Good Dog Food for those on a Budget!

I would like to start off by thanking Sedona for this article. She is one of Dogsters many nutrition oriented pups, and does what she can to help people make good nutrition choices for their dogs.

Haha, I tricked you. This is a math lesson! It's easy and important math though, so heads off the desk.

Okay, I’ve heard a gazillion times that all these fancy foods we Dogsters talk about are too expensive. Really they aren’t that expensive once you break it down. I’ll show you how to do it so you’ll be able to see that you really CAN afford dog foods without a bunch of chemicals.

Okay, first thing you need to do is figure out how many calories your dog needs a day. There are lots of formulas out there, but this should give you a rough estimate.

desired weight/2.2 * 30 add 70 = calories per day

I’ll do Sedona 55/2.2= 25
25*30=750
750 70=820. Sedona needs about 820 calories per day.

Okay, now let’s break down the price of foods. I picked one of the most expensive foods and one of the cheapest foods just to show how there isn’t that big of a difference in price once you break it down. The prices are regular prices at www.petfoodirect.com

Orijen Adult 29.7 lb bag costs $49.99

Beneful Orignal Adult 35.2 lb bag costs $31.99

Find the amount of calories per pound of the food.

Orijen has 1909 calories per pound.

Beneful has 1674 calories per pound.

Okay, now break it down into price per calorie.

Orijen Adult: 1909 * 29.7 = 56697.3
49.99 / 56697.3 = 0.0008817.
Orijen costs $0.0008817 per calorie

Beneful Original: 1674 * 35.2 = 58924.8
31.99 / 58924.8 = 0.000542901
Beneful costs $0.000542901

Okay, now take how many calories per day your dog needs.

Sedona needs 820.

Orijen: 820 * 0.0008817 = $0.722994 per day
0.7229944 * 365 (one year) = $263.89

Beneful: 820 * 0. 000542901 = $0.44517882 per day
0.44517882 * 365 (one year) = $162.49

Orijen – Beneful
263.89 – 162.49 = $101.40 per year, or $8.45 per month.

To feed my dog one of the MOST EXPENSIVE FOODS it’ll only cost me an extra $8.45 per month. I understand that some people do not have an extra 9 bucks a month, but those people don’t have to feed one of the most expensive foods either. You can find a great food without ugly chemicals that you can afford! I swear!


This is a list of calories per pound in dog foods. Some are not exact because the manufactures would only provide the caloric information per cup and did not include the weight. Therefore I picked the weight of the cup to figure a rough estimate of calories per pound. All estimates (shown as “Brand” (estimated)) are based on 1 cup = 115 grams. All other numbers are according to the manufacture except where noted.

?-- denotes an unknown amount of calories and that I've contacted the company for the information.

Alpo:?--

Artemis:
Fresh Mix – 1634
Maximal Dog – 1818
Weight Management - 1497
Small Breed Puppy – 1690
Small Breed Adult – 1674
Small Breed Senior - 1561
Med/Lg Puppy – 1679
Med/Lg Senior - 1546

Avoderm:
Chicken and Brown Rice – 1568
Lamb and Brown Rice - 1706

Beneful:
Original -1674
Healthy Radiance – 1726
Healthy Harvest – 1646

Bil-Jac: ?--

Blue Buffalo:
Chicken and Brown Rice – 1673
Lamb and Brown Rice – 1544
Fish and Sweet Potato – 1620
Wilderness - 1702

By Nature:
Puppy – 1860
Adult – 1642
Active – 1760
Pork Sweet Potato – 1665
Salmon and Yogurt – 1600
Duck Sweet Pea – 1600
BrightLife – 1648 (estimated weight 4oz per cup)
Organic Chicken – 1600

California Natural:
Lamb and Rice – 1814
Chicken and Rice – 1860
Low Fat Lamb – 1586
Low Fat Chicken - 1555
Herring and Sweet Potato – 1579
Lamb Puppy – 1930
Chicken Puppy – 1722


Canidae:
All Life Stages – 1875
Chicken and Rice – 1899
Lamb and Rice – 1828
Platinum – 1600

Chicken Soup:
Puppy – 1690
Adult – 1633
Adult Light – 1404
Senior – 1529
LB Puppy – 1639
LB Adult – 1621

Diamond:
Hi-Energy – 1736
Original – 1540
Maintenance – 1604
Performance - 1779
Premium – 1766
Naturals Lamb – 1636
Naturals Extreme – 2141
Naturals Chicken – 1685
Naturals Beef - 1643

Eagle Pack:
Natural Formula – 1604
Sm and Med Breed Pup – 1756
Lg and Giant Pup – 1609
Power Formula – 1796
Original Adult – 1680
Lg and Giant Adult – 1673
Maturity – 1507
Reduced Fat – 1522
HS Chicken and Rice – 1669
HS Duck and Oatmeal – 1659
HS Lamb and Rice – 1653
HS Anchovy – 1666
HS Lg and Giant Pup – 1600
HS Lg and Giant Adult – 1673
HS Senior – 1636
HS Small and Mini Pup – 1830
HS Small and Mini Adult – 1884

