Question about food

[JessicaW]

I have had my GS for about a year now. He was a year old when we got him. The lady that had him was feeding him Purina. We immediately switched him to Natural Balance. My yorkie is on it and it really helps with her allergies. Well, after a few months of that, we noticed that he really was not too crazy about NB. He ate it, but we could tell he did not love it. We switched him to Blue Buffalo Wilderness. He liked it better (especially the salmon flavor). We have had him on it for probably about 4 months. Last week, when my husband went out late one night to feed, he discovered we were out of food, and the pet stores were closed, so walmart it was. He came back with some sort of cheap food, and of course Sammy LOVED it. He ate like we had been starving him. Heres my problem/question:

I am looking for a good food to feed him. I consider BB and NB to be the best. Its obvious that Sammy prefers the junk over the best. I am looking for a decent/good dog food, that is not $50-60 a bag. But still has good protein and good ingredients. A friend recommended Extreme Dog Fuel. (Healthy Dog Food | Nutritional Dog Food). She knows the owner, she says he only puts good quality ingredients in the food. She also tells me that I can get it at the store thats 2 minutes from my house (as opposed to BB and NB which are 30 minutes away).

I look at their website, the first ingredient is chicken by-product meal. The second is corn. I have always heard that these are two things you DON'T want to feed your dog. The video on their website says that they do NOT put beaks, or feet in their food. All the reviews I have read (off of their website) are good. I also read that chicken by-products actually have more protein in them than the actual chicken meat that is fit for human consumption. I would like opinions/thoughts. I am tired of spending $$$ on food that my dog does not love, I want to know of good quality cheaper brands.

[Emoore]

Looks like R.B. Cook & Company on Buffalo St. in Gilmer sells Victor. Victor is what I feed my dog. www.victordogfood.com It's made here in Texas of USA ingredients and they've never had a recall. No corn, soy, wheat, or byproducts. My dog eats the Professional Plus in the green bag and it costs me about $32 for a 40lb bag.

Another brand to look at is Precise. www.precisepet.com It's also made in TX of USA ingredients, has never had a recall, and is about $40 for a 44lb bag of their Foundation formula. My senior eats Precise Senior formula. I think Precise is a little step up in quality from Victor.

[JessicaW]

Thanks for the quick reply! I will look into the Victor. I am glad to see that its sold in town and I won't have to make a 30 minute trip to get it! I also like that its manufacturing plant is 2 towns over! I hope my dog likes it

[Snarly]

I feed Nova Nature's Domain from Costco. She loves it, and it is 37$ for a 30# bag.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Snarly

I feed Nova Nature's Domain from Costco. She loves it, and it is 37$ for a 30# bag.

I would imagine it's a good hour from Gilmer TX to the nearest Costco. I live in the country, but Gilmer's in the back lot of nowhere.

[Snarly]

Oh , whoops. Never mind then .

Originally Posted by Emoore

I would imagine it's a good hour from Gilmer TX to the nearest Costco. I live in the country, but Gilmer's in the back lot of nowhere.

[JessicaW]

The nearest Costco is 84 miles away. Lol. Gilmer has nothing but a Walmart, brookshires, and two dollar stores, and two feed stores. It's awful. I have lived here a year. My old house was 1 block away from a petco, and 3 blocks from petsmart. My yorkie used to go everywhere with me, here in gilmer she can't go anywhere. Very sad


Anyway, that's why I am trying to find a decent food I can get here. The 50$ bags of Blue plus the 30 minute trip in a 4 wheel drive are getting to be way too much $$

[BlackGSD]

Originally Posted by JessicaW

The nearest Costco is 84 miles away. Lol. Gilmer has nothing but a Walmart, brookshires, and two dollar stores, and two feed stores. It's awful. I have lived here a year. My old house was 1 block away from a petco, and 3 blocks from petsmart. My yorkie used to go everywhere with me, here in gilmer she can't go anywhere. Very sad


Anyway, that's why I am trying to find a decent food I can get here. The 50$ bags of Blue plus the 30 minute trip in a 4 wheel drive are getting to be way too much $$

I have to drive 30+ minutes to get to the nearest Walmart! All that we have here in town is a small, expensive " mom and pop" grocery store and 1 convenience store. No feed stores nor "pet store". So it's a 30 + mile trip each way for dog food (from a feed store) AND "people food". (In a 4x4 pick up.) Which can be a "thrill" with the snow we get here.

[RaidersMom]

Have you tried online? I use petfooddirect and set up auto-ship. I'm sure you use a lot in gas/fuel since you live in thr country so might be worth it. 3 of my dogs eat Wellness Core Ocean and my GSD eats Orijen LBP. My dogs LOVE LOVE LOVE the Wellness and Raider love st he Orijen.. then again, Raider will eat anything. Unfortunatley, the Orijen falls into your $50-$60 bag range. But you should definitely look online and it is delivered right to your house. With auto-ship, you can also set up the schedule then you never run out or "forget" (as I have) to stop and grab some food. Obviosuly the dogs love the cheap junk food... just like we love potato chips

[Snarly]

I think I win with the distance, I am about 2 hours away from any walmart and 5+ hours for a Costco. I make trips in every once and a while and stock up like crazy on food for us and the dogs/rabbits/cats/chickens.