[Shasta220]

Some of you might remember, but a while ago I started a thread on here asking for kind ways to persuade an owner that Beneful’s “…wholesome ingredients like soy, corn, and real meat…” Aren’t as “wholesome” as he thinks. I still have been unable to convince him, and every time I pet sit for him, I’m stuck giving his poor pooches the garbage.

Well, I just went over for a “meet n greet” of a new client with a Lab pup. They’re both retired and have a beautiful home, and seem to take wonderful care of their pets. I was gonna assume they’d have at least a fair-quality feed store-type food, but of course not! They had Beneful for their 8wk old puppy. I’m going to take care of it for 2wks next month – gosh I don’t know how I’ll survive, feeding that puppy such trash! I’m half tempted to feed the pup my own food, as it’s gold compared to Beneful (then again, about anything is!).

Anyway, I’ll be dropping a bug or two in those owners’ ears as well, trying to tell em: just because Beneful is one of the more expensive Walmart foods around here, definitely doesn’t make it the best…

Sorry for the random vent. If anyone else wants to pitch in with their Beneful (or other junky food) story, feel free LOL! I understand giving lower quality food because you simply can’t afford more, but seriously! I buy 4 star food that is nearly HALF the cost of that junk! (And this family definitely doesn’t seem to be concerned about price…)

[neezerfan]

Be careful. Sometimes no good deed goes unpunished. A co-worker was feeding her dog Beneful. When I explained to her how bad it is, she bought Wellness Core and switched him cold turkey. He ended up sick and she had big vet bills. Of course it was my fault (not really but she thought so). So now I just tell people to read this website and hopefully they will learn themselves.

[Shasta220]

Ah yes, switching can be a bummer if not done gradually. If I drop any bugs in this person’s ear, it’d definitely be saying something like “I found ____ website to be really interesting and learned a lot about dog food.” And if I was to follow my temptation of feeding the pup my food, I’d only add 10-20% of my food into her daily junk. Thanks for the warning though 🙂

[Shasta220]

Just curious, do you remember how you worded the explanation of Beneful?

[Naturella]

I think I have mentioned being in a similar situation with my roommate who feeds his lab-hound mix the Science Diet. While not as horrible as Beneful or Pedigree, he can still do MUCH better, especially because he has the means to! But he just believes he knows a lot about dogs and would not listen to another opinion. This weekend he was out climbing and I was in charge of feeding his dog. Many times I debated whether I should sneak some good food into her crap, or at least a sardine, some coconut butter, or some healthy additive, but never did, precisely because of what neezerfan said. The dog is somewhat picky and if she doesn’t eat the food and he gets home and sees it, he will be upset. Or, if she eats it and gets sick, he will be upset. So while it is heartbreaking to me to not feed her good food, I am working on coming to terms that this battle is one I will never win.

I have, however, gotten a really close friend of mine and a former roommate to stop feeding her lab and chorkie (chihuahua-yorkie mix) dogs the Aldi brand dog food Shep (1 star), to feeding 3.5-5-star foods, such as Blue Buffalo, Great Life, Earthborn, Holistic Heath Extension, Evangers, Nutro, Victor, etc. She can clearly see the effects of better food on her dogs, especially her lab, whose coat has gotten soft and shiny. Her and her dogs are my pride and joy! Now, if only I can get her to stop bathing them every week and giving them “greenies” every night, I would feel complete, but that’s another story, lol. She does give them bully sticks-antlers-marrow bones-hooves-himalayan dog chews-other natural chews, so I guess they are ok for the most part. 🙂

Another “battle” is with a classmate, who is a vet actually, but studied in Colombia, back in the day. Her husband feeds their rottweiler Pedigree (1 star) and stuff like that, so I am going to slowly introduce her to other foods for a great price too (Victor for example, and Earthborn, and HHE). I am giving her a bag of free samples of better foods I got from the nearby pet boutique, and I will hopefully get her to switch to Victor Joint Health or something like that soon. 🙂

Overall I have spoken to many friends who have dogs about dog food, and some take my advice, and some don’t, but if I can even help one dog, I would be happy. I would always want to help more though, but you just have to be careful, and really gauge how to speak to a person about what they feed their “baby”.

