Buying Dog Food Online

[KShep]

Do any of you do automatic ordering or order dog food online at all? I'm looking for a reputable site in order to save time and money. I've also been researching Dog Food Advisor and have decided to switch Ripley from Nutro Natural Choice to Solid Gold Wee Bit . Does anyone use this? It's in the same price range, but Dog Food Advisor gave it 4 stars as opposed to Nutro's 3 stars.

[KShep]

My head is spinning from this dog food advisor- Now I'm worried about ethoxyquin(sp?) in the fishmeal. Something I've never even heard of. I'm just trying to make the best choices for my baby . Plus, Shipping on dog food would make buying online outrageous (correct me if I'm wrong...) So this post is pointless Cairn Talk Pollution. I'm sorry.

[Idaho Cairns]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I don't think your post and subsequent reply was "Cairn Talk Pollution" in the least. I see it as a stream of consciousness thing that frequently occurs to we Cairn owners as we ceaselessly think about ways to improve the life and lot of our little charges. I think it is neat to get a glimpse into the head of another "Cainer" as they both question and then reflect on some aspect of trying to do the right thing for their dog.

You are not alone, I go thru this process all the time, not only with the dogs but with buying anything on line--weighing the convenience, the sales taxes, the choices against the shipping costs and the inability to "touch and feel" the product before buying.

Thanks for the chuckle and the look in the mirror.

[KShep]

Ok good. I'm not feeling quite so silly now

[shergry]

Just thought I would put my $0.02 in...hahaha. We buy from 2 good sites...one being petfooddirect.com and the other being doggiefood.com. We go back and forth because of shipping or if one is having a sale. So research and you CAN find a site that caters to your needs. We have done this for over 15 years...and the cost of driving versus shipping...well shipping always is cheaper for us. Sometimes it can also be free depends on how much you spend. Both sites have very good brands and lots of other stuff. Good luck.

[Lynn in TN]

I agree with Idaho on this. I like to read these things, most of the time it is something I have been doing myself.

[KShep]

Just thought I would put my $0.02 in...hahaha. We buy from 2 good sites...one being petfooddirect.com and the other being doggiefood.com. We go back and forth because of shipping or if one is having a sale. So research and you CAN find a site that caters to your needs. We have done this for over 15 years...and the cost of driving versus shipping...well shipping always is cheaper for us. Sometimes it can also be free depends on how much you spend. Both sites have very good brands and lots of other stuff. Good luck.

I will check that out. It would be so convenient.

I agree with Idaho on this. I like to read these things, most of the time it is something I have been doing myself.

Thanks. It definitely was a stream of consciousness type thing.

Off topic, but is anyone this nuts? I made a spreadsheet weighing the pros and cons for different foods I am considering. I would paste it here, but I lose the formatting. I could do a pie chart....

I make them for just about everything. ....Always making lists. OCD or making an informed decision?

[sanford]

I made a spreadsheet weighing the pros and cons for different foods I am considering. I could do a pie chart....

I make them for just about everything. ....Always making lists. OCD or making an informed decision?

As Idaho says, many of us cairn owners frequently focus on the best ways to improve life for our pets, so you are hardly alone. If charts and/or lists work for you, (as they do for me) then go for it!

[Idaho Cairns]

Probably an organized mind seeking irrefutable facts in an area that has none. There simply aren't enough long term canine nutrition studies that have been done to "prove" what is the best balance for your dog, too much conjecture, too much anecdotal evidence that may work well for someone's "Poopsie" but might not be suitable for your dog. Too many theories from too many sources, too many gurus, spouting too many "natural" solutions for a domesticated animal that once scavenged for survival but has now been selectively bred to be quite something else with, I suppose, far different nutritional needs. Then there is the guilt associated with the "I wouldn't feed my dogs that s..t if you put a gun to my head!" mongers who, pursuing who only knows what agendas, wax on and on about the evils of grains, bits, pieces, chicken beaks and feet, hooves, and what not until we throw up our hands and run around squawking about "holistic" this, "holistic" that and finally in frustration, we kneel down to a "Put an eagle feather in the hair, granny dress on the body, and moccasins on the feet, big time "HOLISTIC" practitioners and shell out a fortune that is so natural you can make yourself believe you can hear the soft winds blowing across plains and the lowing of buffalo every time you open a bag of the expensive stuff!

