# Cheap dog food



## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

I had a dog dropped off yesterday for boarding. Shes happy, bright, nice soft, shiny coat Shepherd mix...14 years old. 
I always ask about what the dog is eating to be sure they're not on a special diet and feeding the kennel food won't cause problems. The owner said she has been feeding Publix (which is a basic grocery store) brand for like 30 years. She said she tried switching once to a better brand (she tried Canidae and Bill Jack), but the dogs had problems for weeks so she returned to Publix brand. This dog's mother (a pregnant rescue she'd taken in) lived to 19 on Publix food, and she's had another dog live to 18. 

Anyone else have anything like this happen??


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## shawn murace (Feb 20, 2007)

We feed EVO at the house and as much as I'd like to say they all have nice shiny coats, they don't. The coats aren't dull and crappy, but some dogs look much better than others. The stools are about the same but huge difference in coats. Over the years I've fed a lot of different food to working dogs (schutzhund and dog sledding). It's all a crapshoot it seems.


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## Alex Pitawanakwat (Sep 28, 2010)

shawn murace said:


> We feed EVO at the house and as much as I'd like to say they all have nice shiny coats, they don't. The coats aren't dull and crappy, but some dogs look much better than others. The stools are about the same but huge difference in coats. Over the years I've fed a lot of different food to working dogs (schutzhund and dog sledding). It's all a crapshoot it seems.



Why not try a different food then? What is it you like about the Evo?


There are dogs that live to a healthy, ripe old age on just about any food you can find. IMHO it depends on the dog and his genetics and the food doesn't have a whole lot to do with it unless you have a dog with sensitivities or allergies. If that's the case, food makes a big difference. That being said, I wouldn't feed my dog any food with dyes or preservatives that have been shown to be carcinogenic. Sure, in the laboratory setting, things like menadione are given in high amounts and food has small amounts, but small amounts every single day for the dog's whole life? Not something I'm comfortable with.

Also, a lot of people who have always fed dog chow or Ol' Roy or whatever, get caught up in the hype and they switch to the absolute best food they can find- high protein, grain free, three meats, etc. Of COURSE their dog's going to have the runs! That could be compared to taking a POW on his life sustaining gruel and water diet and giving him a T-bone dinner. He's going to have a hell of an upset stomach because the body isn't able to properly process higher quality foods for quite a while.

There are a lot of dog kibbles that I consider good quality kibbles, and not a single one of them would be the "right" kibble for every single dog. If you try one for a while and it's not working, try something else. When I fed kibble, I got a different brand every time I bought food.

I tried to look up the Publix ingredients and all I found was recall and class action lawsuit information lol


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## shawn murace (Feb 20, 2007)

Alex Pitawanakwat said:


> Why not try a different food then? What is it you like about the Evo?


I get EVO at a good price through the kennel so continue to use it but as a whole my best results were with Pro-Plan Performance. I'll probably head back to that. I'm curious to see with Proctor and Gamble buying out Natura how it's going to effect EVO and the others. When they (P&G) bought out Iams they changed rice to barley. The barley sank in the stomachs of my sled dogs so had to discontinue that. That was in 98ish or something around there. Proctor and Gamble screw up everything.. Anyhow, it's funny how some folks looked at me like I was the harbinger of the apocalypse when I told them I was feeding Purina. I thought their heads were going to explode.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

My mom's dogs are fed on Priority (Safeway cheapo brand) and all of her dogs look nice except one, that's God only knows how old, 15ish?
I have fed all kinds of stuff, from Evo, TOTW, grocery brand, Purina Dog Chow, Kirkland, and now feeding Purina One.
Kirkland and Purina One are my top choices. I didn't have good luck on Evo or TOTW, and no problems with grocery store brands.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

I've never had too much success with cheap grocery brands...one thing they've all had in common is that they've dumped at least twice as much than on something like Arden Grange...twice the wastage I guess. Now that can't be good, all that energy going on getting rid of waste lol. The good bit though....Arden Grange and other 'similar' quality feeds are considerably cheaper when correctly sourced than many of the 'cheap' grocery or shelf brands.

Many of the brands mentioned on here like Pro Plan, Evo , Purina (lots of varieties), whilst common here are extortionate and aimed at the (relatively) new pet owner, I was quite horrified whilst visiting the local pet store the other week, all the crap on the shelves are pretty much all going in the same pricing bracket....there seems to be little to no distinction!


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## Lloyd Kasakoff (Jun 15, 2008)

Step up. Feed raw.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Lloyd Kasakoff said:


> Step up. Feed raw.


And be homeless  I feed kibble because raw is just far beyond my price-range. We're just a poor enlisted family, lol.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

I feed raw for all the wrong reasons..it's too expensive if you even just dabble in the store bought stuff and stay mainly with farm food..you end up buying freezers to keep the shit in, you're never really sure what your dog gets as far as nutrition...the fat content is always low, protein is never above 15-20 %.

