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  • "poor dog" Has anyone else ever done this?

    Okay so I was in wal*mart last night and was in the check out like and there was a whole family that had two carts full of stuff....

    Then I am trying to see if they had "weight Watchers icecream" (that is what it looked like.. but it turned out to be the crappy cat food from wal*mart and then I saw it..... OL'ROY dog food... I just started trearing up!

    I know this is crazy right?! before I got nova I wouldnt have even thought twice about thatdog food and what it has in it.. but now im just thinking to myself "Poor Dog / Poor Cat".......

    Anyone else feel like this now that they have the knowledge what what dog should eat and not eat?!
    sigpic
    Nova The Dane- 7 Months Old

  • #2
    I feel sorry for any animal that gets any food sold at wal-mart. Always have, always will.

    I always make sure that if I see a buggy with some in it .. I make sure to talk about WHY I have 40# of chicken in my buggy.
    sigpic
    A backyard breeder (BYB) is someone who has been deemed not a reputable breeder.

    A "Responsible Breeder" supports their buyers, supports their own dogs, and supports the lives of any fututre puppies by having (and keeping up with) all the appropriate health testing suggested by the GDCA.

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    • #3
      Yup!

      What's really sad is I used to be that person. Our breeder fed Eagle Pack when we got Scoob, but then switched to Pedigree, and says she's finished champions on it, and has dogs that have lived to 9+ years on it. I guess that's what she used to feed and then went back to it sometime in the recent past. So...thinking it couldn't hurt I went ahead and switched our dogs to Pedigree too. At the time, we just couldn't afford expensive food, so it helped us a lot, and I figured I was doing what I could for our dogs.

      Anyway, we now feed TOTW to all of our animals. I still have faith in my breeder, as I have been to her house numerous times, and she health tests all of her dogs, as well as shows, trains, and spoils them. She is very careful about the homes they go to and checks in regularly with all the owners of her pups. We just won't go with the same food anymore.
      Kate
      Wife to Danny
      Mom to Scooby, Phoenix, Gryphon (Great Danes), Izzy (Shepherd Mix), Maya (Pit Bull), and Koa (Jack Russell)

      sigpic

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      • #4
        Originally posted by NovaTheDane View Post
        Anyone else feel like this now that they have the knowledge what what dog should eat and not eat?!
        Yes and no...
        If its a cart full of name-brand expensive stuff and the Ol' Roy is the only discount item, yeah it does make you go hmmmm...
        OTOH, if its a clearly hurting for money person trying to make ends meet on a pension or such, I think "at least the dog is getting fed." Heck, I think that most days anyway with the crud we see around here.

        I often see carts full of stuff like poptarts, hot-dogs, white bread, velveeta, hawaiian punch, white rice, sugar here, additives there, being pushed by a haggard mom with a herd of sickly-looking kids... If I were to get upset by the Ol' Roy, I'd have to get upset about that too, and I just can't spare that emotional energy
        Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened.
        - Anatole France

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        • #5
          I work at Walmart...need I say more.

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          • #6
            As someone who at one point had been forced to feed my dogs whatever I could get my hands on to feed them I only have this to say. While food is not the best for a dog in the long run, I would rather see a dog fed food than be starved, homeless, or dead.

            There are many fates worse than poor quality food, but it is a shame when people cannot or willnot afford their dog more.
            sigpic
            "Show me your dog, and I will tell you what manner of man you are."
            ~Capt. Max von Stephanitz
            Anubis CGC (RIP) , Cheza CGC, Schwarz Frost von Lichtefeld CGCA THD TDIA, Steele Gunner Goatsbane CGCA, and Professional House Dog Oliver.

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            • #7
              This same topic has come up several times before. Yes, it is frustrating, knowing there are a lot more "high" quality foods out there BUT you do not know the story behind their reasoning. It could be that they don't care. It could be that they just don't know any better. It could be any number of other reasons. The example I used last time was that I know of some dogs that refuse to eat anything but those "horrible" Ol' Roy type foods. And when it comes down to it, which is worse; starving the dog or letting them eat something that perhaps isn't of the "highest" quality.

