How much does it really cost to feed your dog?
The following cost comparisons were done in April of 2008 at a major pet supply store located in Southern California. While trying to maintain fairness, the comparisons were done with the manufacture's recommended feeding for a 50 Lb. dog and with the product size being in the 20 to 40 Lb. range. Actual product sizes and cups per bag could vary depending on the density of the food.
| Brand | Main Ingredient | Cost/Cup | Rec'd Serving | Cost/Day |
| Flint River Ranch | Chicken | .33¢ | 2.2 cups | $0.76 |
| Avoderm | Chicken | .35¢ | 3-1/3 cups | $1.18 |
| Nature's Recipe | Venison | .31¢ | 4 cups | $1.25 |
| Nature's Best | Chicken | .55¢ | 3 cups | $1.65 |
| Nutro Ultra | Chicken | .44¢ | 3-1/5 cups | $1.55 |
| Purina Pro Plan | Chicken By-Product | .36¢ | 3-1/3 cups | $1.19 |
| Eukanuba | Lamb | .34¢ | 2-1/4 cups | $0.75 |
| Castor & Pollux | Organic Chicken | .50¢ | 2 cups | $1.00 |
| Natural Balance | Chicken | .30¢ | 3 cups | $0.90 |
| Natural Choice | Chicken | .26¢ | 3 cups | $0.78 |
| Hill's Adult** | Chicken, Corn | .33¢ | 3-1/4 cups | $1.09 |
| Iams** | Chicken by-Products, Corn | .27¢ | 2-1/4 cups | $0.68 |
| Nutro Max** | Chicken by-Products, Corn | .21¢ | 3-1/2 cups | $0.75 |
| Purina One** | Corn | .22¢ | 2-1/2 cups | $0.55 |
| Beneful** | Corn | .23¢ | 3-2/3 cups | $0.84 |
** While corn is a good grain, it is not easily digested in dog's system. Corn, Corn meal. Corn Gluten Meal is commonly used as a filler to bulk up food.
What to Look for in Your Dog Food Ingredients
Ingredients are always listed in order of quantity, the most prevalent ingredient being first. Simply stated, if meat is the first ingredient listed, then the food contains more meat than anything else. Anytime you see corn, ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal etc. listed as the first few ingredients on a bag of dog food, then that food is mostly corn. What about by-products? By-products can be anything chicken! That means that if your brand of food contains chicken by-products, it can contain meat, beaks, claws, feathers, intestines and anything else that comes from a chicken. The same goes for any by-product listed in your ingredients whether its beef, fish, poultry, or meat. (A few years ago it was discovered that rendered dog meat was found in some commercial dog foods!)
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