Anyone use it? They gave me a couple lbs at the deer expo. Said they was about to start selling it at the co-op and they could order for me now. My lab is on taste of the wild and this cost a whole lot less.

I don't know anything about Valu-Pak dog food but I did go to their website and looked at their feed. Read the ingredients label. One of the first ingredients listed is ground whole grain corn. It is not a grain free food like the Taste of the Wild you have been feeding. I personally would not feed it to my dog.

With that being said, let me share what I've done recently.

I had my OMC on the TOTW Lamb formula.

https://www.chewy.com/taste-wild-sierra-mountain-grain/dp/34256

It's $49.99 per 30 lb. bag which figures out to be $1.67 per lb.

I switched her to the Hi-Tek Naturals Lamb formula and it is $63.64 per 44 lb. which figures out to be $1.44 per lb.

www.chewy.com/hi-tek-naturals-grain-free-lamb-meal/dp/115998

She is doing great on the Hi-Tek Naturals and I think it's a better food than the TOTW and it costs a little less per lb.

At least it's not made by Diamond Pet Foods like the TOTW.

Diamond has had several pet food recalls.

When you hear grain free, what do you think it means?

value-pak has 3 feeds that have not corn in it.

Here is a interesting read. I use Purina.
http://now.tufts.edu/articles/grain-free-diet-healthier-my-dogs-and-cats

I guess I have bought into the hype of the grain free dog food.

It may very well just be a clever marketing ploy by the pet food companies.

I don't really know.

I just want to feed my dog as good of a feed as I can and take care of her the best I can.

I want the very best for her health.

Yep, I agree. Don't take that as a dig to you. I deal with it every day. People come in talking about this expensive food they buy and talking about it and I ask them what it means. They look at me with a blank stare and usually have no idea. The pet food industry is the most cut throat, slimy industries in America. The pet-owner dynamic has changed so much in the last 30 years, pets are like humans now to some owners. These pet food companies have realized that and essentially created a market that wasn't there 15 years ago and have created a freaking gold mine marketing these products with all the buzz words like "grain free, venison, organic, non-GMO, etc". They aren't really a better food, but they have marketed it to be a better food and the public bought it.

Find a high quality food that your dog eats and is healthy on, you can afford, and you're good to go. If Taste of the Wild is what you like, so be it.

Like the "High Performance" kick that came out a decade or so ago. Very, very, few dogs are going to benefit 100% from a 30/20 feed. I also think this why we see a lot of overweight dogs. Folks feeding "high performance" food to low performance dogs.

As far as he grain free kick, I jumped in and noticed a huge difference in the amount of crap in the kennel. With the grain free I do not get as much crap to clean up in the kennel. I also use a higher protein fat ratio dog food, but cut back her portions when not hunting. For instance right now shes getting about 1.5 cups a day and during tracking and quail season we get bumped to about 2.5 cups a day.

Less fiber means less crap. My dog had problems naturally expressing her anal glands, so I had to switch her to an overweight dog food that is very high in fiber. She makes big poops now.