When I bust it up with my framing hammer I always get shit either in my eye or mouth...there is always raw schrapnel in my garage and in the house, if you don't bleach your hands or wear rubber gloves when handling real tripe your fingers smell like you just came from a Freddy Mercury concert..

Ya..I feed raw because I don't like to ever pick up a turd that is bigger than mine :razz:


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## James Idi (Apr 19, 2009)

> if you don't bleach your hands or wear rubber gloves when handling real tripe your fingers smell like you just came from a freddy mercury concert..


bwahahahahaha!!!!!!!


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## sam wilks (May 3, 2009)

I feed southern states brand and mix in some leftovers here and there. Ive tried a bunch of the high dollar dog foods and have not noticed enough of a difference if any to justify the prices they charge. My dogs all have nice coats and plenty of energy and they do not have much more waste in their kennels. Plus my work is free, Im already picking up crap out of the kennels so whats a few more turds right. The price is only fifteen bucks for a 40 pound bag. I think its great if you can afford to feed your dogs a high quality food but if you dont have the money I dont think its a big deal.


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

If you're comparing cost you need to compare apples to apples, not $20/40 lb vs $40 /40 lb, you need to look at the recommended daily feeding and how many kcals/ cup...and take note of the size of cup, some say a cup is 6 oz, some say it's 8 oz. 

I did a comparison for a gal who was feeding grocery store food and compared it to a kibble without the fillers and junk. $21.99 /34 lb vs $48.99 / 30 lb ended up being only $3/mo extra she would spend to feed the higher quality kibble.

I have it in a document if anyone would like to see it...shoot me a message

good info here 
Kcal calculator for any food http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/feed.htm


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

sam wilks said:


> I feed southern states brand and mix in some leftovers here and there. Ive tried a bunch of the high dollar dog foods and have not noticed enough of a difference if any to justify the prices they charge. My dogs all have nice coats and plenty of energy and they do not have much more waste in their kennels. Plus my work is free, Im already picking up crap out of the kennels so whats a few more turds right. The price is only fifteen bucks for a 40 pound bag. I think its great if you can afford to feed your dogs a high quality food but if you dont have the money I dont think its a big deal.


 
15 bucks for 40lbs??


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## Alex Pitawanakwat (Sep 28, 2010)

Angie Stark said:


> If you're comparing cost you need to compare apples to apples, not $20/40 lb vs $40 /40 lb, you need to look at the recommended daily feeding and how many kcals/ cup...and take note of the size of cup, some say a cup is 6 oz, some say it's 8 oz.
> 
> I did a comparison for a gal who was feeding grocery store food and compared it to a kibble without the fillers and junk. $21.99 /34 lb vs $48.99 / 30 lb ended up being only $3/mo extra she would spend to feed the higher quality kibble.
> 
> ...





This is SUCH an important point when comparing prices. If I were feeding Dog Chow, I'd be feeding each of my dogs 6 cups a day (that's THREE pounds of food)... and somehow they'd produce like 8 pounds of poop a day... just... yuck.
On raw, they each eat between 1 and 2 pounds of food. Dog Chow averages what, $.50 per pound? $20 for 40 lb bag roughly? So, 3 dogs x 3 lbs food each x 30 days = 270 lbs of dog chow a month. Ouch. $135/ month. With raw, I get most of my meat for .50/lb or less (sales, reduced, free, etc), so 3 dogs x 2 lbs. daily x 30 days = 180 lbs of food a month... $90. And I don't have to pick up poop because it disintegrates on its own. Raw win 
I did have to spend my $200 on the freezer though...
Raw can be SO cheap if you do some digging and find good meat sources.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

I did feed raw many moons ago, Gerry's post took me back there..... I just found it so disgusting, stinky and messy, a health hazard to boot. Plus, the storage and preparation.... I remember the trips to the slaughter house, cutting up the raw tripe with the purpose bought electric knife, freezer, freezer bags, the gloves and apron, the outhouse at feeding time.The cleaning... and the smell, it was a near full time job feeding one dog lol. Kibble is cool


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## Sarah Best (Oct 3, 2010)

my current dog (a rottie/shepherd mix) was on Purina One large breed puppy and was doing very well on it. But now im in the middle of switching him over to wellness core. there was no reason i had to switch off of Purina but i deiced to switch him to see if maybe he would maybe bulk up a little more.

Also before i was born my parents had 3 dogs , a rottie and 2 shepherd mixs, and they were all feed the Purina food brand. I cant remember how long the shepherd mixs lived but the rottie lived to be 15 years old on Purina


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## Mike Valente (Sep 14, 2010)

Kristina Senter said:


> I had a dog dropped off yesterday for boarding. Shes happy, bright, nice soft, shiny coat Shepherd mix...14 years old.
> I always ask about what the dog is eating to be sure they're not on a special diet and feeding the kennel food won't cause problems. The owner said she has been feeding Publix (which is a basic grocery store) brand for like 30 years. She said she tried switching once to a better brand (she tried Canidae and Bill Jack), but the dogs had problems for weeks so she returned to Publix brand. This dog's mother (a pregnant rescue she'd taken in) lived to 19 on Publix food, and she's had another dog live to 18.
> 
> Anyone else have anything like this happen??