[InkedMarie]

I usually suggest that people google for how to find good quality dog food & say their choice isn’t very good. I suggest they go up a bit in quality first, taking a week to transition over, then possibly go to a five star after months go by.

[Shasta220]

Aleksandra, that’s great you were able to convince at least a person or two to upgrade! I doubt I will be able to, as I’m just a teenager and these people are retired. A topic as touchy as dog food needs a lot of respect before I would dare mess with it. I’ve only met these people one time, so I haven’t really had the chance to build up their respect for me. I’m hoping to be able to give them the link to this website and keep my fingers crossed that one click will lead to another. That’s exactly how it happened for me. My parents only bought the cheap food for our dogs, and it was showing on our poor senior lab. I bought a bag of Wenaewe food (it was a steal, only 30$ for 30lb…if I’d bought it from the website, it’d be 90$/30lb), so googled “Wenaewe reviews” and found this site. I was HOOKED! I started looking up every food that I’ve fed (or even thought of feeding) my dogs, and realized that price has /almost/ nothing to do with quality.

Now after a few months of hanging out on here, I feel like I know a thing or two about dog nutrition, and it’s great! =D so if I can get other people to even spend 10min digging on here, they’ll probably change as well.

That’s so great to hear the success story of your friend switching her food. I know my success story is almost unbelievable! Our poor Lab was on Dog Chow, Pedigree, and Ol’ Roy…she was developing disgusting skin/ear infections. It got to the point where we didn’t even want to pet her b/c she smelled so bad and was so flaky. Took her to a vet and got some meds to temporarily clear it up, then I saved up and bought her a bag of much better food. I’m not kidding: she acted as good as she did 5 years ago, and her sour-nasty-foul odor turned into nothing more than a very light “doggie” smell if you buried your nose in her fur… She got soft and fairly shiny, and now her ear infections are gone for good (she still has scarring/wax buildup that I have to manage though). If we didn’t switch her last year, I don’t even know if she’d be alive today!

[Shasta220]

It definitely will always be tough to see all of those people who think Beneful, Science Diet, etc. is great for their dog simply because of the fancy name, catchy commercials, or pretty pictures. I will say though, I do understand having to feed a lower quality food if you’re on a tight budget…so I am a lot less likely to chew out a family with 6 kids and 3 dogs for giving their dogs Dog Chow or something, as opposed to a retired person with one little dog who gives them SD, Beneful, etc.

Even on my family’s tight budget, we found it’s overall just as cheap to get a 3-4 star food (Diamond products, Nutra Nuggets, etc,) than a 1-2 star, because you feed your dogs much less of the quality food. I still couldn’t believe it – when we switched my young 90lb boy, he ate 1/3 the amount of food with NO weight change.

[aquariangt]

@Inkedmarie-

What’s your thought process on going to a 3 star before a 5 star? Is it because of the jump in price, or is there a health benefit from the filler crap to the richer food to take a bag of mid grade in between?

On Topic-

I sorta get the beneful/pedigree/etc people because of the price (don’t agree with them, but understand the thought process) $25 for 30/lb for beneful is still pretty cheap. It’s hard to get people (especially older, retired types) to get into that new mindframe of spending $ on your dog.

The ones that really bug me are the science diet/pro plan/royal canin types, you’re spending a lot of money for a sub par product, because they’re big names. Do some research. I don’t know about you all, but I do a lot of research for basically anything I am going to buy, especially something that is as big an expense as dog food can be.

[pugmomsandy]

aquariangt,

Some dogs can’t digest a “richer” food right off the bat, even if you do a slow transition. Their digestive system might not be healthy and strong. And usually the 5 star foods are alot different in composition. For instance, some of my fosters had vomiting, bloody, mucousy poop to diarrhea when I added some 5 star kibble to their diet. So I had to back them down to something around 25-30% protein. That’s usually where most of my fosters stay for kibble. I do top their kibble with some 5 star canned foods. My dogs, on the other hand eat various types and compositions of food without any problems as they’ve been doing it for years.

[aquariangt]

Good info, thanks

[neezerfan]

I don’t remember, sorry.

[Naturella]

Shasta,

This is amazing that your lab has had such a turnaround! It is so amazing to see and hear success stories of better food, so I am always ecstatic to see my friend who switched to good food.

