Good deal on good quality dog food?

runswithascript

Where is the best place to get a good deal on good quality dog food? We have two Labradors, 12 and 8, and we will soon be adding a Bullmastiff pup to their troupe. The BM breeder feeds his dogs chicken breasts every day but he has also told me kibble is fine. I have learned the likes of big bags of Madra and Aldi kibble are just filler. I have bought Hills Scientific and Royal Canin, at different pet stores and vets with wildly varying prices. I want to feed our dogs high quality kibble all of the time, but I would also like to get a good price. I am prepared to buy in bulk, within reason, and either ordering online or collection from Dublin or Kildare preferred.

Recommendations on kibble also accepted!

Please advise?

Heskey1971

dusf wrote: »

Where is the best place to get a good deal on good quality dog food? We have two Labradors, 12 and 8, and we will soon be adding a Bullmastiff pup to their troupe. The BM breeder feeds his dogs chicken breasts every day but he has also told me kibble is fine. I have learned the likes of big bags of Madra and Aldi kibble are just filler. I have bought Hills Scientific and Royal Canin, at different pet stores and vets with wildly varying prices. I want to feed our dogs high quality kibble all of the time, but I would also like to get a good price. I am prepared to buy in bulk, within reason, and either ordering online or collection from Dublin or Kildare preferred.

Recommendations on kibble also accepted!

Please advise?

Hi

I use Zooplus for Marcus Muhle for a st Bernard.
Around 55 I think for a big bag. Very high quality so you use less and i bulk it up with some veg like sweet potato

aonb

There are tons of threads here on the subject of buying quality kibble online - have a look. There are some great lists of quality kibble on here too.
Bull Mastiff puppy - wow! (Odd that the breeder feeds chicken breast - who can afford that?!?!) In any case, remember to transfer your puppy over to its new food very gradually and slowly

Nody

dusf wrote: »

Where is the best place to get a good deal on good quality dog food? We have two Labradors, 12 and 8, and we will soon be adding a Bullmastiff pup to their troupe. The BM breeder feeds his dogs chicken breasts every day but he has also told me kibble is fine. I have learned the likes of big bags of Madra and Aldi kibble are just filler. I have bought Hills Scientific and Royal Canin, at different pet stores and vets with wildly varying prices. I want to feed our dogs high quality kibble all of the time, but I would also like to get a good price. I am prepared to buy in bulk, within reason, and either ordering online or collection from Dublin or Kildare preferred.

Recommendations on kibble also accepted!

Please advise?

Hills and Royal Canin are not really high quality either; they are greatly overpriced for what's goes into them. If you want to stick with kibble you'll want something grain free ideally but at most rice and always meat first. Your best bet is Zooplus or going for raw feeding (good deals on bulk buying but need the space and will to do it while reading up on it).

runswithascript

Nody wrote: »

If you want to stick with kibble you'll want something grain free ideally but at most rice and always meat first.

Can you please rephrase that, I get you are saying to stay away from grain, but I am not sure if you are saying the same about rice or recommending rice along with the meat...

I am going to stick to a good quality kibble for now. I have been reading through old threads and although there are some recommendations, no apparent consensus just yet. I am just looking at Orijen on zooplus.ie, '75% premium meat ingredients' like wild boar and venison...

Nody

dusf wrote: »

I am going to stick to a good quality kibble for now. I have been reading through old threads and although there are some recommendations, no apparent consensus just yet. I am just looking at Orijen on zooplus.ie, '75% premium meat ingredients' like wild boar and venison...

Well let's give an example

Markus Muhle Black Angus wrote:

Ground dried Black Angus meat (17.3%), ground brown wholegrain rice, ground dried duck meat (9.7%), ground dried herring (6.6%), ground millet, ground amaranth, fresh green herbs, linseed, algae mix, herring oil, cold pressed vegetable oil mix, beet pulp, gelatine, dry peat (2%), dried ground yucca schidigera, milk thistle seeds, fennel seeds, dried blueberries, powdered egg yolk, siliceous earth (1.5%), muscle meat extract from green-lipped mussels (1.5%), sea mollusc protein from green-lipped mussels (1%), green mineral soil.

Note the rice is between the meats which puts it at around 17% at most.

Now compare this with:

Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy wrote:

Bison, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, egg product, pea protein, peas, potatoes, rapeseed oil, tomato pomace, roasted venison, roasted bison, linseed, potato fibre, natural flavour, ocean fish meal, salmon oil (a source of DHA)...

No rice, wheat etc.

Now compare this with some really poor quality stuff that's what you'd get in Lidl or Tesco etc.

Pedigree Adult Complete &#8211 wrote: »

Grains, meat and animal derivatives (including 4% lamb), oils and fats (including 0.2% fish oil, 0.2% sunflower oil), vegetable by-products (including 2% dried beet pulp), minerals (including 0.7% sodium tripolyphosphate).

Note how meat is not primary and most likely makes very very limited part of the overall kibble.

Another common sneaky way of increasing the rice is to split it up like this

James Wellbeloved Adult - Lamb & Rice wrote:

Lamb meat (23.5%), brown rice (20%), white rice (19.7%), barley, whole linseed, lamb fat (3.5%), lamb gravy (2.9%), sugar beet pulp, alfalfa meal, omega-oil supplement*, sodium chloride, seaweed (0.5%), potassium chloride, chicory extract (0.1%), calcium carbonate, yucca extract (0.02%) *from sunflower and fish oil.

The rice is 40% but because they put it half and half as brown and white rice it goes down the list.