Cheap is subjective for sure! Some good quality kibble is store brand if you get the right ones and far cheaper in price not quality. The biggest issue is over priced crap that the average consumer assumes is better. Funny your talking about Publix Brand I had to get some last minute dog food being busy and not getting to the farm supply store before they closed (this was years ago). I found a Publix Lamb/Rice formula that blew away any of the name brand garbage on the shelf as far as quality and price. Walmart MaxNutrition was excellent quality for the money, but alot of stores stopped carrying their own brand, I found their web site and multiple people complained that couldn't get it any more and after switching to name bran food their dogs health got worse within a couiple months. Raw is king in my book but Kibble is convieniance, I try to compromise atleats 50/50 a solid quality kibble based on price and content along with Raw meat usually chicken parts in my case, I'm thinking about getting fish scraps from the market as a supliment, doesn't have to be whole fish or expensive fillets, the scraps alone pack a major nutritional punch IMO.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

Sarah Best said:


> my current dog (a rottie/shepherd mix) was on Purina One large breed puppy and was doing very well on it. But now im in the middle of switching him over to wellness core. there was no reason i had to switch off of Purina but i deiced to switch him to see if maybe he would maybe bulk up a little more.
> 
> Also before i was born my parents had 3 dogs , a rottie and 2 shepherd mixs, and they were all feed the Purina food brand. I cant remember how long the shepherd mixs lived but the rottie lived to be 15 years old on Purina


I'm pretty sure other responses have gone over this, also you know my grandmother eats pretty crap food and is in her 80's. That doesn't make the food any better for her DAILY living.

As well as most other points in this thread, cheap food with filler has always meant larger servings. If you feed a better food with a good caloric intake you will SAVE money. Longevity does not necissarily = quality


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

And you can also spend $55 on a bag of TOTW and have really expensive dog shit. I don't feed any more Purina One than I did ToTW and it's $20 cheaper per bag. I still go through about a bag and a half a month of each and they were the same sized bags. My dogs do better on Kirkland or Purina One than they have on anything that has cost me more than $35 a bag. Evo was a big flop too, and for the price of it I could have bought 68 lbs of Purina.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

Ashley Campbell said:


> And you can also spend $55 on a bag of TOTW and have really expensive dog shit. I don't feed any more Purina One than I did ToTW and it's $20 cheaper per bag. I still go through about a bag and a half a month of each and they were the same sized bags. My dogs do better on Kirkland or Purina One than they have on anything that has cost me more than $35 a bag. Evo was a big flop too, and for the price of it I could have bought 68 lbs of Purina.


You are missing the fact that TOTW has a low caloric intake, if you have a highly active dog totw is probably not a good choice. However this was *also* already mentioned just like a few posts up. You can't just look at the nature of the ingredients you also have to look at caloric content per cup and how much is "their" cup. TOTW's highest caloric intake for any formula in kibble form is 375 per cup. Canidae ALS as an example is 468 a cup


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

No, the point is, expensive isn't always better, even if the ingredients "look" better.
ToTW is grain free and you hear all these rave reviews about it. I think it's no better than what you can buy for $30, just with a higher price tag. So I can spend $100 a month on dog food, or $60, with the same outcome.
OR, I can spend $120+ on Evo in a month, and I still go through about the same amount of dog food, but for twice the price.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

Ashley Campbell said:


> No, the point is, expensive isn't always better, even if the ingredients "look" better.
> ToTW is grain free and you hear all these rave reviews about it. I think it's no better than what you can buy for $30, just with a higher price tag. So I can spend $100 a month on dog food, or $60, with the same outcome.
> OR, I can spend $120+ on Evo in a month, and I still go through about the same amount of dog food, but for twice the price.



I would never say expensive is better, there are fairly "cheap" foods that are good quality like chicken soup for the dog lover's sou,l and absolute shit food that costs a lot like science diet or anything made by hills. ToTW gets rave reviews usually by dogs that don't need a higher caloric intake. obviously a dog that is burning a lot of calories is not going to do well on a food that's low in calories.

An athlete that burns a lot of calories is going to need more from their food, this doesn't mean however buying cheapo energy drinks and mc donalds to cover it would be a good diet even if it provides them with the caloric intake they need it's not exactly a good idea.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Yep like I said before, ToTW just made for more expensive dog crap in the yard.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

And hey it's not like I'm arguing against what people can afford, just that they need to evaluate how much they are really saving before *trying* to see if some of the foods with better ingredient quality doesn't work for them.

Prices for lower end food are nuts here. ToTW here is 61, Diamond's athlete formula is as high as 47. We have some crap called river run that's worse than alpo that runs pretty high considering how bottom of the barrel it is.


