KIRKLAND DOG FOOD
Kirkland brand dog food formula is produced and sold by Costco Wholesale Corporation. Kirkland Signature is Costco’s “store brand”, which is put on everything from bottled water to toothpaste. Kirkland dog food formulas are offered in most Costco stores nationwide. Kirkland Signature is named after the city of Kirkland, Washington, which is where Costco had its headquarters from 1987 to 1996. The Kirkland Signature brand name wasn’t introduced in Costco’s stores until 1995. Costco first opened a store in 1983, in Seattle, Washington. Costco further expanded in 1993, when they merged with a company called “Price Club”. Today, there are over 142,000 employees of Costco’s stores.
KIRKLAND DOG FOOD REVIEW
Kirkland brand dog food formulas have ingredients that most consumers would rate as mid-grade. There aren’t any corn, wheat or soy ingredients listed among the first five ingredients. There are also no animal by-products or animal digest listed on the ingredients label of Kirkland brand dog food formulas.
KIRKLAND DOG FOOD FORMULAS
- Kirkland Signature Range Chicken, Rice and Vegetable Adult Formula is suitable for all adult dogs that are over one year of age. The first five ingredients of this formula are chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearl barley and chicken fat. Other ingredients include egg product, potatoes, beet pulp, fish meal, natural flavor, flax seed, millet, brewers yeast, salt, kelp, carrots, apples, peas, dried skim milk, rosemary extract, cranberry powder, parsley flake and vitamin E. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 24% protein and 16% fat.
- Kirkland Signature Range Lamb and Rice Adult Formula is suitable for all adult dogs that are over one year of age. The first five ingredients of this formula are lamb, lamb meal, whole grain brown rice, rice flour and white rice. Other ingredients include egg product, chicken fat, cracked pearl barley, beet pulp, fish meal, potatoes, natural flavor, fish meal, peas, carrots, brewers dried yeast, apples, kelp, dried skim milk, alt, parsley flake, dried chicory root and vitamin B12. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 23% protein and 14% fat.
- Kirkland Signature Range Super Premium Puppy Chicken, Rice and Vegetable is suitable for all puppies that are less than one year of age. The first five ingredients of this formula are chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley and egg product. Other ingredients include beet pulp, chicken fat, fish meal, potatoes, natural flavors, flax seed, millet, brewers dried yeast, salmon oil, cranberry powder, dried skim milk, apples, kelp, peas, carrots, choline, potassium chloride, vitamin D and dried chicory root. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 28% protein and 17% fat.
KIRKLAND CUSTOMER RATINGS
Customer reviews about Kirkland brand dog food formula are mixed. In some dogs, the formulas may cause diarrhea over time. Some dogs seem to develop food based allergy symptoms when fed Kirkland brand dog food. Other dogs may have digestive problems, such as frequent smelly gas, loose stools, vomiting and upset stomach. However, some dog owners report feeding their dogs Kirkland brand dog food formulas without any serious problems.
42 Responses to “KIRKLAND DOG FOOD”
We bought a bag of Kirkland Signature for our Shiba Inu. He never was able to adjust to the food (although he does not have any particular problems with other dried food) and got to the point where he was unable to control his bowels.
We finally figured it out and switched him back to another commercial food.Problem stopped immediately.
Costco stuff is generally pretty good but in this case, not for our dog.
We currently have 9 mastiffs and have been feeding Kirkland for the past 7+ years. We go through a 40 lb bag in 2 days, so we’ve literally fed TONS of it over the years! We’ve never had any problems and our dogs have thrived on it. We’ve used both the Lamb and Rice and the Chicken and Rice, but for what ever reason, the gang seems to prefer the Chicken And Rice better. The Chicken and Rice is a couple bucks a bag cheaper too, so it’s a win, win. I’m sure there are better foods out there, but for the price, I don’t think you can beat it.