              Now, I will tell you all straight up that my dogs are on food that I purchase from Walmart. Guess that makes me an uncaring, aweful dog owner. But you don't know the reason behind it. I will tell you. My dogs were on those fancy holistic foods, most recently Taste of the Wild. LOVED them at first. Stools were fantastic, dogs looked good, at FIRST. But realized this past summer/beginning of fall that the dogs were always hungry (despite feeding much more than the bag said) AND one day I realized that my dogs looked HORRIBLE. Absolute skin and bone. My pit mix looked like I was starving him to death. So after seeing a thread on here saying that others were experiencing the same I decided I had had enough. How good are these "high" quality foods if the dogs look emaciated and I cannot put weight on them? So I did what all other horrible dog owners do, I switched them to Pedigree. A food that my 10 & 1/2 year old, healthy, happy Dane has been on for YEARS. And you know what? They looks SOOOO much better. I was just talking with my family today saying how my little pit mix actually looks like a healthy dog now rather than some emaciated little rat. My Neo finally put the weight on she needed and all dogs are sooo much more satisfied. Oh! and they are all still very very healthy. Though I did have to switch my Frenchie back to TOTW because she seems to be have a skin reaction to the pedigree.

              Now, not only does that make me a horrible, uncaring owner but my Neo pup is on, get this, Purina One!!! I know, horrible me. Should be locked up and forbidden from owning dogs feeding them this trash. But his meals consist of more than just kibble and he is following the same diet several long time, very reputable breeders follow per their advice. And I can only say that he is in FANTASTIC shape. His co-owner has even said that he looks better than any of her pups that she bought ever did and she always fed those "fancy" foods.

              So the point of my rant is that you can't just assume that you know the reason for why people feed what they do. I don't mean to go on and on about it but seriously this topic tends to annoy me because again, you DON'T know yet sooo many are so so quick to judge.

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              • #8
                The thing that irritates me is that there are VERY affordable decent foods available at places like Costco. If people cared enough to do the research, they'd find that there are several alternatives to foods like Ol'Roy.

                Besides that, it's my strong belief that feeding the absolute best quality you can afford may very well save you on vet bills and heartache in the long run. What is that family who feeds Ol'Roy for years of the dog's life going to do when the poor thing ends up with pancreatitis, IBD, cancer, etc?

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                • #9
                  I think a lot of people simply do not "know any better"...usually when people know better, they do better. Until there is more education of the public then a lot of people will continue to unknowingly feed their pets "less than" foods. I still feel the Pet Food Industry has made some great strides in the recent past educating the public about nutrition for our loved ones.

                  With all that being said, I still feel a bit of frustration when seeing someone feed these foods. I actually wound up in a unique situation to help educate someone recently. My neighbor was going out of town and asked me to dog sit for the week. He is one that does not allow his dogs in the house. They are Pit/Mastiff mixes. He does have a heated garage where they live and they have a fenced in yard to play in.No chains...He also seems to "love them" and I have seen him spending time with them a lot. Before he left he told me that they were picky eaters and that to get them to eat I had to put wet food on top of their dry. I went into his garage the first day to feed them and found the biggest, most ugliest bag of Ol'Roy I ever seen.In addition, there were 7-10 other 40 lber carcasses of Pedigree, Whole Care Pet, and Ol'Roy. (I had never even heard of Ol Roy until I joined this forum, interestingly enough, LOL) I thought to myself, no wonder they are not eating. The cans of wet food were whole care pet chicken special, and sirloin burger n' gravy...There was a pitchfork sitting in the bag of Ol'Roy that had a 2 inch thick layer of dried up wet "food" on it...I assumed that is what he used to "mix in the wet".Their poops were rock hard and ginormus...Bigger then Milly's who is twice their size. I decided to do a little experiment and brought over some of Milly's Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. The dogs went NUTS for it. He also does not have them trained. I spent the next few days teaching them some basic commands(like sit/off/stay/down) and had them eating good. I swear by the end of the week they were like new dogs. When he came back, I made up a story that they refused to eat anything(even with the whole care chicken special mixed on top, and WC sirloin burgers n'gravy)and I thought I would try some of Milly's food. He asked what kind it was and I showed him, and gave him the rest of a 33 lb bag to keep. I also offered him some advice and education on nutrition and recommended some better , more affordable foods like Chicken Soup and Exclusive. He seemed very receptive to the advice and also commented on how they looked better and even listened better(I didn't tell him I put them thru mini-boot camp, LOL).
                  I feel bad for him actually..he is retired military has some mental issues from war.Not severe issues, but he still struggles. He makes a decent retirement because of this and his wife also makes good money, so it is not like they can not afford a little better for the dogs.He used to have three of these Pit/Mastiff dogs, but recently gave one up(to HS) because the dog had severe ear problems(infections and yeast) and had surgery 2 times and still did not get better.He had spent close to 400.00 and thought that was too much and he couldn't care for him right. (I personally think it may be the wife and maybe she doesn't like dogs or allow them in house)I didn't dare tell him it could have been the crap he was feeding. I have yet to see if this made any difference in what he buys for them, but I did try. That's all we really can do.....