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## Mara Jessup (Sep 7, 2010)

Wow - TOTW runs just over $40 here - and I can find it on sale for $32... 

My family's GSD mix lived to the ripe old age of 15 on wal-mart kibble. Pretty happy, healthy and active 'til about 14.5. IF she hadn't gotten HW I think she would have had at least another good year.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

ToTW is $55 a bag here. Evo is well over $60, but I had a coupon last time I bought a bag. 

River Run is garbage and used to be dirt cheap, the place I worked at carried it for less than $20 a bag for a 50 lb bag.


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Ashley Campbell said:


> ToTW is $55 a bag here. Evo is well over $60, but I had a coupon last time I bought a bag.
> 
> River Run is garbage and used to be dirt cheap, the place I worked at carried it for less than $20 a bag for a 50 lb bag.



I think I'll stick with Sams Club Chicken and Rice Exceed at
$25/40lb bag. If any of my dogs feel like a raw diet, they're welcome to all the squirrels they can catch in the backyard


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Exactly, Kirkland lamb and rice or chicken and rice is $23/40 lbs. at Costco. I'm going there on Thursday to renew my membership because I"m tired of paying $30 for 34 lbs of dog food that's about the same quality.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

They recently changed the formula in excede. i actually *used* to feed it. they swapped formulas and everything went to crap with it.

And yeah river run here used to be 19 now it's 30+


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## Stacy Fleming-Walker (Oct 9, 2010)

So wondering if there should be some sort of poll to see what everyone is feeding. My husband and I keep discussing going back to dog food, but after feeding raw for over 10 years it is a hard switch to make. I so don't want to clean more poo out of the yard, but I miss the convenience of kibble....


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

Once i get my green card I can probably afford to go back to raw. I just want to get a house first lol. House, freezer then back to raw.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

That time my chest freezer in the garage decided to malfunction and I lost at least 100 lbs of meat made me back off from raw a bit. I've dug through some nauseating stuff in my day, but clean up for that just about took the cake. :-& I still give the dogs lamb bones 1-2 times a week, but we're back on kibble (a half and half blend of EVO Salmon & Herring and TOTW Pacific Stream or whatever it's called for 3 of the 4 dogs and a half and half blend of HealthWise and California Natural for the other). Some less expensive kibbles that I've used:

-Chicken Soup
-HeathWise
-Diamond Naturals Large Breed Adult


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## Niomi Smith (Jan 15, 2010)

Wow - where I am ToTW is $75/ 30lbs and the Evo is almost $70....

God I hate having to pay more for everything!!

I do a kibble and raw diet (not in the same meal and not on the same day) but I am waiting for a few hunters to get me some meat so right now the dogs are pretty much on kibble. I had to pay $190 for 3, 30lb bags - I feel totally ripped off! Plus that is only going to last 4-5 weeks.

My only other choices are Iams or Old Roy and at that point I might as well use my own garbage - my dogs will get more out of it.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

Evo red meat formula is 82.99 for a 13 kg bag in Canada, the chicken is 70 bucks.


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

Niomi Smith said:


> Wow - where I am ToTW is $75/ 30lbs and the Evo is almost $70....
> 
> God I hate having to pay more for everything!!
> 
> ...


WOW, where are you?


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## Adam Swilling (Feb 12, 2009)

I absolutely refuse to pay that kind of money to feed a dog. I feed Exceed and I'm paying $29 for 44 lbs. Sorry folks. Call me what you want but I'm not about to pay as much or more to feed dogs as I do my kids every week. No way. The only other food I've tried and had the same success as I've had with the Exceed is Purina Pro Plan, and that cost me more for a smaller bag. I'm feeding 1 GSD, 3 Dutchies, and 2 Mals, and every one of them is doing great on the Exceed and they all did great on the Pro Plan. Every time I have ever tried to switch to any of the more "premium" grain free kibbles, I was mopping up brownie batter out of the yard. Granted, I did feed less on a couple of them, but I'm not willing to trade that for the mud puddles. And yes, I know how to switch from one food to the next. I've got great coats, clear eyes, no allergies, lean muscle and great energy with all my dogs. I guess I'm just a hard sale when it comes to dog food.


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

The best deal I can get on Evo 28lb is at Henco in Sun Valley, CA. About $38 for the Original formula and $45 for the Herring/Salmon kibble. 

Another distributor -- TOW 30 lb $34 bag.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Adam Swilling said:


> I absolutely refuse to pay that kind of money to feed a dog. I feed Exceed and I'm paying $29 for 44 lbs. Sorry folks. Call me what you want but I'm not about to pay as much or more to feed dogs as I do my kids every week. No way. The only other food I've tried and had the same success as I've had with the Exceed is Purina Pro Plan, and that cost me more for a smaller bag. I'm feeding 1 GSD, 3 Dutchies, and 2 Mals, and every one of them is doing great on the Exceed and they all did great on the Pro Plan. Every time I have ever tried to switch to any of the more "premium" grain free kibbles, I was mopping up brownie batter out of the yard. Granted, I did feed less on a couple of them, but I'm not willing to trade that for the mud puddles. And yes, I know how to switch from one food to the next. I've got great coats, clear eyes, no allergies, lean muscle and great energy with all my dogs. I guess I'm just a hard sale when it comes to dog food.


