Boring Food Topic

[AshertoAsher]

So Daphne's trainers/breeders are currently feeding her "Taste of the Wild" which is easy for me to get but not-so-easy for me to actually buy. It's $65 for a 30lb bag and that's from a discount store online.

When I bring her home, I'm going to buy 2 30lb bags of food. One "Taste of the Wild" and another food that's cheaper. Then I'm going to slowly get her used to the cheaper food by mixing it into the expensive food at increasing amounts.

My question is "what should I switch to?" What would you say is the best food for the money? The guy in Petco told me Innova was the way to go but I have also been told Blue Buffalo, and tons of other brands that I don't remember. I still want her to be eating premium food, I just don't want it to be so premium that I can't afford it.

[FartherStars]

Oh wow, I just was trying to google "Taste of the Wild" to see if they sold it in Canada, because I see so much posted about it here, and happened upon this post:

Hello:

I am selling brand-new bags of Taste of the Wild (Pacific Stream) Dog food for $65/bag i.e. $15 cheaper than at any pet store in the city!

$80? Wowzers! That was for Manitoba though, and I see there are 5 stores here that sell it. For a lab-sized dog, how long does a bag tend to go? Even though I might not get the service dog benefit added to our assistance, I would still have the money for that, if it's what's best though. Our cat eats Whiskas *hangs head in shame*.

Interested to see what other good brands there are, should I end up with a dog that is not a fan.

[Spectrum]

Do you have a Tractor Supply company in your area? I pay $45 for a 30 pound bag at TSC and that is the standard TSC price (same on their website). I pay just under $43 for a 30 pound bag of TOTW from my trainer.

Other good foods that are somewhat similar to TOTW (grain free) are Evo, Orijen, Wellness CORE, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Artemis, Acana, Before Grain, Canidae Grain-Free, and Fromm.

Taste of the Wild is generally the cheapest grain-free dog food. I don't recommend switching a dog on a grain-free food back to grains unless it's absolutely necessary. I don't intend to feed a grain-containing dog food ever again. I had so many poop problems with Logan when he was on Diamond Naturals, and they cleared up immediately and completely when I switched him to TOTW. Gavroche gets even more skin issues than he already has when he's on a grain-heavy dog food.

Remember that you feed LESS of a nutrient-dense food like TOTW than you would of a cheaper, less-nutrient-dense food, so in the end it's usually the same price or even cheaper to feed the better food. Logan ate 5 cups a day of Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice, and is eating just over 2 cups a day of TOTW. Gavroche ate 3 cups a day of Purina ONE, and now he's eating just under 2 cups a day of TOTW (he was at one point eating one cup a day). Logan is 72 pound and Gavroche is 53 pounds.

[responsiblek9]

  What is the program's policy on food changes ?
Also they probably would know what works with their teams on dog food also.

I feed Pinnacle and that is $55 to $60 a 30 lb bag if you go for the chicken and oats. .
Taste of the Wild has several versions so they might have a version that is cheaper also.
I found it was only 5$ cheaper than what i am feeind now anyway.
But another thing with a premium calorie dense food is actually you feed less of it . So can end up cheaper per month since you feed less poundage per  month overall.
If I was feeding purina I would be feeding 6 plus cups to my 11 month old pup to even keep his weight level. With the Pinnacle I feed THREE cups and have wonderful results . 

Wisp eats about 15 lbs of Pinnacle a month.
 Cypher around 20 lbs  a month. So a bag lasts 6 weeks for her.
My 11 month old hay burner pup is at around 30 lbs a month and is in a major growing spurt .

Canidae is decent and a few bucks cheaper than Taste of the Wild but not by much.
Premium foods can be more expensive per the region you are in also.
Basically the price is at or over $1.50 per pound to two dollars per pound. 

[Spectrum]

There's also always the option of feeding raw, if your program allows it and you are comfortable doing it. It takes a lot of research and needs to be done RIGHT. I'm planning on switching Gavroche to prey-model raw when I move and get a freezer.

[FrostedAcres]

There's also always the option of feeding raw, if your program allows it and you are comfortable doing it. It takes a lot of research and needs to be done RIGHT. I'm planning on switching Gavroche to prey-model raw when I move and get a freezer.

