Kibble Choice on a Limited Income

[Rhetts_mama]

Originally Posted by Britster

If you're looking for a grain-free food, try Taste of the Wild. For the price, it's totally awesome. I know around here it's about $10 for a 5-6lb bag, and that can last a little dog over a month. You'd be surprised where you can find some of these foods... if you go to their website, and type in your zip code, they will tell you the closest stores. Alot of hardware stores carry it, or Tractor Supply. Ace Hardware surprisingly carries some decent brands as well. Here ya go... Taste of the Wild : Dealer Locator There was like 6 or 7 locations that came up in Arkansas.

As far as food sold at Petco, I would agree Natural Balance is probably decently priced. If you have a Costco near you, I often hear great things about Kirkland and apparently it's really cheap for the quality. Whole Earth Farms is another brand that is always having great deals, and is really cheap. petfooddirect.com currently has free shipping on Merrick (Whole Earth farms) products, and 20 percent off as well.

A friend of mine feeds her dogs Kirkland and they are doing well on it. The only caveat is that you have to buy a large quantity. If I remember right, it's a 20 lb sack for about $12.00. I'd be afraid of it going stale in the time it took my little guys to eat their way through the bag.

[rachelanne820]

I have this same problem. I was feeding Evanger's but had to stop because we couldn't afford it anymore. We had some unexpected job changes and had to cut back everywhere. I looked and looked at PetCo for something I could afford. We had to settle on PurinaOne. It is only about $1 per pound. Yesterday I got an 18 pound bag for $18 bucks at Wal Mart. I know its horrible food but it really is all we can afford.

I have a yorkie and a "chorkie". The yorkie is only about 5 lbs but the chorkie is around 12. She eats like a horse!!!! No matter what kibble I feed - I've tried a ton - she always eats 1.5 cups a day. She has never eat less on high quality.

I'm really hoping to be able to switch back to Evanger's or Natural Balance soon. In all my research they seem to be the best for the money. Natural Balance I can get at PetCo. I have to order Evanger's online but k9cuisine.com has free shipping over $50 so I would get several bags at a time to save on shipping.

[Poochieheaven]

For those worried about cost, have you looked into raw? Not pre made, but making your own?

My GSD is feed raw and I refuse to buy meat that costs me more than a $1 a pound. It does take a little extra work, but not only is it better for your dog, but it is cheaper.

[ally173]

you can order online and save; k9cuisine.com gives out samples with orders and there are a $10 off coupon for first order.

[_Chrissy_]

When you feed a "better kibble" you feed less. Not as many fillers as the foods that may appear cheaper at first glance. Read the labels. What goes in comes out-LOL If there are a lot of fillers, they will poop more.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by rachelanne820

I have this same problem. I was feeding Evanger's but had to stop because we couldn't afford it anymore. We had some unexpected job changes and had to cut back everywhere. I looked and looked at PetCo for something I could afford. We had to settle on PurinaOne. It is only about $1 per pound. Yesterday I got an 18 pound bag for $18 bucks at Wal Mart. I know its horrible food but it really is all we can afford.

I have a yorkie and a "chorkie". The yorkie is only about 5 lbs but the chorkie is around 12. She eats like a horse!!!! No matter what kibble I feed - I've tried a ton - she always eats 1.5 cups a day. She has never eat less on high quality.

I'm really hoping to be able to switch back to Evanger's or Natural Balance soon. In all my research they seem to be the best for the money. Natural Balance I can get at PetCo. I have to order Evanger's online but k9cuisine.com has free shipping over $50 so I would get several bags at a time to save on shipping.

Woah! 1.5 cups of kibble per day for a 12lb dog is too much. Jackson is 15lbs and eats 1/2 to 3/4 cup a day depending on his activity level, and typically he's really active. Never even a full cup. Just because a dog WILL eat that much doesn't mean they NEED it. We have to be the one as their 'parents' to dictate how much food they get. For reference, a 50lb dog is recommended to eat 1.5cups-2 cups per day of Go! Endurance food. My dad always let his little Dauchund mix eat because "he was hungry" when really he just liked eating. He's now overweight and put on a major diet.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by Britster

Woah! 1.5 cups of kibble per day for a 12lb dog is too much. Jackson is 15lbs and eats 1/2 to 3/4 cup a day depending on his activity level, and typically he's really active. Never even a full cup. Just because a dog WILL eat that much doesn't mean they NEED it. We have to be the one as their 'parents' to dictate how much food they get. For reference, a 50lb dog is recommended to eat 1.5cups-2 cups per day of Go! Endurance food. My dad always let his little Dauchund mix eat because "he was hungry" when really he just liked eating. He's now overweight and put on a major diet.

