My main thing is just feeding a food that lists meat as a first ingredient and has no bi-products or corn.

My parents fed cheap food to Reggie and Smokey...Smokey lived to be 18 years old. He was in good health until about the last year of his life. My mom is getting better food now for Reggie and Sydney and honestly I haven't noticed any change in Reggie's coat or anything.

When I first got Nebo I fed him Pedigree. I knew nothing of ingredients and it sounded like a good food. He had diahrea constantly, it didn't suit him well at all.

So some dogs can do fine on cheaper dog food while others do not. Nebo gets Natural Balance now and he has a gorgeous soft coat and is healthy. I would never feed him food that was any less quality unless I absolutely could not afford it.

I think as long as you at least try to educate yourself a bit about your dogs nutrition and feed them the best you can afford then you are fine.

I do have to add though that it bothers me that most vets (at least around here) promote Science Diet when the ingredients aren't that great in comparison to many other premium foods available. They should tell clients what ingredients are best, not just to buy Science Diet only (the vet I go to only sells SD and promotes it for everything)