As for my other friend, I took her to my favorite store today, and they hooked her up with over 15 samples of 4-and-5-star foods for her old rottie who has been on Beneful and Pedigree so far… She was happy, I was beyond excited, and I can’t wait too see which one he likes/does on best, and which one she gets. I think she should incorporate a joint supplement in whatever she feeds anyway. But I think we’re on a good track there! Hoping for a smooth transition and great results. Also, I did recommend to her to start with may a 3- or 3.5-star food first, and then go to a 4- or 5-star one.

Shasta, I would have never guessed you are a teenager! You rock! 🙂

And also, I agree with both Shasta and aquariangt – although some people feed Beneful and the sort because of price, it is true that good foods can be found for much less online or at clearance/sales racks in pet stores/boutiques. But I can understand how uninformed people can suffer from commercials and misinformation, and I also believe that once they are open to at least checking this website out, they will also get hooked. Like with Shasta, that’s what happened to me. I just stumbled upon it googling something, and bam. That was it for me. I just wish people weren’t so headstrong about what they choose to feed and at least entertain the idea of learning something from someone else… My roommate, however, said to me, after I had had Bruno for about 2 months – “You have had a dog for how long, 2 months now? What do YOU know about dogs. I GREW UP around dogs and have had my own for over 3 years now.” Then it was clear to me that he just wouldn’t ever take anything I tell him, and, sadly, even his vet recommends this site, and other foods (NOT the SD), but he would still not listen, or research so meh… It is what it is.

And another dog that I take pride in being put on good food is my own. When Bruno was first found, he had the worst case of fleas the vet had ever seen. His fur was falling out, and he had patches of sores and wounds all over. The couple that found him (the second ones; the initial “founders” did not even give him food or water for 2 days before the other couple visited them and took the puppy from them) did a great job de-fleeing him, having him dewormed, given food and water, and a good safe space to live for a while until found a forever home (that would be us!). They had him on Purina-Something and he looked fine (I wasn’t able to tell he had fur missing before), and only had 2 scabs left from when he had sores. It wasn’t until we got him on Blue Buffalo Wilderness that his fur got really shiny (that’s when I realized it had been dull before!), and he started growing fur on his tummy (I thought it was supposed to be bare, not that it was actually missing fur!). So good food helped my little guy too, and like others, at first I did listen to the pet store associates and even my roommate (the Science Diet guy), but even then, I preferred grain free and higher protein food, I guess by instinct. So once I found this site, I have never looked at dog food again, let alone any grocery store’s pet aisle, lol.

[InkedMarie]

Aquarian: well, my reasoning is sometimes when a dog is used to a lower quality food and go right to five star, it doesn’t always sit well. I frequently read where dogs go that route, get sick & owners throw their hands up, saying give star food isn’t so good.

The money is an issue, now that you mention it. I’ve fed food that sells for $78 +/- and ground raw that I don’t want to calculate lol; I can’t imagine paying $25 a bag and going up to even $45-50 a bag. It’d be sticker shock!

[Naturella]

Hey, guys! I need to vent… sorry to burden you all, but it’s happening…

So today I was grooming Bruno (with the Furminator – that dog sheds like an avalanche!), and my roommate saw me so he came to offer precious advice. He did help me finish Bruno up cause it was a bit of a struggle – he doesn’t like being groomed and I wasn’t doing it quite right – he was in my lap when he should have been in front of me. Either way, it all went ok, until my roommate was almost done with Bruno and noticed his doggie dander.

And then…

He began lecturing me on how I feed my dog “a bunch of random crap” (referring to the additives I have been giving him to help with his hard-ass stools, and just for general health supplementation, such as yoghurt, pumpkin, flax seed meal, coconut oil, canned sardines, raw egg, RMBs, etc.)!!! He then continued on saying how his brother’s dog (a rottie) lived to 14.5 years old (“when the average lifespan of rottweilers is 10 years”), and how he thrived on ONE food for his WHOLE life, and it was… Can you guess? THE SCIENCE DIET!!!