Im paying a little over a buck a pound for dog food and ain't paying any more this is what Ive been feeding for all his 4 years of life dog is doing great.
www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nutrisource/products/super_performance 
Id be interested to have some opinions from some of the dog food experts


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## Jeff Threadgill (Jun 9, 2010)

DVP Amp is my choice, a lil expensive, but I never seen better looking coats on kibble.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Mike Scheiber said:


> Im paying a little over a buck a pound for dog food and ain't paying any more this is what Ive been feeding for all his 4 years of life dog is doing great.
> www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nutrisource/products/super_performance
> Id be interested to have some opinions from some of the dog food experts


A mentor of mine sells this, along with a couple other brands, in her hospital. Haven't fed it personally, but you could do much worse from the ingredients. My eyebrows do raise a bit at some of the ingredients lists which say that fish meal is a source of fish oil. Not sure about that one since fish meal, along with chicken, beef, etc meals, are basically a powdery substance.


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## Kerry Foose (Feb 20, 2010)

My thoughts on this subject is probably not a popular opinion, but here it is since you asked lol!...
I think people take this feeding thing way too seriously and spend way too much time effort and energy on the subject. 
Dogs are omnivorous, descended down from wild canids that did not have the benefit of sacked food. They had to hunt for everything they ate, even if it meant eating nuts, beans, bark, grubs and plant material too. So it is perfectly acceptable for our modern canines to consume the same type of stuff from time to time.
When you buy any dog food on the market today it has a recommended feeding schedule based on its ingredients to provide the necessities that the dogs body requires. Cheap or expensive...no matter, the requirements are the same. Cheap worked just fine for the farmers dogs, grandmas dogs, ranch dogs etc... they seemed to always live forever with the basic kibble and the table scraps and the bones, hides, fat etc..it got on occasion. Pretty simple if you ask me. 
You know why cheap dog food can benefit a dog over many years, even if it is the same brand? Variety.
The recipes will often change with the available cereal grain commodities, meat proteins and fat sources on a quarterly basis. It is an accepted industry standard to go with what is cheap and available at the time of production. Been going on for decades. Change is not a bad thing . . . we are omnivorous too and we enjoy variety and its benefits, why should'nt our dogs?
So for me, common sense says feed a basic diet and supplement as needed based on the dogs daily caloric requirements. If a dog works hard every day..obviously he would need higher protein and fat to replace what was used. If your dog is sedentary during the week, he certainly does not need the extra calories, but if he is burning them on the weekends, then you could adjust his intake. That is how it is done in the wild, and I think there is value in continuing that practice today.
I feel like many dogs today suffer for the over feeding that they receive and do not use. It is excessive. 
<<<sliding my soap box aside for the next guy, lol...thanks for the rant!


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Speaking of...
My grandparents just had to put a 28 year old mare down (had a stroke and couldn't get up anymore - was perfectly healthy otherwise) - guess what their dogs are eating?
I talked to grandma last night and she said the dogs are so full they won't even touch the kibble. Might as well, otherwise the poor dead horse (whom I was really fond of too) would just sit and rot.

But that being said, as this is what we did with all deceased horses, the first thing the dogs and coyotes get to is the stomach and intestines. Until all of that is gone they don't even touch the muscle meats. They don't pick around the grass and hay either - it all gets eaten.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I've said this before, we feed Nutro. I have fed this particular food for over 20 years. In that time, I've had maybe 7 - 10 dogs that just didn't tolerate it well and were put on other diets. I buy it on contract, lowest bid and pay quite a bit below retail (minimum of a year contract). I'm sure there may be better, but I just haven't seen health problems that would justify changing. 

DFrost


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

Mike Scheiber said:


> Im paying a little over a buck a pound for dog food and ain't paying any more this is what Ive been feeding for all his 4 years of life dog is doing great.
> www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nutrisource/products/super_performance
> Id be interested to have some opinions from some of the dog food experts




no dog food expert, but very interested in human nutrition for a long time, the dog food issue interests me and Ive done a lot of research, most of the A level grain-free foods seem to be over $2/lb, For the best food at $1/lb or under I havent found anything that can match costco/kirkland (made by diamond I believe), I think its 60-70 cents/lb

*Ingredients:*

Chicken meal, chicken, brown rice, white rice, fish meal (a source of fish oil), oatmeal, natural flavors, flax seeds, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), beet pulp, sunflower oil, dried egg product, brewers yeast, potassium chloride, salt, proteinated minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate), yeast culture (saccharomyces cerevisiae, enterococcus faecium, lactobacillus acidophilus, aspergillus niger, trichoderma longibrachiatum, bacillus subtillis), vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), glucosamine hydrochloride, lecithin, choline chloride, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), chondroitin sulfate, yucca schidigera extract, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, rosemary extract.




