# What is the best puppy food that doesn't cost a fortune for a lab



## Hodgesba (Jul 4, 2012)

I was wondering what the best food to feed my lab puppy was. I am looking for something that is not to expensive but also has great benefits. Currently I feed her tractor supply 4health, but just wanted to get opinions from other people. Thanks


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## chainshaw (Jul 4, 2012)

Purina One or ProPlan


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## ngaduck (Jul 4, 2012)

I feed pro plan, and my pup will transitioned to pro plan performance as soon as he comes home.


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## waterdogs (Jul 4, 2012)

Pro plan puppy, that's what I will feed my pups when my labs drops them in a few weeks.


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## work2play (Jul 5, 2012)

not the cheapest but they sure do love it

http://www.bluebuffalo.com/puppy-food

meat not grains


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## nhancedsvt (Jul 5, 2012)

Pro Plan Puppy till she's a year old then Pro Plan Performance


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## nanney1 (Jul 5, 2012)

The last 3 pups I've had were raised on different types of Pro Plan. A Bernese Mountain Dog on Pro Plan Puppy. An American Bulldog on Pro Plan Chicken and Rice, and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on Pro Plan Performance. The last two foods are All Life Stages foods.

That being said, I've seen plenty of dogs, from small breeds to big Great Pryenees that were fed regular Purina Puppy Chow and then converted to regular Purina Dog Chow anywhere between 4 months and a year old. This is much cheaper than Pro Plan and from what I've seen, does just as well. Is Pro Plan better??? Probably, but I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference unless you're dog is being hunted hard, in hard training or doing field trials.

We were also once given a Bernese by some friends who could no longer keep him when he was 18 months old. He was fed Purina Puppy Chow Large Breed from the time they had him and they gave us an almost full bag of the food when we received him. He grew just fine on the regular Purina.


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## BigCountry19 (Jul 5, 2012)

A year or so ago, there was a discussion on this forum about this topic.  Someone found a web site that rated dog food on price, nutrients, fillers, digestability and other things.  Most all I can remember is that Purina Pro Plan was only given 1 or 2 stars.  I was using Nutro at the time and it got only 3 stars(5 being the best).  Blue Buffallo was a 5 star dog food that I switched to, and my dogs love the stuff, and have done great on it.  I'll try to get the web information and post it up, and you can decide yourself.  I will be getting a new pup from Ashland Kennels next month and they recommend Pro Plan.  I will be using the Blue.


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## BigCountry19 (Jul 5, 2012)

www.dogfoodadvisor.com


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## Folsom (Jul 5, 2012)

BigCountry19 said:


> www.dogfoodadvisor.com



is very biased!

As long as you go with a good meat based product you will be fine.

I feed Eukanuba.


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## ridgestalker (Jul 5, 2012)

I have fed every pup i have ever had purina puppy chow then switched them to purina dog chow an have never had a problem with weight gain or health.Have fed a couple dogs i have had diamond but dont use it anymore. I am sure Blue buffalo an the other top brands they sale at petsmart are better made but for the price of them you would think there using ribeye steak to make them.


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## georgiaboy2109 (Jul 5, 2012)

Nutro Max. Our dogs like the lamb and rice. You can pick it up at tractor supply as well


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## bnew17 (Jul 6, 2012)

georgiaboy2109 said:


> Nutro Max. Our dogs like the lamb and rice. You can pick it up at tractor supply as well



Thats what we have been using and Trooper (dog in avatar) LOVES it. Kinda pricey though at $50 bucks for a 30lb bag.



Where can you buy this Pro Plan stuff? All we have his is TSC, Wal Mart, and a place called Pet Sense.


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## ngaduck (Jul 6, 2012)

Pro plan is sold at Tractors Supply and Petsmart.


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## NGaHunter (Jul 7, 2012)

I feed Black Gold Large breed Puppy...til they are 1 year old then Black Gold Black bag


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## yellowduckdog (Jul 7, 2012)

georgiaboy2109 said:


> Nutro Max. Our dogs like the lamb and rice. You can pick it up at tractor supply as well



Same here good stuff


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## brownceluse (Jul 7, 2012)

Purina Pro Plan


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## DukTruk (Jul 9, 2012)

As it was stated before, ANY meat based food.  We prefer Eukanuba, but some of the others mentioned are good as well (Pro Plan, Black Gold, Blue Buffalo, and 4 health).  Good quality "expensive" dog food is the cheapest money you will spend on your dog.  The expense is relative.  We feed puppy food until the dog is 2 years old.  This is based on the Euk recommendations.  Their puppy food is formulated for slower bone, joint, and cartilage development (think about an oak tree vs a pine tree).  The slower they grow, the stronger they will be.

Personally, I would not feed the 4 health brand.  It is manufactured by Diamond specifically for TSC.  Diamond has had SEVERAL issues with recalls in the last few years (and very recently).  I don't have an issue with them having recalls as much as how they handled them with the consumers and retailers.  You should also use read the ingredients list on whatever brand of food that you are feeding.  Do not assume that because its Purina (or whatever brand) that it is a good food.  They make some corn based (garbage) foods as well.


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## jsav (Jul 9, 2012)

Bnew17 you can get the pro plan at pet sense that is what I am feeding my dog now, works pretty good but I think I am going to go to blue buffalo soon.


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## georgiaboy2109 (Jul 9, 2012)

bnew17 said:


> Thats what we have been using and Trooper (dog in avatar) LOVES it. Kinda pricey though at $50 bucks for a 30lb bag.
> 
> 
> 
> Where can you buy this Pro Plan stuff? All we have his is TSC, Wal Mart, and a place called Pet Sense.



Hmm it is $32 bucks for a 30lb bag here in Columbus


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## brittonl (Jul 17, 2012)

Went in to buy more puppy food earlier today and was approached by the Billjac dog food rep. and he and I talked for a while about different dog foods and ingredients and dog food parent companies. Biljac he said is a small privately owned company and not under one of the large "mega" corporations like most others. 

I will insert here that he was a very nice guy and polite and said to have been in the business 40 years, which I had no reason to doubt. He did no brand bashing but more explaining and I appreciated that. I found that the Nutro brand is under the same Purina label and ultimately under the M&M Mars candy corp. He said that words used in pet food like organic and all natural you really have to watch out for. He said that Eukanuba was probably the other highest rated label in his opinion second to Biljac of course. Said Proctor & Gamble own Iams label and Eukanuba is under the Iams brand. Went on to explain Biljac and their processes and a few reasons to consider Biljac and gave me a free small sample bag. 

Compared prices and found this:
Nutro Max Lg. breed puppy = 15lb $23 - Have been feeding this since I got the pup and was considering a change, no problems though.
Bil Jac puppy lg breed = 30lb $48
Eukanuba lg. breed puppy = 33lb $40 - on sale

After reading all ingredients and %'s, I took his sample and bought the Eukanuba (which I was planning on converting to ASAP to begin with) and will consider Biljac maybe in the future. 

Does anyone have any experience with Biljac? This is about the only name I have not seen so far in this thread. BTW, this was in Petsmart.


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## nanney1 (Jul 18, 2012)

Bil-Jac - Good food, but pricey. Popular with owners of toy breeds and some show people. 

Have fed it before and liked it. It worked well when I had a dog I was showing and an older dog who had gone off his food. He really gobbled up the Bil-Jac.

Their dry food is sort of pelleted and soft, so not like other kibbles. 

They did change their formula slightly a few years ago so I don't know much about it now. Maybe it's more of a kibble now.

I do use their frozen food as bait for my dog that is being shown. Bil-Jac Frozen is a great training treat.


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