# Where do you buy your pet food?



## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

I have spent awhile thinking about where to get it. I met a woman at the pet store who says she only goes there for last minute items and she orders everything online. It got me thinking. Where do you various people buy your pet food?

When we were still researching food we went to the pet store a lot because they have the ingredients in various brands memorized and could really give us tips. They knew which brands did large breed puppy formulas and which didn't. For next month we're ordering everything we can from amazon because it's much cheaper.


----------



## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

butcher shops!


----------



## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Miss Molly May said:


> butcher shops!


Only the good stuff for your pets, eh? Nice!


----------



## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I use to buy kibble online (super fast shipping great site)
Paws Choice | Natural Holistic Pet Food | Premium Pet Food | Natural Pet Treats

Then found this gem of a store in my area where I get my Bravo raw & kibble now...the owner is outstanding, very knowledgeable.
A Dog's Life of Chesterland, LLC - All natural dog and cat products

Also, a local butcher shop


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I answered local pet store, but it's not really very local. We drive to a pet store in Buffalo, about an hour away. But it's privately owned, not a big chain store and it's geared toward the higher end foods, organic/natural treats, safe and good quality toys and beds and so on. The guys who own the store are fantastic, very friendly and down to earth. We go there a couple times a year and stock up on everything. The owners always see how much we are buying and throw in a bunch of freebies. 

For part of their food, I buy meat at the grocery store. And we raise chickens so my dogs get lots of fresh eggs.


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Local, independently owned mom and pop feed store. Best deals on dog food are there.


----------



## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Emoore said:


> Local, independently owned mom and pop feed store. Best deals on dog food are there.


Same


----------



## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

Pet Supplies Plus, Chow Hound and Meijer (for raw)


----------



## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

I feed Life's Abundance, and I am on auto-shipment...so it gets sent to me every month.


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

jprice103 said:


> I feed Life's Abundance, and I am on auto-shipment...so it gets sent to me every month.


^ this. Shipped directly to my door within 6 weeks of being manufactured and not sitting on shelves somewhere.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I can't use the poll because I buy from more than one place. Halo's isn't available at anywhere convenient, so I buy it online from doggiefood.com. Keefer's I get either from one of two local boutique pet supply stores, or from doggiefood.com. I get cat food and a lot of the dog treats and supplies from Pet Food Express, (a small local chain that has a lot of good brands, but not Earthborn or Orijen, unfortunately) and the boutique store. I get some dog treats and some toys online because they're not available locally.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Since the header was "pet" I chose other. I go to Pet supplies plus for my bird food/dog training treats/cat litter, now and then TSC for my cat food, and a co-op for my dog food, along with an online company for tripe that drop/delivers locally. I try to buy local/small mom&pop stores as much as possible. 
But my training toys/leashes/gear is bought online~can't find anything local. If my local shop can order something, I give them the option of making a few bucks instead of online shopping/shipping.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Chow Hound (small chain local to our metro area) for kibble and beef marrow bones. I get raw venison from friends. Deer are so abundant here people give away venison that's a year or two old. Humans get the fresh stuff, dogs get everything else, though my DH has eaten up to 3 year old venny so he's sharing with my dogs. I don't pay for raw.


----------



## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I put "other" because I buy from more than one place. Sometimes I buy from local non-chain pet stores, sometimes I buy from Pet Supplies Plus and sometimes from my vet. 
My vet gets good prices from her distributor and sometimes I order raw food/bones from her as well as kibble.


----------



## jb_pwrstroke (Jul 9, 2007)

Walmart the local grocery store or deer if I get some during hunting season.


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Tractor Supply!


----------



## Greydusk (Mar 26, 2010)

I buy from Olsens grain, a local feed shop. It's the only place I can get TOTW.


----------



## iBaman (Oct 25, 2011)

We have a dog bakery in town, and they just started stocking Blue. =3 We buy pretty much everything from them, such an awesome lady who always adds freebies ^-^


----------



## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

Tractor Supply


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Tractor Supply and WalMart (raw chicken)


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

Critters. I think they are a local chain. They don't sell any animals so they don't support animal mills like petsmart/petco/petland do.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Syaoransbear said:


> Critters. I think they are a local chain. They don't sell any animals so they don't support animal mills like petsmart/petco/petland do.


How do PetsMart, and PetCo support animal mills? You mean, birds and fish, reptiles and rodents?


----------



## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Can't vote on the poll as I buy the food for one dog at Petco, and the other two at a small local petstore.


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

selzer said:


> How do PetsMart, and PetCo support animal mills? You mean, birds and fish, reptiles and rodents?


Yes. I personally worked at petsmart and we got unweaned or sick parrots in all the time because they came from crammed mills. Our guinea pigs had ringworm 50% of the time, and our reptiles were often so young that they weren't established eaters or they were sick. A lot of the time the animals just showed up dead as well.


----------



## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Syaoransbear said:


> Critters. I think they are a local chain. They don't sell any animals so they don't support animal mills like petsmart/petco/petland do.


Outside of fish, mice, hamsters and rodents Petsmart/Petco don't sell animals. They host a local no-kill cat shelter around here and allow the shelter to have many locations/branches.


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

ladyfreckles said:


> Outside of fish, mice, hamsters and rodents Petsmart/Petco don't sell animals. They host a local no-kill cat shelter around here and allow the shelter to have many locations/branches.


