Puppy food question.

**kb7kuh** · 02-24-2012, 03:10 PM

We are currently feeding him Iams Smart Puppy Large Breed Puppy Food. He is 6 months old and doing very well on it. I wanted to know what you all recommend for adult food. Unfortunately one one of us is employed at this time, so money is tight. I do not want to feed him bulk, or sub standard food.

Can anybody recommend a good food that is lower cost? We were planing on feeding him Eukanuba Adult Dog Food, but we might not be able to. I would rather have to eat Top Ramen, then feed him substandard dog food!

Thanks

**Belles mom** · 02-24-2012, 04:33 PM

You can get a lot of different answers to this question.

While I do not feed much kibble, I think Diamonds Naturals is a good economy food.

**labby** · 02-24-2012, 04:56 PM

Is there a Costco near you? If not, then Karen's suggestion of Diamond Naturals is a decent one. Oh and you can start switching him over now.

**Sophiesmama** · 02-24-2012, 05:07 PM

Here is a link that I like. It helps us understand each food and what is good and bad about them. It has all foods listed by brand.

Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

**labby** · 02-25-2012, 12:41 PM

I just gotta say, I HATE THAT LINK!!! That is just someone's opinion. It judges food only on it's ingredients, not on actual knowledge or why some ingredients are used in some foods and not others. That's like me starting a website and saying Beneful is the best food you can buy (which it's not).

**Sophiesmama** · 02-25-2012, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by labby

I just gotta say, I HATE THAT LINK!!! That is just someone's opinion. It judges food only on it's ingredients, not on actual knowledge or why some ingredients are used in some foods and not others. That's like me starting a website and saying Beneful is the best food you can buy (which it's not).

I don't agree with you. For instance, they not only talk about ingredients as you stated, they also discuss fat and carbs and meat content. It is designed to help people make a decision. Here is a portion of what they say about TOTW for example.

The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Taste of the Wild dry dog food appears to be an above-average kibble.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 20% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 36%.

Due to their apparently higher meat content, both the Wetlands and High Prairie adult formulas merit a 5-star rating.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 31% and a mean fat level of 18%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 43% for the overall product line.

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas and pea protein found in the 2 puppy formulas, this is the profile of a kibble containing a notable amount of meat

**nicole** · 02-25-2012, 09:27 PM

And what you don't understand is that there are reasons that companies like pro plan, eukanuba, royal canin, etc use the ingredients they do and it's not always because they sound pretty on the label...they actually work!! These big brands are the only ones out their doing feeding trials to prove their products, not just throwing things in a bag because they think it's what people, not dogs, want to see.

**Sophiesmama** · 02-25-2012, 09:47 PM

If the big brands are doing feeding trials, it does make me feel that they are trying to find what makes a good tasting quality food.

**labby** · 02-26-2012, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Sophiesmama

If the big brands are doing feeding trials, it does make me feel that they are trying to find what makes a good tasting quality food.

Unless companies actually feed the food to dogs, they really are clueless as to what works and what doesn't. Sure you can formulate a food based on FDA recommendations, but if you don't actually feed it to dogs how do you know it works? You don't. That's why I will never feed a food that isn't first fed to actual, real dogs before they put it on the market.

**tootsiesmom** · 02-26-2012, 08:49 PM

Based on my experience with horse and dog food I also find, however, that a lot of the larger companies are trying (now) to find ways to make their food more economical. I'm going thru a change right now because my dog food (Exclusive) changed their product "for the better"...and the same company changed the grain that I was purchasing by taking away some beet pulp and adding a cheaper bulk filler.