More expensive doesn't always equal better!

[Germanshepherdlova]

I hear many people claim that you will know that a breeder is a BYB'er by the price of the puppies. Supposedly then paying more for a puppy proves that a puppy is quality? I am afraid not my friends-just check and see how much Petland Charges for a PB GSD puppy and you will quickly learn that more expensive doesn't mean anything.

But that isn't the main topic of this thread-check this out. I put my GSD on TOTW Pacific Stream to see if that would help his skin issues. So that left my lab who isn't plagued with any issues and so I got this crazy idea to feed him Purina One Lamb and Rice like I used to feed both of my boys before I started learning more about dog food. I figured that it would be ok since they both ate it for a year before and the lab did fine on it-plus I thought it would save me money.

However, when I got the bag of Purina One home I looked up the dog food rating on it and it was awful (2 stars) then I looked at the rating for 4Health and that is when I saw that the 4Health Lamb and Rice is rated as a 3 star food-but the 4Health Chicken is a 4 star food! http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-fo...-dog-food-dry/ At this point anybody who is reading this thread and knows why this is please step in and enlighten me.

Well, I am now filled with buyer remorse and return the Purina One Lamb and Rice to Walmart and get a refund of $31.84-I head on over to Tractor Supply and look at the 4Health and lo and behold-the Lamb and Rice is $4 more than the chicken. WTHeck? The 4 star cheaper than the 3 star? So I buy the 4Health Chicken and using my refund money from the Purina One I pay-wait for this now $31.86-only .02 cents more for a food that is much higher quality-remember we are talking about Purina One 2 star food exchanged for 4Health Chicken a 4 star food. Talk about living and learning.

[GSDGunner]

I think most people are going to say not to put to much faith in that website.
It is one persons opinion based (I'm assuming) on how they interpret the ingredients. As we all know, there are differing opinions here on what people think is best.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Germanshepherdlova

I hear many people claim that you will know that a breeder is a BYB'er by the price of the puppies. Supposedly then paying more for a puppy proves that a puppy is quality?

Nope. A cheap puppy is a red flag, but an expensive puppy doesn't mean it's a good puppy. If I can convince you to pay Lexus prices for a Ford, that makes me a con man and you an idiot. Unfortunately there are plenty of con men and idiots in the world.

Originally Posted by Germanshepherdlova

However, when I got the bag of Purina One home I looked up the dog food rating on it and it was awful (2 stars) then I looked at the rating for 4Health and that is when I saw that the 4Health Lamb and Rice is rated as a 3 star food-but the 4Health Chicken is a 4 star food! 4Health Dog Food | Review and Rating At this point anybody who is reading this thread and knows why this is please step in and enlighten me.

Because that web site is a joke.

[GSDGunner]

I checked that site and the food I feed is a 4 star and I think is reasonably priced. It's much less than some of the other high quality foods I tried.
A 15lb bag is about $27.

[Germanshepherdlova]

Originally Posted by Emoore

Nope. A cheap puppy is a red flag, but an expensive puppy doesn't mean it's a good puppy. If I can convince you to pay Lexus prices for a Ford, that makes me a con man and you an idiot. Unfortunately there are plenty of con men and idiots in the world.







Because that web site is a joke.

And what proof do you have that it is a joke? 4Health is a 4 star food on all the other sites that I have visited as well. This is the only one that gave the Lamb and Rice one a 3 star though. But still even in the event that you don't agree with the info on this web site-that doesn't account for that fact that one bag is $4 cheaper than the other and is the same quality, if not better (a 4 star food).

[Germanshepherdlova]

Originally Posted by GSDGunner

I checked that site and the food I feed is a 4 star and I think is reasonably priced. It's much less than some of the other high quality foods I tried.
A 15lb bag is about $27.

What food do you feed? TOTW Pacific is a 5 star food and a 15 lb bag is $26 at Tractor Supply.

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by Emoore

Nope. A cheap puppy is a red flag, but an expensive puppy doesn't mean it's a good puppy.

I agree with this.

[I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO]

Originally Posted by Germanshepherdlova

And what proof do you have that it is a joke? 4Health is a 4 star food on all the other sites that I have visited as well. This is the only one that gave the Lamb and Rice one a 3 star though. But still even in the event that you don't agree with the info on this web site-that doesn't account for that fact that one bag is $4 cheaper than the other and is the same quality, if not better.

Because ranking food like that is very subjective (for instance just because a food is grain free automatically makes if better on that site- it can be 5 star yet made by a company that has had many recalls). I prefer websites like dogfoodproject.com and only use the analysis website to find ingredients if I need to.

edit: Lamb is almost always going to be more expensive than chicken.

[Germanshepherdlova]

Originally Posted by LaRen616

I agree with this.

I also agree with that part of her post.

[Germanshepherdlova]

Originally Posted by I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO

Because ranking food like that is very subjective (for instance just because a food is grain free automatically makes if better on that site- it can be 5 star yet made by a company that has had many recalls). I prefer websites like dogfoodproject.com and only use the analysis website to find ingredients if I need to.

edit: Lamb is almost always going to be more expensive than chicken.

That explains the price difference. But my DH thinks that Lamb is better for our dog-I went by the review and picked the chicken instead. But I do see that the order of ingredients are also different on the back of the 2 bags so maybe there is something more to this and its not just lamb versus chicken at all.

I actually saw a dog food review site (not this one) and it ranked Purina dog food as one of the best and TOTW as one of the worst-not because of it being a better food but something about environmental. Of course, I didn't pay any attention to that particular web site but the one on linked on here seemed ok. They list the ingredients for each food and tell if any is of concern.