Thank goodness for Kirkland dog food. My boston terrier is allergic to grains and chicken. It pretty gard to find dog food without chicken or chicken meal…even some of the salmon fooda have chicken listed in the ingredients. We were feeding her Wellness Core grain free whitefish and were sprnding a small fortune. That is until I found Natures Domain grain free salmon and sweet potato. Its great food with a great price that compares to Core. She’s a picky eater. I struggled to get to her eat just about every other brand we’ve tried until now. She loves this stuff! They have a customer for life.
I fed my previous dog Kirkland Chicken and Brown Rice kibble…she lived a very healthy life for 17… yes 17 years!
I have our new dog an 186 lb English Mastiff on this food now too…doing great although… thinking of switching her to the recently introduced Weigh Control version.
For the difference in price and the quality of the food, I strongly feel it’s a perfectly fine choice for any breed.
I’ve been feeding my two poodle mixes Kirkland canned dog food since November. I thought it was great. Relative to the kibble I used to feed them, they had consistenly smaller and firmer poop. Then last week, the one dog with a senitive stomach got deathly sick – puked 8 times and had severed diarrhea for a day. We made chicken and rice. He got better and we started to incorporate the Kirkland canned dog food with the chicken and rice, and he started having diarrhea again. Since the last two reviews complained about their dogs suddenly having diarrhea, I thought I’d share my experience. We switched the sick dog to the NEW Kirkland cuts in gravy canned dog food and he’s totally fine again! Thank goodness! Our other little one has a cast iron stomach so I’m gonna keep feeding her the old version till it’s used up and then switch her to the new Kirkland canned dog food too.
We’ve been feeding Kirkland Chicken & Rice for 3 years – no issues UNTIL the last batch of food. Dogs were vomiting, diarhea, and drinking lots of water. Switched to different food and they were instantly better. It helps to add probiotic capsules,during the switch for about 3 weeks, to help their systems adjust to the new food. We have been in contact with Costco, and they seemed concerned. Stated no changes to the formula, but they have not been in touch with us for over a week now. Will probably never know if it was a bad batch or just a new bad formula.
I’ve been feeding my dogs the Kirkland Lamb and Rice for 8 yrs. My dogs stopped eating in Feb. and got sick also. One of the youngest and healthest of the pack got really sick, throwing up and drinking lots of water also. He died 2 weeks later.
I contacted Costco and they seemed concerned in the beginning. Then contacted Diamond. They told me nobody has complained and I’m the first one. After reading other stories, I know I’m not the only one with a problem with their food. After asking questions about the tests they run on the food, they have stopped communicating with me. I believe the food is not the same quality now and they are having issues. They’re quick to blow you off and hope you won’t pursue further investigations. Don’t let them! Put pressure on Diamond and Costco to give you answers. I’m not going to give up until they do.
Follow-up…my puppy and I were very satisfied with this food; however, the kibble was much too large for him. After a while, he just kind of gave up on it. I have searched everywhere I know to try to find this food for small breeds to no avail. So I decided to put him on Diamond Naturals puppy food for small breeds, and he appears to love it just as much. So, I’m going to stick with DN; however, I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open for any recalls on this food in lieu of Diamonds past.
I have 2 Jack Russell Terriors that are constantly itching and scratching and licking thier paws and chewing themselves up. They are allergic to corn I know this, I’m going to try Kirkland and see if it makes a difference. Has anyone else had problems with thier dogs skin problems and has Kirkland helped.
I switch to the Kirkland brand in December, I am taking my dog off of it because she has had serious skin problems since then, it’s a shame because it is such a good deal for what seems like a good food but her skin is tore up.
After six years of doing great on Kirkland dog food, suddenly my dog is having diarrhea–just like yours, Gianna. I wonder if they changed the formula?!? We took him off it for a while and he did much better. Then we added it back very gradually but after 2 days he was sick again.