                  ~Jeanne, Jason & Emily(6)-The Humans~
                  Milly-Harl GD,
                  Tank, Tigra Cougie & Jax-The Cat Crew
                  www.valparasiokennelclub.com

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                  • #10
                    I agree that many people don't know better. Still, is that a good enough excuse? If I googled "Ol'Roy review" or something like that, I'd know within minutes how terrible that food is. There is pretty much nothing in that food that is species appropriate or remotely healthy for a dog. Most people have the internet, or at least access to it, and I feel that if you are going to take on the responsibility of caring for an animal you should be willing to do the research on how to provide appropriate nutrition for said animal. I wouldn't just go out and get some exotic animal and make an uneducated guess about what it should be eating. Shouldn't be any different for dogs.

                    ESPECIALLY after all these recalls, people should really care about what they put into their dogs' bodies and should be doing their research on things like chemical denaturing, harmful preservatives, irradiation and things as simple as appropriate ingredients and sourcing.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by RachelsaurusRexU View Post
                      I agree that many people don't know better. Still, is that a good enough excuse? If I googled "Ol'Roy review" or something like that, I'd know within minutes how terrible that food is. There is pretty much nothing in that food that is species appropriate or remotely healthy for a dog. Most people have the internet, or at least access to it, and I feel that if you are going to take on the responsibility of caring for an animal you should be willing to do the research on how to provide appropriate nutrition for said animal. I wouldn't just go out and get some exotic animal and make an uneducated guess about what it should be eating. Shouldn't be any different for dogs.

                      ESPECIALLY after all these recalls, people should really care about what they put into their dogs' bodies and should be doing their research on things like chemical denaturing, harmful preservatives, irradiation and things as simple as appropriate ingredients and sourcing.
                      Reminds me of those Walgreen's commercials "In a perfect world".... In a perfect world, everyone would be smart enough to get on Google and do some research, but *realistically* that is just not the case. Not everyone is as smart as you either.....some people do not know what chemical denaturing is, let alone spell it. And NO, LOL...Not everyone has the internet or access to it. No one here is "making excuses" for people and their sub-par pet rearing. Only stating that a large percentage of pet owners do not know better. Yes a lot of them would not care even if they did know better, but there are some that will do better when they know better..Just as another poster in this forum. I had always fed "Science Diet" or "Iams"before I had Milly...Why? I was a tech and that is what was preached to us...Hills is good..Having Milly and wanting to educate myself on Danes and what is best for them, I learned differently. Now I do differently.

                      ETA: And I agree...there are worse things that pet owners could do to their pets, like starve them. My Grandma has a Shitzu that will be 16 next month,. The thing grew up on kibbles n bits...Healthy as can be.
                      Last edited by MillyVanilly; 12-16-2010, 06:17 PM.