So what? I'm not going to support any mills. And the care the animals receive in the store is also very questionable.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Syaoransbear said:


> Yes. I personally worked at petsmart and we got unweaned or sick parrots in all the time because they came from crammed mills. Our guinea pigs had ringworm 50% of the time, and our reptiles were often so young that they weren't established eaters or they were sick. A lot of the time the animals just showed up dead as well.


While I really don't care about birds or fish or rodents or reptiles, well not to own one, I can see how you would not want them to come from poor situations either.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Rabbits, ferrets, birds. An animal is an animal. If they are coming out of places that do not care for them properly, it is a problem. It also caters to the impulse buyers, and critters should not be bought on impulse. And doing something positive, like hosting rescues in the store or letting the apl put cats in your cages to give them exposure does not cancel out what you do to other animals.


----------



## TheActuary (Dec 17, 2011)

Petsmart hosts ferret and bunny rescues too... at least the one here does.
But I agree they shouldn't sell any animals that come from questionable sources.

I get my pup's food online since the only pet shop around here that sells Candiae charges a lot more for it. I just signed up for the 6 week shipments so that should be convenient too!


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

selzer said:


> Rabbits, ferrets, birds. An animal is an animal. If they are coming out of places that do not care for them properly, it is a problem. It also caters to the impulse buyers, and critters should not be bought on impulse. And doing something positive, like hosting rescues in the store or letting the apl put cats in your cages to give them exposure does not cancel out what you do to other animals.


Ugh yes, the impulse buying is the worst. I'll never forget the lady who impulse bought an african grey parrot while she was buying a conure. You don't impulse buy something that will live longer than you!

The cats that were there from rescues weren't taken care of very well too. Only managers and rescue staff were allowed to be in the cat habitat, and rescue staff was usually in for maybe an hour a day and the managers were often so busy that the cats got the bare minimum(food, water, poop scooped). They were frequently out of food and water because no one would check up on them or the managers were too busy to do it. But the store I worked at was really understaffed, so it might be different in other places. I think it gave the animals good exposure, but the rescues shouldn't have depended on employees to take care of the animals. Our own animals were already lacking in care from not having enough employees.

Glad I don't work there any more, yuck. The last straw was when a bunch of our birds came in with psittacosis and spread it to employees and the customers that bought them, and the store refused to take the birds to the vet and treat them because there wasn't enough money in the petcare department for it.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

have you tried Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for Halo??



Cassidy's Mom said:


> Halo's isn't available at anywhere convenient,


----------



## tsteves (Jun 7, 2011)

We buy it from our trainer. She gets it from the distributor that sells to the pet stores. Nice to be able to get food about $10 cheaper, makes it so we can afford to feed better.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i buy food and treats from PetSmart,
Petco, Pet Value, mom and pop pet
food stores. i work for a food company.
a lot of my dogs beef, chicken and pork
comes from work. sometimes i'll buy treats online.


----------



## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

I used to buy from a local retail/warehouse distributor because he carried good brands and was a few bucks less than the chains...then the prices started going up and up....many times I would make the trip (which added significantly to the food cost, a 60 mile minimum trip 4 gal gas - so about another $15 per trip to the cost) and have to go back in 3-5 days. Crates, some toys, treats better there than the chains, so I still go once in a while, but now I get delivery from doggiefood.com. I did not know you could get food from amazon, so will check it out too. Only use chain stores (Petco/smart/Supplies plus) for minor stuff....and their in-house do it yourself bathing.

Lee


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

doggiedad said:


> have you tried Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for Halo??


Halo eats Earthborn Holistics.


----------



## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

I chose "other" because there is multiple places that we buy food.....


----------



## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

I clicked other because it's not really a pet store, it's just a small locally owned feed store.


----------



## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Most of the time I order online since I'm on the east coast and shipping is so cheap with all the discount coupons they have available. 

We've got a couple local stores that carry the good brands, so I go there sometimes too, but I always end up paying an extra $10-$15 per bag if I go that route, so it's not too often.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I support our locally owned feed store- he'll get whatever I need, tells me what day it will be in, calls me ma'am and sells fresh yard eggs [also known as organic, cage free]. They're in the refrigerator with the vaccines and the occasional 6 pack.


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Stosh said:


> I support our locally owned feed store- he'll get whatever I need, tells me what day it will be in, calls me ma'am and sells fresh yard eggs [also known as organic, cage free]. They're in the refrigerator with the vaccines and the occasional 6 pack.


Sounds like my feed store. Vaccines and beer in the fridge, dirt floor, always calls me Ma'am, and no matter how many times I say "I can get that" the guy always carries the bag out to my car for me.


----------



## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

I get Uschis food from Pet Club. They have the best variety plus the best prices.


----------



## Tankin (Feb 7, 2012)

I buy at the local butcher shops


----------



## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

A feed store about twenty minutes away. It's well worth the time since they have the food that I feed (Chicken Soup and TOTW) and have great prices. Besides, they love Teddy and treat her like a canine princess when we go.


----------



## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

US Tractor Supply..great prices, dog friendly, but mostly because I buy 4 Health dog food, their brand


----------



## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

Tractor Supply. Diamond Naturals is working very well for my crew.


----------

