Kirkland Super Premium (Lamb)
Rating: 
| Price: $ | Website
Only available at Costco, Kirkland actually puts out a pretty high quality product for the amount of dollars that it costs to buy. It isn’t quite among the top tier foods, but if you were to put this on the shelves of most major pet stores and especially other “big box” stores, it would be among the best foods available.
First, it’s cheap. Around 60 cents a pound the last time that I saw the price. That earns it a “best buy” award, I believe. Yet, it doesn’t comprimise all that much. Yes, the use of white rice is a pretty cheap addition. And yes, brewers yeast makes an appearance, though far down the list. However, the use of proteins are solid. The protein percentage of 23 percent is pretty standard among foods that aren’t grain-free. It has flax for Omega 3’s and a lineup of vegetables (though far down the list).
If I had a membership to Costco, I could see myself feeding this. It’s just too bad it isn’t available at other retailers.
Where to buy?
What’s good about this food….
No by-products, no corn or wheat, meat is first two ingredients.
….and what’s not so good.
Use of white rice and rice bran is cheaper and inferior to the whole grain brown rice.
Only available at Costco.
Ingredients:
Lamb, lamb meal, whole grain brown rice, white rice, rice bran, egg product, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat, beet pulp, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, millet, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract (continued).
My cane corsos love it. I give them kirkland chicken or lamb but I recently got one bag of the healthy weight one because my older dog is getting fat…she hates it. Neither of them like the healthy weight one so I have to add some canned food to it just do it doesn’t go to waste:(
What a great site….the handler who shows my Vizslas gave me the URL. I had asked her about Pedigree dog food because a 55 lb bag was on sale at Costco for just over $18. Thought I would try it so I purchased 2 bags, and was thinking of picking up a couple more while still on sale. I asked my handler (an AKC awarded Rottweiler breeder) if the Pedigree was any good. WOW…I was so happy to read your review of this food. I have not opened them and will be returning them tomorrow and replacing with Kirkland….my usual. Sometimes it can be harmful to think one is getting a bargain; thank goodness I had the smarts to check into it. Thank you for your website!
Just a side note…Kirkland dog food is manufactured by Diamond Co., they’re the ones that had the huge chinese melamine recall a few years back that killed many dogs. This recall effected many dog food lines. This would make me nervous. Please, when looking at a dog/cat food find out the manufacturer of the food, that’s how one determines the safety of the food.
Hi Amy,
Diamond/Kirkland were affected by the melamine recalls in 2007, as were many manufacturers inclusive of Hills, Purina, Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, and many others.This was caused by a Chinese supplier of wheat gluten.
Diamond had further recalls in 2012 due to salmonella in one of their facilities. To rectify this they completely refitted the facility and have had no further issues with salmonella.
I am wondering if you have heard anything to change this… I have been feeding my dog Kirtland food for a couple of years and she is eats it and is happy, but have seen a lot of complaints recently, so am wondering if you have heard anything to change this opinion.
Here is what I have been reading: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/kirkland_pet_food.html
My family has been training dogs since 1975. We have close to 15-18 personal family dogs at times and we go through LOTS of kibble. We have fed Bil Jac, Purina Pro Plan, Purina One, Nutro, Canidae and IAMS. About 2 years ago I began doing bucket loads of dog food research. My then 2 year old Chocolate Labrador, Maggie, was loosing her beautiful coat and itching like nobody’s business. Her entire belly, the inside of her rear legs, her chest & her hindquarters were hairless, raw and very inflamed. We tried many things from shots to shampoos. But not once did I think of food.
Then a friend introduced us to Costco and the Kirkland products. She bred champion Airedale terriers and was a huge dog food research fanatic. I switched Maggie to the Kirkland Lamb & Rice. She immediately began looking better up until a year ago. Once again her hair fell out, she began itching, and her whole body was red & inflamed. I found out that she had built up an allergy to the rice (grain), as well as the chicken fat that was used as a preservative. I then picked up a bag of the Kirland Nature’s Domain Grain Free Salmon & Sweet Potato formula. Much to my relief, not only did it not have those annoying grains, it was void of any type of chicken. Now 1 year later, Maggie is once again a beautiful little Lab with the shiniest, softest and darkest hair coat I’ve ever seen on a chocolate Lab. Since her switch to the Kirkland ND Salmon & Sweet Potato, she has looked marvelous. She eats like a little piggy (which she has NEVER done). Although she now also has environmental allergies to grass & pollens (2 allergy pills 2x each day helps tremendously), Maggie has never looked better. She is now 4 years old and is a happy, itch-free girl. I recommend the Kirkland foods to everyone! Wonderful, high quality food for a low price.
Morressa Wagner & Maggie May the Labrador
P.S. The rest of our family dogs also eat the Kirkland Foods. All of them eat like there’s no tomorrow!
Great info Morressa, it’s nice when people add such useful feedback for a food. Kirkland is definitely one of the cheapest “bang for buck” in pet food, still maintaining a quality in ingredients.