His next advice was that I need to not mess with my dog’s GI tract by giving him my random crap, because:
a. I will spoil him and he won’t ever eat just dry kibble again.
b. I will mess his digestion up
c. I will mess his skin and coat by adding the stuff I add.
He then went on to brag about his dog, who has only been on Science Diet as well, and how she has no pet dander and how she is the “epitome of health” according to his vet and how whatever he’s doing, he shouldn’t change ever (and he plans to do exactly that); how she never has tummy troubles because he has found one food that she likes and does her so much good and he will never change it… And how I SHOULD DO THE SAME, how I need to choose between Nutro, Blue Buffalo, or Science Diet, and find something Bruno likes, and keep him on it forever!!! GAH!

In between some of his tirade I managed to sneak in a word or 2, such as: “The random crap I feed him is to help with his stools, and is carefully researched and selected to fit my dog’s dietary needs” – response “Yeah, but you give him too much of it, plus, hard kibble is designed to be balanced and give the dogs all they need, so they don’t really need any other crap, additives, or soft food, for the a, b, and c reasons above.”
Me – “I am about to put Bruno on a fish-based food soon” (referring to his pet dander).
Him – “Why?”
Me – “Because fish is really good for dogs’ skin and coat, and has Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, just like flax seed (minus the Omega 6) and coconut oil.”
Him – “… Yeah, but lamb is better. Casey (his dog) has been on brown rice and lamb and her coat is so shiny and soft (not nearly as much as my dog’s, I promise), and she has no pet dander, and she loves the food, and you really shouldn’t switch his food so much.”

Maybe he is right, maybe lamb is indeed better, but can someone please explain how it could be better than fish, in regards to Omega 3 and 6, and skin and coat benefits?

As for the rest, the convo ended with him saying that he doesn’t usually like to tell us (my husband and I, which he NEVER tells him – he only speaks to me about the dog) how to take care of the dog, cause he feels like “we” (read “I”) get pissed off, but he wants us to do what’s best for Bruno…. I don’t know how I didn’t lose it and yell at him that I already am, and that all I do and feed is because I do daily research on it, and educate myself on what is good for Bruno… I just thanked him for helping me with the grooming and went to wash my dog…

Sigh, annoyed… The other problem/reason why I didn’t pour some emotions and knowledge down his head, is because:
a. he clearly won’t take it
b. he is helping us financially with the place a lot, i.e. paying more than us
c. I’m a chicken (or, how I like to think of it, I pick my battles).

SO, this is it… I just really needed to vent… Sigh, I will go walk my “messed-with” dog… Poor guy, having all kinds of variety with his food… I should be ashamed of my dog parenting skills… LoL,.. Sigh….

[Naturella]

Oh, and I forgot – he also told me that I am going “way over the top with all these
“all natural” dog stuff” I get (I assume he referred to not only the additives, but also my all-natural chews (bully sticks, tracheas, hooves, antlers, raw marrow bones, etc.))…

[Shasta220]

Aww wow, Alexsandra. I’m so sorry you have to deal with that! I’ve never dealt with anything that severe…it’s great that you manage to hold your own ground though! Sounds like Bruno definitely gets an amazing diet!

I seriously ignore how long people have owned/dealt with dogs. If you haven’t taken time to learn things, then you don’t know anything! Like me? I’ve only been training for a little while, and there’s a local trainer around who’s been in business 40+ years, but has always done it the exact same way. Sure, she’s the most popular (solely b/c she’s the most well-known)…but honestly I’m not a fan of her methods at all. For me, I change my method depending on the dog, as every dog is going to be different.

[Naturella]

Shasta, thank you for the support/compassion. I usually try to not let things he says get to me, but when it’s about how I’m “raising my child”, especially when I’ve been doing a ton of research and he has not, just kind of gets to me. He has owned dogs his whole life, and so have his brothers – great. He listens to his regular vet who likes the Science Diet, but in writing still recommends this website, and other foods. He just won’t listen, so oh well… Thank you for thinking that I feed Bruno good stuff… I think so too, and I try to always keep an open mind and educate myself on things pertaining to his nutrition, so oh well, he can think what he wants…

And true, some people operate on old glory, and maybe she was doing something right back in the day, but not anymore… I am sure you will make a wonderful dog trainer, especially because you customize to every dog. So go you! 🙂

[Shasta220]

An open mind is for sure the best! No matter how long you’ve done something, you should always be determined to learn something new about it. I learn from my dogs almost every day…and I surprised myself by learning something about music again today (I’ve been studying piano for 12 years, and thought I pretty much knew everything about rhythm. I was proven totally wrong today LOL!)

