I picked up a bag of dog food yesterday afternoon and paid $52.00 for Solid Gold Millenium. FIFTY TWO DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!

When we will all stand up and stop paying this ridiculous price for bagged dog food.

EUKANUBA - has $13 coupon at the store; tells me they have been ripping people off for all these months.

Can we fight back?

I know what you mean. It's rediculous :(

Speaking of Dog Food, and not to make light of what you're saying, but I saw this the other night and thought it was funny...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/mostly-garbage-pet-food/1163262/#share_content

Please note that the views in the video are for comedy only and do not reflect my own personal views. It's a joke!

OK here goes, I have watched this forum for a long time and read constantly the comments on trying to find the cheapest dog food or every person absolutely sure what they feed is the best food for the cheapest price. As I own a small dog food store specializing in natural, safe dog diets. As in anything we buy whether it is a shirt, a house or our dogs food, you will get what you pay for.
The cheap dog foods contain mostly waste grains, and left over by products from primary operations like brewing. The pricier dog foods contain more meat which is what dogs really need to thrive. It is not really about any special brand, just read the ingredients to see what you are paying for. Dogs really eat more like a wolf or a coyote, not like a duck. And for those who simply cannot afford the $50. to $90> plus, well fewer dogs eat less. I have cut back my numbers here but the ones I keep eat very well and are robust and healthy. Just my thoughts on this very volatile issue.

Thanks for that perspective. However, remember there are absolutely no dog food companies who buy meat which is grown specifically for dog food. It is just not done. The protein from meat is derived from the parts which cannot be sold for human consumption. Not one chicken, steer, hog, fish or any other animal is bred or raised for dog food.

Also - the grains used as you mention is that portion which is left over from the grain which is not used. Corn Gluten for instance is what is left over from the production of starches and sugars.

So, that video is funny but a bit of truth, the dog food is primarily left overs from other processes. Garbage might be a harsh word, but it is closer to what is happening.

I like what you say, "you get what you pay for", but is there actual proof - I mean real scientific proof showing the $52 per bag food is better than the Ol' Roy or the Costco Brand? I bet not.

I agree, you get what you pay for. It's just frustrating sometimes--especially when money's tight and the economy isn't the greatest. I guess we shouldn't complain, but sometimes people just need to vent.

You make a good point. Dog food is made up of leftovers, but it's also true that some dog food is better than others. The proof for me is in the ingredients and the results of their outward physical condition, skin, coat, etc. You do get a better quality with more expensive food, but it's still not what we would eat. If you want real meat raised for people, feed them from your butcher or grocery store. Give them real chicken and beef, but again, it will be more expsensive...

And yes, most of what makes the video funny is the irony that a lot of dog food, with filler and by products, etc, is mostly garabge. It's the throw out of what we won't eat, so instead of wasting it, they put it in dog food.

reminds me of horse shoes.....few years back when I was showing heavy we are willing to dish out $50-$150 per horse every 6 weeks to get the horses shod.
Yet I would tell my kids they did not need $100 pair of sneakers once a year. It finally hit me how stupid that was.

Horses mostly go barefoot now, and do just as well.

Costs of the ingredients are going up. I'd rather have the same sized bag more expensive than have them keep the same price and reduce the size! Whatever happened to a pound of coffee?

Well here is a laugh, I am a vegetarian, Vegan actually but I feed my dogs raw and only free range meats. I would never give them meats from a supermarket as that is all factory farmed loaded with growth hormones and antiBiotics all the beef is from feed lot cows YUCK and poor cows to have to go through that.
Petcurean made in Canada uses only fresh meat not mixed meats from a rendering plant. I think they are pretty good but I still like my raw diet.
I keep a flock of free range laying hens, feed organic grain to them and they all die only of old age, I am a softie.

I'm not a vegan or a vegitarian, but I'm a bit of a softie too. I also have a flock of chickens, and could never have them slaughtered. They're my pets :) And soon, they'll be giving me fresh organic eggs. Love my chickens. I posted pics of them on my website just for fun...
http://www.candyheartretrievers.com/chickens.htm

:)

I had been feeding most of my dogs Eukanuba since 1998....except one who was fed Orijen. When Eukanuba jumped it's price by $20/bag last spring....I did some serious investigating. I now have my dogs on Orijen and the older ones on Kirkland from Costco.
None of my dogs are now on Eukanuba. Eukanuba has destroyed my confidence.
I used to put my puppies on Eukanuba Weaning Formula even before I introduced Large Breed Puppy.
Ever since P & G bought in - I've noticed the price go through it's 'marketing changes'. When the product was re-branded 3 years or more ago - I didn'teven know what kind of Eukanuba to buy...arriving at the store to find my Adult Large Breed Maintenance Formula (black bag) was now sold as Medium Breed and that Large Breed was now offering a choice of Sporting etc. with price increases to cover repackaging and marketing I suppose.
I honestly thought that they realized their mistake by offering reconfigured paw pound points so that every 6th bag is free versus every 10th. However - I've now decided not to play their game anymore.

