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This year, Americans spent a whopping $21 billion dollars on food for our beloved furkids! That’s a billion dollar increase over last year, and that number is estimated to increase even more next year as we adopt more pets and continue to feed our dogs higher quality, better foods.
I’m sure we’d all agree our pets are worth every penny, but wouldn’t you love to know how to shave some of those expenses? One way is to determine where to buy the cheapest dog food online. I set out to do just that.
There are so many websites where you can buy dog food. Many of them offer prices much lower than you’ll find in pet stores. But, be careful. Once you add them to your shopping cart and calculate shipping costs, you may end up paying well over what you’d pay in a brick and mortar store.
So we’ve done the comparison work for you.
Here’s a sampling of several high quality dog foods, descriptions and package sizes along with their pricing – with the shipping included. In the examples below, Wag.com offers free shipping above $35, Chewy.com offers free shipping over $45 and Amazon has free shipping with a Prime account, which we included in our calculations. Pet Food Direct offers free shipping coupon codes which we did not search for, as their prices were rarely the lowest.
In our research, most often we find Amazon to be the cheapest place to buy dog food! See below:
Anne
May 1, 2016 at 9:37 am
I always suspected Amazon was the cheapest place to pick up dog food. Plus, they deliver right to the door, can’t beat that! Lately I’ve been buying in bulk though and my veterinarian is able to get a bulk discount on certain brands so you could always try asking them if they’re able to help you out in that department.
-Anne
Kennie
Apr 27, 2016 at 8:33 am
Sad that we are now recommending online retailers instead of mom and pop dealers who truly CARE about your pets. When they are gone, online retailers won’t be able to offer the advice these stores have offered for years. Shame on you for suggesting this to your readers.
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Nina
Dec 28, 2013 at 5:26 pm
This is a great list of foods and I like the way you have set up this chart. I’ve never tired Halo before. I’ll have to see if Butler likes it.
clarice_satterfield
Dec 2, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Thanks a ton! This a remarkable webpage.
Kelly Roach
Dec 1, 2013 at 10:27 am
I just stopped feeding Bravo raw food to my 4 yr. old Lab….too much effort driving 30 min. to get it,thawing it out and cutting it up. The expense was bad as well. Trying Origen now and will feed leftovers fruit vegies meat as well. Having a little bit of a hard time with the decision because I really believe raw is best.
Jerry Collins
Nov 30, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Why buy dog food anyway? I get pork loin for .99 a pound and chicken leg quarters for .59 to .69, when I buy 100 lbs at a time. Tractor supply sells the highest quality dog food on the market in 4 or 5 flavors. “4 HEALTH” is a grain (and junk) free dog food of highest quality with no bi- products for .99 a can. Trash like old roy, pedigree or alpo is bad for your dogs, and will kill wolfdogs. At .99 a can, that’s about $ 1.40 a pound with tax. No tax on food in Ky, means I can get 2 pound of real meat for .18 more. I have an outside oven and freezer where I keep road kill deer. My mutts eat well. We put our cocker spaniel on the same diet, and all her health problems, even her allergies went away.
Mary
Nov 30, 2013 at 7:21 am
Amazon is telling me with my Prime membership that it is still 1-3 months for delivery of the dog food. Is it worth the wait? I would rather get it when I need it at the store…
Diana
Nov 29, 2013 at 7:21 pm
So any other comments about Taste of the Wild? Have three dogs and they like it and seem healthy. I am really concerned about all the recalls and cautious about treats. Thought Taste of the Wild was pretty good food. Any info appreciated.
Dustin
Nov 2, 2017 at 2:05 am
My Rottweiler Love taste a wild An seems to be working good for her skin is way better then the diamond use to feed her
Nancy
Nov 27, 2013 at 1:10 am
Dogfoodadvisor.com
Jennifer Sullivan
Nov 26, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Victor is the best! 40# bag $27.50 best stuff around y’all are all being fooled into thinking the others are even close to comparison.
Sharon
Nov 26, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Every year Whole Dog Journal does one issue focusing on dry dog food and another focusing on canned food that compares the nutrition of all major brands.
Dawn
Nov 26, 2013 at 3:07 pm
You forgot DrsFosterSmith.com! They have 28lb bags for $38.99 and it is frequently on sale for $29.00 and the 15 lb. bags are only $29.99. And it is , in my opinion the best dog food on the market. Fed it to my cocker who lived to 19yrs old and have started my new pup on it now!
Mass Produced
Oct 29, 2013 at 8:46 am
None of those foods are healthy for your dogs. When they have to include enzyme cultures because the food is more or less indigestible, that should be a huge red flag.