[Naturella]

Absolutely! And good job on learning something new yourself! 🙂

And, not to beat a dead horse, but I also keep learning new things, even when I am convinced I already know the truth.
So my friend (my success story, the one I got to switch from Shep to 3.5-5-star foods) and I recently discovered two pet boutiques, both literally 3 min from my house each, on the same street as my apartment complex! I was in heaven. Let alone the great foods they sell, they also have the awesome natural chews I like, and much more. Anywho, my friend bought 90lbs of food from Store A and maybe 50 from Store B. Well, 2 of the bags of food from Store A were on sale, which is why she bought them. We did not think to look at the expiration dates, and 2 weeks later, lo and behold, she finds out that one expired in January, and the other in February. She was pretty upset that she was sold expired food without knowing it, when Store B’s sale items are on sale with an extra sticker with the expiration date of the food right on top of the bag. She was saying that Store A has now lost her business and what not, and today I happened to be right next to Store A, and went inside to let them know how my friend was feeling because of what they had done. To my surprise, they were fully aware that they were selling expired food, and said that expired dry kibble is still good 6-8 months after the expiration date. Well, I was surprised, so I swung by Store B to ask them as well. After receiving a confirmation there, I reassured my friend that her dog will be fine (she bought the two Great Life 33-lb bags on sale for her yellow lab, along with Victor Ultra Professional 30lbs (And Victor Brown Rice and Beef 40lbs. And Simply Nourish 30lbs. And Evanger’s 5lbs to mix in. We are food nutties.). So she is much relieved, as am I, because now we know that expired food, while maybe not ideal, is still good for a little while longer. 🙂 Go figure, but I’m glad I swung by the store to tell them of the “incident” and learn something, that was also confirmed elsewhere. 🙂

Sidenote – Store A’s treats and chews are cheaper, so I will shop there for them, but Store B has more foods on sale at better prices too, and FREE SAMPLES! So I am totally in heaven! 🙂

[crazy4cats]

I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disagree. I would take the food back. I always check expiration dates when buying food. Of course, they will tell you it’s still good so they can get rid of it. I think kibble is already risky enough to feed as is without being expired. I really hope the food is OK if your friend goes ahead and feeds it.

[DogFoodie]

I would definitely take it back also. If it were one small bag that I’d get rid of quickly, I might go ahead and feed it (assuming that it looked and smelled OK and my dogs gave it their ultimate approval), but you’re talking about 171 pounds of food here!

There is a way to calculate the manufacture date based on the expiration date and the estimated shelf life of the product. So, for those that have a shelf life of 18 months that are three months past their expiration date, you’re talking about food that was manufactured close to two years ago! Even sealed, in the bag, fats can go rancid when something is that old. What if it wasn’t stored properly at the store, that can decrease even the 18 month shelf life.

I started accumulating a little too much kibble, so I made a spreadsheet of everything I had on hand ordered by expiration date so that it can be used well prior to then. I’m sorry that I’ve accumulated what I have because it should be the goal to buy and use the freshest food possible.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_12/features/Fats-Chance_20658-1.html

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/17_2/features/five-common-mistakes-buying-feeding-dry-food_20910-1.html

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_10/features/Dog-Food-Expiring_15658-1.html

[aquariangt]

…you found simply nourish at a boutique store?

[DogFoodie]

That threw me off also (Simply Nourish at a boutique store). Isn’t that the PetSmart house brand?

[aquariangt]

Yeah, its a petsmart exclusive

[Bobby dog]

Hi Aleksandra:
I have to cast my vote with C4c and Betsy. I agree it is very risky to feed food that is possibly two years old. I can say I have bought a small bag of kibble I had been wanting to try that was on sale because the expiration date was two months away and the store wanted to clear it out. But, I only bought it knowing I was going to use it right away and I would be feeding it before it had expired. Food for thought…

[Naturella]

Hey, guys! No, the expired food is 66lbs (two bags at 33lbs each), the rest is still good, she just stocked up. It is even less now since she has been feeding it for over 2 weeks.

