[gmcbogger38]

I would just like to get some opinions about a dog food made locally (within 10 miles) around where I live. The food is a limited ingredient diet and they have different protein levels. Lowest is 21% protein and highest is 28%. I can’t copy and paste (dang phone), but I will list ingredients exactly as written on their website: Meat and bone meal (beef/pork/bone), whole corn, chicken fat, mineral and vitamin packet. It lists all of the minerals and vitamins, but I didn’t want to write those all. Now, I know “meat meal” listed as ingredient is not necessarily good because you don’t know what it is, but this does list beef and pork, so technically it’s not an unnamed meat meal. I don’t know much about bone meal, but why is that considered a bad ingredient? Raw fed dogs eat bones. I’m not too worried about the corn, as my dogs have done fine with corn in foods. The reason I would like to get opinions about this food is because I am on a tight budget until I am finally done with college (less than 10 mths). I have not contacted the company about the price, but from what I’ve heard (couple years old) the food is 50lbs for around $20, which they do no advertising, besides website, and have plain bags. I know it is not the best food and I am doing a rotational diet, but I just need to find some more affordable foods to rotate with, for now. Thanks for any input!

[gmcbogger38]

I also just noticed their food that is labeled for puppies and small breeds actually has chelated minerals. This is the food with 28% protein. I guess with the chelated minerals that might be the best one. It also has 18% fat. Is that too much for a giant breed adult (3yrs) dog?

[aquariangt]

Ugh, this food looks pretty poor. The price tag reflects that as well. Check out the budget friendly dog food list, maybe? Nothing of any decency will be 20 for a bag that size, but there are other budget friendly options. Follow the coupon thread by Akari as well, lots of tips there

[Bobby dog]

Hi gmcbogger38:
Is this Ol’ Blue dog food that you are looking into?

From DFA, “Meat and bone meal can have a lower digestibility than most other meat meals.
Scientists believe this decreased absorption may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.” Here’s some info on meat meal: /choosing-dog-food/about-meat-meal/

This doesn’t look like the healthiest choice, but I understand your dilemma. I am in the same predicament as you; college and a pet food budget don’t always seem to go together. You have to decide if this food meets your criteria for dog food. You pay for what you get; plant or lower quality meat based ingredients are cheaper than quality meat based ingredients. There are other brands you could look into that are sold in large bags that some pet, feed, garden supply, and hardware stores sell. These foods would likely cost on average $25-$35 for 40-50 lbs. If you would like info, please post. Good luck with your search!

[aquariangt]

Meat and bone meal can be a very dangerous ingredient, and while your dogs may seem to do fine on corn, its a cheap filler that causes you to have to feed them MORE instead of nutrient dense ingredients. Do you have a walmart? People have used Pure Balance, and while its not $20 for a 50 pounder, the 30 pound bag online is about $30. I havent used it myself, but people seem to do well. If you have a tractor supply (i dont) people also recommend 4healthm if you’re ok with Diamond…

[gmcbogger38]

Yeah Ol’ Blue. Just wanted to help support a local company lol. I may end up using that food choice as a last resort only for an emergency financial situation. I currently feed Victor and my dogs are doing well on it. I just want to find other affordable foods to be able to rotate with. I looked into 4health, but I’m not exactly keen on Diamond foods. My tractor supply sells a food called Sportmix Wholesomes that looks really decent for the price. It’s on sale $29.99 for a 40lb bag and contains no corn, wheat or soy. I’ll definitely do some searching on the posts here and find those threads. Thanks guys!

[aquariangt]

In all honesty, while I don’t feed anything Diamond touches, I would feed a decent diamond over Ol’ Blue. Sportmix Wholesomes definitely looks better as well, wouldn’t be a bad start

[Bobby dog]

Hi gmcbogger:
Sportmix Wholesomes Chic & Rice (TSC 40 lbs/sale price $27.99) is one I was going to suggest to you. Pro Pac would be another, they are both manufactured by Midwestern Pet Foods, who make Earthborn Holistic.

