Cost of Dog Food

I have heard that Canidae is the best value food out there, possibly because they had always been a small operation, and they built their own facility so they could do feeding trials, etc. in house. Not sure if this is totally accurate or not. However, I've also heard that they've started to cheapen some of their ingredients (which I'm sure will start happening more often as food prices are rising), so to some extent you get what you pay for. Even still, my rescue still recommends it to new adopters as a high quality but fairly inexpensive food.

So Canidae might not give you the same comparison results as say Blue Buffalo, Chicken Soup, Castor & Pollux or other pet store brands.

Here's how the argument actually runs:

I feed my dog Iams because I can't afford premium foods.

Then you compare Chicken Soup, TOTW, or Canidae, which have a very good kcal per dollar value, to a food like Iams, Pedigree, many of the Purina products, or Sci Die where you are paying through the nose for low kcals per kg.  

And it's not just about dollar per dollar comparison.  Very often feeding a premium food will result in fewer minor health issues like skin and coat problems, ear funk, anal gland problems, even fewer dental problems.  Sometimes switching to a higher quality food can literally save hundreds in vet costs if your dog has a food allergy. 

I've seen such changes so many times, over and over, in dogs that move here, from where they are being fed grain fraction, low meat based foods, that I cannot discount the effect that a good food has on overall health. 

I agree that in the long run it's cheaper to feed a premium or better kibble.  Like Becca said, the Kcal differences are huge, plus the reduced health problems.  However I don't think the comparison works as well among the premium foods though, b/c while some foods look "better" on paper and Kcal/$1 they may not be better for the dog.  For example, I know that even though I pay way more for Canidae than I do for a grocery brand, I'm coming out ahead, but switching from Canidae to Orijen would NOT have the same benefit for me b/c Kenya simply cannot tolerate a food like that.  She gets stomach cramps and non-stop diarrhea on every grain-free I've tried.  So for us, Canidae is the best compromise of cost AND quality, relative to what keeps the dog happy and healthy.  She also does very well on Nature's Variety Prairie, also not a totally grain free.  Among these two lines I can rotate formulas without any incidents or digestive upsets and the dog looks healthy, the coat is strong and sleek, the dog does not smell. 

My in-laws fed their dog cheap grocery store food for 10 years and now they are literally paying for it.  He has chronic ear infections due to allergies developed and now has to be on an expensive prescription diet. 

you're comparing the wrong foods- I have run similar calculations and Canidae is by far the most economical good-quality food available. It's the not-so-good-quality foods that actually cost more than the good-quality foods to feed. For example, I once did an elaborate calculation and found it would cost me more to feed Iams than to feed Innova. And that doesn't even factor in the savings at the vet. Feeding raw meaty bones will cost you up front but hey, no expensive dental cleanings.

     I've heard that argument a million times - I just don't buy into it. I've fed diets with over 500kcals per cup and ended up having a few of the dogs appear skeletal on more food then they were eating before!!! Based on my own experience, as a rule, you don't always feed less of a higher kcal or more costly food, some dogs may eat less on many of those designer foods, but not all. I have a 65lb dog that eats 2 cups on a brand that costs me $18 for the 34lb bag and he ate close to 3 cups on Timberwolf. So go figure ...

 It really depends on how the dog does on the food. I fed Canidae for a while - which I really like. My dogs did *ok* on it but Neiko couldn't keep weight on and his poop was the size of elephant droppings. To me that was saying that most of the food he was eating was being wasted. So, I looked for something else and ended up with Evo. He eats half of what he ate on Canidae and his poops are corgi sized. Much better for me to clean up. Especially with 4 dogs running around.

yeah, individual results may differ. Eaglepack giant breed puppy for example almost killed one of my great danes cause he couldn't digest it, yet it was designed for the breed..

Jewlieee

To me that was saying that most of the food he was eating was being wasted.

I think this plays the biggest part in the economics of feeding dog food.  If your dog is putting out close to the equivelant in weight of what is going in, obviously they aren't getting as much out of the food, and you will therefore feed more of that food to compensate.  For example, while Innova has more Kcals/cup, Crusher doesn't digest it well and it goes through him at a super fast rate with a larger amount coming out the back end then I would like to see.  There was less output on Acana, and it was somewhere in the middle with Canidae.  Meanwhile he can eat a chicken leg with back attached, 2 ounces of beef liver and a small palmfull of ground lean beef, all of which costs me about a buck and barely anything comes out the other end, and yet he keeps a good figure.  To me that means his body is using almost all of what is going in.  That with the added benifit of never needing to clean teeth myself, nor having the vet do it, not needing any special shampoos or meds for allergies, and having nice smelling dogs, it makes it very worth it for me to feed raw.  

Merrick Brand....LOL. Seriously though in retrospect you gotta consider what is best for your dog.

I used to feed my dogs Blue Buffalo which was super exspensive and they ate a ton more of it.

 You were feeding a 65 lb dog THREE cups of Timberwolf ? Isn't that a bit excessive ?? My two 75 lb dogs only eat 2 cups a of Timberwolf.  

* For the person comparing Canidae to EVO..... sorry, but you're comparing Apples to Oranges. They're in two completely different  categories  quality and ingredient wise. It's almost like trying to compare Ole Roy to Canidae.   The REAL cost of dog food is judged by an animal's health not soley $$.  That's one of the biggest mistakes people make. Especially people who try to justify feeding supermarket brand foods. They don't take into account the hundreds to thousands of dollars actuallY SAVED per year by not having to buy things like Rx flea meds, vet visits,  OTC remedies for mites, hot spots, crappy coats, stinky breath, skin problems, dental problems, gastro-intestinal problems and the like.  That's where you measure TRUE cost and value.
 

24Pawsnclaws

You were feeding a 65 lb dog THREE cups of Timberwolf ? Isn't that a bit excessive ?? My two 75 lb dogs only eat 2 cups a of Timberwolf.  

     Yup, I sort of thought it was slightly excessive for a food that cost me $55 a bag. He's always eaten 2 cups of food, and has maintained his weight at 64lbs religiously - but was loosing weight on TWO and when he was taken to the Vet we discovered he'd dropped down to 58lbs. Off TWO he put the weight back on and is now 66lbs of sheer muscle :) On two cups of food again.