She bought Simply Nourish online. The Victor Ultra Pro (still good for a while) and the 2 expired Great Life were bought at Store A. Victor Beef and Brown Rice and two Evanger’s were bought at Store B. For those who live in the Kennesaw, GA area: Store A is “The Good Dog Co.” that sold the expired food. Store B is “Top Dogs” that sells expirING food but lets you know what you’re getting yourself into and if you can feed it all by the expiration date, one can make the educated decision to buy it or not. Store A didn’t give my friend that option.

So far her lab has been adoring the Great Life, and she has now been mixing the 2 bags and feeding that so that she can get rid of them quicker. He lab kills 30lbs in about a month (more or less), so she shouldn’t be on this food too much longer… The lab is doing good for now, and I told her to monitor her, and if she notices even a slight change in her stool or behavior toward the food, to just toss it. Store A wouldn’t take it back since they said “it is still good 6-8 months after expiration”. So yeah… At least she has good quality and good (by expiration) food to get her lab back on when the Great Life is over.

I will also relay to her what you guys recommend. I don’t want her dog to get sick, so maybe she will decide to just toss the food anyway and continue with the others in the stash…

Betsy, special thanks for the links! I will check them out myself and send them to my friend also!

P.S. I had hoped that pet boutiques would be more honest about kibble quality and not just try to push it on people when it’s all expired and what not…

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Naturella.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Alexsandra:
I am glad your friends dog is doing well. I completely get being on a pet food budget. I shop with coupons and look for sales online and in pet stores/Wal-Mart/grocery stores. As I wrote, I bought that bag of kibble that was close to the expiration date (and would consider doing it again) but maybe I wouldn’t have even thought about buying it if I didn’t have a budget to worry about.

At least you know the business practices of the one boutique and can shop with caution or not give them your business at all. You gave your friend great advice as far as watching out for the health of her beloved friend!

You have an adorable fella! I have a soft spot for JRT’s full bred or part. And he has a very loving family to boot, lucky guy!

[Naturella]

Bobby dog, thanks for the kind words!

Yes, shopping on a budget is a necessity for both my friend and I, but finding fantabulous deals for quality food is a hobby. Luckily, she has 2 dogs – the lab and a Chorkie (chihuahua-yorkie, although he looks more like a bichon…), so she likes to stock up for both of them… She feeds them different stuff, which I find slightly odd, but to each their own, they both eat really good food. The Chorkie is stocked up with Holistic Health Extension Small Breed, Earthborn Holistic Small Breed and Coastal Catch, as well as a bag of Whole Earth Farms – Pork (I think), Halo, Simply Nourish, and Evanger’s. The lab also has a bag of Earthborn’s Ocean Fusion as well, I forgot about that.

To add to that, we both have a bunch of PetCo coupons and wipll be using them throughout the year.

As for me, my little JR-Rat Terrier-maybe Chihuahua in there-mutt is on a mix of Dr. Tim’s Kinesis-Nutrisca Chicken-Holistic Health Extension Grain Free-Now Fresh-Victor Yukon Salmon Grain Free-Nature’s Variety Instinct Chicken + Raw Boost-Nature’s Variety Turkey, Duck, and Chicken (TURDUCKEN! 😀 ) + Raw Boost. Some is from his initial mix of the first 3 foods; the HHE bag I got for free from Petland; the Now Fresh I got on sale for $3 for 0.5lbs; the Nature’s Variety and the Victor are free samples. For treats I use those kibbles, or free samples of Victor Joint Health Grain Free and Victor High-Pro Grain free, mixed together. Lined up I have Earthborn’s Coastal Catch, Primitive Natural, and Great Plains Feast to be mixed with ALL FREE bags of HHE Original, Grain Free, and Lamb and Brown Rice, respectively. For later on, I have Victor Ultra Professional lined up to mix with Back to Basics Open Range, and the foods that I have PetCo coupons for, such as Wellness, Canidae, Blue Buffalo (Bruno has done well on it in the past), Avo Derm, Solid Gold, Nature’s Variety, and Merrick. Those last ones I will buy in the end of the year, so they will be next year’s stash.

As for the pet boutiques, I would not purchase food from Store A, even if it’s good. But Store B I really like.

