Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula
Blue Buffalo always features real meat as the first ingredient. The rest of the ingredients include wholesome vegetables, fruit, and grains. There are no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives in this lamb and brown rice recipe, but there are the companys trademark LifeSource Bits, a blend of nutrients enhanced with anti-oxidants.
Best Value: Pedigree Adult Dry Dog Food
If you want a good dog food that wont break the bank, consider Pedigree Adult Dry Dog Food. Its filled with essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy life, including omega-6 fatty acids for healthy skin and coat. Its made in the USA, and users report that their dogs love the flavor. Best of all, it contains no artificial flavors.
Diamond Naturals Beef And Rice Formula
This affordably priced natural brand contains no corn, no wheat, and no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Diamond also makes grain-free formulas at a higher price point. We like that they include probiotics for better digestion in all of their foods, too. Dog Food Advisor gives this brand an average 4-star rating and calls it highly recommended, which is more than many bargain natural dog foods receive.
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Iams Minichunks Adult Lamb & Rice Recipe
Image courtesy Iams
The Iams Minichunks Adult Lamb & Rice Recipe is a complete and balanced diet for adult dogs. The first ingredient in this food is real lamb, which demonstrates that it’s not only good, but actually excellent!
The high-quality food is also enhanced with vegetables, fruit, and whole grains to give your dog a complete and balanced diet. The Iams Minichunks Adult Lamb & Rice Recipe is devoid of artificial colors, tastes, and preservatives.
Jinx Chicken Sweet Potato & Egg Recipe
Packed with protein from organic chicken and supplemented with more than 20 superfoods for balanced nutrition, this high-quality kibble ships directly to your door. Jinx offers Subscribe & Save deals on their nutritionist formulated, vet approved recipes along with a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. Designed for optimal digestibility, this kibble helps improve gut health, immunity, and skin and coat condition.
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Best Cheap Puppy Food
Growing puppies need a lot of calories and nutrients to accommodate their growing bodies, which is why they get their own type of food. Some formulas are designed to meet the nutritional needs of all ages, but those require puppies to eat more to meet their nutritional needs.
Puppy-specific diets offer increased fat, calories, omega fatty acids, and other nutrients so that growing puppies can get more nutrition in smaller meals. Puppy food is often a little more expensive than those designed for adults, but that doesnt mean you cant find affordable healthy dog food for your baby pooch.
Top Pick: Nutram Sound Puppy
Puppies need plenty of high-quality nutrients to accommodate their short growing periods. Nutram Sound Puppy Food maximizes your puppy’s nutrition with wholesome flavourful proteins like chicken and whole eggs to support muscle development.
With plenty of healthy fats from salmon oil and flaxseed, this puppy diet provides energy for the brain to develop and helps your puppy learn. And theyre Canadian too, eh!
How Often Should I Feed My Dog
Swanson explains that several factors determine the frequency of feeding, such as life stage, health status, and palatability. “The most important thing is to feed a complete and balanced diet and provide controlled amounts of food. Monitor your dog’s body weight and body condition over time and adjust feeding amounts so that a healthy body weight is maintained,” he says.
Dog food labels include feeding guidelines. However, these are general recommendations. Your veterinarian can provide individualized feeding recommendations for your dog to ensure proper nutrition and calorie intake.
Free choice feeding is not recommended because it can lead to overeating. Dogs aren’t known for their portion control, so food should not be left out for all-day eating.
Many dog owners love to feed treats to their dogs. When overdone, though, treats can add lots of extra calories to a dog’s diet, possibly leading to weight gain. Treats should comprise no more than 10% of a dog’s daily caloric intake. Your veterinarian can help you determine how many “treat” calories your dog can have each day.
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The Dangers Of Traditional Dog Food
In the past few years, theres been a lot of growth in the world of dog food. For a long time, commercially made dry and wet dog food were the only options for dog owners. Easy-to-buy and cheap, this packaged and preserved food, sold in bags and cans to prolong shelf life, was the most popular option for dog owners.
However, when you feed your dog commercially made dog food, its like feeding them fast food but worse. The substandard processes and ingredients used to make this food could result in a host of health issues for your dog: lethargy, allergies, hair loss, heart disease, diabetes, early aging, cancer.
What Do Natural And Organic Mean On Dog Food Labels
Before we get to the list of affordable natural dog food brands, lets talk about what natural means. The Association of American Feed Control Officials defines natural as a feed or feed ingredient derived solely from plant, animal, or mined sourcesnot having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic.
Of course, there are quite a few substances derived from plant, animal, or mined sources that shouldnt show up in dog food. When it comes to dog foods, natural is a marketing term that typically means you can expect the food to be free of corn, wheat, soy, food processing byproducts, and artificial colors. But its important to read the label closely, as there are no regulations governing the use of the term natural.
The term organic, however, requires industry certification. AAFCO explains that to be labeled organic, animal foods must meet the U.S. Department of Agricultures production and handling standards for organic foods for people. This article from The Bark explains that plant ingredients in pet foods must be grown without pesticides, artificial fertilizers, genetic modification, irradiation, or sewage sludge. Animal ingredients in organic dog food, including meat and eggs, must come from animals raised on organic feed, given access to the outdoors, and not treated with antibiotics or hormones.
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Chicken Soup For The Soul Dry Dog Food
Rating:
Chicken Soup for the Soul Classic Adult is one of 9 recipes included in our review of the Chicken Soup for the Soul dry product line.
- First 5 ingredients: Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, cracked pearled barley
- Type: Grain-inclusive
- Price:About 1.43 per pound
- Best For: Adult dogs
- See all 9 available recipes
Chicken Soup for the Soul Classic Adult derives the majority of its meat protein from poultry and poultry meal. Our dry matter label evaluation reveals the recipe contains 28% protein, 14% fat and 50% estimated carbs producing a fat-to-protein ratio of about 52%.
Typical buyer reviewWe have 4 dogs ranging from a puggle to a great dane and all four have thrived on Chicken Soup. They enjoy it and two of them have exceeded their expected life span and are still vibrant happy campers. The two younger dogs have done well on it as well. Read the ingredients, its top shelf dog food at a reasonable price. Im a customer for life.
Blue Buffalo Life Protection Dry Dog Food
Rating:
Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice is one of 21 recipes included in our review of the Blue Buffalo Life Protection dry product line.
- First 5 ingredients: Deboned chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, barley, oatmeal
- Type: Grain-inclusive
- Price:About 1.65 per pound
- Best For: Adult dogs
- See all 21 available recipes
This particular Blue Buffalo Life Protection gets the bulk of its meat protein from chicken and chicken meal. Our dry matter label study reveals the recipe contains 27% protein, 16% fat and 50% estimated carbs which creates a fat-to-protein ratio of about 58%.
Typical buyer reviewBertie was losing weight and lots of loose stools. The vet put him on Rx diet which worked but was a bit expensive. We ordered the Life Protection and it appears to work fine at a lesser cost! I tried a few different foods with him but this seemed to give me the best results with him.
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Eukanuba Dry Dog Food
Rating:
Eukanuba Small Bites is one of 14 recipes included in our review of the Eukanuba dry product line.
- First 5 ingredients: Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn, wheat, chicken fat
- Type: Grain-inclusive
- Price:About 1.58 per pound
- Best For: Adult dogs
- See all 14 available recipes
Eukanuba Small Bites takes the majority of its animal protein portion from chicken. Our dry matter label study reveals the recipe contains 28% protein, 18% fat and 46% estimated carbs resulting in a fat-to-protein ratio of about 64%.
Typical buyer reviewMy dogs are super picky, but love all the eukanuba foods. Its cheaper than what we were purchasing before and the dogs dont mind at all.
American Journey Grain-Free gets most of its animal protein from fresh salmon as well as chicken and turkey meals. Dry matter label analysis reveals the recipe contains 36% protein, 16% fat and 41% estimated carbs which results in a fat-to-protein ratio of about 44%.
Typical buyer reviewFor dogs with sensitivities, especially to grain and chicken, this is hands down the best and most affordable option on the market. Weve shopped around and tried other limited ingredient foods, including pro plan, and this has been the only food we can trust for our dog. Wouldnt know what to do without american journey!
Reasonably priced and recommended with confidence.
Depending on its level of freshness and purity, salmon oil should be considered a commendable addition.
How We Chose The Best Dog Food
In order to find the best dog food among so many options, we took a look at the following factors:
Product lines. We looked at a brands options for different ages, sizes, breeds and health concerns to see if consumers could find what they were looking for, regardless of their dogs circumstances.
Ingredients. We read through the ingredients list, comparing them to label standards set by the FDA and AAFCO, and third-party ingredient analysis.
Recalls. We searched the recalls for each brand during the past decade to gauge not only the quality of the products, but a companys transparency and its approach to solving the issues.
Price. We calculated prices per pound or ounce and compared them with competing products in the same category to determine their value. Naturally, recipes with whole meats versus recipes with meat meals may be costlier, but could offer higher value.
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Look For Quality At An Affordable Price
Recipes made with cheap fillers and plant-based protein boosters are of little nutritional value to your dog.
Top-rated brands selling at budget-friendly prices.
To help you find these money-saving gems
The Dog Food Advisor searched its vast database of over 5700 recipes and uncovered the following 4 and 5-star budget-friendly brands.
Each offers exceptional quality at an affordable price.
Since our research team is always discovering new budget-friendly brands, be sure to bookmark this page so you can return for future savings.
The Best Dog Food Available In Australia
Our #1 Pick
Ingredients: Sustainable Kangaroo, Sweet Potato, Peas, Lentils, Carrots, Broccolli & Broccoli Stem, Tomato, Spinach, Kelp, Blueberries, Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Turmeric, Chicken Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Fish Oil, Vitamin and Minerals .
