Why does Grain Free have to be so expensive?!

We are rotating Wellness CORE, Acana Ranchlands (I think), and Canidae GF, and it's freaking breaking my bank. All the bags are a good $60-$75 bucks for 30 pounds, which is fine now, but with adding two more dogs in the next two-three dogs, it's going to be insane. I mean, the bags last a good while, but I'm going to have to start buying two to three bags at a time eventually as to not be at the store once a week.

I've tried feeding 4Health and Innova and wasn't thrilled with either.. Coat was greasy, weird poops, neither were grain free as far as I know... Do you rotate grain foods with grain free? Harlow does okay with grain, but thrives with GF. We've had Rider on a grain food once, and it didn't go over well.

Before moving to CO, we were on Diamond, which she actually did really well on. But, that was before I learned what was good and bad food. In CO, we were living with other people, so we pretty much sucked it up and had her eat a decent, but still grain, food from Kirkland. When we finally got out on our own again, we switched to completely grain free, with 4Health once when we were short on money, and with Innova before I realized the bag I had bought was grain inclusive.

Wow, this got big. I guess this is mainly a rant? Unless somebody has tips on where to find cheap GF kibble at a local store. I really don't want to be shipping foods.

Because grain is relatively inexpensive, lol.

We go through a bag a week with four dogs, you sure you want to do that? lol

Because you're feeding some of the most expensive grain free foods out there? Core and Canidae GF are way way WAAAAY overpriced for what you are getting.

Can you get any of the following?
-Merrick GF
-Nutrisource GF
-Nutrisca
-Earthborn GF
-Fromm GF (this is more up there, though)

I'm sure I'll think of more and then add them. But seriously, you are feeding REALLY expensive foods, I wouldn't pay that much for Canidae or Core, ever.

This lol
But I totally get where you are coming from. It helps that you can feed less than you would be on lesser diets.. but still.

Merlin is on Acana/Fromm, I love both companies and love the product but sometimes I feel like there is liquid gold hidden in the bags :rofl1:

Word of advice though, I would suggest going online and dealing with shipping. The markup at retail stores is often quite a lot.

Start browsing the store locators of the foods you are interested in, maybe there is a local shop you don't know about?

Don't know how close this is to you, but you can get NutriSource here...
Oak Ridge Feed
7035 Stadium Drive
Kalamazoo MI, 49009

And Fromm is retailed here...
Bark's 5th Avenue
3015 Oakland Dr.
Kalamazoo, MI 49008

and here...
7429 S. Westmedge Avenue
Portage, MI 49002

Give them a call, see if they have Buy 10 Get 1 Free programs and what their prices are. See what other GF foods they carry are...

There is also a Pet Supplies Plus in Kalamazoo, they usually have a pretty good selection

This is why I'm glad my dogs are fine with grains lol. Juno actually seems to do better on grain kibbles.

Even Acana Wild prairie isn't too bad, here at least. Ranchlands is ridiculous, that's Orijen priced!

Merrick's not too bad. Or Earthborn. Fromm is maybe pushing it. Sorry I'm probably just copying everyone else, my phone ate the other responses and I csnt see them!

Merrick Grain Free is around $50-$60. Fromm Grain Free is $60-$70. I got Acana for around $50-$60. CORE is definitely up there for what it is.

But yeah, grain cheapens food. And of course certain protiens are more expensive too. I'm just happy I can make a 30lb bag of Acana or Fromm last a good 12 weeks.

*snerk* you could feed raw... its typically less than half the price of the really high end kibbles. you need a freezer and a place to buy bulk, but it can be drastically cheaper

Pet Supplies Plus is where we get our food now. We had them on Nutrisource for a while, it was okay I guess. I just wasn't overly pleased with it, I guess. Infinia is also offered at Oak Ridge, I just haven't done enough research either way on them.

Tried switching to raw, it did not go over well AT ALL. Both the dogs got pretty sick. I probably should have stuck it out but it got to a point where cleaning up diarrhea and vomit constantly was exhausting.

She had the same problems I did with my pittie, Frost!

Have you thought about TOTW or Earthborn? They are both grain free... but there is the whole diamond recalls thing that worries a lot of people... I was feeding it for a long time until Frag got intolerant to it, again... They're usually about $46 there for 30lbs and last time I checked, they had a buy ten get one free thing to do.

What about natural balance? I know they are LID, idk about grain free?

Now I'm rotating whatever is on sale at PSP that is a high end grain in or grain free food. They got Blue Buffalo small breed longevity or something like that today. They love the small kibble sizes. XD

I feed the grain free from costco *shrug*

I fed orijen, acana and evo in the past. My guys don't act any different on the nature's domain.

I fed and like that food but the smell of poop on it (like the smell of TOTW) made me sick. I do however think its a good alternative.

Unfortunately feeding raw is not an option for us currently so we feed Acana but I do like what I see from nutrisca as far as the less costly options listed.

Were you feeding the turkey or the fish Adrienne?

So... what were you feeding as far as raw goes and for how long?

I've helped lots of people switch, usually with feeding a small amount (so if the dog 'should' eat a pound a day, they start with half a pound or less) and canned sweet potato or pumpkin mixed in, a few tablespoons. Then a bit more and so on to see how they tolerate. No bone meals at first, ground, with digestive enzymes and probiotics added.

You could also do beef bones, frozen, for 10 minutes and take away, repeating daily till they're used to that sort of thing as well.

Then feed kibble some days, and raw other days.

The blue bag... I'm going to say fish? It wasn't a bad food really but in Vegas with a small yard and four dogs I got to know the smell of poop reeeeally well and that one was awful to the point I had to beg Denis to do the poop clean up because I couldn't stomach it and I clean poop all day at my work. lol

this. there IS a method to switching to raw and yeah... if you do it "wrong" you will get canon butt fo sho. typically you fast the dog for a day, and start with a single protein (chicken leg is the typical one) for more than a month, along with canned pumpkin and slippery elm to help transition the GI tract to the sudden change

think about it. if you ate the same meal 3 meals a day every day for 10 years and then suddenly ate a cheeseburger, YOU WOULD GET CANON BUTT TOO :rofl1: your GI would think no other substances exist, until you shock it with one

Op stuck with the same method I was told to use via the FB group. Our dogs were puking daily after vein fasted and sticking to one boney chicken source with no additives. My pit bull was puking 10+ times a week and lost a lot of weight. My BC had it coming out both ends in the house. No thanks.

Raw isn't for everyone nor will it fix everything. I recommend RMB for every dog, no matter the diet, but otherwise find what works for your dog AND you.

Pip was the same way. The others do great on raw, he got so sick so often that he refused to eat it. So I don't make him.