I have 4 dogs and I'm currently feedin Diamond dog food / grain free.. but it's 48.00 ish / 40lb per bag.   I need to make some cut backs on my finances  but still want them to eat a good quality dog food.  Any suggestions?   TIA

I have 3 large labs to feed. I've tried everything... and I do mean EVERYTHING. Grain free, organic, soy free, chicken free... lamb, duck, salmon, beef... you name it, I tried it! Nothing would help with their sensitivities... loose poop, ugly coats, itching, ear infections... etc, etc.. tried supplements too.. nothing helped and I was going broke buying expensive dog food every week! Finally out of pure desperation we picked up a bag of good ol Purina dog chow, 52lbs for $23 at tsc ... my dogs love it and their poop is completely normal, and a lot less of it! Huge difference... and their coats look amazing... soft and shiny and no middle of night scratching and itching nonsense! I never would have thought purina was any good on their dog food because all I've read was its bad...  I'm a believer now and I get it delivered right to my house. Saved me a ton of $$  Diamond dog food, I tried all of them, made them poop a ridiculous amount and it smelled so bad we couldn't stand going in the back yard! Now it's not bad at all... all poop smells lol, but something in that food tore their guts up. 

8 year old Aussie Cross.  We tried everything.  The most fancy expensive stuff we could find.  We settled on Ol' Roy High performance.  It solved all of his metabalic issues and he is happy and healthy.  Sometimes the cheap simple version is the best.  

I'm going back to Puina ONE Smart blend!!! We have fed several grain free to try to help my sensitive stomach guy. Nothing seems to help and I'm sick of spending a fortune on this specialty dog food when I'm not seeing any benefits. Plus, my males hair grew back very odd when we switched to Taste of the Wild. After reading all of the deaths and heart disease linked to grain free diets, I figured I would just follow my gut and go back to what worked before we got fancy.

I’ve done all the expensive dog food, I have a golden doodle and a black mouth cur, i went back to regular Purina One chicken & rice or lamb and rice and no loose stools, and they love it!  

I hope everyone is aware that the FDA has issued warnings regarding grain-free foods being linked to fatal heart disease in dogs.  Don't feed grain free!  I know it isn't cheap but we have a show kennel of Labradors and feed and recommend Royal Canin.  It's amazing stuff.

Vet here... I feed my own dogs Purina Pro Plan and that is what I recommend to my clients. I don’t make any additional money from this company by recommending their products... they just have well formulated, research backed diets that promote the health of your fur babies. 

       Someone else also mentioned it, and without typing a novel.... Grain free diets are not good for your dog, and there is an increased risk of heart problems when fed. 

I have been going thru the same dilema.  Our 2 big dogs can and will eat anything. Our heeler/aussie mix scratches until he had hairless patches or sores.  I thought grain free would be better for him, but it hasn't worked yet.  I saw the articles about heart disease related to grain free dog foods.  Geez. Who knows what to buy.  Guess I am going back to the cheaper stuff and hope for the best.

Thank you all for the replies... I greatly appriecate them..

Sometimes it's not the food causing itching. Years ago, my resuce dog used to itch himself like crazy, was losing hair, etc, and I tried tons of different foods thinking it was food related, but I had his blood tester for allergies, and it was environmental! He gets a super low dose of prednisone every day and allergy shots once a week and he does great. 

We have a Weimaraner with a messed up stomach (long story...). We feed Iams because we need to feed something that packs in a lot of nutrition in a small volume. My uncle, who is a vet, recommended either Iams or Science Diet for her. Years ago when my Wheaten Terrier kept getting dandruff, he told me to make sure the main ingredient is a meat, not a grain, and the inside of the bag should have a greasy feel/look to it. Grain is fine in a dog's diet, but we have had the best luck when it's not the main ingredient.

Thank you for this, I'm switching my dogs today! I've been feeding Taste of the Wild for years, thinkging it was really good for them

We fed IFA high energy dog food for years, our dogs looked decent on it but they pooped a TON! the local deal put the prices through the roof so I bought a bag of purina and my dogs look much better and don't poop as much.

If I'm near Sam's club I'll run in and get it there, bigger bag a littel cheaper, but it's nice because I can buy it anywhere. They like it so I'll keep feeding it. 

I feed Purina ProPlan.   Are there cheaper options, YES!  

My dogs all did the best on a mill brand called Hunter's Blend out of Mexico Missouri for $15 a 50lb bag.   We fed it when we had 6-7 dogs, most of which were coyote hounds.  My Lab did well on it though too, and he was sensitive and would get yeast infections in his ears if the food was too "hot."   

He did well on the ProPlan too.  

I find it amusing that the Ultra High Dollar dog food is now causing issues.  You can't feed Fluffy a super rich diet and expect them to sit on the couch and NOT get heart disease!  Wolf food is meant for wolves...on to the go 24/7 and hunting.  A lazy couch potato doesn't need high protein/fat! 

You could try diamond regular dog food - not the grain free. Its probably cheaper. I swap out between the diamond naturals lamb and rice and their grain free. I started feeding (no corn, soy, wheat) diamond naturals 15 years ago when my border collie got super bad rashes all over his stomach front legs and face. At that time all my dogs got something like 'ol roy or gravy train. He is allergic to corn and/or soy. So all these years I have kept up with feeding All my dogs the same (no corn/wheat/soy) dog foods. I have 5 dogs all 40-60 lbs.  It is expensive but I can't help that becasue they all eat together. I raised pups for a while and when I tried to put them on puppy chow they crapped all the time and sooo much! I would only feed my pups diamond puppy and they all turned out fine. no problems. I saw the dog food reports. Feed what you can afford and what agrees with your dog. period. thats my philosophy lol

I like Purina too thats a good dog food, but my little resuce house doggie has horrible skin allergies and was feeding her Cesar, but decided to try FreshPet for her to see if all the scratching and losing hair and being stinky will stop and plus I have been using Banixx on her and that is helping a ton, but I just got some Vetericyn Plus its a hot spot spray for dogs in today, so I will give that a try in a couple of days, but hoping since I changed her dog food maybe that will start kicking in a few days as well, as in helping with her skin allergies.. 

We feed the Purina venison and turkey blend, and ours are all fat and shiny and sassy!

ditch-the-grain-free-dog-food 

You have to find what works for you.

I went through ProPlan, Diamond, and one or two others...after of couple bags, my dogs got diahrea.  My male GSd was growing and no matter what I fed him would not gain/hold a good weight.  I finally found Kinetic 32.  By the end of the 2nd bag he had picked up a lot of weight and on half the amount what I was feeding of the previous mentioned foods.

My other dogs do well on Taste of the Wild (female GSD, an Ausi and and Jack Russle).

Husband is also a vet, and we feed Purina Pro Plan as well. We’ve had clients say Purina products are the worst/best and criticize/applaud us for feeding them. Purina makes high quality products that are consistent, and all of our animals are happy and healthy on them, not just our dog.