Kirkland Dry Dog Food ~ Whutcha Guys Think?!?!?

Hi............................ I was just hoping to get some opinions on Kirkland Dry Dog Food. They have a Chicken & Rice Formula, and a Lamb & Rice Formula. Currently, i'm feeding their Lamb & Rice, and my dogs are doing quite well on it.
Their ingredients list is pretty comparative to other wholesome/human-grade brands out (e.g. Chicken Soup, Nature's Variety, Solid Goild, Innova, Wellness, Canidae, Natural Balance)... And its price per lbs., is unbeatable too! Their Lamb & Rice goes for $16.99, and their Chicken & Rice goes for $15.99. AND, both prices are for a 40lb. bag!
The only concern i have with their Ingredients List is the ever sketchy labeling of "Natural Flavors", which could mean "anything", and is enough to get me to stay away from it. I have this same issue w/ Canidae and Natural Balance, but i still buy their bags every so often... I'm beginning to think that this "Natural Flavoring" thing is the stories of "rancid lard from restaurants" and the like that we come across when reading up on Commercial Pet Foods, making them more palatable/eatable/likeable for our dogs. Lard=Lipid, Lipid=Fat, Fat=Tastyness, Tastyness=does not always mean healthy (especially when its tastiness comes from Rancid Lard & what have you from these restaurants and such---uhh!!!).
Kirklands price per # got me, and everything else on the ingredients list was pretty good... I think a few years ago, 'the Whole Dog Journal' actually placed high remarks about them.

Anyhoo, whatchu geyes tink?!?
Any buyers/users/supporters???

Thanks! :y_the_best:

 

when I was doing research a long time ago, I looked at costco ingred which was like you said equivilant to some of the better dog foods, but you got me thinking about the nautral flavor thing that was exactly is it? is it that rancid fat. I know Costco wont tell about thier inged, but have you checked ohter sits to se if they tell what their natural flavorings are?

 

I use Kirkland's Chicken and Rice and my dog seems to love it. She seems to be doing well on it too. I would like some feedback about 4ever$aday's question too, about the lard as natural flavors are...

 

This is what Innova's website (naturapet.com) Ingredient tool says about Natural Flavors:

Now, that's what Natura uses. I don't know if there's a way t tell what other companies use, other than it is "minimally processed" and doesn't have "synthetic or artificial components."

 

Thanks for the replies......

I recently bought their Chicken and Rice Formula, and the bag smells nasty! Usually, Chicken Flavored Dry Dog Food doesn't smell too bad, but this one smelled like i don't even know!?!?! Its texture was quite fresh though, and its experation date is in 2007, so i was sure it was going to be some good/fresh smelling stuff. WRONG. It has a tangy/chemically/old-spoiled stench to it. Yuck. The dogs didn't, and still don't seem too excited about it either.

The Lamb & Rice Formula was a whole different story. My boys absolutely LOVED it! Its texture also seemed freshly baked, and smelled quite fresh. I rotate foods, so that's why i switched up. Anyhow, maybe i grabbed a bad-bag. We'll still give it another try sometime (after they fisnish off this 40lb. bag), but not for awhile. The Lamb & Rice Flavor, definately yes.

I also prefer the shape of the Lamb & Rice kibble. It has a similar shape of Natural Balances'. Whereas their Chicken & Rice kibble, has the similar shape of Science Diets'.

Anyway, sorry for the babblin'....

 

The last two bags of Natural Balance I have bought (for the fosters) have had totally different shaped kibble. Weird.