And thank you for the compliment – Bruno is our first “real” dog (when I was little, I had a min pin for about 2 weeks, but my dad couldn’t stand her, so they gave her away… Gina was “real”, but not “mine” for very long…) and I really try to learn about what is good for him and what’s not… We really love the little guy and definitely take better care for him than for ourselves (which is not entirely good, but… eh…). 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hi Aleksandra:
I have to admit I think finding good food for my pets has past the hobby stage and has become an addiction! I just recently wiped out the 50% off shelf at one of the pet food stores I frequent. They actually had large cans each of Tiki Dog Succulent Chic for 70 cents, Precise Holistic for 77 cents, Spots Halo Stews for 80 cents and some other name brand varieties I can’t even remember (all with long expiration dates). I think I have enough canned dog food for the next year! They had decided not to carry those flavors anymore and luckily I got to the store the day they put them on the 50% off rack. I felt like I had bags of gold when I left the store; I need to get a hobby.

[Naturella]

Bobby dog, this is pretty much almost how my friend and I are! I think we are headed toward the addiction zone, lol… But I have reached my limit. My husband is firm on not getting another dog yet, and Bruno has ENOUGH food and chews, and treats, and toys, SO, all I am allowed to do now is just window shop or sneak in a free sample or 2… or more… LoL… into Bruno’s mixes. But I’m happy with that. I have been giving away coupons to friends left and right, and trying to help people feed better food (if they’d take my advice). So far so good. I am happy and excited for my pup, and others’ pooches/kitties/other animals too. 🙂

P.S. Good job on scoring those great deals! I also have coupons for canned food as well, and most of it is free, so I will be putting some in Bruno’s kibble over time. 🙂

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Naturella.

[kvee]

I take Susie to the local dog park, on Sundays there is always a lot of non-regulars. One day this woman comes in the park with a huge bowl full of dry dog food that was a “leftover”, when she sees the horror on my face, she tries to reassure me that everything is OK as the food is “beneful and good quality” I went bananas, grabbed Susie and as we were walking away I told her that she cannot feed stranger’s dogs and especially cardboard food.

Needless to say, I do not go to the dog park on the weekends anymore.

[Naturella]

Wow, there are quite a few threads of mostly Shasta220 and I venting about Beneful and the like and Science Diet, lol, so I was not sure where to post, but here it is – I have a success story, y’all!!! (I get Southern-like when excited apparently, lol)

Anywho, I babysit these kids, and the family dog is a shitzu mix, 4 years old, unknown weight, but probably around 15-ish lbs. She is on Kibbles ‘N’ (PUKE)… I mean Bits. Kibbles ‘N’ Bits. She STANK!!! Like, BAD!!!

So I talked to the mom and tossed the idea to her that it may be the food and she was quite open to suggestions on what to feed her! I first warned her to steer clear of Kibbles N Puke, Beneful (Crappyful), Pedigree, Iams, and the like, and she goes “That’s all that we’ve been feeding her!”. And I was like “Well… Don’t anymore, please!”. So I asked where she usually shops for food, and she said Walmart. So I immediately recommended Pure Balance Grain Free and Rachael Ray Zero Grain. Also some other foods like Blue Buffalo Wilderness and some of the ones I’ve fed.

So the lady takes a note, but with a full-time job, 3 kids, a husband, and a household to run, I am sure doggie food is not a top 10 priority, so I look at my stash and see some gifts from a friend, who had given me about a lb or so each of Nutro Max, Simply Nourish, and Whole Earth Farms. So I scoop them up (after keeping a cup of each for Bruno) and pour some of the current Earthborn he is on, and I brought them to the family today, along with a sample pack of THK perfect form, for the puppy’s tummy. I asked for permission to transition the dog (named Snowy) to better food with the ones I have brought. Permission granted. I’m ecstatic! I mixed 1/3 of Nutro Max with 2/3 of Kibbles N Crap (luckily, the last in the bag!) and served her a scoop. Poor pup was picking out the Nutro like crazy! I was so touched for some reason. She has enough Kibbles N Yuck mixed with Nutro to last her the end of the week, maybe more, and once/day, while I’m there, I will be giving her some Perfect Form so that her tummy doesn’t get upset. After that she will be on some Simply Nourish, then Whole Earth Farms will join in, and, finally, Earthborn! 🙂

