Should I be getting my dogs more expensive food? Their stuff is 50 bucks a bag, Nutro Lamb formula and it's been pretty good. Ran out the other day and got them Fromm Family 4 Star Natural and they seemed to love it. Got a small bag which didn't last that long but a big bag costs 70 bucks (!!) They're good dogs though. Should I be dropping the extra 20 for them?
I dont think they like it cause its more expensive, I think they like it cause theyve been eating the same damn food for the longest time. Wouldnt you be happy with a changeup in your food lineup if you ate the same damn thing everyday, twice a day. You could probably go with the same brand youve been getting with a different meat mix. So, if youve been getting beef and rice, go with lamb and vegetables or something.
Is it expensive, or are the others Cheap? I highly recommend it. My dog is 15 yrs old, and always been on it, and has no problems. No cancer, arthritis, allergies, nothing. Seems one can argue that the crap food costs more in vet bills. Her health may be due to other things, but I'll never test that theory. ~ $50 for a 25-30lb bad is pretty much going rate for a high-end, grain free dog food with no bs ingredients. But, yours actually sounds overly-priced, since both brands have grain. The Grain-Free high-end brands are roughly the same price. I recommend grain free. Dogs might actually eat need less kibble with Grain-Free....so price per month may work out similar. I wouldn't get in a pissing match to say which is best. Obviously, I've gone through several brands over the course of 15 yrs, so no real reason to have an allegiance, other than to just quality brands, in general. Now, I have a very trusted pet store owner (who I trust more than my fav vets when it comes to food brands). He trusts the following brands the most: Kasiks Earthborn Merricks Just know that Nutro is a high-end brand of Big Corporate Food Industry, if that matters to you. Many ppl don't trust them because it is Mars Incorporated. Fromm is still family owned.
It's cheaper to feed them actual meat...chicken, beef, etc....supplemented with the good kibble. That's what dogs evolved to eat over many, many thousands of years.
Try 15, and they were wolves before that. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ests-humans-may-have-domesticated-dogs-twice/ And once they were hanging around the campsites of our forefathers, what did they eat? The same stuff we ate, meat-wise. eta: dogs shouldn't eat grains.
I agree with this. My dog did the BARF diet for first two years, then later mixed with kibble ... but then I found it more difficult to get meat/bones...once I moved away from the Mexican grocery stores to Boulder. I gave up.
This is what I've felt for a while. I'm a huge dog person and mine are basically my kids, so I don't want to feed them stuff that I know isn't good for them. The Fromm/Orijen stuff is really expensive but Kasiks and Earthborn are grain free while at 50 a bag?
Yes. That's what I get now. Kasiks or Earthborn. The pet store owner I was talking about loves both, and he just started carrying Merricks. But price it yourself and let us know if same pounds per bag, etc. I seem to use less food per serving, than my previous dog. Also, you can cut your kibble with green beans. Dogs love green beans. That might save money as a filler...it's great for losing weight. Don't get salty canned beans, though. I do frozen.
serious answer. you have to know what your goals are in feeding the dog(s). Many dogs can do just fine with Ye Olde Purina Dog Chow, they won't have problems with the taste or getting bored with it, and they pass their annual "fitness test" at the vet's office with flying colors. Other dogs may be (a) more picky eaters, (b) need more fat in their diet to keep on weight, (c) need more protein AND fat to keep on weight, (d) have special conditions that require specific dog foods. Some dogs may (e) get way too much nutrition from a normal chow and need a reduced calorie dog food. We've had all these combinations over the years. Currently down to three dogs, one of whom is elderly and on her way out, but she thrives with basic dog chow and we supplement that with meat scraps when cooking. The younger two dogs (hunting dogs, lots of exercise) have trouble keeping weight on, or will go off feed when hunting. For annual maintenance they are both on a higher calorie/fat/protein 'sporting dog mix' designed for high energy dogs. On trips that has to be supplemented with everything from peanut butter to bacon grease mixed into their food just to get them to eat. And years ago, one setter I had was prone to being heavy--she went on a Science Diet lo-cal feed which helped her quite a bit. All dogs seem to prefer FRESH dog food to the dregs at the bottom of the bag. Ours will race into their kennel at night and go straight to a bowl of food when the bag has just been opened. Two weeks later they kind of stall and dance around the food until they are ready to settle down. An obvious solution in this case is to buy smaller bags of food more frequently. I guess what I'm saying is there's lots of potential variation, and you need to be mindful of what specifically you're trying to achieve with YOUR dog. It's not merely a matter of more or less expensive food--expensive food can be expensive because it's a rip-off (your typical "lamb and rice and rainbows and unicorns" trendy botique dogge foode), or it can be expensive because it's a highly nutritionally developed feed mix with a correspondingly smaller market, in which case it is priced accordingly. Anyway, it's an interesting question, and good that you're thinking about it.
I was never a believer in really expensive dog food. When I was single I gave my dog the cheapest dog food in the store. After I was married, and bought a $10,000 pair of dogs, my wife insisted on extremely expensive dog food claiming that it would help the general health and longevity of the dogs. I figured after dropping so much on the dogs, that it was worth trying. I am a convert. If you cannot afford $70 then you shouldn't feel bad not getting it, but if you want your dogs to live a long life and have less health issues it is worth it. The dog I had when I met my wife also was put on it. All of his skin conditions went away, his arthritis improved greatly and his bowl problems improved a lot.
**** me, listen to this ^^^ guy. Mine have always been outdoor dogs with ludicrous exercise. No 2 dogs are alike.
My dog for the first year of his life ate mostly a mixture of raw meat (whatever was on sale), raw eggs, chicken liver/hearts, tuna and sardines with a dash of apple cider vinegar. He loved it but I started to get lazy over time.
