# Walmart food brands



## Darkly_Innocent

I was just wondering what is the best brand of dog food sold at walmart. I have heard that walmart carries the low end quality food but if you had to pick one from there which brand would you choose?


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## LDMomma

I would choose the Newman's Own dog food if I had to choose kibble from Wal Mart.

If it could be any food at all from Wal Mart, I'd feed raw.


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## KittyD

I personally would not buy any food from Walmart.


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## LDMomma

KittyD said:


> I personally would not buy any food from Walmart.


I think this is one of those hypothetical questions like "You're stuck on an island with only Wal-Mart...." At least that's how I answered it


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## cprcheetah

If I ABSOLUTELY HAD to buy a food from walmart it would be raw chicken/beef/pork etc  Newman's Own is an 'okay' brand but not the best, honestly you will get more bang for your buck buying something like Wellness/Blue Buffalo from Petco/Petsmart, your dogs will eat less and it's better for them.


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## MChis

Mmm yeah. If I had to buy my dogs food at Walmart I'd also pick up some raw meat. LOL I'd never buy dog food at Walmart period. Seriously...it sceers the bajesus out of me!


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## flippedstars

Last year our Walmart had bags of dog food just sitting stacked out in the parking lot for months on end, covered in plastic, guess they had no where else to store it. I can only imagine the damage that did to the food which they then sold. I too would go with raw meat if Wal *Mart was my only choice for my doggie's food.


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## Brodysmom

Me too. I'd head over to the meat department and pick up some bone-in chicken breasts, some wings, and a couple of cornish hens. I'd be set for a couple of weeks.


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## 18453

Lol  I'd be buying some meat too I shop our supermarkets for my girls.... But I feed prey model raw so I get chicken pork beef lamb kidney and liver cheap mince abd were away 

Yesterday they had wood pigeon from the supermarket!!

So technically supermarkets sell the highest dog food


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## Darkly_Innocent

Thanks for all of the advice everyone. 

Ldmomma- Thanks, i will check for the newman's own.

I just looked on the walmart site and the brands listed are:
alpo
beneful
purina one
natural life
iams
pedigree
purina
moist & meaty
naturally complete
ol' roy
kibbles 'n bits
newman's own

I am going to look for newman's own first but if i can't find it because the site says that brand is only in limited stores which brand out of the above listed is the lesser of the evils?


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## KittyD

I would imagine they are all about the same.


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## tricializ

Well, of those brands, I would probably feed Purina One. Before I did research on dog foods, that's what I fed my dogs and I thought i was doing well. I will say that they were healthy and did fine on it. I now feed Sojos. Can I ask why you are limited to Walmart?


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## appleblossom

I like to review dog foor ratings on Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble


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## MChis

I'm also wondering why you're limited to Walmart for food? Sure by bag they are cheaper than a bag of a "specialty" food from pet stores that sell the higher end stuff - but you feed much less of a higher quality food because there isn't so much filler & they don't need as much to get all the nutrition as they would in a lower quality food. 

Honestly, we fed Pedigree & Purina One to my lab mix & he's just been diagnosed with lymphoma at 7yo. (has been super healthy until the tumors popped up suddenly in the past month) While some may disagree I feel his poor diet had a LOT to do with his life being cut so short. I will never ever feed a grocery store brand again even if a dog appears to be doing well on it. That's why I didn't try to change his food after he didn't do well on ONE higher quality food...I figured why fix something that isn't broke. I'm feeling very bad about it now.  

Anyway, to each their own. If you must get one of the foods listed Newmans Own is rated highest compared to the rest on the dog food analysis site (3 of 6 stars). Most of them listed are 1 of 6 stars and natural life I believe is rated 2 of 6 stars. But I'd take the plunge and look at pet specialty stores & do a bit more research before "settling". JMO.


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## LiMarChis

There's so many opinions on food that you'll have to read it all and then make your own opinion as to what works best for you. If you want "A" to be right, you can find something on the internet to say "A" is right....along with something else as equally compelling that says "A" is wrong. There are two sides to every story and you can "prove your case" with so called documentation on the internet both ways so it's not the best source of information. Most on CP feel strongly about the diet they feed and what they feel is best nutrionally. You'll still find there's huge differences on those opinions. Doesn't make them right or wrong for you. It's what works for them.

