Yet another topic- food @ walmart

[Krysqueena]

We discussed how bad the dog food I am using is in my other topic, and I decided to start another so we cna start new. I went to walmart today and wrote down all the food they carry. Please tell me the best one, as this is the only place to buy dog food around here, unless I travel 1 hour

*PURINA
One
Beneful- Puppy and Adult
Chow- Dog and Puppy

*OL' ROY- of course LOTS

*IAMS
Premium Protection
Proactive Smart- Puppy big dog
Puppy small dog
Proactive healthy naturals
Mini Chunks
Active Maturity
Lamb and Rice
Natural Blends
*NATURAL LIFE
Puppy
Adult
*PEDIGREE
Large dog
Small dog
*RACHEL RAY
Nutrish
Chicken
Beef
*KIBBLES AND BITS
Original
Beef

Sorry its SO long!!

 

[Sniperess]

out of all of them I'd say the Purina ONE, but I'm not familiar with the ingredients in the Rachel Ray foods at all, or the Natural Life.

I'm not a fan of Iam's at all, I've always had horrible coat issues with it when I have used it in the past. Kibbles n bits is just junk with tons of dyes in it.

 

[ACooper]

I would say if you had to go with anything at walmart.........I would give the Rachel Ray a try. Just looking at the ingredients, it might be a TAD better than the others, at least there are no by products...........but no personal experience with it.

Also Kyrs, here is a pretty good link if you want to do some reading about dog foods http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

EDIT TO ADD: The natural life looks to be junk as well.........the second ingredient is CORN.

Rachel Ray Nutrish/Beef and Brown rice:

Ingredients
Beef, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Tomatoes, Dried Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Iron Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid

Purina ONE/Beef and Rice

Ingredients:
Beef, brewers rice, whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), oat meal, whole grain wheat, fish meal, non-fat yogurt, animal digest, defluorinated phosphate, malted barley flour, potassium chloride, salt, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite

 

[noludoru]

The Rachel Ray - definitely. DON'T BUY THE KIBBLES AND BITS! Please, please. I want to see the executives in that company slowly tortured for their ingredients... they're past horrible, and right into "WHO thought it was remotely okay to put THAT in dog food?"

 

[Zoom]

Do you have any grooming shops around you at all??? That's where I used to buy my Innova...

Out of that batch...Rachel Ray and perhaps Purina ONE would be the only ones.

Is there a Costco around you at all?

 

[SmexyPibble]

Rachel Ray and Purina One sound like the best.
Ughh. A lot of shelters I've worked at feed Ol' Roy.
Poor dogs...
It created skin problems and all sorts of other crap..

 

[Krysqueena]

I have a Paris Farmers Union, those (I think) are only in Maine and New Hampshire, so most of you guys probably don't know what that is. They are rather expensive (campared to walyworld). And I'm not really totally sure what they carry.

 

[Lilavati]

How about getting it shipped? You can order most food over the internet.

 

[Dekka]

The thing is it might actually be cheeper to spend more money of food. (sounds strange I know)

But lets say you need to feed 2 cups a day on something low qual like Purina One or that Rachel Ray one. If you spend almost twice as much on something good, but you feed only one cup a day, you spend the same amount on food and have a healthier dog. Which leads to less health issues down the road.

 

[Laurelin]

I'd check out the Paris Farmer's Union and see what they have and just price things and check out ingredients. If you have to go with the Wal-Mart brands, I'd go with Purina One or Rachel Ray.

 

[Kela]

I would think that if there is no pet store, there has got to be a feed or tractor supply store around! I'm just assuming that you're out in the middle of the country here.

I agree with the Rachel Ray, it isn't the best but it isn't horrid. It has less corn and by product than the Purina One. I bet its overpriced with her name on the bag though!

 

[girlbuffalo1]

Generally the 'good foods' are going to be found at local feed supply stores, tractor supply stores and other independant type places--if you would care to divulge your general zip code or area I'm sure some folks on here would be more than happy to try to look up some resources on the internet.

Also if the nearest places with ideal foods are an hour away perhaps you go there every few months or activities or movies or malls etc--and you could pick some up then a few bags even.

I know that if I still lived in the town I grew up in there would be no good options but living in a small town in order to go to a mall or the movies I had to go 45 min to a larger city (which I did at least twice a month)--I could go pick up better food then etc.

 

[BostonBanker]

Ditto what others said - even if we didn't have a few locally owned pet supply stores that sell great food, I could still get products like Innova through our farm supply stores. I would have never thought to look there, but went in for horse feed and found they carry it.

 

[DaVinci]

I have used purina one in the past and I did like it alot I quit feeding it becasue the stores that carried it didn't always have it in stock when I needed it. UUUUGGGHHHH.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

I would go with Rachel Ray or Purina ONE - they seem to be the most decent out of the bunch...

I don't know where you're located, but do you have a Fleet Farm anywhere near you? Or any kind of a local feed store? Most of those type of stores will sell some higher quality food...

 

[ACooper]

Kyrsqueena, here are a couple links of some dog foods I think are pretty good.

These pages will help you find a place near you to buy it. They are in no particular order of best to least or anything..........just different foods you can look up to see if one is near you

Innova: http://www.naturapet.com/where-to-buy/

Orijen:
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/storeLocator/

Taste of the Wild:
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/dealer_locator/

Canidae:
http://www.canidae.com/company/storelocator.html

Solid Gold:
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/

Chicken Soup for dogs (dry food)
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/dealer_locator/

There are many many more decent foods out there, these are just a few.............but like I already said, if walmart is your only option, try out the Rachel Ray

 

[Bunny82]

Another thought for places to get good pet food that you would not think of looking. The local farmers market here carries Flint River Ranch. Another one carries Canidae.

 

[Renee750il]

Depending on where you are (due to shipping costs), you may be able to actually save some money buying online. There's a place online that I use whenever they have their 20% off sales (which is VERY often - sometimes once a month) and even with shipping it saves me $10 a bag on the large bag of EVO RM. www.petfooddirect.com

Definitely give your farm supply stores a look though. They often carry better stuff at a decent price.

 

[Hillside]

Check for Diamond Naturals at the feed store. It is almost identical to the Chicken Soup and Kirkland Signature from Costco. ( They are all made by Diamond.) It is a decent food and is usually pretty decently priced. I normally see it at around 25ish bucks for a 40 pound bag. Acorrding to feeding guidelines for those foods, a 50 pound dog should be eating 2-3 cups a day, thus a bag should last for at least a month if not two.

 

[gale]

Around us, there is a store that sells hunting supplies (including hunting dog supplies) that carries Diamond Naturals. I would also check to see if there is a store like that near you.