All 3 of mine are right in the 12 lb range too and they only eat 1/2 total for the day. I could not even imagine them eating 1 1/2 cups of food a day. That's 3 times more than what they are eating now

[Britster]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

All 3 of mine are right in the 12 lb range too and they only eat 1/2 total for the day. I could not even imagine them eating 1 1/2 cups of food a day. That's 3 times more than what they are eating now

Yep- that seems like the perfect amount for the 12-15lb'ers. Jackson probably wouldn't eat more even if I gave it to him, he tends to maintain himself really well but I know some dogs will just eat and eat and eat, so you have to be the one to measure their food and give certain amounts, etc.

I dogsit for 2 Boxers, one is in the 65lb range, the other is 100lbs (he's a mix) and the 65lb'er gets 3 cups per day, so I can't imagine feeding a Yorkie only a little less than a Boxer.

[rik20101]

My Great Dane eats 3 1/2 - 4 cups of Innova Adult daily (105 pounds before bloat surgery). Piper eats 1/3 a cup of Innova Puppy (4 pounds 7 ounces).

[Rhetts_mama]

Originally Posted by Britster

Woah! 1.5 cups of kibble per day for a 12lb dog is too much. Jackson is 15lbs and eats 1/2 to 3/4 cup a day depending on his activity level, and typically he's really active. Never even a full cup. Just because a dog WILL eat that much doesn't mean they NEED it. We have to be the one as their 'parents' to dictate how much food they get. For reference, a 50lb dog is recommended to eat 1.5cups-2 cups per day of Go! Endurance food. My dad always let his little Dauchund mix eat because "he was hungry" when really he just liked eating. He's now overweight and put on a major diet.

I have a 15 lb doxie who would eat the whole bag (and possibly the bag, too) if I would let him!

[rachelanne820]

On their bag of food it says to feed her weight 1 - 1.5 cups. I put down 2 cups a day and from what I can tell Nick, the little yorkie, eats about half a cup and Daisy, the bigger mix, eats about 1.5 cups.

She is not over weight by any means, though. Myabe it is because it is a low quality food? I don't know...I just wish the good stuff didn't cost so much. She has been on higher quality foods and always seems to eat about the same. They don't get any treats, either. 100% of their consumption is kibble.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by rachelanne820

On their bag of food it says to feed her weight 1 - 1.5 cups. I put down 2 cups a day and from what I can tell Nick, the little yorkie, eats about half a cup and Daisy, the bigger mix, eats about 1.5 cups.

She is not over weight by any means, though. Myabe it is because it is a low quality food? I don't know...I just wish the good stuff didn't cost so much. She has been on higher quality foods and always seems to eat about the same. They don't get any treats, either. 100% of their consumption is kibble.

The bag often way over-estimates. Most of us never follow the guidelines on the bags. Even an employee at my specialty pet store I shop at told me 1 cup would have been way too much for my 15lb dog.

It is true that poorer quality foods = more food often times. Which is why it ends up usually costing people just as much, if not less, to feed a high quality food than a low quality food. I buy a 5.5lb bag of Acana for $13.99 and it lasts us well over a month for one 15lb dog -- which, to me, really isn't a big deal.

The problem with free feeding with multiple dogs is you often don't know how much each one eats. I used to free feed, and I still sometimes will leave kibble in the bowl all day, but it's just Jackson. He gets 1/4 cup dry/wet in the AM, and 1/4 cup dry/wet in the PM. Sometimes he'll get a total of 3/4 cup a day (I'll just up the amount of either dry or kibble) if he was really active for the day. Keep in mind, he swims, runs alongside the bike with me, runs runs runs, dog parks every week, walks daily, etc. Acana is a more calorie dense food so you can feed less of it.

Since we switched to more scheduled feedings, I really am liking it. I like knowing the exact amount he's eating every day. I can know if something is wrong with him because if he doesn't want to eat his dinner, I know he must be sick or not feeling well. I'm not against free feeding either though. I think it just depends on the dog.

All we're trying to say is just because she will eat the same amount of food on high quality doesn't mean she should, lol. You have to measure it out. My dad has 2 dogs and over there, they will put 1 cup of food in the bowl per day (their dogs are around 12 and 13lbs) and they each approx. eat 1/2 cup per day. So you can still measure out food and free feed, just put less in the bowl and once it's gone, it's gone.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by rachelanne820

On their bag of food it says to feed her weight 1 - 1.5 cups. I put down 2 cups a day and from what I can tell Nick, the little yorkie, eats about half a cup and Daisy, the bigger mix, eats about 1.5 cups.