The Best Nutritional & Cost Option
PETZYO DRY DOG FOOD
- Ethically sourced Kangaroo, Chicken or Salmon, sweet potato & superfood extras
- Iron-rich & low fat proteins
- Three Omega 3 and 6 rich oils with a well balanced 11% fat content
- Superfoods such as blueberries, turmeric, and a flavoursome mix of herbs
- Australian owned with hundreds of 5 Star Reviews
- Priced better than major food brands
- Lightning fast-free shipping
Did you know Australias pet food industry is largely unregulated?
This can make it challenging for pet owners who want to give their faithful companion excellent nutrition for a fair price.
That is why we wrote this guide on the best dog food in Australia. In it, you’ll find information on how to read a dog food label, what to look for in quality feed, and our top choices in several categories of food on the market.
It is important to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for the best kibble. Instead, different dogs have different nutritional needs. We made this guide to include top choices in a variety of different categories. Ready? Let’s dive in!
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Victor Purpose Senior Healthy Weight Dry Dog Food
- Type of Product: Dry food
- Life Stage: Senior
- Best for: Seniors
- AAFCO statement: formulated to meet the nutritional needs established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance
Starting with beef meal, this nutrient-dense formula has essential amino acids to support healthy muscles. Menhaden fish meal and chicken fat provide sources of omegas and other essential fatty acids. The fat content is adequate to fuel your older pupâs activity level.
This food has natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin to support joint function. The formula includes probiotics and L-carnitine to aid digestion and boost metabolism.
With gluten-free grains and no fillers, this food has appropriate nutritional density for your furbaby. There are no artificial additives or preservatives in the formula.
A Quick Glance Of Some Of Our Top 10 Cheap Dog Food
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We’ve done the 2020’s dog food price breakdown to find the best dog food for the money and how these brands fair against each other. These ten cheap dog food brands don’t have the lowest price tag. There are even cheaper dog food brands that will have lower-quality ingredients. However, foods mentioned here, considering their cost-to-value ratio, are inexpensive for the quality they offer.
Note that this list contains the best cheap dog foods for adult dogs. If you’re looking for puppy food, take a look at our 25 top puppy foods breakdown at different prices.
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Which Cheap Dog Foods Are The Healthiest
Cheap dog foods from trusted brands such as Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, and American Journey are suitable for your dog, but whats healthy for your dog depends largely on the individual dogs breed, state of life, and lifestyle. Understanding these is the key to finding the right dog food for your baby.
Nutro Natural Choice Adult Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
- First 5 ingredients: Chicken, Brewers Rice, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Whole Grain Barley
- Key feature: Non-GMO Ingredients
- Guaranteed Analysis: 22% crude protein 14%crude fat 3.5% crude fiber 10% moisture
- Caloric Content: 343 kcal/cup
- Type of Product: Dry food
- Life Stage: Adult
- Best for: Best Overall
- AAFCO statement: formulated to meet the nutritional needs established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance
With chicken as the top ingredient and chicken meal in the top five, this formula is protein-rich and supports healthy muscles. Flaxseed and chicken fat provide healthy sources of essential fatty acids including omegas. These nutrients support immune function and promote healthy skin and hair.
Whole grains offer digestible carbohydrates that are gentle on the gut. Garden vegetables offer a rich source of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. The formula is supplemented to ensure complete and balanced nutrition.
The formula includes a prebiotic fiber to promote digestion. There are no artificial ingredients or GMO products in the food. It also contains no fillers, corn, soy, or wheat.
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Ziwi Peak Moist Beef For Dogs Review
Ziwi Peak is a New Zealand-based pet food brand that is best known for its range of Air Dried Dog Food recipes.
Air-dried dog food is similar to freeze-dried dog food and is probably the most expensive form of dog food available. Many dog owners may have purchased freeze-dried treats before and will know how appealing they can be.
While these niche products may be Ziwi Peaks best-known feature, we should also note that they have some of the highest quality ingredients found in pet food.
High-quality meats like Lamb, Venison, and Beef are sourced from local New Zealand suppliers and are comparable to the meat that many dog owners will eat.
You can learn more about Ziwi Peaks ingredients, including where they are sourced in our Ziwi Peak Brand Review.
While it does not get much focus, Ziwi Peak produces moist dog food, which is just another way of describing wet or canned dog food. The above Moist Beef Recipe is a prime example of this.
While we have already discussed the use of organ meat ingredients in dog food, Ziwi Peak takes this one step further and includes a massive range of organ meat ingredients in their recipes.
Examples of this include the Liver, Kidneys, Lungs, Heart, and more. The broad range, the high quantity, and the source of these organ meats are a guarantee that they can provide dogs with a range of beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Potato And Duck Recipe
Natural Balance is grain-free and made from a short list of premium ingredients with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Best of all, it comes in many different formulas to meet your dogs specific protein needs. The price is a bit higher than some on this list, but it features a top-notch, limited ingredient formula that may be ideal for dogs with food allergies or sensitivities.
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