With that said, all I'm gonna offer is my opinion based on the exact question. If you are purchasing food at Wal-mart, I would suggest Purina One.


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## jazzman

LiMarChis said:


> There's so many opinions on food that you'll have to read it all and then make your own opinion as to what works best for you.


That's true to a degree, but the basics are always the same - you want to avoid grain ( filler ), and the ingredients list should be mostly real foods ( i.e. not animal byproducts and lists of words you cant pronounce)

If it's a cost issue, check with local or regional pet stores (Mounds is the one in my area). They sometimes offer very good food thats packaged under their stores brand name, but is purchased from another manufacturer.

The Mounds brand here is quite good, all things considered. 
If I couldn't get my brand of preference, I would definitely choose this option.


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## Brodysmom

Sometimes farm and feed stores carry Taste of the Wild or other premium foods. Our TSC (tractor supply) sells 4Health which is a very good, grain free food and it's quite cheap. I'd definitely do that before buying at Walmart.


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## LDMomma

If I absolutely had to feed one of those foods, I'd chose Purina One. However, I would exhaust all other options before doing so. 

You live in NC. We lived there when I started upgrading my girls food and around the time I realized that it was the grains that were causing Lily's itchy skin. 

There are several places that sell good food and decent prices (depending on your city of course). If you have a Pet Supermarket, they usually have very good prices and every 8th bag is free. 

You can also order from many sites online and have it shipped right to your house.


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## Amandarose531

I've found by the bag, if you can plot it out and take advantage of special offers + free shipping it's worth purchasing dog food from specialty websites for stocking up on (in reasonable amounts) and store in air-tight tupperware.

Certainly you'll spend more up front but lets be honest, kibble lasts quite some time. 

I personally use Eukanuba i'm afraid because i've tried quite a few of the higher end brands and the majority of them made my girl horribly horribly ill and I didn't want to stress her out anymore so I settled on Eukanuba. I did the transition from her old kibble to new just like instructed and still no dice, but I use the rice and lamb formula and it's very agreeable on her tummy. I do supplement for her to make sure she gets her nutrients and such but I find it's moderately affordable and a good bet for my house.


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## Darkly_Innocent

Tricializ & Mchis- There are two reasons why. First there are no pet stores in my town and secondly at this time i could't afford the high end brands anyway.

Appleblossom- Thank you for the link! I will look it over. Do you know if there is a website like that one but for cat foods?

Brodysmom- Thank you for the tractor supply suggestion! I forgot they sell pet foods and i have one in my town. I will look there first and see if they have those brands you mentioned.

Thanks again everyone for your advice. I will go by the dog food review link that was given and look around my stores.


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## huskyluv

Just thought I'd throw in another vote for Newman's Own IF you are set on shopping for dog kibble from Walmart. All things considered it's a pretty good food and my mom has a very picky chi who is very hard to feed and her chi will eat Newman's Own. I've looked at the bags and cans of Newman's Own that she has and it looks like a very decent food.


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## LDMomma

April if you have a Tractor Supply. 

There are two good food values there (at least that I'm aware of).

First, if you give their website your e-mail address, they will e-mail a coupon for $5.00 off.

You can purchase a bag of 4Health there. I think it's like $22.99 for 35 pounds. This price is equivalent (or maybe even better than) the lower foods at Wal-Mart. There is a version with "smaller bites" for the small breed doggies. From what I can tell, this food is similar to Blue. 

The second good deal is Taste of the Wild. This is a very high quality grain-free kibble that is very affordable. It is probably $1 higher than the Purina at Wal Mart.


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## tricializ

I have also found that I buy my Sojos on Amazon.com and it comes really fast, no tax and free shipping. It is true about the amount of food that the dogs eat of the higher quality is less. But like some others said, find something that works for you and for your dogs and be at peace with it. You can get some people pretty riled up about the whole food debate. Good luck and welcome.


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## MChis

Tractor supply is a great option that is easily forgotten! Thanks Tracy for mentioning it! Our local tractor supply (we live in a VERY small town btw - this place is probably 30 minutes away) has a lot of choices. I used to get our EVO there actually but they have many of the decent foods. And again...just because the bag itself is more expensive - usually it costs the same, or less, than a cheaper food if you figure out how much you're feeding your pup. When I was feeding EVO...all of my Chi's were only eating a total of 1/4c of food a day. I never did feed them grocery store brands but looking at one example (I randomly picked Purina One) the website suggest feeding a 3-10lb dog between 1/3c-1c a day).