She is not over weight by any means, though. Myabe it is because it is a low quality food? I don't know...I just wish the good stuff didn't cost so much. She has been on higher quality foods and always seems to eat about the same. They don't get any treats, either. 100% of their consumption is kibble.

And I wanted to add, if she's at a good weight, then maybe the 1.5 cups isn't a big deal for her. It just seems like an awful lot of food. I would just keep tabs on her weight, because sometimes it tacks on over the course of a year without an owner really noticing (what happened to dads Doxy mix). They didn't even realize how big he had gotten until they got his hair shaved and the vet scaled weighed him lol.

Taste of the Wild is a really cost efficient grainfree high quality food. It's around $10 for a 6lb bag! Whole Earth Farms, by Merrick, is also really cheap. I saw an 8lb bag for around $10 at our local store. And this food lasts longer because you're not feeding as much. Keep in mind, I am a poor college student with very little income, lol. And I can easily afford to feed one dog on a high quality food.

[yorkie_mama22]

RIght now I am feeding a food from Walmart. I am against the foods in those kinds of stores but here's my reasoning behind it. This food is made in Canada, it's holistic and it doesn't have grains. It seems to be pretty good for the quality. It's called Atrium 1. My mom was feeding her dogs this food since Jan. While we were in Jamaica I am assuming her dogs were sneaking the food I had for my guys and she had ran out so she was feeding my dogs that food. Now honestly speaking the Acana was costing me 65$ per month for my 3 dogs. I think that was a 20 lb bag. I know it was the secon largest they had. That was getting a bit expensive for me. I have a med sized dog and she eats like a horse. SO that is the source of me going through so much food. In the past I was doing two seperate foods but she is still sneaking food from the yorkies because they like to free feed.

I am really contemplating switching the yorkies back to Acana because I know a small bag would last them a month and leaving my bull terrier on the Wal mart food.

I don't know if that makes me a bad person for not feeding her the best quality food either?

[Britster]

Originally Posted by yorkie_mama22

RIght now I am feeding a food from Walmart. I am against the foods in those kinds of stores but here's my reasoning behind it. This food is made in Canada, it's holistic and it doesn't have grains. It seems to be pretty good for the quality. It's called Atrium 1. My mom was feeding her dogs this food since Jan. While we were in Jamaica I am assuming her dogs were sneaking the food I had for my guys and she had ran out so she was feeding my dogs that food. Now honestly speaking the Acana was costing me 65$ per month for my 3 dogs. I think that was a 20 lb bag. I know it was the secon largest they had. That was getting a bit expensive for me. I have a med sized dog and she eats like a horse. SO that is the source of me going through so much food. In the past I was doing two seperate foods but she is still sneaking food from the yorkies because they like to free feed.

I am really contemplating switching the yorkies back to Acana because I know a small bag would last them a month and leaving my bull terrier on the Wal mart food.

I don't know if that makes me a bad person for not feeding her the best quality food either?

Oh, I understand! If I had a larger dog, I would definitely have more difficulty feeding it. With the small guys, it's not that expensive at all. I totally understand needing to be cost-efficient. I think if I had a large dog, plus two small dogs, I'd probably feed the large dog something a little cheaper, yet still of good quality. And just because it's sold at Walmart doesn't make it necessarily "bad". I couldn't find the ingredients online for your particular brand, but to me, it sounds pretty good from what you said. Costco has Kirkland, like said above, and it's actually a really decent food.

Purina One is better than regular Purina, or Kibbles n Bits, or Beneful, etc. To me, it's def. one step up from a lot of others. Their wet food looks way better than their dry food, the wet I would actually considering feeding (mixed with our dry food). The dry food, however, these are the 1st ingredients: Beef, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, oat meal, whole grain wheat, soy flakes, soybean meal. It's just sooo much grain and gross stuff. I dunno, just learning about dog foods, that stuff just looks so gross to me.

Saw this on another forum, and it's what I've always thought:

The way I see it, it's just like with people... you have those who perfectly balance their organic, chemical-free meals; those who live off pre-prepared dinners and those who live off food from 'the dollar menu' at the drive-thru.

People who eat horribly, smoke heavily, etc. can live perfectly normal lives.

Just like the person who exercises, eats excellent and "does everything right" can drop dead at age 30 from a random heart attack.

That's just life. You gotta do for your dogs what you personally decide is right... but in the end you can't place blame and say 'this dog didn't live as long as this one because it ate better food.' There's too many other factors out there. Do your research, and feed what you feel works best for your dog. Not what someone else says its best for your dog.