Am I crazy

When I was growing up my parents bought 50bl bags of Alpo dog food to feed our dogs. We didn't have shepherds (sans one shepherd/lab mix who terrified me as a small child) or any other fancy dog. Just mutts most of which just wondered onto the farm and took up residence. A few months ago I took in a husky, who reminded me how much I missed having a dog. I was almost in tears when the owner was found, and the place at the foot of my bed was once again empty.

Thus, my puppy search began. After some breed research, and my wife insisting not a husky, we decided on a shepherd. After visiting shelters and breeder we finally found Reagan, and immediately took him to the vet. I was still under the impression that the standard way to feed a dog was to buy a bag of Purina or Alpo and tuck it in a large water tight container where it would serve as a source of nourishment to your canine companion for several months. But, out of curiosity, I asked the vet what food she would suggest. Our vet, in not so many words, said Science Diet was the way to go. I thought to myself 'this food cost twice as much but the dog cost infinitely more than any other dog I had as a child, and i love my new pup so what the heck'.

Recently it came to my attention that Science Diet is a terrible food source, and descent dog food cost a lot. By my math, I could just feed Reagan a boneless chicken breast in the morning and some flank steak at night and pay about the same money (which is becoming a very serious consideration). Now I'm not a rich man, but I want what is best for my dog. And I have to say I'm a little skeptical of all these premium dog foods, after all some of my parents dog are still alive and quite happy almost two decades later (the ones who have passed, met ends other than poor food quality). The whole time they've been eating food that apparently should have my parents up on animal cruelty charges.

Now don't misread me I believe my pup is worth the $100+ cost of premium food, i'm just blown away by it. I haven't owned a dog in ten years, is this a new thing, or am i just too back woods to know about it? What should I feed my puppy and what should the cost be? What do you feed your dog? Has anyone else ever thought the same thing?