Standard Poodle Diet

Question
Greetings, I have two 3-year old standard poodles.  I've changed their food several times.  They started out on Science diet until they were about 13 months and various negative reviews prompted me to make a change and was referred to Merrick.  I liked Merrick and they did too but when I lost my job and needed to save money, I started feeding them Purina One. I feed them 3 cups a day.  From time to time I would add in wet dog food.  Here lately I'm noticing that neither one of them seem to like Purina One any longer. I feed them in the morning and when I come home in the evening, sometimes their food is still in their bowls.  Now I feel the need to change their food again and I'm back to reading reviews and now considering making their food at home.  Looking for opinions and the pros and cons of doing this and/or recommendations for another dog food.

Answer
Hello D,
I would love to give you a straight answer here, but there simply isn't one. When it comes to Dog Foods its like cereal for us. There are shelves full of all kinds of brands and types, flavors and foods with this or that in it, but which one do you choose. The best thing I can tell you is to set up a budget and buy the best quality food in your price range. Most of the medium tier foods are going to range from $1-$2.50 a pound. Most of these bags are between 30-40 lbs. So you are looking around $30-$50 per bag.
I like the foods that don't contain corn, wheat or soy, and no by-product meals. You also should look for a food where meat is the first ingredient and they don't use fillers such as Beet Pulp.
Purina One is a good food, but even though Chicken is the number 1 ingredient, it does have corn gluten meal and by-product meal. There are the Grain-Free foods that have real meat as the number 1 ingredient and they have Pea Protein as another protein source, but I personally think that dogs should have some grains in their diet.
Then there is the whole thing about are my dogs doing good on their diets. Are they gaining weight, do they have some allergic reaction, what are the reviews like, etc. When it comes to choosing a food, you have to pick for your dogs health, not based on what others say. If you ask 10 people about the foods they use and why, you will get 10 different answers. If you ask another 10 people, you would get another 10 different answers. Everyone has a different opinion about their dogs food and why "their food" is the best.
Personally, I use Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice formula, and also mix with Wal-Mart's P.B. which is their Pure Balance foods. They have mostly good ingredients and my dogs are doing well on it. It is about $32 for 30 lbs.

I hope this helps you more than confuses you. If you have other questions about this, please feel free to ask me.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim