Dog Food?!?!?
02 Jun 2008
Innova dog food is very very exspensive in Australia. It is $40 for 3kg, $85 for 7-7.5 kg and $125-$135 for 15kg. Does anyone else agree with me that it is very exspensive. I dont really like the look of the supermarket brands neither brands like Eukanuba, Iams(as well as it being a bad food they aparently test on animals) or Science Diet. The brands that I did like though was Eagle Pack Holistic, Naturual balance and Ziwi Peak(very very expensive). These brands are all expesive too. Though i have not got a dog yet, would someone give me some heplful tips or anything on helping me choose. Im trying to look for something that isn`t like the most expensive dog food on the planet! Thankyou!
All answers appreciated!!!!
10 Responses
2008 Jun 02
I like Canidae life stages. Its very healthy and its not really high. You may think that paying less will save you money but it wont. The cheap dog food has alot of fillers and corn that just passes right through and they will eat twice as much. When I switched from Purina to Canidae it was about 13 dollars more but they eat half of what they did before because its more feeling and Im saving money. Remember that. I swear its true ask your vet or your local feed store.
2008 Jun 04
enova evo is worth evey penny,,, however my second choice would be canidae life stages…
2008 Jun 04
Wow, that is expensive.. Especially for Innova.. If I were you, at those kind of prices, I would look into cooking for my dog myself. Surely you can buy quality meat, vegetables and vitamin supplements and feed a dog well for far less than what they are charging for quality foods there..
2008 Jun 04
My golden retriever:
I have given Pilot Nutro Natural Choice/Lamb & Rice dry food along with lots of veggies, one NuVet Canine vitamin tab every morning, and a tablespoon of plain or vanilla yogurt on a spoon after his morning meal, every day……and he is quite a healthy guy.
I wanted to add that Pilot use to have hot spots and some allergies……until I started him on Natural Choice dry food. That was the turning point in a positive way!
2008 Jun 07
i use ‘coprice family dog food’ 22%protein10%fat (a good balance) with chicken, rice, kelp and garlic. A 20kg bag costs around $27-$28 where i live (vic) have a look for yourself at
2008 Jun 09
I guess it can depend on the breed of dog. Your local vet would probally have some good advice. I use to feed my dog a mix of chicken(protein), rice/pasta (carbohydrates) and vegetables for vitamins. He lived to be 16 and all those ingredients can be bought fairly cheap.
2008 Jun 10
You can offer milk to your dog, which is a natural diet.
2008 Jun 13
I actually have yet to pay for dog food right now as I got coupons in the local newspaper for a free bag of Eagle Pack Holistic Selects. My dog did eventually grow tired of the one variety (which we got 3 bags of) or else he just didnt feel like eating as much (he’s still a puppy, but it is possible that since he’s quit growing as fast he hasn’t been eating as much).
Anyways. I do like the Holistic Select’s brand. My fiancé’s mom though feeds her dogs (and our dog when he visits… which is often) different food (usually science diet’s lamb and rice).
We also feed the dogs a homemade meal (made by my future mother-in-law) served at supper time and warmed up in the microwave consisting of cooked rice, ground beef, carrots, and peas mixed together. The dogs love it (especially my puppy, Buddy). Her dog has a pancreas condition so she has to carefully monitor what her dog eats but Nikki never seems to get sick off of his supper. He can’t eat lots of protein though or he will get sick.
I like the Holistic selects as it contains lots of supplements. Also, they use human-grade meat and veggies, which makes me feel more comfortable feeding it as my dog has had a bacterial overgrowth/infection already (and he is only just about 8 months old)
I’d think about feeding a combo of dry kibble and homemade food. The kibble can be given either free feed (which we do, and my dog isn’t fat but the dog with the pancreas problem is but he actually doesn’t eat that much kibble, more just milkbones). Don’t forget about treats too. They should be used as part of the feeding schedule, not in addition to it.
I would test a few different brands on your dog to see what gets the best results (in terms of coat quality, health, how much food the dog eats and the amount in $/day the dog eats). You may be surprised to see that the $ spent per day on food can be less with a more expensive food as dogs tend to eat less of of the more expensive foods and more of the cheap crap because the cheap crap contains more filler (causing them to defecate more and eat more).
2008 Jun 16
Wow, that sounds expensive, but I don’t know if there’s much of a difference between US dollars and Australia dollars. A normal candy bar around here costs about a buck, but my dog’s food is 25$ for the mid size bag. What you’re probably paying for is shipping and handling to Australia as the food is American Made.
I’d say look for a brand that is manufactured in Australia. Use these guidelines when comparing a food.
!) A named meat is the first ingredient, Meals are preferable over meat because of moisture content. Avoid by-products. The more meat in the first 5 ingredients, the better.
2) Limit grains. Avoid corn wheat and soy. No grain should be listed more than twice.
3) Absolutely no BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin…
Good luck!
2008 Jun 19
I love Innova and all, but it is expensive. The ingredients can not be beat and for a healthy dog, it is a wonderful product. Some alternative dog foods that are made of quality ingredients (but at a better cost) are the NUTRO brands as well as the Costco Kirkland brand dog food. Looking at the ingredients, it contains no fillers and my breeder highly recommended them