I thought I would add my thoughts here, although it sounds like you've cleared things up with the help of BPO! I too came here for advice on Saint's and on food. I had done all this research on Hip Displasia (bear with me, this will come full circle!), and I decided that I needed to buy some supplement's for Bella to aid in the prevention of this problem. Currently, I have Bella on three supplements: Glucosamine/Chondritin, Ester C, and Omega 3,6,9. I had originally put Bella on Eagle Pack large breed puppy, but I didn't like how she responded to it (yucky BM's and itching). In the process of trying to find something different, I read a few posts on Kirkland dog food, which many people here have had success with. I was drawn to try it partly due to other's experiences, but also because it was far less expensive. I did some research, contacting Diamond who is the manufacturer and I also had dogfoodanalysi
s.com analize it for me. It's on their website and has been listed as a 3 star food. Just to give you a comparison, canidae is a 5 star food, eagle pack is a 4 star food, etc. SO, although I know I'm not feeding Bella the best thing out there, I had to make a choice to be able to afford both a reasonably decent food and all the supplements I want her to have. I am a single Mom, so I can't really afford a $50 bag of food on top of everything else. Bella has done well on Kirkland (it's from Costco), but I often second guess myself and look around for something else to try. The point I'm trying to make is that you have to do the best you can, and remember, virtually anything is better than Ol Roy!
A lady at my work feeds her dogs canned food from the dollar store!!!!!!!! Ughhhh, it's crazy. Good luck with your choice. Just that fact that you love your puppy so much will make all the difference in the world.