Diamond manufactures the 4 Health grain inclusive recipes, GF pork, GF duck, and reportedly the GF whitefish. I haven’t verified with TSC if Diamond is now making the GF whitefish, however there have been several complaints about this recipe changing on the review side recently. Ainsworth manufactures the 4Health GF beef and GF turkey recipes.

Also, check with dog food websites and the stores that you purchase food from for frequent buyer programs or any other incentives they may have. For example, buy ten bags and the 11th is free.

There is a PDF download from Steve Brown, ABC Diet, that you may be interested in. This download will help you improve a kibble diet through healthy foods (eggs, tinned fish, fresh meat, vegetables) you can get at the grocery store. I feed anything from a 3 to 5 star kibble and this download helps me to improve my dogs diet very affordably.
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/page_41/see_spot_live_longer_the_abc_way___electronic_down.html

Here’s are some others you may want to check out:
~Zach’s Quality Feed:
http://zqdfrjscompany.azurewebsites.net/index.php
/dog-food-reviews/zachs-quality-dog-food/

Depending on your location this may only be available online, but check it out even if that’s the case because their shipping rates may be reasonable. Here is a thread a poster started about Zach’s: /forums/topic/4-stars-33-for-50-lb-bag/

~Exclusive (PMI Nutrition):
http://www.exclusivepetfood.com/default.aspx
/dog-food-reviews/exclusive-dog-food-dry/

~Blue Seal Life Stages (Kent Nutrition):
http://blueseal.com/products/dog/life-stages-dry-formulas/
/dog-food-reviews/blue-seal-dog-food-dry/

~Sportmix Wholesomes or
~Pro Pac:
http://www.sportmix.com/dog/wholesomesChickenMealRice.php
/dog-food-reviews/sportmix-wholesomes-dog-food/
http://us.propacpetfood.com/images/propac-ultimates-header.png
/dog-food-reviews/pro-pac-dog-food/

~Authority GF & grain inclusive (Petsmart):
/dog-food-reviews/authority-dog-food-dry/
/dog-food-reviews/authority-grain-free-dog-food/

[Bobby dog]

Hi again gmcbogger:

I just realized I sent you the wrong link for Pro Pac, here’s a good one: http://us.propacpetfood.com/

Also, as aquariangt wrote, there is also a coupon thread started by Akari, a regular poster on DFA forums that may help you with your budget: /forums/topic/coupons/.

[gmcbogger38]

I appreciate the food suggestions! I will definitely check all of those out!

[Bobby dog]

Here’s a few more. I haven’t fed any of the foods I suggested, but I have seen a few in my feed store at reasonable prices. I did look into Sportmix Wholesomes at one time, but my TSC doesn’t sell it. I am getting ready to try another brand from PMI, “Infinia” soon. Good luck with your search!

~Hi-Tek Naturals grain inclusive or GF:
/dog-food-reviews/hi-tek-naturals/
/dog-food-reviews/hi-tek-naturals-grain-free/
http://www.hitekrations.com/products/hitek_naturals.html
http://www.hitekrations.com/products/hitek_naturals_grainfree.html

~Southern States Naturals:
/dog-food-reviews/southern-states-naturals/
http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/vsearch.aspx?searchterm=naturals%20dog%20food#Filter=%5BGenreID=838*ava=0%5D

[gmcbogger38]

Thanks again! I really appreciate the help!

[Bobby dog]

You are welcome; I know all too well about downsizing pet food budgets and I only have one medium sized dog!

Hopefully you will be able to look into the PDF download from Steve Brown, “See Spot Live Longer the ABC Way,” I mentioned above. This will help you improve any kibble diet regardless of the quality. Simply choose a menu according to the quality of kibble you feed and the exact weights and measurements of how much fresh food to feed your dog according to their weight is detailed. You can choose to feed one day of all fresh food or use the fresh food as toppers throughout the week. I think you and your dogs will be fine, you clearly care about them!

[Bobby dog]

Okay, it’s me again. I have one more suggestion for you. If you are able to order on-line you can often find sales on pet food. Sign up for e-mail notifications from on-line retailers. You will receive information on sales, reduced or free shipping and handling specials, or other promotions they have. Some offer discounts for first time customers or when you sign up for automated ordering.