                      ~Jeanne, Jason & Emily(6)-The Humans~
                      Milly-Harl GD,
                      Tank, Tigra Cougie & Jax-The Cat Crew
                      www.valparasiokennelclub.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Well. I am not one to play pitty party.. so those who are on this forum and think that im calling all of them a bad dog owner then so be it. I am not judgemental to people who use foods for reasons that its better for the dog. So not even going to feed into that.

                        BUT.. for the people who are understanding of the first statement.

                        I ALSO think that it is a point that they know now better. I dont usually judge but I could TELL by what they had in their cart and that they had three full carts full of crap food that they could afford the correct food if they wanted to or knew better.

                        I am not ever saying that I know their situation or know that they dont know better. But I think the main point is that if you own a dog these days.. there needs to be a little more thought put in then, "lets get this cute one"...

                        I know this will NEVER happen because most people just get a pet and do whatever. Hell, my Chi was on Iams for almost two years (until I got my Dane and found out just how much bad things are in these medium to low grade foods)..

                        that doesnt mean I judge the actual people, I am just saying "poor dog"..

                        Oh I also watch the animal cops show that plays ALL day on animal planet so I see what happens to these really poor dogs every day.. ( even the 15 dane pups and momma that got NO care ate all and all imaciated... ... So yes ol' roy is better than starvation.. again, I understand those situations that can be rougher than ol roy food.. I am strictly just talking about the instant thought that came to my mind when I saw the food in the cart.
                        sigpic
                        Nova The Dane- 7 Months Old

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                        • #13
                          I have to say with this economy if dogs are eating and not being dumped at shelters thats good.I feed my dogs what i think is good food because i can not everyone could afford what i pay.Needless to say until you walked a mile in their shoes we cannot judge.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by MillyVanilly View Post
                            Reminds me of those Walgreen's commercials "In a perfect world".... In a perfect world, everyone would be smart enough to get on Google and do some research, but *realistically* that is just not the case. Not everyone is as smart as you either.....some people do not know what chemical denaturing is, let alone spell it. And NO, LOL...Not everyone has the internet or access to it. No one here is "making excuses" for people and their sub-par pet rearing. Only stating that a large percentage of pet owners do not know better. Yes a lot of them would not care even if they did know better, but there are some that will do better when they know better..Just as another poster in this forum. I had always fed "Science Diet" or "Iams"before I had Milly...Why? I was a tech and that is what was preached to us...Hills is good..Having Milly and wanting to educate myself on Danes and what is best for them, I learned differently. Now I do differently.

                            ETA: And I agree...there are worse things that pet owners could do to their pets, like starve them. My Grandma has a Shitzu that will be 16 next month,. The thing grew up on kibbles n bits...Healthy as can be.
                            No need for the condescension; I'm merely stating my opinion, same as everybody else.

                            And that was sort of my point... If people researched a bit they'd know exactly what chemical denaturing is.

                            I knew a man who drank a 30 rack a day and smoked 3 packs of cigarettes until he passed at the ripe old age of 84. Doesn't mean he was healthy.

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                            • #15
                              A Black Lab came in my pet shop many years ago. I had never seen a shinier coat on a dog...ever. The dog was GORGEOUS! She was a little grey in the muzzle, a little slow walking, so I thought she was...maybe...9 or 10 years old.

                              Went up to the guy and commented on what wonderful shape his dog was in. He said thanks, and did I have any scents to put on hunting dummies. He was training her "replacement" in the field. I said, "Really...she doesn't look old enough to retire". "Well, she going to be 17 at the end of the month". HUH?!?! You've got to be kidding me!

                              "What do you feed her", I asked. "Sturdy". My mouth must have hit the floor, because he looked at me, smiled and said, "Yep, Sturdy. So don't try to sell me any fancy stuff." I came back with, "Gotta be genetics, then." "Well, every Lab I've had has been fed that, different lines on all of them. Never lost one before 16. So, who knows?"

                              If your not familiar with Sturdy dog food, it's along the exact lines of Ol' Roy, maybe a step up, but probably not. I'll never forget that Lab...
                              Karen, Chance, Lucy and Savanah RB

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