Frankly, I am of the opinion that 90% of the stuff you read on the internet and 85% of what you read on dog food bags isn't worth the ink it cost to print or the cyberspace it cost to upload.

Experience, close and personal, watching the behavior, judging the coat, seeing if it all passes easily and with some solidity is about the best we can do when it comes to our own dogs. Closing one's ears and eye's also helps but I must confess that I have just changed my girls' food after years of having no sickness and long lives to one of the "designer" foods--as an experiment and to coddle the suggestion of my dear, Cairn owning daughter, who treats her two dogs like they were Princesses of the Realm, so I am no one to talk. I can be had as well.

Make your pie charts, wrestle with the dilemma, input reams of information, calculate, ponder, and then make a big old poster board listing dog food brands, sub brands, formulas randomly across the thing and then throw a dart--you will probably make the right decision by buying the food nearest the hole.

[janis]

Chuck I love your rants! Good points all. I was thinking that my Cairn is the most OCD dog I have ever owned, would it's owner be any different?! I doubt it!. Lists galore!

P. S I'm just almost deleriously happy if Kirby will eat what I buy on a regular basis! He's a love it and leave it kind of fickled fellow.

[Hawkeye]

I am an Excel freak and say go for the spreadsheets!! I have pondered the food issues time and time and still end up with the same food as I started with. I've also looked into the shipping vs driving but have not purchased online yet. You are not alone...

[Newman]

Yea just order whatever the best kind of food! Don't buy some crappy 10dollar dog food either! Us Cairns need the premium!!!!

[MegsMom]

If you want to upload a spreadsheet, the simplest way I've found is, Google Docs. You just upload the whole thing (I haven't found a limit & have posted multi-page docs) set the doc for public viewing, post a link on here, then anyone who wants to see it can make the choice to download it. >Might be a choice to 'view only' but don't remember having done that.

[bradl]

Here's a video tutorial showing how to post a google docs spreadsheet into the same forum software we use (the demo forum is in a language with Cyrillic alphabet but still fairly easy to follow)...

http://vimeo.com/12824355

I've never tried it, but it could work. You can practice in Test Forum and we can troubleshoot in Forum Support

[KShep]

Probably an organized mind seeking irrefutable facts in an area that has none. There simply aren't enough long term canine nutrition studies that have been done to "prove" what is the best balance for your dog, too much conjecture, too much anecdotal evidence that may work well for someone's "Poopsie" but might not be suitable for your dog........

Make your pie charts, wrestle with the dilemma, input reams of information, calculate, ponder, and then make a big old poster board listing dog food brands, sub brands, formulas randomly across the thing and then throw a dart--you will probably make the right decision by buying the food nearest the hole.

Ha! You are right. According to these so called experts. All protein and fat ( feeding only a spoonful a day) is best. I personally believe that anything less than a cup a day is simply not enough. Grain free- what's wrong with rice? I know some dogs are sensitive ,to grains, but not all. But I want more bang for my buck, and now that I know I am paying too much for what I'm getting, there is no going back. Im wayyy too budget conscious for that. I found a great little feed store and the prices are so good. A lot of the brands that they carry are better than what's at the big pet stores. I did have the reams of information but I narrowed them down to things that were important to me.

Thanks megsmom and brad.....I'm going to attempt posting it when I get home. I'm out of town.

[_whits_]

It took me a good 4 months to choose a dog food, and then I fretted about it for about 3 months after that. I swear, every scoop I put in the bowl for three months I was questioning whether I was permanently damaging Addie's future. I think I put more thought into her dog food than I did in most of my grad school papers. You are not alone.

[Idaho Cairns]

I think some dog owners fret more over the food they feed their dogs than what they themselves and their children eat! It would be interesting to know if the general longevity of dogs has increased in the last decade since all the discussion about canine nutrition started. I sure wish some long term comparative studies would get published--most of the research apparently is being done by the manufacturers and it is good that they are doing the research but they are hardly objective sources.

Other than those situations where some kind of dreadful poison has inadvertently managed to get into some commercial dog foods and caused fatalities does anyone know of a dog that was killed by a steady diet of a particular brand of dogfood?