Eukanuba: ? Doesn’t work

Evo:
Regular (large and small bites) – 1929
Red Meat (large and small bites) – 1834
Reduced Fat - 1643

Fromm:
Surf and Turf – 2000
Duck and Sweet Potato – 1800
Chicken A’ La Veg – 1800
Whitefish and Potato – 1675
Salmon A’ La Veg – 1850

Good Life Recipe: ?--

Halo: ?—

Healthwise:
Chicken and Oatmeal – 1705
Lamb and Oatmeal – 1668
Weight Control – 1545
Chicken Puppy - 1809

Horizon Legacy:
Adult - 1723
Puppy - 1791

Iams:
Puppy - 1947
Large Breed Puppy - 1844
Adult Chunks (and Mini) - 1845
Large Breed Adult - 1831
Weight Control - 1751
Active Maturity - 1768

Innova:
Adult - 1895
Large Breed Senior - 1586
Puppy - 1818

Kibbles N’ Bits (estimated):
Mini Bits – 1415
Original – 1296
Beefy Bits – 1292
Homestyle Chicken – 1292
Homestyle Beef – 1296
Wholesome Medley – 1178
Balanced Bites – 1285
Brushing Bites – 1427
Golden Years – 1439

Merrick:
Cowboy Cookout – 1633
Grammy’s Pot Pie – 1707
Turkducken – 1660
Wilderness Blend – 1660
Campfire Trout Feast – 1679
Senior Medley – 1531
Puppy Plate - 1579
Before Grain Buffalo – 1625
Before Grain Chicken – 1633
Before Grain Salmon – 1625
Before Grain Tuna – 1706

Natural Balance:
Ultra Premium – 1632
Ultra Premium Small Bites - 1660
Reduced Calorie – 1440
Potato and Duck - 1492
Potato & Duck Small Bites - 1610
Sweet Potato and Fish – 1484
Sweet Potato and Venison – 1548
Vegetarian – 1502
Organic - 1577

Nature’s Best:
Chicken and Brown Rice (reg and small) – 1674
Lamb and Brown Rice (reg and small) - 1692

Nature’s Logic (estimated):
Chicken – 2178
Lamb – 2178
Venison – 2178
Duck and Salmon – 2178

Nature’s Recipe (estimated):
Toy Breed – 1332
Terrier Breed – 1423
Large Breed Puppy – 1383
Large Breed Adult – 1312
Venison and Rice – 1186
Vegetarian – 1194
Chicken Rice Barley – 1233
Lamb Rice Barley – 1206
Fish and Potato – 1225
Puppy Lamb – 1312
Adult Lamb – 1253
Senior Lamb – 1206
Turkey Fruit/Veg – 1356

Nature’s Variety:
Chicken Instinct – 2576
Rabbit Instinct – 2376
Duck Instinct – 2289
Chicken Prairie – 1880
Beef Prairie – 1880
Lamb Prairie – 1967
Salmon Prairie – 2011
Venison Prairie – 2087

Nutro:
Max Adult - 1675
Ultra Adult - 1583
Natural Choice Lamb and Rice - 1584
Natural Choice Chicken and Rice - 1584

Orijen:
Adult – 1909
6 Fish – 1909
Puppy – 2045
Large Breed Puppy – 1909
Senior – 1636

Pedigree: ?—

Pet Promise:
Daily Health – 886
Healthy Growth – 894
Healthy Weight – 790
**These seem extremely low, but this is the information provided to me by the company**

Pinnacle:
Chicken and Oats – 1656
Trout and Sweet Potato – 1553
Duck and Potato – 1532
Peak Protein – 1864

Purina Dog Chow: ?--

Purina One: ?--

Purina Pro Plan:
Beef and Rice – 1887
Chicken and Rice – 1987
Lamb and Rice - 1828
Selects Large Breed Lamb – 1916
Selects Chicken – 1872
Selects Lamb – 2088
Selects Salmon - 1834
Selects Turkey - 1890

Royal Canin:
Mini Adult 27 - 1803
Medium Adult 25 - 1766
Maxi Large Breed - 1801

Science Diet:
Adult Original (reg and small) – 1684
Lamb and Rice (reg and small) – 1680
Light Adult (reg and small) – 1362
Light Large Breed – 1376
Adult Large Breed – 1683
Oral Care – 1475
Active Adult – 2099
High Energy - 2099

Soild Gold:
Hund-n-Flocken – 1782
Wolfking - 1525
Mmillennia - 1873
Wee Bit - 1670
Barking at the Moon - 1940
Holistique Blendz - 1635
Hundchen Flocken Puppy - 1578
Wolfcub Puppy - 1601


Taste of the Wild:
High Prairie – 1691
Pacific Stream – 1636
Wetlands - 1705

Timberwolf:
Wild and Natural – 1809
Ocean Blue – 1670
Lamb, Barely, Apple – 1781
Dakota Bison – 1673
Wilderness Elk – 1673
Southwest Chicken – 1790
Black Forest – 1605

Wellness:
Chicken Formula – 1623
Lamb Formula – 1591
Whitefish Formula – 1595
Healthy Weight – 1445
Just for Puppy – 1727
Just for Seniors – 1464
Core – 1636
Core Ocean – 1636
Core Reduced Fat – 1486