Dog food ??!

Dog food ??

ok im just doing some research on dog food. I found one that my dog loves, however it's going to be about $70.00 a month. (royal canin for boxers) then i found one at the grocery store and it seems to have VERY simular ingredients except for that the first ingregient was Chicken in the grocery store brand and chicken wasnt even found till the 8th ingredient on the expesive brand.
My real q is....what is "meal" like it'll say chicken meal, fish meal. However the grocery store brand states CHICKEN for the first ingredient which to me is good.
I also compared the crude %'s and they're very simular only off by a few.
Im prety sure rice is good for a dogs diet correct? and corn meal not so good? Because a lot of dog foods do have a lot of corn meal in the foods.
The brand that i found at the grocery store is PC Nutrition 1st...this may only be in canada.

22 hours ago
sorry everyone i posted this under the wrong heading by mistake and i dont know how to change it

I've never heard of the PC Nutrition 1st brand, but that doesn't mean it's not an OK food.

Meal is something that's ground up. You grind up kernels of corn and you get corn meal. You grind up soybeans, and you get soy meal. Chicken meal is ground up chicken.

There's nothing particularly bad about corn and nothing particularly good about rice. Each can be used in developing a nutritious ration for your dog.

Cheap dog foods are often as nutritious as expensive ones, no matter what your vet says as he tries to sell you the expensive foods he sells. (I formerly worked in research for Central Soya, who makes MasterMix animal feeds, so I learned a lot sitting across the table from experts in this field.) The expensive brands may be a little more palatable, or they may just be a brand that spends more on advertising, so that you'll pay more.

Our dog, a german shepard, loves Natural Balance dog food, especially the sweet potato and fish flavor. Our preceding dog, an alaskan husky, loved NB's duck and potato flavor. NB has a wonderful reputation - they sell feeds to many zoos - and they behaved marvelously with regard to the China problem. However, it's pretty pricey.

Most mammals have nutritional needs not too different than humans. We've taken to cooking more of whatever we're eating, and sharing it. It's no more work to speak of for us, it's cheaper than canned dog food, and we figure it's probably safer. We limit the portions she receives, so that she eats some dry dog food as well, and she seems to be doing very well on this combination of foods. Of course, it probably would depend on what you yourself eat, whether it would be an appropriate diet for your dog, but I'm just throwing that out there as a suggestion.