What is with the Unavalibility of Certain Foods??

Hi, I have decided to switch dog foods.

Since I live in a town with only farm stores and supermarkets, I can not get any of the dog foods anyone talks about on here.

Plus I cannot afford the premium foods....I am feeding 3 large dogs, plus I supplement the neighbors "backyard tieouts" secretly of course.

Anyway, I have heard talk of kirkland signature..........the nearest store is 1.5 hours away. So my best friends husband works at this town and drives there everyday thru the week. He has agreed to pick up the food for me, and I will pay for it, plus the annual membership fees for Cosco. It will end up being about the same as I pay now, but at least the food will be somewhat better. I know it is not any where near the best, but from what I gather it is better than the food that is available where I live.

My question is....
For my active Labs and Shepherd which would be better??

Chicken & Rice
Lamb & Rice
Premium

Or another??? I did call them and they mentioned these particular kinds.

I also supplement with some raw meat/bones, and some cooked meat, like chicken, deer, turkey, etc. They also get occasional leftovers, if not seasoned too much.

My question really is, which type of food would be better for my dogs?
Chicken & Rice
Lamb & Rice
Premium

Or is there another I am not aware of that the Kirkland Sig. Brand offers?

Thank You,
Julie.

I think my dogs like the chicken better,but my dobe has gas with it. He is sticking to the lamb. I honestly don't know if one is better than the other.

It angered me for a while cuz I was trying to help my grandparents get their dogs on a good food and I wanted eagle pack. Everyone said pet supplies plus,the store locater said ours had it,and they didn't. Said they never even heard of it and can not order it. So we were out shopping like an hour from her place and finally found a store that sold it and all the other brands I hear about. I was in doggie food heaven

I feel your pain Julie. I'm in the same situation here. My city, while decent-sized, has very poor choice in dog food. My only source is Petco. There are a few pet shops that sell good stuff, but they also sell puppy mill puppies. I can't buy food there in good conscience. We're pretty isolated, so it's a 3 1/2-hour drive to the nearest large city that has the really good food, like Innova or Eagle Pack. And I have a large dog, so mail-order is out of my budget. Nothing's worse than shipping charges on a 30-40 lb bag of dog food.

there are companies that offer free shipping on dog food ordered online, and also some who charge minimally (e.g. around $3 per bag). i only have limited resources tho and can't be of much help unless i know where someone lives.

i highly recommend contacting the manufacturers of the food(s) you are interested in directly and telling them that you want to purchase their products but currently can't. almost all of them will be very willing to help, often by referring you to distributors (not retailers). not only pet and feed/farm stores sell dog food, but often also humane societies, kennels, training schools and so on.

i like my dogs on lamb better but that is me... id ontl ike the chicken and the protiens in it because of the grease..

nutritionally speaking, there is no advantage of strictly lamb based foods. they just became "the" hot thing on the pet food market in the 1980s and a few "prominent" manufacturers took it upon themselves to hype these products.

allergies/sensitivities are a different topic, and the reason why the first lamb and rice diets were manufactured - as an alternative to more traditional, beef or chicken based foods for allergic dogs.

in my personal opinion, unless a dog is allergic or sensitive to specific ingredients, a food with multiple meat sources is the better choice, since in combination they create a more complete amino acid profile.

chicken is also much higher in linolenic acid, which is an essential omega 6 fatty acid important for skin and coat health.

I have also heard that chicken, like Mordy said, is better for the skin and coat for that exact reason. If you compare, lamb based diets are usually lacking in fat if compared to a chicken based diet. I would look into the Kirkland premium, it may have a higher percentage of meat/protein and that much needed fat!!!

Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt chicken an allergin for a lot of dogs?

it depends on the individual dog. also, to clear up a misconception i often read, you won't be avoiding that your dog ever gets allergies by not feeding what are touted as the "top allergens", whether it be chicken, beef, corn, wheat or other things.

as long as the individual dog doesn't have a problem with an ingredient, there is no reason not to feed it. example: i feed my dog pieces corn muffins (made from corn meal) now and then as a treat because he loves the taste. pitcairn also includes corn meal in some of his home cooked recipes.

last but not least, quality also plays a large role. not all kibbles use the same quality of chicken meal, and combined with other poor quality ingredients you are very likely to see problems. but there are many, many raw feeders out there who feed mainly chicken for economic reasons and it's not a problem at all. of course that is generally human grade chicken.