My dog – a bona fide mutt – has been eating the Kirkland chicken & rice for about a year now without any issues. However, within this past week, he has developed bad diarrhea. I’ve put him on a bland diet of liquids, rice and cottage cheese and his diarrhea seemed to get better, but whenever I re-introduce the Kirkland food back into his diet, the diarrhea returns.
I love the price of Kirkland dog food and my dog seems to enjoy it, too. But it appears that it just not agreeing with his system.
I plan on trying this food. I have a new Chi puppy will not eat any of the Blues, Wellness, or Royal Canin foods. I’m ashamed to say that in my desparation today, I ran out an bought him some IAMS. Well, after reading all of the devastating posts associated with IAMS foods, I’ll be taking this food back to the store first thing in the morning and then I’m going to head over to Costco. I hope he’ll eat this food, but we’ll see. Lastly, my sincere condolensces to all who have loss their pets suddenly due to tainted foods. Our pets are our children and we love them dearly!!!
I have two English Mastiffs. The oldest one is 3yrs old and weighs about 125 lbs and the other one is 2 yrs old and goes about 145 lbs. I started them on the expensive food as puppies but was costing a fortune so I switched the to a pet food warehouse brand. They seems to like it but was think of switching to Costco brand. Any recommendations on which one would be the best for them….Thanks
I have had my 10 year old shih tzu and my 9 year old goldendoodle on Kirkland for 7 years or so. They are both healthy and happy. My shih tzu did just have surgery to remove stones from his bladder but this is a very common issue with shih tzus. My vet didn’t seem to think his food had any link to it.
I’ve tried switching them to other foods because after 7 years I thought a change might be good, but the goldendoodle has a sensitive tummy just like a standard poodle and he doesn’t do well with any change. His stools are good on the Kirkland chicken & rice, so I have decided if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Compare the ingredients to other premium dog food and you may be pleasantly surprised, it ranks right up there with most of them and the price can’t be beat.
Bottom line……every dog reacts to foods differently, just as people react to foods differently. To say this food is BAD because YOUR dog had loose stool is unfair. About 3 months ago I began feeding my 3 Greyhounds, which are known for sensitive tummies, Kirkland Chicken and Vegetable (red bag). I was previously feeding them Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. They loved it and it agreed with their tummies just fine, but at $40.00 for 30#, I just couldn’t afford it anymore. One of women in our Greyhound Rescue Group told me to try the Kirkland red bag and that she had been feeding it to her Greyhounds for the past 3 years, so I tried it. They love it, their stools are firm…so far, so good. Of course I will always keep a close eye on them and watch for any abnormalities, but I have no complaints or concerns as of this writing.
My 8 month old choc lab was raised on Pro Plan at the breeder. When I ran out, I switched to Kirkland Chicken and Rice Puppy food and then at 7 months switched to the Adult version. No issues with stools or digestion. Everyone we meet raves about her coat. I too compared ingredients with the higher priced brands and felt that Kirkland was comparable.
Just a note….I had a 12 year old chocolate lab that was fed Kirkland Chicken and Rice her entire life. Again, thrived on it. The formulation has only gotten better over time.
Folks, when switching your dogs food, do it SLOWLY over one to two weeks. DO NOT add any new treats or canned food to the food while switching. GO SLOW. Some dogs take longer than others. Hunting breed dogs can take up to 2-3 weeks. Also, watch the type of treats you are giving. DO NOT GIVE BEGGIN STRIPS and other crappy treats. That interferes with food changeover. Keep the treats minimal. Don’t add canned until the changeover is complete unless that is all you feed. Use some white rice when using canned to help change over the dogs canned food and probiotic powder on all foods. It does help!!!