As an example, I signed up for e-mail notifications from Petsmart and I belong to their pet perks club. I received an e-mail they were having a 30% storewide and on-line sale. On top of the 30% they also offered an extra 15% off on certain items ordered on-line. I found a discount code on the Krazy Coupon Lady’s website for an extra $20 off certain large bags of Innova cat or dog dry food. I ordered cat food that was regularly priced at about $38/bag. With the $20 off and 30% off I got the bags for about $12 each and free shipping. I posted the Krazy Coupon Lady’s deal on the coupon thread mentioned above as well. Unfortunately it was only valid for a short time. However, 30% off pet food is good too!

If you are able to ordere online, I posted some sites below. Keep an eye out for other sites too:
http://www.amazon.com/pet-supplies-dog-cat-food-bed-toy/b?ie=UTF8&node=2619533011
http://www.chewy.com/
http://www.petco.com/
http://www.petflow.com/
http://www.petfooddirect.com/
http://www.petsmart.com/
http://www.wag.com/

[gmcbogger38]

Thanks again for the tips! I have had my life take a 360 degree change for the better, so I’ll have a little more money at my disposal when choosing a dog food. I’ve heard a lot of great things with Victor Ultra Pro, so I want to try that and possibly also feed raw a few times per week. Still doesn’t hurt to save money, though!

[Bobby dog]

You are welcome and congrats on your good fortune!! At least you have a few places/foods to look at if you are ever in a pinch again!

Victor is recommended often on DFA. I have only fed a few samples of Victor to my dog which he loved. No one sells it by me so if it ever becomes available locally, I will be feeding it as part of my rotation. I feed some commercial raw as toppers and feed the ABC diet weekly and I believe your dogs will enjoy the variety. Good luck with your pups!!

[Sara G]

Hi, I know this question was several years ago but I just wanted to give you my experience and opinion. I feed my dogs a part raw part kibble diet. I have fed several brands of dog food through the years, and the best one I have ever fed is the Ol Blue Builder. I have fed Diamond Naturals, Victor, Sportmix Premium and the wholesome and I believe Purina at one point. All of theses foods fell short in my opinion for several reasons. The Diamond Naturals made them poop way too much as did the Sportmix Wholesomes. The Sportmix Premium also caused alot of poop and it was very dark and very smelly. I fed the Victor before they changed alot of their recipes and I had no trouble with it but could not tell really any difference in it and the Ol Blue to pay $20 or $30 more a bag. Now about the meat and bone meal issue. All dog foods unless they state that the meat in it is boneless then the beef meal, chicken meal, Pork meal etc has bone meal in it. It must state that the meat is boneless or it does contain bone plain and simple. So even most high end dog foods do contain meat and bone meal they just cover it up and say chicken meal, beef meal, etc. I actually appreciate Ol Blue for being honest about what is in their food and not trying to hide anything. So unfortunately in the dog food world the more it cost does not necessarily mean the food is better quality. Purina is the poster child for this.
My dogs have all done great on the Ol Blue. Their poop is very firm minimal and doesn’t hardly have any smell. In a day or so after they poop it turns a very light color and will turn to powder if you step on it. This is what happens to dogs fed an all raw diet. So what that tells me is that the food is mostly meat, fat and bones with enough starch to keep the kibble together. Starch has to be present in all kibble to keep it together whether the starch is corn, peas, rice etc. The corn they use is non GMO which I believe does make a difference. They also have 2 recipes that do not contain corn. I have toured the mill talked to the people and seen where it is made. It has never had a recall and everything is sourced locally. My dogs have all done great on it and I have several different breeds and ages. I have tried high dollar dog foods and none of them worked as well as Ol Blue. If you can’t get Ol Blue in your area then Valu Pak Free by Specialty Feeds is also a good feed. It is my second favorite dog food. It is in second place because they poop more after eating it. Hope that helps that’s just experience and opinion on it.

[Author]

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