No mass-produced dog food is healthy for your dogs. It’s all highly-processed and uses meat stock of dubious origin (Chinese animal meals, farmed fish not fit for human consumption, etc) along with fillers, chemicals, preservatives, and other things that are poisonous to dogs.
The only way to ensure that your dogs gets natural, healthy food is to make it yourself. And, with some of these dog foods costing $3/lb or more, it’s cheaper to do it yourself.
We make our own dog food using natural, locally-HUNTED organic meats (deer, squirrel, possum, etc), plant roots, vegetables, acorns, and other things that dogs were designed to eat naturally in the wild. We developed our own recipes by watching what our dogs would eat in the woods behind our house.
They are happy, healthy, and even our 13 year old has the energy and vitality of a dog half her age.
Stop listening to “Big Dog Food” and do what’s right for your companions. They have every right to eat good, healthy food.
Sharon
Nov 26, 2013 at 5:13 pm
Not true. Blue buffalo is american sourced. You can find out on Whole Dog Journal the sourcing for the various major brands.
Kristin
Nov 26, 2013 at 6:33 pm
Our dogs eat raw as of three years ago (just meat, bones, and organs), and they are the healthiest they’ve ever been. Our 9 year old was mistaken for a youngster at training class this fall.
Of course, we also stopped vaccinating, which is a discussion onto itself!
Rachel
Oct 24, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Has anyone tried Darwin’s Natural Pet Products?
A friend recommended it to us and we’ve never been happier.
We have three Chihuahua’s and they love raw food!
I can’t say enough great things about this company.
chris
Oct 24, 2013 at 11:41 am
I have ordered on line before, but with 4 rescue dogs – rottweilers – so I have heavy weight orders. What kills me is the shipping.
Jeannette
Oct 23, 2013 at 10:49 am
Would never buy Taste of the Wild. it is made by Diamond Pet, and they have had to many salmonella contaminations and recalls.
Jean Guarr
Oct 23, 2013 at 12:02 am
Fromm’s Beef Frittata and Pork & Applesauce are good foods, and I love the company. I had a question, so I emailed them and that same morning I got a call from a company vet. He could have just emailed, but he wanted to make sure I had all the info I needed.
Trish
Oct 24, 2013 at 5:51 pm
That is because FROMM is a family fun and always will be business. Go to their website and read about them and their history. Been around since 1904.
Did you know they introduced the first canine distemper vaccine?
frommfamily.com
Naomi
Oct 22, 2013 at 8:46 pm
I recently found chewy.com to buy Fromm dog food. It’s less expensive than a local ’boutique’ pet store and shipping is amazingly fast.
Linda
Nov 30, 2013 at 11:56 am
I just switched to Fromm and got it from chewy.com. They are the cheapest of anybody and free shipping.
Suzanne H
Oct 22, 2013 at 8:33 pm
I’d really like to see a dog food quality comparison, since I’ve heard most are junk. Have tried to decipher the labels. but not sure what most of the ingredients are. I really hate feeding my best buds basically garbage food. Could use some help in that department.
PS the prices on the premium food aren’t in the budget as my dogs are large breeds, and consume about 9 cups per day!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Suzanne
Stefanie Ford
Oct 22, 2013 at 11:37 pm
did u ever consider cooking for your dogs? That way you know whats in the food and it might be cheaper than conventional dog food. my friend does it for her husky. she makes a lot and freezes it in portions. theres a lot of recipes to be found online. good luck. oh and instead of buying them all the toxic treats like milkbone or beggin or pupperoni just give them veggies instead. they will gobble it up and its a lot cheaper
Christy M
Oct 24, 2013 at 10:50 am
Hey Suzanne,
I don’t know what breed your dogs are but I have two that are large-70# and 92#. Buying better quality food will significantly cut down the amount you feed. Mine each eat 3/4 am & 3/4 pm with a little ground turkey sprinkled over it. Their treats are vegetables. From my experience I would only be able to recommend Blue Buffalo or Wellness.
JK
Oct 24, 2013 at 10:57 am
I use dogfoodadvisor.com for breakdowns of the nutrition. I used to work for a nutrition company and it actually gives a pretty accurate analysis. For larger breed dogs, higher quality food will have more complex or less grains so they’ll eat a lot less and it’ll keep them lean. I personally like Merrick and Wellness brands. Taste of the Wild is also a good price/quality compromise. Our dog needs their grain-free version, but the original is great as well. Both are much cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else. I pay $40-50 for a 25-30lb bag depending on the brand/flavor/grain-free. Our 2yr old Vizsla/Whippet/AmBull/Bullmastiff mix (she looks like a pit mix) is a dense 53lbs and only needs 2 cups a day. A 25lb bag of Merrick’s Duck Grain-Free lasts her about 2 months. Hope that helps.