*Kirkland Signature Range Chicken Full Ingredients List:*

Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearl barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and vitamin E), egg product, beet pulp, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, millet, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

David Frost said:


> I've said this before, we feed Nutro. I have fed this particular food for over 20 years. In that time, I've had maybe 7 - 10 dogs that just didn't tolerate it well and were put on other diets. I buy it on contract, lowest bid and pay quite a bit below retail (minimum of a year contract). I'm sure there may be better, but I just haven't seen health problems that would justify changing.
> 
> DFrost


We feed Nutro too. We have a very similar deal as you do and pay alot less . We've had very good luck with it .


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

Matt Grosch said:


> no dog food expert, but very interested in human nutrition for a long time, the dog food issue interests me and Ive done a lot of research, most of the A level grain-free foods seem to be over $2/lb, For the best food at $1/lb or under I havent found anything that can match costco/kirkland (made by diamond I believe), I think its 60-70 cents/lb
> 
> *Ingredients:*
> 
> ...


Is it true that beet pulp is added to make the dogs' turds smaller ? I was told that when we use to feed Eagle Pack . Didn' have very good luck with that stuff .


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

thats what I have read/heard, but never looked into it


would make sense if the grains are kinda fermenting in their digestive tract and causing irritation


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## Matt Grosch (Jul 4, 2009)

I remembered the dogfoodanalysis.com site would always ding a food that had it, this was one of their reviews that touches on that and other items


The first ingredient is a named meat product, in meal form. It is the sole meat ingredient in the food, and is followed by five grain products ahead of the fat content. This gives us very little confidence in the meat content of the product.


The grains are of mixed quality. Rice is decent quality grain, but rice flour (in dog food, commonly a byproduct of human food production) and rice bran are both grain fragments we consider primarily filler. Wheat is one of the most common sources of allergy problems in dog food, and in flour form (in dog food, commonly a byproduct of human food production) is a grain fragment. Corn is a further low quality ingredient. It is a difficult to digest grain that is commonly associated with allergy problems. Corn Gluten Meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. In plain English, that bit of the corn leftover after most of the nutritious bits have been removed.


Poultry fat is a further low quality ingredient rarely found in anything but very low quality foods. Poultry fat is an ingredient of unidentified origin for which it is impossible to determine source or quality. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as obtained from the tissues of poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". 


Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required. We would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food.


We note that this product includes synthetic vitamin K, a substance linked to liver problems and that is progressively being removed from better quality dog food products.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

I was wondering if the folks who are very particular and analyse everything they feed their dogs are as equally as attentive to their own diet?


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Jim Nash said:


> Is it true that beet pulp is added to make the dogs' turds smaller ? I was told that when we use to feed Eagle Pack . Didn' have very good luck with that stuff .


My understanding is that beet pulp (with the sugar extracted) is added as a soluble fiber source, which may be beneficial for dogs with IBD and that sort of thing. I'm doing a clinical nutrition externship in March, I should ask about this more in detail. :-D


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Jim Nash said:


> Is it true that beet pulp is added to make the dogs' turds smaller ? I was told that when we use to feed Eagle Pack . Didn' have very good luck with that stuff .


I've always understood it's role to be the opposite. Added for bulk to add firmness to the stools.

My attitude is use what works. My 33 lb bag of food lasts about 2 months for a 100 lb dog. In between I add just about everything you could imagine from eggs to harvested fish and RMBs. Sometimes it's basic, others it could be steak cut offs with whatever else remained from dinner. Balance over time is probably the key factor and likely why dogs fed feed store foods mixed with slop pail meals often live very long lives.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Debbie Skinner said:


> The best deal I can get on Evo 28lb is at Henco in Sun Valley, CA. About $38 for the Original formula and $45 for the Herring/Salmon kibble.
> 
> Another distributor -- TOW 30 lb $34 bag.


I think their prices went up? Last time I was there, they were charging $41 something for the poultry one. Retail. Didn't look at the fish one...Still a pretty good deal compared to what most petshops charge, I think.


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

sam wilks said:


> I feed southern states brand and mix in some leftovers here and there. Ive tried a bunch of the high dollar dog foods and have not noticed enough of a difference if any to justify the prices they charge. My dogs all have nice coats and plenty of energy and they do not have much more waste in their kennels. Plus my work is free, Im already picking up crap out of the kennels so whats a few more turds right. The price is only fifteen bucks for a 40 pound bag. I think its great if you can afford to feed your dogs a high quality food but if you dont have the money I dont think its a big deal.


