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Dog Food survey

4K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  dare1969 
#1 ·
I know I have seen this topic touched on extensively, but we are looking to change foods. Sedona has been on Iams Large Breed Smart Puppy dog food throughout her first year...in fact, her birthday is tomorrow (Tuesday, 11th). We think she likes Iams, but of course, she hasn't turned down anything presented throughout her entire existence!

What are some opinions out there? We settled on Iams in the first place because it seemed to be a "middle of the road" dog food that isn't the most expensive or the cheapest. It always seems to be in short supply at our Petsmart, so we figured it was a more popular brand. Now, we do not want a bargain basement brand, nor do we want to pay 40+ bucks for Science Diet Supreme or Royal Canine Labrador Retriever or whatever they are called. Yesterday, we looked at Eukanuba, Beneful, Pro Plan, and Science Diet, but we decided on Iams Large Breed Adult only because she has been eating Iams and we haven't had any problems with it.

What do people feed their dogs on this board and, please understand, my wife and I are ALL FOR buying a food that might be cheaper and saving some money in the long run, but we want the healthiest possible diet for our Lab, so in that sense, money is not an overriding concern.

Sedona is currently weighing in at 96 pounds at 12 months and our vet said that, for her size, she is on the high end of a healthy weight range for her girth.
 
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#3 ·
We feed Roxy Costco's Kirkland C&R. Pretty inexpensive and from what I understand better quaility than brands of similar price.

A common suggestion is to find a food your dog does well on and stick to it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. On the other hand, Iams is more like the middle-low end of the spectrum quality wise.
 
#4 ·
All my guys that don't have issues eat Kirkland Lamb and Rice and do great on it. (You'll need to join Costco for that one). I really like the food and can't beat the price. Otherwise, my guys are getting ProPlan Sensitive Sytems. If you're looking for a food that is readily available at most pet stores, I'd give the ProPlan a try. You really don't need a large breed ADULT food.
 
#5 ·
Wow, Iams is on the "middle-low end" quality wise? Sure doesn't seem that way based on the price! Thanks for the insight...we do shop at Costco quite a bit...so the Kirkland food there is supposed to be pretty good? Better than Iams?

And we thought we were giving her a more expensive higher quality (so we thought) food in the LB Smart Puppy food from Iams. Is this the general opinion of those on this board? If so, I am glad I asked.
 
#7 ·
I have four labs, the youngest will be three in June. We have tried several different brands, and my girls seem to like and do well on Eagle Pack. I like it for all the healthy ingredients it contains, and is reasonable/comparable in price.
Also, just wanted to say I like your choice of names...Sedona. My youngest lab, (yellow) is named Sedona. I have never met another lab with her name. I named her for Sedona Arizona, as she has a lot of yellow and red combinations, and I love the city.
 
#8 ·
If you examine the list of the first 5 or 10 ingredient, you'll fnd that Kirkland (signature brand of COSTCO, sold only there, made by the same company that makes Diamond, etc., Schell & Kampeter) is right up there among (or better) than many high quality formulations -- Diamond, Eukanuba, Nutro NC, ProPlan, Science Diet, etc.

I usually feed my Puff (YF, AKC, fiekd line, 63 lbs., dob: 8-'01) Kirkland C&R which I buy at COSTCO, 70 miles away.

When it's not convenient to make that trip, I buy a small bag of a similar formula Diamond locally.

Since my Puff eats only 1¼ cups/2X/dayof food, a 40 lb. bag goes stale long before it's halfway done.

For that reason, I transfer its contents immediately (on opening) into 10-11 one gallon Ziplock freezer bags.  I put 5-6 in the freezer and, when the first 5 are almost finished, I bring out a few more to warm up to room temp before openiog.
 
#9 ·
Toby gets Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy, and he is on that because that's what his breeder chose. Because he has no issues with the food, I'll keep him on it until he's one, and then probably switch to their adult formula. (Actually, I'll probably ask what to do here and then follow the Board's advice!)
 
#12 ·
All three of mine were eating Life's Abundance per my breeder's advice. I didn't mind the 40 minute trip each way to get it every month. But it's availability became unreliable and it's not a food you can just buy at Petsmart. So I made the switch to Nutro Natural Choice chicken meal, oatmeal and rice. After a few months my youngest refused to eat it any longer. So now we are trying California Natural's chicken meal and rice.
 
#17 ·
Absolutely...here is Sedona at Lower Lake Mary in Flagstaff Arizona. Flag hadn't received much snow all year, but decided to dump over two feet on us when we went up to visit my brother. We were freezing, but Sedona was having a blast!



And here she is with me in Oak Creek in Sedona, the city she is named after...no longer a puppy, Sedona celebrated her first birthday on April 11th:

 
#19 ·
Definitely look at ingredients rather than price as an indicator of quality. Science Diet is relatively expensive, but I would never feed it to my dogs. I like Purina One or Purina Pro Plan. One is a little bit cheaper than PP. But it all boils down to what works for your dog. The "best" food is the one that Sedona does best on. That doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive brand. :)
 
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