 Shall I  save some prey  model rabbits for you? No drugs in the raising process! I have rabbits coming out my ears right now---

[latopla]

Sheriff does terrible on a grain-free diet.  A new holistic pet feed store opened up here and allowed me to take several trial sized bags of TOTW to see if Sheriff might like that.  I mixed it in slowly but he still got diarrhea.  I've also tried mixing in small amounts of Wellness's grain-free canned food and that also didn't work.  I wanted to switch him to Wellness Core but I don't want another round of runny poo.

Nora is right about premium foods lasting longer.  Regular Wellness is around $60 here but a 30 lb. bag fed to both Sheriff and my parent's Sheltie last over a month.  Sheriff only needs 2.5 to 3 cups a day. 

If you figure in the number of cups of food would be fed a day to how long a bag of food would last, the more expensive foods tend to actually be cheaper than the less expensive bags because the cost per cup of food is less.

[Spectrum]

Latopla, some dogs do TERRIBLE on TOTW but do great on other grain-free foods. And a lot of times the canned food are more likely to cause diarrhea, too.

[latopla]

I suspect that part of the reason the canned food didn't go over so well was that it had a high water content as well.  Sheriff has a few food allergies/intolerances so there are only a couple of canned foods he can eat to begin with.  Nutro, Wellness Stew, Mixables, Wellness's original version of canned food, and Natural Balance are really all that he doesn't get sick on.

[Nianhel]

Coco eats TOTW and only gets 2 cups a day. Phoenix, we're still testing different foods to find something that eases his problems.

[Cera]

Ask your trainer. Many programs have policies on what you can feed. Also ask how much she eats to really budget correctly.

Like others said, the cost of premium food really does equal out because you have to feed much less. Hope ate 2 cups of food a day on premium, 3.5 cups a day on the mid range. I did the math and it actually equaled out as the same price. My old neighbor who fed a grocery food food fed 6 cups a day! Also, better food=less poo

Personally, I don't buy more than one bag of food at a time. I want the food to be as fresh as possible when I feed my dog. A bag lasted 6 weeks- 2 months. Storage space is also a premium around here. When I priced TOTW it was much less than $80. My local store just started carrying it when Hope got sick but I think they said the brand is less expensive than other premiums because they spend less on advertising. But that could have been another brand. I forget how.

Feeding raw is only an option if your program allows it 

[Spectrum]

Personally, I don't buy more than one bag of food at a time.

That's another good point. I used to buy one bag of each food at a time when I had the dogs each on a separate food. Now I still buy one bag at a time, because a bag still lasts a long time.

If I find a good sale I might get more, but it has to be a really good sale and I have to have the storage space available. I can fit 2 bags of TOTW in my air-tight storage bin, and two more in a less-secure storage bin, but I wouldn't want that much food laying around. Two is pretty much my limit and even then like I said only if it's a REALLY good deal. For me to fill my storage to capacity it would have to be like $15 for a 30 lb bag or some ridiculous price like that. And the bags would have to be dated far enough out that I could use it all before it expires.

[Cera]

I also only buy from stores that actually pay attention to the freshness and storage of the food. I might spend a couple bucks more but it is very worth it and my local store is very generous with returns, samples, and just plain extremely helpful. It is so much better than a big-box pet store.

I had a terrible experience with a bad bag of food before and since then only shop at my small local store.

Also, keep the food in the bag instead of pouring it into an airtight container. Over time the oils picked up by the plastic can go rancid and contaminate the rest of the food. I store the whole bag in my airtight container and replace the rubber lining regularly (mine air tight came with several linings).

[Spectrum]

Yeah, smaller locally-owned stores usually have better service and since they carry less stock, they have fresher products. That's why I buy from my trainer now that she has a small retail area. I'm just lucky that she's also cheaper than anyone else in town.

[k1maplewd]

Nora I've been getting Pinnacle at PetCo lately and if you catch their online sales right you can get free shipping and it costs way less than what you said you are paying for the chicken & oats formula.  I feed the Pinnacle Duck & Potato or their Trout & Sweet Potato formula and if I get the sales right at PetCo I pay less than $50 per 30# bag of each.  The Chicken & Oat formula is even cheaper.