If you want to be sure your dogs are getting meat feed them a raw diet.

Those are very beautiful chickens Candyheart !! They look very healthy and I love their coloring !! How does one go about finding a healthy, well bred chicken breeder or do most people raising hens just order the eggs and put them in incubators to hatch ?
I love the looks of " Silkies ".

Thanks, I love my chickens too!

Most of them I ordered through Ideal Poultry: http://www.ideal-poultry.com/ as newly hatched, but I think you can order hatching eggs too, but then they can't guarantee sex. About 7 or so I actually got at a County fair.

Here's another fun link I enjoy if you like chickens: http://www.flyingskunk.com/live.html

:)

The problem is you don't always get what you pay for. What I find utterly repugnant is an alleged super premium brand of dog food that is owned my a person/company that also owns multiple rendering plants. The plant that makes their dog treats has the same address as one of the rendering plants.

I don't know anything about raising chickens but I always wanted to walk out to my back yard to gather some fresh hen eggs to scramble up for breakfast or use for baking my cakes. I figured my dogs who love birds would do nothing but bark all day if I started to raise chickens for eggs and enjoyment.

As you can see from the pics, I used chain link kennel panels to protect the chickens from my dogs. I was afraid my dogs, who had never seen chickens before, would bark a lot also, and even try to get at them, but they didn't bark too much, and now they are completely used to them. I can't wait to start collecting eggs!

I'm glad every time that I feed my dogs knowing that they are getting whole fish, beef and lamb parts in their fresh ground product along with greet tripe and liver all without any grains. Also they get whole chicken backs and eggs for their diet.
Now I know that with all the personal preferences and life styles out there that my protocol isn't for everyone. And I respect that. Each to their own.
This raw diet is less expensive than kibble, less than the higher end kibble. I spend approx. $250.00 (not including eggs)for 2 months of food for 8 dogs.

I agree that feeding my dogs a raw variety diet is less expensive than soe of top end kibbles and I just never see the vet and the best part is my dogs are strong and vibrant to 15-16 yrs.
Re: Chickens my dogs do not chase or bother the chickens as long as they syay out of the dog yards. I do have this year 15 of the "feather heads" some Polish and some Houdans and a few Sultans, now they are really too cute for words but really dumb, I mean really dumb, every chicken usually comes in at dusk to the chicken stall but the "feather heads" just squat down out in the pasture and go to sleep, I go out with a basket every night and gather them up to bring them in. I am hoping eventually they will get it together. I will have to get some pics up on my website.

What does a bag of Petcurean Salmon cost? How big is the bag? Is there a breeder/bulk purchase discount?

You are right on GACK. The so-called super-premiums (not a legal classification btw, you can call the garbage from SNL superpremium) is often made by the same company making ol'roy

come on -lets fight back

My dogs lay in the yard and the chickens and ducks go right up to them. The dogs get up and move away but its funny how the birds don't mind the dogs at all.

Your probably just paying for that rediculously sparkly and colorful bag they feel the need to use.

I have Peking ducks and my dogs are facsinated with them. They like to visit the pen but they don't act like they want to eat them or anything.
BTW - They lay eggs too but we are not so sure about eating them! LOL

why would you not want to eat a duck egg? Just a big ol chick egg, only one needed to make a great omelet

I feed a ground product, tripe and chicken backs. The ground product is produced by a company that started up making a food for the fur trade and now their business has grown to supply keepers of large carnivores and the mushers in Alaska. They make several mixes in 10lb chubs sold in 60lb boxes. I feed their "cat" mix": bottom fish parts, (the body of the fish that is left after the fillets are removed, beef, lamb and whole chicken, liver, green tripe, vitamins, bone meal, eggs, etc. This company also packages ground green tripe and ground or whole beef liver. I buy their 50lb bags of ground tripe.I usually don't buy liver alone because there is liver in the "cat"chubs. All of this is frozen in sub zero commercial freezers to kill bacteria. In addition I go to local chicken processors and buy chicken backs fresh packaged in 30lb boxes. I feed just once a day and I don't "fast" the dogs.