At the end going with a higher quality kibble do come at a cost compared to let's say Lidl but this is partly offset by the fact you feed less and it's also very much down to what works with your dogs. Here are a few of the better end once to try and in general weight it out don't scope and estimate to get proper cost:
Orijen
Acana
Wolf of Wilderness
Nutrivet
Lily's kitchen (contain rice)
Markus Muhle NaturhNah (contain rice but relatively cheap)
Taste of the Wild
Lukullus (some contain rice)
Applaws
Almo Nature (contain rice)

And there are more that are not on Zooplus but always, always look at the ingredient list

Cows Go µ

The only general consensus with dog food is the higher the meat content the better, you want it to be first in the ingredients list. The grain thing is hotly debated but if you have a dog that seems to be allergic/intolerant to something, the first thing to remove is grains so there's no harm in taking a pre-emptive strike and just remove it. Rice is a good replacement filler.

I find allaboutdogfood.co.uk is fairly good for explaining things. You have to take with a pinch of salt but it's a good starting point.

Picking a dog food is probably one of the most difficult decision after actually picking a dog. There are so many conflicting opinions.

runswithascript

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Would any of you happen to know which kibble has the highest meat content? Orijen I am looking at is 75%....

I wish I could work out how many feeds I would get from each.

Nody

dusf wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Would any of you happen to know which kibble has the highest meat content? Orijen I am looking at is 75%....

I wish I could work out how many feeds I would get from each.

It's not only about the meat content but overall quality; Orijen is top quality though. As for feeding amount Zooplus lists the feeding guidelines for each type usually

odckdo

Another option for bulk buying is the grain free food from dogfooddirect.ie where you can get 6 bags for the price of 5 with 50% meat. Gets good reviews on here.

ElKavo

odckdo wrote: »

Another option for bulk buying is the grain free food from dogfooddirect.ie where you can get 6 bags for the price of 5 with 50% meat. Gets good reviews on here.

I would second that. Salmon and potato for my two and they are like glass, good solid poos too!

muddypaws

Its a common misconception that meat needs to be the first ingredient. Different companies weigh their meat at different points in the manufacturing process. A food may have meat as the first ingredient, but it is the meat before they take the water out, once that is done, the amount of meat will be less, but will appear higher in the list, if that makes sense. Other manufacturers won't weigh the meat until the water has been removed, so it may not be the first ingredient, but there may actually be more meat in the food than the food that has it has hydrated as a first ingredient.

runswithascript

Thank for all the input. Just to add, I would really appreciate that those of you choosing kibble specify which brand you go for, and where you have found the best price.

tk123

odckdo wrote: »

Another option for bulk buying is the grain free food from dogfooddirect.ie where you can get 6 bags for the price of 5 with 50% meat. Gets good reviews on here.

DFD will also give you a discount if you buy from their depot or at a show etc so handy if you're in Dublin

teggers5

Hi op, this is what I'm feeding all 4 of my dogs

http://www.pro-nutrition.flatazor.com/en/prestige/prestige-adulte-sensible-sans-cereale-au-saumon.html

I have a king charles, a yorkie and two pitbull crosses.
The king charles suffers from various health problems including dry sensitive skin and the vet recommended a hypoallergenic food and after months of trial and error this was the only food I found to have helped
I buy it in 15kg bags (a lot of the time with 2kg extra free) and it costs €45. My local petshop supplys it. All 4 dogs are in great condition with lovely shiny coats.

Ps.. looking forward to seeing bull mastiff puppy!

runswithascript

Thanks for all of the replies. I spent some time comparing different foods which were recommended here on zooplus.ie. Most I was unable to find on dogfooddirect.ie, although I would have rathered ordered from them as they are an Irish company. I was unable to find the recommended daily amount for some of the foods, on either website, or the dog food brand's website. Next month I will try and compare some more of the food, and hopefully I will discover dogfooddirect.ie have food of the same quality, for the same price - or better. As one dog is now 13 years old I would like to get him some senior food also - for the moment what I have ordered is much better than Aldi's own brand or Madra etc. As we have a chest freezer I would like to look at raw feeding at some point. In the end we went with:

Wolf of Wilderness "Green Fields" - Lamb - Economy Pack 2 x 12kg

This cost €89.99 (€3.75 per kg) reduced from what it would cost to buy both 12 kg bags individually at €103.98. I also opted into Zooplus' 5% discount for the year offer which was just under €5, and immediately applied to this order coming in at a total of €90.15 including free delivery. If I were to order the same again next month using the discount it should only cost €85.45.

For €89.99 we will get 31 daily feeds for both dogs, 40 kg and 32 kg Labradors, at €1.57 and €1.33 per daily feed respectively. Orijen Adult Dog Food came in at €2.17 per feed for the 40 kg dog alone, although it is 80% meat. The Wolf of the Wilderness kibble is grain and gluten free, and 61% meat:

Fresh chicken meat (41%), pieces of potato (dried), poultry protein (12%, partially dried and hydrolysed), lamb protein (8%, dried), dried beet pulp (desugared), linseed, poultry fat, brewer’s yeast (dried), egg (dried), sodium chloride, fruits of the forest mixed berries (0.3%, dried: cranberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, elderberries), herbs (0.2%, dried: mugwort, St. John’s wort, nettle leaves, camomile, common yarrow, coltsfoot, dandelion root), yeast extract (dried, = 0.2% beta-glucanes and mannan-oligosaccharides), apple (dried), chicory inulin (0.1%), salmon oil, sunflower oil

aonb wrote: »

In any case, remember to transfer your puppy over to its new food very gradually and slowly

Does this apply to switching our labradors over to this new feed, or just the puppy (when we get it) if it had been eating chicken breasts?

What do you guys think of the food I ordered?

andreac

Always switch any dog over to a new food gradually, where possible. It just helps them adjust to it without causing problems, as long as the food suits them.