your thoughts?

I know this is a lot to ask, but I appreciate everyone who answers and give me advice! Thank you so much!

-Nikki

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BoxMeIn21

· #2 · Jun 18, 2009

Hi Nikki, welcome to Dogforums!

Diamond Naturals is much better than Pedigree, the only other one I might suggest in your price range is Kirklands Signature - Do you have a Costco near you? I believe you can pick up a 40lb bag for around 30 bucks.

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nikkiluvsu15

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 18, 2009

Haha.. No, I don't have Cosco. I live in a SMALL town. The only stores we have is Walmart & Publix.. And a Winn-Dixie that no one goes too. Lol.

I haven't order that other food yet, but I may in a couple days. Thank you for your help!

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Willowy

· #4 · Jun 18, 2009

Diamond Naturals is decent and affordable. Check out the local feed stores.....a lot of them carry the entire Diamond line, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Cheaper than shipping it every time, for sure!

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nikkiluvsu15

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 18, 2009

Thanks. I'll have to check at our stores we have here.
I was doing some research on dogfoodanalysis.com and came across some better foods that are around the same price. Except for one that is really expensive which someone recommended to me. I'll get your thoughts.

They are:

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine Formula with Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 6 star dog food)

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Large Breed Adult Dog Formula (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 4 star dog food)

AND

Innova Large Breed Adult Formula Dry Dog Food (This is the more expensive one I was talking about..) (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 4 star dog food)

Haha.. Ya'll are probably getting tired of me asking all these questions. I just want the best for my little Harleigh bug!

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BoxMeIn21

· #6 · Jun 19, 2009

nikkiluvsu15 said:
Thanks. I'll have to check at our stores we have here.
I was doing some research on dogfoodanalysis.com and came across some better foods that are around the same price. Except for one that is really expensive which someone recommended to me. I'll get your thoughts.

They are:

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine Formula with Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 6 star dog food)

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Large Breed Adult Dog Formula (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 4 star dog food)

AND

Innova Large Breed Adult Formula Dry Dog Food (This is the more expensive one I was talking about..) (According to dogfoodanalysis.com this is a 4 star dog food)

Haha.. Ya'll are probably getting tired of me asking all these questions. I just want the best for my little Harleigh bug!

Of course not...ask away. TOTW and CS are good foods - as is Innova, but I wouldnt get too hung up on the gimmick of large breed foods. There are lots of non size specific and all-life stages foods that offer the same moderate protein without the price tag.

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boon4376

· #7 · Jun 20, 2009 (Edited)

nikkiluvsu15 said:
I am still in high school so I don't have that much money to spend of the REALLY expensive dog foods like Eagle Pack, even though I know that is good for her.

I just recommended this in another thread as well but here it is again, Its $1.00 per pound and has nice ingredients,
http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf_id=2014106&dept_id=1&brand_id=630&Page=

Ordering online may be a good option for you, idk what the shipping costs are though.

I personally dont trust dogfoodanalysis becuase they do not do in depth comparisons of grains and the actually nutritional value of the individual ingredients...

For example, they rate instinct chicken as a 6 star food simply because it is grain free, however they fail to recognize that they use tapioca instead to replace grain, which is a HORRIBLE ingredient with almost no nutritional value and 100% carbohydrate... (a good grain free uses potatoes usually).. If you compare tapioca to oatmeal, barley, brown rice, Taptioca comes out as a clear loser and is worse than grain in every case except where a dog is allergic to grain.

Thus I take reviews at dogfoodanalysis with a grain of salt and leave the rest to my own research, they are essentially adequate reviews (they're good at pointing out the HORRIBLE foods), but there are some HUGE misrepresentations of food on there... and there is a huge lack of consistency across brands....
Barley may be listed as "Adequate" in one food and listed as a "Great benefit" in another food.

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Willowy

· #8 · Jun 20, 2009

Chicken Soup is definitely a good food, so is TOTW. They're both Diamond products, so if you find a feed store that carries Diamond---even if they don't have CS or TOTW---they can order it for you if you ask.

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championlab1

· #9 · Jun 21, 2009

Well, for a dog the size you have... your going to be spending $'s feeding no matter what you do.. I would stick with a large breed puppy fomula regardless what anyone else might say.. where your breed mix doesnt have specific genetic dispostion to hip problems etc, you pup will be growing fast......... and the large breed puppy foods have lower calcium and ash levels, the 2 things you want to limit in early growing stages of large breeds... if i had to suggest a food, it would be Orijen large breed puppy... if you cant afford it, see if Wellness core, has a puppy food... as for your dogs dry skin, if your stuck with a lesser food due to budget, purchase a fish oil omega supplement.. its cheap, and might in its self remedy your dogs dry skin.... and for you FYI... if you want to learn a bit about.. canine diets, myths, anayliss, and food reccomendations, goolge ...The Dog Food Project..... hope this helps you.....

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