I agree. I just switched back to pro plan and the craps are predicatble and solid all the time. I fed all the premiums with more problems and inconsistency. I like to buy 3 big bags of anything in advance in case of a recall. I think the cheapest stuff on the shelf is just ad good. I dead raw also but preparing and cleanup and storage is to big of a hassle when you have too many dogs


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

Anna Kasho said:


> I think their prices went up? Last time I was there, they were charging $41 something for the poultry one. Retail. Didn't look at the fish one...Still a pretty good deal compared to what most petshops charge, I think.


Ron bought 13 bags on Friday. Retail? We don't pay retail  I feed 90% raw, but when rushed and for some of the boarders I need kibble. Also, we resell it.


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

Debbie Skinner said:


> Ron bought 13 bags on Friday. Retail? We don't pay retail  I feed 90% raw, but when rushed and for some of the boarders I need kibble. Also, we resell it.


For me it's so much cheaper to feed raw. The 13 bags of Evo is about $500 bucks. Pickup bed full of raw about $100 bucks. It's an easy decision for me. for me there has to be a saving as there is one's time, fuel, labor and freezer(s), grinder(s) purchases and a lot of lot more "did I say" LABOR involved in feeding raw... 

And then there's the free ground squirrels as well. :lol:


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Debbie Skinner said:


> And then there's the free ground squirrels as well. :lol:


Nutrition and a Tug toy in one


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Timothy Stacy said:


> I agree. I just switched back to pro plan and the craps are predicatble and solid all the time. I fed all the premiums with more problems and inconsistency. I like to buy 3 big bags of anything in advance in case of a recall. I think the cheapest stuff on the shelf is just ad good. I dead raw also but preparing and cleanup and storage is to big of a hassle when you have too many dogs


 
What type of Pro Plan? Shredded, performance, adult, lamb and rice or does it matter for you? Curious thanks


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## Nick Jenkins (Oct 4, 2010)

With regards to the dog food analysis report that was posted before I think they kind of arbitrarily rate things. I doubt they do it maliciously but it doesn't make a whole lot of scientific sense. When "chicken" is an ingredient it seems good no "meal" added to the end of it, but in actuality your paying for water content. I kind of understand the human trend of leaning away from meat meal because to us that seems odd but essentially it is just a concentrated more easily digestible source of nutrients. 
Also when assessing poultry fat as low quality. Why is that. adipose tissue from most animals(excluding fish) is very similar, saturated fat mostly stearic acid. So although it doesn't have the benefits of fish oil, omega 3 acids etc. It is a valid energy source more so than fish oils due to the lack of double bonds which cause more energy to be produced than those of other oils.
As far a nutrition goes, what the animal is fed is simply a vehicle for nutrients, if the animal gets all the nutrients it needs than it doesn't matter what brand of food you feed. Of course allergies and digestive upsets for individual dogs should be taken into account, but adjusting for that the cheapest brand that gives the dog what it needs should do the job.
And then my personal anecdote would be, my dad's old pit bull Bandit, lived to the ripe old age of 19 with a steady stream of science diet and frisbee.


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

Jody Butler said:


> What type of Pro Plan? Shredded, performance, adult, lamb and rice or does it matter for you? Curious thanks


I got the shredded now but there is a salmon one but no it really doesn't matter. I have fed strictly raw but would forget to thaw, like Gerry said I always felt like I was missing something. I was feeding some premium foods and would have inconsistency in stool. Then Jeff and Rick said they feed pro plan, which I also did at one time. I bought a bag and it was no problem switching over so I'm just sticking with it.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Timothy Stacy said:


> I got the shredded now but there is a salmon one but no it really doesn't matter. I have fed strictly raw but would forget to thaw, like Gerry said I always felt like I was missing something. I was feeding some premium foods and would have inconsistency in stool. Then Jeff and Rick said they feed pro plan, which I also did at one time. I bought a bag and it was no problem switching over so I'm just sticking with it.


 
Thanks, I did the raw thing, but my schedule with the prep, cleanup and storage wasn't a thing I liked to much, I tried everyhthing out there and had some good results, but not with all the dogs, I didn't want a different bag of food for each dog, I eventually found Premium Edge and dogs never looked better, with small solid terds! Its actually made by Diamond, but what I have see on other feeds, I think this is a good food at least for my dogs and me! I never tried Pro Plan for all the dogs at one time I had a few bags and worked well, no issues. 

Thanks.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Debbie Skinner said:


> For me it's so much cheaper to feed raw. The 13 bags of Evo is about $500 bucks. Pickup bed full of raw about $100 bucks. It's an easy decision for me. for me there has to be a saving as there is one's time, fuel, labor and freezer(s), grinder(s) purchases and a lot of lot more "did I say" LABOR involved in feeding raw...
> 
> And then there's the free ground squirrels as well. :lol:


Very. Jealous.

