Welcome....You CAN'T compare grocery store brands "price per pound" to high quality foods...It doesn't work that way! The grocery store/discount center brands are so full of unhealthy fillers that you must feed your dog much more for the same amount of nutrition.....The better quality foods are ingredients that can be utilized, so you feed less.....The proof will be in the poop.....Dogs on great foods poop small amounts because their systems are able to absorb the ingredients....Dogs on crap foods, poop huge amounts because they cannot use most of the unhealthy fillers.....It goes right through their systems.....In the long run, price per pound DOES NOT come into play....
I personally feed Natures Variety & always do a rotation of all products including their Raw line......I do their "Instinct" line which is grain free AND their "Prairie" line which does contain whole grains.....I feed very little kibble....I also LIKE whole grains like Brown rice, Barley, Oats, Quinola.....But RAW (Hands down) is always their favorite......I have 4 dogs here.....4yr. old, 10 yr. old, 11yr. old & 13yr old....They all eat the same food......
Check out Dogfoodadvisor.com for more information......Karla
I'd stay away from the grocery store stuff, the stuff you see advertised on TV.
See the web siet Dogfoodadvisor for ratings and try to buy 4 star.
A lower cost 4 star is 4Health sold only by Tractor Supply. They have both Grain Free Kibble and other good Kibble that doesn't have corn, soy and "limited" other junk that is mostly filler. Canned food should be use too and in general it is not sold as "grain free" but is in fact mostly grain free - e.g. no corn and soy... 4Health is 13oz can for about $1. Kibble is typically under $2 a pound best I can recall. I purchased their White Fish No Grain kibble on sale for $5 for 4 pounds. Larger bags are usually lower cost per pound.
About a year ago I tried a bunch of different foods for my two dogs, including a homemade diet. We did food trials and a mail-in allergy test kit for them.
One dog ended up being diagnosed with a stomach tumor which was removed right before Christmas and the other dog has suspected allergies (his muzzle always used to be red & itchy).
They have both been on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach dry and canned food for over six months now and they are both doing GREAT on it. Cans cost about $1.50 each so it's not one of the super-expensive kinds. I would suggest you give it a shot. Good luck!
Orijen is a fantastic grain-free dog food. I buy it from chewy.com. I pay $85 for a 28 pound bag, which feed my 70 lb baby for about 6 weeks. I only feed him 1 cup in the AM and I cup in the PM. Since Orijen is such a high quality food you can feed less and still maintain your dog's weight.
Boomer loves the Six Fish Orijen, which is great for skin problems.
I give our dog Frohms beef, because its grain free but mostly because the kernels are small and easier for her to chew. She's old, so I add low sodium broth to it to make it even easier to chew. The 12lb. bag costs $35, but lasts a month,
Iams is one of the better dog foods that aren't ridiculously expensive. They have a grain free one and it's about 17 dollars for a 20 pound bag. I haven't tried it since my dog also has a chicken intolerance but before that I always used iams and was always pleased with it.