MB
Oct 24, 2013 at 11:18 am
go to dogfoodadvisor.com. best site for a breakdown of dog foos (wet and dry)ingredients and, most importantly, gives you full explanations.
Cindy
Nov 26, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Try dogfoodadvisor.com
susan
Nov 26, 2013 at 3:00 pm
holisticandorganixpetshoppe.com/top-12-worst-dog-food-brands.html
here is a website that was posted on Facebook today that shows ingriedients & describes what they are
Sue R
Nov 26, 2013 at 3:20 pm
One place I’ve found that is a good site for dog food comparison is dogfoodadvisor.com They rate the foods as to quality/ingredients/nutrition etc. Good luck!
Lisa
Nov 26, 2013 at 4:22 pm
I have two labs: one is 90 pounds, the other 56. The larger gets 3/4 C am and pm, the smaller gets just under 1/2 C am and pm. I feed Earthborn Great Plains Feast. 4.5 stars at Dog Food Advisor, and my dogs love it (grain/gluten free.) dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/earthborn-holistic-grain-free/
emily
Nov 26, 2013 at 6:26 pm
you can always look at dogfoodadvisor.com
best comparison site ever. and has explanations of every ingrediebt.
Maurice E. Gilbert Sr.
Nov 26, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Dr. Fox would be an excellent place to find info about making your own dogfood, comparisons between brands, etc.
Try this URL:
facebook.com/drfoxvet on FB and here
for his own site:
DrFoxVet.com
Nancy
Nov 27, 2013 at 1:08 am
Dogfoodadvisor.com
Jill
Nov 27, 2013 at 6:47 am
Read the first five ingredients on the food. There are some mid-line foods that are still quality made. It’s okay if there is a protein meal as meal is only dehydrated meat. Stay away from by- products. Better Quality food however saves you on vet bills in the long run. Using some fruits like blueberries as toppers or baby carrots as treats are healthy affordable ways to get some nutrition in. I have 5 dogs. Four are large breed. I use Natural Balance for them. Other good foods are Blue Buffalo, Wellness, and Nutro. Stay away from foods like Beneful. I am certified in Dog/Cat nutrition and will tell you that the savings on the cheaper foods is not worth the animals long term health risks. If your dogs have any sensitivities, go with a duck, venison, or salmon version of any food. If you have dogs of different ages and have to buy different foods, some of the above brands have “all life stages” which can be fed from puppy to senior. It can help cut some costs in a multi-dog household. Some websites offer discounts on dog food if you have it auto-shipped.
Jeff M
Nov 29, 2013 at 4:47 pm
dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-a.html Is a site I like for information only. Not the best, but helps with ingredients
Linda
Nov 30, 2013 at 11:54 am
dogfoodadvisor.com is who I look to.
Charlie
Nov 30, 2013 at 12:05 pm
Ok, it is pretty easy. In dry food you want to see meal. Meal is dehydrated meat, example chicken meal, beef meal, duck meal. If it just say chicken, that is the whole chicken before dehydration. When chick is the first ingredient, after dehydration it will be one of the last ingredients, which is why you want to see chicken meal. Grains are not easily digested, so stay away from grains. Avoid fillers like beet pulp, that is what is left of the sugar beet after all usable parts are removed (it’s a filler), I look for food that have multiple protein meals as first ingredients. Then whole vegetables and fruits. I like Orijen dog food. It has 5 to 8 animal protein meals as it’s ingredients and lots of fruits and vegetables. It has 40% protien, no grains.
Stay away from byproducts, corns, wheats, dyes, chemicals preservatives.
Go to daisysrescue.com to learn more about dog nutrition and care tips.
Andrea
Feb 10, 2014 at 10:31 pm
I use Susan Thixton’s Truth About Pet Food Newsletter “Petsumer Reports” Yes I pay $17.99 a year for it but it’s worth it’s weight in gold for what I have learned! Dogfood Advisor only reviews one formula of each brand so it’s not a great site. Susan rates all of them. She’s an advocate and works with a veterinary nutritionist. She also has a great cookbook for dogfood called “Dinner PAWsible”.
vicki
Oct 22, 2013 at 7:33 pm
I love to save money but would not buy from Amazon since they sell dogfighting materials.
Barbra
Oct 23, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Dog fighting materials?