I don't have a cheap plentiful source for raw 

But yes, the trespassing squirrels are fair game.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

I currently feed my personal dogs either Pro Plan or TOTW. The boarders get Kirkland (with the exception of the Publix dog that spurred the thread, lol). 
Ive fed pretty much everything out there, including raw for a while, and Im pretty happy with what Ive got for now.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Timothy Stacy said:


> I got the shredded now but there is a salmon one but no it really doesn't matter. I have fed strictly raw but would forget to thaw, like Gerry said I always felt like I was missing something. I was feeding some premium foods and would have inconsistency in stool. Then Jeff and Rick said they feed pro plan, which I also did at one time. I bought a bag and it was no problem switching over so I'm just sticking with it.


I'm feeding Purina One and not seeing a difference between it's ingredients and the Pro Plan. I also feed the shredded.
There really isn't a huge difference in the ingredients between the two, except One has whole grain corn and Pro Plan has wheat in that place...

Purina One
Chicken (natural source of glucosamine), *brewers rice, whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), whole grain wheat*, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), non-fat yogurt, animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, salt

Purina Pro Plan

Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, soy flour, corn bran, soybean meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, glycerin, salt

Now that we're going back to Kirkland though:

Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearl barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and vitamin E), egg product, beet pulp, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, millet, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement

But the protein content minimum is lower.


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

I agree Ashley. I eat worse shit than that daily. Ashley, I'm sure you have seen this too, so many people are concerned more about what their dog eats than whats in all the shiny packaged foods we it,crazy


Ashley Campbell said:


> I'm feeding Purina One and not seeing a difference between it's ingredients and the Pro Plan. I also feed the shredded.
> There really isn't a huge difference in the ingredients between the two, except One has whole grain corn and Pro Plan has wheat in that place...
> 
> Purina One
> ...


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

Kristina Senter said:


> I currently feed my personal dogs either Pro Plan or TOTW. The boarders get Kirkland (with the exception of the Publix dog that spurred the thread, lol).
> Ive fed pretty much everything out there, including raw for a while, and Im pretty happy with what Ive got for now.


I just got to the point lately to stick with what's working and stop switching. Pro plan is doing great!


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Exactly, I'd stay with Purina but Kirkland is $23 for 40 lbs and Purina is $29 for 34 lbs.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

I used to feed between 10 and 17 dogs, mainly adults a mixture of raw and some kibble. The kibble was called Kobuk and we used to get it from Alaska, I don't know if it's available anymore but it was good grub and about a buck a pound.

I'm only feeding one dog now, when I started it was cheap because I was spending shitloads of time/energy and gas sourcing out good deals..that gets old fast for me anyway.

I now feed 40 lbs of fairly decent store bought ground whole animal stuff at an average of 5 bucks a lb..easy math, 200 monthly plus approx 1.5 lbs of chicken backs daily at $1 per lb, misc organs occasionally at $1 per lb, occasional fresh frozen tripe at about $3 per lb, salmon oil and vit e :lol:

My dog is 2 yrs and abit, weighs 75 lbs. My point is..some people are spending like 50 bucks a month and the dogs are fine, I'm spending about 200 bucks more :roll: that's about 3 lap dances every month.


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

Gerry Grimwood said:


> My dog is 2 yrs and abit, weighs 75 lbs. My point is..some people are spending like 50 bucks a month and the dogs are fine, I'm spending about 200 bucks more :roll: that's about 3 lap dances every month.


Your post on this subject have been priceless. More please!LMAO What do Canadian strippers look like aye, and how are there lap dances?


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

Timothy Stacy said:


> how are there lap dances?


Lets just say, a high heel in the eye up here just means they like you and we wouldn't sue 

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpps/ne...-$650k-settlement-dpgonc-20101015-fc_10128183


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## Timothy Stacy (Jan 29, 2009)

Gerry Grimwood said:


> Lets just say, a high heel in the eye up here just means they like you and we wouldn't sue
> 
> http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpps/ne...-$650k-settlement-dpgonc-20101015-fc_10128183


That's the best lap dance ever. That gut made 599,980 dollars off one lap dance. Lucky bastard!


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## Anna Bryant (Oct 23, 2010)

I currently have my dog (Abby) on Wellness Core whereas my dad's dog (Bo) is on some cheap crap food(pedigree/alpo type stuff). I've offered to pay to feed Bo wellness, but my dads not budging on the subject. I'd like to eventually switch the pups over to Raw, but for now we'll be sticking with Wellness Core


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

I feed mine a mix of Nutro natural choice and Supercoat (Purina). EVO costs $150 for 13 kg over here so is way too expensive for 6 dogs.

My dogs are mainly sheepdogs and are very lean with glossy coats and full of energy. I do give them raw bones and chicken necks or Roo tails once a week.

The longest lived and healthiest, extremely active dog I ever owned lived till 17 on Pedigree. That was in the days over here when there wasnt much else on offer. My mums allergic dog does best on the supermarket brand Supercoat after trying a number of the good expensive brands like California Natural.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

I renewed my Costco membership tonight and split the cost with someone so it only ended up being $25.

Kirkland dog food, $22.79/40 lbs = win.


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