I have been feeding my Brittany Spaniel for the past 4 years with the Kirkland brand. It is OK, but I have been finding she still has way too many bowel movements during the day(5 times a day)and has bad gas on occasion too.I noticed that only in the morning and evening, her stools are solid and in between…her stools are very soft. I feed her 2 cups a day as I have had fed her less and found she was losing weight. Her coat isn´t as shiny as it use to be and her skin is actually dry too. I think Kirkland has changed their formula and the food has very little of protein in it. This is what I think because a few years ago..my dog did have a nice coat and had less bowel movements. I thought this was normal, but according to a friend of mine,dogs shouldn´t have no more than two bowel movements a day. I´m going to switch to a better dog food until Kirkland comes up with a better formula that is comparable to the expensive dog food brands that are out there.
My two beagles have been on the canned Costco Kirkland dog food for months with no problems. I bought a new case of dog food and over the following 2 days they both got very sick with dark black diarrhea that was positive for blood. One of them wouldn’t eat and was very listless and dehydrated. Once I took them off the canned food and put them on a soft diet they improved immediately. It is doubtful that both of them ate something they shouldn’t have at the same time, and they both got so sick right when that case of dog food was started, and got better once they were off it. Will someone at Costco test this for melamine or other impurities? Have there been any other complaints?
I’ve been trying to switch over to Kirkland brand dog food at 3 different occasions (mixing it with the old food not to up-set my dogs stomach)but everytime I try to switch my dog gets severe diarrhea and lots of gas. Just thought I share. I will stick to Purina One, hard stool and no gas.
You have to wait it out, my dog took 2 weeks to switch food. Do yourself and your dogs a favor and but them on Kirkland, it’s better than the Purina One. Make some chicken and rice and mix the Kirkland in and they should be fine in a week.
made by Diamond Pet Foods, who also makes: Taste of The Wild, Canidae, Solid Gold, etc. went to Costco yesterday……….now they carry Nature’s Domain (also made by Diamond), which is grain free and half the price of high end grain free. we’re going to try it.
Jo, Taste of the Wild is not made by Diamond Pet Foods. It’s made by Taste of the Wild Pet Foods in Meta, Missouri.
TOTW is absolutely made by Diamond and even lists on their website that it’s manufactured at one of their three US plants.
We were using Organix..Nature’s Domain looks like a viable alternative.has anyone used this product?
I have been feeding my French Bulldogs Nature’s Domain for over a year now. One of them has food allergies. They do great on this food, even the one with allergies. Tried him with other foods to test the reaction and within one day he is miserable. I used to feed one of the very expensive foods from a specialty store and did not have as much success. For our house it is a must have!
Natures Domain is an awesome food. feed all 4 of my dogs this brand.. I have large breeds that all require grain free diet.. grains cause inflammation and with large breeds you do not want that.. for the price of Natures Domain it is well worth it!! They off er it in two flavors.. Salmon and Turkey!!
I have a 5 month old Cane Corso that I have had since she was 8 weeks old. Since I have had her she has had nothing but loose stools. It might be common for this breed as I have been reading. I started her on Blue Buffalo Puppy for large breeds,an expensive and high rated dog/puppy food and left her on it for a month. She never had a hard stool.I changed her to Solid Gold Wolfclub puppy food, same thing loose stools.I tried Nutro Puppy food and the same thing.I have had her on Kirkland Puupy food for two months now and since day two she has hard stools. Finally!!!!Kirkland Puppy food is a God send. Although people will say try more expensive dog food,etc since its better for them. Well I did for quite some time and NEVER did my baby get any relief from the loose stools. She has been checked by her vet consistently so no it wasn’t a virus, etc. GOOOOO KIRKLAND!! and Thank you.
I have been feeding Kirkland Lamb & Rice formula for a couple of years and have been very satisfied with the condition of my dogs. My border collie is actually working better with less hyper attitude since I took her off the high priced amped up food, I was feeding Innova, she seems much calmer. My concern is where Kirkland is made. I really don’t want to worry about the food made in China. Does anyone know where Kirkland is produced?