Also, I told my mom about the good deals I get often, so she said I can get her a big bag of a good food (up to $20) and she would pay me. Oh, will I!? Of course! I am thinking TOTW with alternating Pure Balance Grain Free, Earthborn Holisitic Grain Free, and Rachael Ray Zero Grain (those I can either get for real cheap or with coupons), and if I catch deals on Victor or something from the local pet boutique, I will get her some from there too. I am so excited, so as long as I’m babysitting the kids, I will be able to transition this poor dog to something better. It is so necessary as she has 3 bumps on her smallest ribs and I don’t know what they are… The lady didn’t either, but she said she’ll check them out when she takes her to the vet next. Also, even if I don’t work for her anymore, I have left her a list with foods to use, so I hope she adheres to them. I just can’t wait to see results from the transition – no more stink at least, and hopefully the bumps will just kind of be ok.

But yeah. I’m excited. Success story. Yay! 🙂

P.S. This website was on the top of each page on the list. Hope she looks at it! 🙂

[crazy4cats]

Nice work, Naturella! Way to be persistent. I hope she sticks with it too. BTW, whatever happened to Shasta220? I miss her posts.

[Naturella]

Thank you, C4C! And I think Shasta is just busy enjoying the summer, which is a great thing – I’m jealous! Lol

[Holly C]

Hooray! I’d definitely go with Taste of the Wild (the fish one, probably for her coat). I think Chicken Soup for the Soul dog food is a good choice too. When I have budget issues, I always buy it. It’s the best bang for my buck, but I prefer ToTW when I can buy it. I also like Earthborn Holistic. Wellness and Castor and Pollux are great foods, but really pricey.

Stay away from Blue Buffalo (too much for what it really is, and it always gets my dog sick!), and the Rachel Ray food. I have tried both before, and it made my dog itch like crazy.

If I were you, I’d go for a smaller bag of ToTW. A 15lb bag of TOTW lasts my 55lb dog about 2 weeks (he eats 300 grams a day), so don’t buy big dog food bags. It might spoil and you’ll lose more money than you’d save.

Good job with helping this dog!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Holly C.

[Naturella]

Holly C,

Thanks for the advice! I would also feed TOTW even to my dog, and yes, I am aware some have an issue with it being made by Diamond, but I would at least try it. My Bruno did fantastic on Blue Buffalo Wilderness and I personally know of 3 other dogs that have also done great on it. But yeah, I doubt the lady would buy that.

As far as Rachael Ray, I haven’t tried it, but I think it also depends on the dog how it would react to it. Earthborn is my go-to food as I can get it for cheap, but I can also get TOTW and even Victor for not much at all.

As for the lady, I already ordered her some food – Dogswell LiveFree (Grain Free) in 3 different flavors – Salmon, Chicken, and Lamb (4 lbs each) and one Wysong Nurture with Quail (5 lbs) – the LiveFree was on sale for $4 each, and the Wysong for $5, so it was legit a steal – 17 lbs for $18 (even with the shipping – I got a $5 discount too). And I have bought bigger bags (14-15 lbs) of food for my small guy (13.5 lbs) with no problems, but I will DEFINITELY only use small bags in my rotation for more variety in brands and flavors. But the lady would rather I get her the same 14-15 lb-bags so that she doesn’t have to worry about getting dog food too often, which I understand… But yeah, if I catch good deals, I will get her smaller bags too. 🙂

[Dog_Obsessed]

I completely understand the trouble of trying to get someone to switch foods. When I first got my dog, at the end of the summer, I found this site while trying choose a food. I was also taking an animation class, and I had been talking to the teacher some about dogs. I asked if she had any food recommendations, and she said she liked beneful because it didn’t give her dog gas. I had heard beneful wasn’t the best food, but I decided to look it up on DFA. I saw it was rated 1 star, and I was SHOCKED when I looked at the ingredients. I didn’t know they made food that bad! I didn’t want to bring it up with her though, because I knew it was a sensitive topic and I was trying not to judge anyone, especially since money can be a concern. I really like the strategy of referring people to this site, and I have used it ever since.

[Author]

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