Whatls the best dog food?

We just switched to Costco's house brand Kirkland as the result of a post on another thread here. I am very, very, very picky about what I feed our four legged family members. Kirkland is excellent. There are several web sites that rate dog foods and it rated very well. The sites were listed in another thread here. The ingredient list is top notch. Best of all my pooches are loving it. Plus there has been a noticable improvement in their coats. We were feeding Science Diet. Heck of a savings.

We were so happy with the dog food that we also switched the cats from Science to Kirkland. They do put out a high quality animal feed at an extremely reasonable price.

this article seems to back you up:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070413232151AALDKwB

Can you remember what you pay for Kirkland?

Our two 'kids' are @ 55lbs and 90+ lbs, so I always get the biggest bag I can...

While Im asking, what does a Costco Membership cost?

Hey Billy- Nutro is not a terrible food (like Science Diet, Purina, etc) but there has been discussion of recalls and an FDA investigation recently- just an FYI.

I have heard good things about Kirkland.

I feed my babes Taste of the Wild- it is about $40 for a 30 lb. bag. You are able to feed less though because it is a grain free food- so more protein and more filling. My 90 lb dogs get appx. 3 cups per day each. Sold at Pet Supplies Plus.

Also, check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com/. This is a great website with reviews for any brand you have ever heard of.

Let me know if you have any questions- this is something I have spent some time researching!

I'm a Nutro Lamb & Rice fan myself and have also noticed climbing prices and smaller bags. Funny how price hikes are explained away when gas is up, or wheat is up...but never come back down when the commodities fall, no surprise I guess.

Iam's dog food is good. The dog likes it, anyway. Of course, the dog also likes garbage can surprise.

Short Version: Rachel Ray or Nutro

For the first year I gave my dog Nutro Beef. It's healthy for him and he seemed to like it. Plus it wasn't that expensive at Andersons.

However a friend gave me a small bag of Rachel Ray dog food and gave it to my pooch when I was in between bags. He loved the stuff.

Ever since then he's been more energetic even puppy like (he's 6-7).

Been feeding it to him ever since.

My sister in law brought her little pooch over once and she ate some of it and she's even become healthier/more energetic/playful.

It might be kinda high but the dogs love it, and they seem very very healthy.

madjack: "Of course, the dog also likes garbage can surprise."

:) almost spit out my coffee when I read that.

About $24 for Kirkland 40 lbs. (the best I can remember). Membership costs $50. I go that back and more in my first trip.

We use Purina Pro-Plan Salmon flavor for all our dogs. It is ideal for senior dogs, dogs with skin problems, and dogs with digestive issues, and best of all it is a low-output food, meaning less to clean up later.

Link to more info on Purina Pro-Plan.

Used to use nutro but heard it has some bad stuff in it.

now using Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul

Dog food review site that gives a list of all ingredients of the foods it reviews.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

site seems to be down at the moment

^ Site is working fine for me.

We recently switched from regular Merrick foods to Merrick's new line called "Before Grain." We made the switch in June when our Boston was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It's grain-free with multiple protein sources, fruits, vegetables and pro-biotics for digestion.

I think in choosing a dog food, a person should have two criteria: Choose the highest quality food you can comfortably afford and choose a food that your dog happily eats. We tried our Boston on a couple of very high-quality foods over the years but he simply would not eat them. What's the use of an excellent food if it just sits in the bowl or you have to cajole your dog to eat it? Or if it causes your dog's tummy to be upset? We settled on the Merrick foods because although they are not rated the highest of all possible foods, they still score very well and our dog is usually happy to eat them. The Before Grain does rate higher than the regular Merrick, though, and we've found the quality to be more consistent from bag to bag.

If you're switching foods, please remember to introduce the new food slowly, mixing it with the old in increasing ratios over a period of 2-3 weeks, to avoid upsetting your dog's digestive system.

jmleong: nice post. Still very sorry to hear about your dog :( did you ever find someone that can come to your house when that unfortunate time comes? Sorry if it brings up bad memories. Will say a prayer for the furry one and your family.

used to feed the couch hounds nutro lamb and rice but switched to kirklands lamb and rice from costco, dogs love it and it is about half the price of nutro

INeedCoffee -- thanks for your kind words and your prayers. Sorry to hijack this thread, but briefly: Yes, we are currently taking Mojo to a primary care vet who will, if we are able to make an advance appointment when the time comes, come to our home to euthanize him. If he needs to be euthanized in an emergency situation, such as a prolonged seizure, we'll have to do things the normal way, at the vet's office.

Fortunately, Mojo has surpassed our expectations, though, and is doing great! It has almost been 60 days since his diagnosis, and at that time we were told that he might be with us for only a few more weeks. Although he is still having seizures (the last one was 10 days ago), has gained weight because of his Prednisone, and is having some minor mobility issues when it comes to getting up stairs, he is still enjoying life to its "almost" fullest. Feel free to search Youtube for some videos I've posted to update friends and family about Mojo's quality of life as his tumor progresses; my username there is Mojogoblue.

Thanks again for your prayers.

I'm very sorry to learn about your dog's ill health, jmleong.

It was about 5 days from the diagnosis of brain cancer to euthanasia for our pointer Rocky. Enjoy every woof jmleong.

Well folks, thanks for all the advice.

I listened, researched on line sites, and ended up having a friend take me to Costco where I bought Kirkland's Chicken Rice and Vegetable.

I took it home the other day and put just enough in the two food bowls to cover the bottom and set it out for the dogs to try. They both wolfed it down on the spot and looked at me as if to say "that's IT??"

So thanks to all. Im now in the third day of my transition period (I always do 4 days of 3/4 old-1/4 new; 4 days of half and half; 4 days of 1/4 old and 3/4 new, and then 100% new from then on out)

No complaints or nasty surprises thus far from the 14.5yr old pooch with the sensitive stomach, and both dogs seem to be very happy.

In all things I'd read, Kirkland was rated very high. One of them even rated it higher than the Nutro Natural Choice I'd been giving them all their lives, Which made me feel good with the change.

Again - my reason for change was the cost increase that Nutro had undergone. What had been $29.99 for 44lbs became at last purchase 44.99 for 35lbs.

Kirkland was 21.99 for 40lbs. My mother was also very interested in my research and we've decided that next time we need food we'll go join one of us up and split the cost of the membership. We'd done that years ago for Sam's, but let the membership lapse after we decided we werent using the store.

Thanks again all for your input in helping me with this important decision

Do you guys know if you can buy Kirkland's any where else besides Costco?

Kirkland is the Costco store brand, and that's the only place you can buy it.

Glad to see that so many TTers have tried it and been satisfied - I was the one who mentioned it to holland a while ago under another topic.

I've found it to be a great balance between quality and price. My dog has done well on it. He used to get some occasional dry skin flakes - those went away, and his coat is also shiner/silkier. And the price is great. (I wouldn't buy my dog a "cheap" food just because of the price, but it doesn't hurt to save a little on a good product!)

I bought the Costco membership specifically for the dog food, and it has been worth the money. Though with 2 school-aged kids, I have gotten other use out of the membership as well. (Lunchbox stuffers, toilet paper and other household products, etc.)

P.S. I took a chance and tried the Kirkland brand laundry detergent as well. I've been satisfied with that. Of course, I know that a person's water type/quality really affects their laundry detergent preferences. (What works for my mom's well water doesn't do much for my city water and vice versa...)

Thanks mom2 - woof, woof woof and meow.
The cat chow is top notch too.