Yes, I was also worried since I lost a dog at age 5 during the “pet food recall”. I feel comfortable with this isnformation found t diamondpet.com. According to the information at their website “Diamond Pet Foods owns its own manufacturing facilities. We have three plants, all located in the United States. Our original plant and home of Diamond Pet Foods headquarters is located in central Missouri. The other two plants are located in northern California and South Carolina. No matter where you live, you will be purchasing food made in one of these three plants.”
But many of the ingredients in ALL commercial dog foods are sourced from China. All the vitamin and mineral supplements that are used come from China. No way to get around that.
Yes Costco always has great deals. Sure the dogs love it. Of course they eventually get adusted and the bowels function properly. But WHO makes it? Where? Did you know Diamond killed 76 dogs in 2006 with mold? My question is this- is it nutritious and is it SAFE????? Beware of where your dog food is made and to what standards. I have been looking for these details all night and not finding answers for Kirland’s Super Premium Chicken and Rice. I want to save so money but I want to have some peace of mind too.
It’s good food and for the price its better then a lot of others i have feed and 8 dollars a bag cheaper It was all Diamonds fault when the food got tainted it was the rice that was bad kirkland foods are safe as any other brand that compares there $35 to $40 for 30 pounds the Chicken and rice is safe !
We love this food, we love Costco. If it has the Kirkland brand name on it, 9.75 times out of 10 it’s worth buying. We fed Nature’s Variety for years and I just happened to be in Costco one day and they were handing out samples so I took one home and compared it to what I was feeding and there was not much difference except for price. We have 8 standard poodles so coats are very important and we have no complaints whatso- ever. We feed over 3000lbs. of food a year so cost is very important to us as well as quality!!! Our guy’s do not care for the lamb & rice no matter what brand it is so we feed the chicken base and they love it. We give all of our puppy buyers a 20lbs. bag of the puppy food(also chicken based) and tell them to feed it for 1 year and then switch to the adult.
I’ve feed Diamond products for 10 years and cosco off and on for 6 years yes there was some dogs that got sick and died it was from the rice plant the rice was bad in most cases it was the lamb and rice that got a lot of dogs but rest in piece cosco dog foods are a premium food I have been feeding 13 to 9 dogs a day on the avg for 6 years I always get scared about dog food and i wonder about it but it could happen to any company that was using those rice plants cosco dog foods are made by diamond that’s why i like the product cosco backs up there stuff if the food is good for them its good for me I feed Labs yhat i train and I raise german shorthaired pointers never had a problem and the stool is good it shrinks up looks like a 15 pound dog had it and not a 70 pound shorthaired pointer.. good luck happy new year be safe..
I have been feeding my labradoodles Kirkland chicken and also lamb products and they are done great on it. My doodles are 6 yrs, 5 yrs., 3 yrs, 6 months.
I have been feeding the Kirkland chicken and rice and the puppy food to my entire kennel,everyone has great coats,body weight,energy,and stools are great.All my Champion Mastiffs are feed 2 times a day and eat less of the Kirkland food than some of the other foods i have tried.
Debbie,
how much do u feed your mastiff with the kirkland food. Im trying to switch food and my mastiff gets around two cups, twice a day…
Fabian
Fabian…Im not Debbie, but saw your post. I have a male English Mastiff, and he is 2.5yrs….he gets 4 cups in morning and 4 in evening….sometimes he only eats 4 cups during a day, but 4 and 4 is what he does. Its a good food without the fillers, so it keeps them satisfied longer. Only food in the past 2.yrs that we have had solid stool on – which with Mastiffs, is a huge plus!
Debbie,
We just got a Mastiff and are feeling the Kirkland weight control food because we have another dog that is a bit overweight. But the mastiff has horrible gas. She has been on the food for a good month now and it is not going away. Would you suggest we try the Chicken and Rice or even the Lamb?
Dollar for Dollar I think Kirkland Signature Puppy Chicken, Rice and Vegetable is the best. Some other brands may be better, but I’m not driving 20 miles to a specialty store to pay twice as much.