There is also the option of ordering online. I know several people who order Honest Kitchen online & the next time I order a large bag of ZiwiPeak, even though I can get it locally, it's cheaper to buy it online. Granted, these two are the most expensive foods out there but you could probably buy one 11lb bag of ZiwiPeak (which cost about $105 including shipping online) and it will probably last one Chi close to 6 months. (you would have to put in gallon sized freezer bags & free what isn't being used so it stays fresh) Just to give an example...

I don't mean to sound uncaring or catty...but I was in the situation once too where I didn't know my options & once I realized these better foods *really* weren't more expensive (not counting the $$ you save by not needing to go to the vet as often for allergies, illnesses, etc) I was amazed & I always like to be sure people know their options. Because you typically don't hear about these options unless you go looking for them & I LOVE to help those who care about their pups nutrition get started.  Anyway, good luck in your search for the best food for your pup!


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## LDMomma

Yes, ordering offline can be cheaper than buying in person.

I order my Honest Kitchen online. Actually, we get packages for the dogs just about every day  I somehow got in a shopping mode and I can't stop :foxes15: 

I feed mine a WIDE variety of everything under the sun (- kibble for everyone except Riley and Roxy). At any given time, my girls are eating a rotation of HK, RMB's, premade frozen raw medallions, ziwipeak, canned EVO (duck), and various tripe/eggs type stuff. They have iron stomachs though so never have any loose poopies!


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## Darkly_Innocent

Huskyluv- Thanks for your vote of the walmart brands! Just have to say although its off topic i love the pic of your husky very beautiful breed! I have always wanted one since i was young. Hope to own one one day.

Ldmomma- Thanks so much! I think i am going to go with one of the two of these brands. If i went with the 4health brand i would get the small bites. What flavor of taste of the wild would be best? There are 3 listed on the site:
Pacific stream canine formula with smoked salmon
Wetlands canine formula with roasted fowl
High prairie canine formula with roasted bison & roasted venison

Tricializ & Mchis- Thanks very much!


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## LDMomma

I would just pick one of the flavors and try it. I'm big on variety so if I fed TOTW, I would rotate between the bags. We currently have TOTW with the Bison for Riley because she likes kibble.


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## cherper

Leila has Newmans own peanut butter treats. I bought them at our walmart and the ingredients are fine. So I would think the food *probably* is not bad either. I agree with the tractor supply, We have a Rural King which is a store like that and they have wellness food there.


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## Darkly_Innocent

I checked out tractor supply co and they had both brands. They had a 5 lb bag of 4health small bites for $5! I also checked the ingredients and from what i can tell it looks great! This is the brand i'm going with. I want to thank everyone for there help but especially brodysmom for remembering tractor supply co and ldmomma for telling me about these two brands that i had no clue even existed! 

I feel so much better now knowing that i am feeding jackson a healthier food, not breaking the bank, and not having to drive way out of town to get it. Thanks again everyone and i'm sure little jackson thanks you too!


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## cherper

YAY!:hello1: So glad you found something you're happy with.


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## Brodysmom

April0684 said:


> I checked out tractor supply co and they had both brands. They had a 5 lb bag of 4health small bites for $5! I also checked the ingredients and from what i can tell it looks great! This is the brand i'm going with. I want to thank everyone for there help but especially brodysmom for remembering tractor supply co and ldmomma for telling me about these two brands that i had no clue even existed!
> 
> I feel so much better now knowing that i am feeding jackson a healthier food, not breaking the bank, and not having to drive way out of town to get it. Thanks again everyone and i'm sure little jackson thanks you too!


I'm thrilled that you found the 4health brand there. It is really a good food and so reasonably priced. It's WAYYYYYYYYYYYY better than anything you could get at Walmart and probably even cheaper. Good for YOU for researching and asking questions. So glad we could help you!


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## LDMomma

I'm so glad that you found something you're happy with!


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## cprcheetah

I wish we had a tractor supply here. We have a farm store but they are way expensive, 30# TOTW $46!


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