# What's a fair price to pay for 15kg dog food?



## nellie_dean (Apr 13, 2008)

Here's an interesting topic for these credit crunchy times - How much should we be looking to pay for a decent 15kg bag of dog food? 
If I look around the average pet store it seems to me that I have three choices really

*1) basic food -* tends to be wheat based with derivatives and by-products, and probably contains chemical preservatives. You can pay anything from about £11 a bag for these. Good example would be Dr John Gold, ingredients being:
Cereals, meat & animal derivatives, vegetable protein extracts, yeast, milk & milk derivatives, oils & fats, minerals, contains antioxidants BHA and BHT.

*2) basic food pretending to be posh nosh!* - almost basic ingredients but in a smart bag with pictures of meat and vegetables and anything up to 200% more expensive. A great example of this is Pedigree Better by Nature. Costs nearly £30 for 15kg and the ingredients are:
Cereals (Min. 4% Rice, Min. 4% Maize), Meat and Animal Derivatives (Min. 4% Beef), Oils and Fats (Min. 1% Sunflower Oil), Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Vegetable Protein Extracts, Minerals, Seeds (Min. 4% Flaxseed), Vegetables (Min. 4% Carrots, Min. 4% Beans), Fruit (Min. 2% Apple).

Now call me a fuddy duddy, but that doesn't read like a natural food to me!:tongue_smilie:

*And yet* you can still get a reasonably inexpensive food with half decent ingredients for only a little bit more than the basic price. Check out Gilpa Kennel which you can get for just over £13 a bag and compare the ingredients:
wheat, poultry (min 14% chicken) maize, wheatfeed, poultry digest, poultry fat, whey powder, vitamin pre mix, dicalcium phosphate, soya oil, yeast, mixed herbs, (1800mg/kg) extract of new zealand green lipped mussel, (200mg/kg zinc sulphate, yucca extract, iron sulphate, manganese sulphate, zinc chelete, selinium chelete, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt sulphate with EEC permitted antioxidents

*3) premium food -* tends to have a named meat and cereal source, uses meat meal rather than by-products, does not bulk up the protein with wheat or soya concentrates and tends to use natural preservatives such as vitamin E and C.

And prices here are the sky's the limit, it seems to me. For a 15kg bag you can pay anything from £21 to £43. I personally feed Wainwrights from Pets at Home which is somewhere just below middle at £29 - check out a few alternatives in the premium end here

My conclusion (for what it's worth) is that if you can't afford (or don't want to) pay well over £40 for a bag of food then it's perfectly possible to buy quality for under £30 and a good basic food for less than £15!


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

Go to a pet food wholesaler and it will be even cheaper!!!


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## Dundee (Oct 20, 2008)

I buy a working dog food - Masters, Skinners and Autarky are all around the £18 for 15kg and VAT free.


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## JSR (Jan 2, 2009)

Just to be different...go raw. I feed 5 dogs (1 small, 3 medium and 1 large) for approx £20 a month. I get free bones from my butcher, throw in a few vegi's that I get from the farm shop for cost because it's past it's best (I give most to the horse but take some for the dogs). I buy in bulk so have the cost of running a large chest freezer (free off freecycle!!) but it still works out masses cheaper than conventional dog food...plus I have healthy happy mutts!


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## jilly40 (Oct 22, 2008)

i buy supadog sen its £20.54 for a 15 kg bag really suits my poochx


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## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

I feed greyhound food £12 for a 15kg bag. Just like working dog food greyhound food is VAT free. I use 2 bags every 10 days and am feeding 9 medium dogs and 3 large dogs. I certainly coudn't afford to pay £40 a bag to feed all mine. It is made especially for the greyhound trainers/breeders they make several different sorts with varying protein levels depending on what the greyhounds are doing mine have 1 for convalesing greyhounds with 20% it suits all of mine even the setter


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## Kelsey (Dec 10, 2008)

I think anything containing "wheat, dairy, soya or beef" is a big no no as these are the main dietary allergens. Both Skinners and Gilpa foods contain badies such as whole wheat and wheatflour and ingredients with added sugars. You'll also find foods that list "poultry" as their main ingredient, do not specify WHAT KIND of poultry or where it originates from. Make sure the main ingredient is a meat source - either chicken meal, lamb meal or fresh chicken or fresh lamb etc

If you are going to purchase a GOOD SUPER PREMIUM, then look at the ingredients and make sure the main allergens aren't included. 

My opinion - Arden Grange is THE best. It was the first product of its kind - I believe other companies have just followed suit.


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

We pay £27.49 for 15KG OF BURNS,SHOULD BE £41.99:thumbup1:


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## Kelsey (Dec 10, 2008)

Is that 41.99 the RRP for a general maintenance Burns diet? 

AG RRP for a general maintenance is about £35.

Why do you manage to get it so cheap? Do you buy in bulk? Breed? Sell?


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2009)

Arden Grange Lamb £25 no vat
Arden Grange puppy £32 no vat
Nature diet £6.99plus vat per case of 18


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## Kelsey (Dec 10, 2008)

Those prices aren't RRP? Are they? Where do you get it that cheap? 

I don't use Nature Diet - it doesn't agree with my dog - she had an upset tum all over our sitting room!! Not nice to come home too!! 

I stick with the Arden Grange Adult and that seems to agree with her lovely but RRP in my local shop is £35 - or just under - can't remember exactly.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Kelsey said:


> Those prices aren't RRP? Are they? Where do you get it that cheap?
> 
> I don't use Nature Diet - it doesn't agree with my dog - she had an upset tum all over our sitting room!! Not nice to come home too!!
> 
> I stick with the Arden Grange Adult and that seems to agree with her lovely but RRP in my local shop is £35 - or just under - can't remember exactly.


I get my arden grange on their breeders scheme i think its about £26 for the adult 15kg, i usually pick it up from shows to save on postage but sometimes i order it if you live locally i could get some for you.


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