I don't doubt that The Farmer's Dog is a high-quality food, but some of the ads/commercials almost make you feel guilty for feeding your dog anything else.
I priced them one time. For my two large dogs, it would cost about $300 per month. My dogs have always done great on kirkland dry. And I can add any topper they want. This may help you feel better about not feeding it to your dogs: https://www.bestiepaws.com/dog-food-review/the-farmers-dog-controversy/ My advice to any pet owner is to feed what works best for you and your pets and don't worry about the rest. I prefer kibble because it is easy to take camping, etc. I don't have to worry about refrigeration, cooking, etc. My dogs are in great shape with no allergies or skin issues, etc.
Although I have heard of the brand, probably when I've been online, I have not seen any advertising on TV or in our dog publications ..... yet! Is it one of the meat and veg. complete foods? We do have quite a few of those, Butternut Box, Bella and Duke for example. Tally had a free meal of Butternut Box at Crufts and I must admit, she did enjoy it. However, as I am veggie, (pescatarian), we always have a good choice of fruit and veg available anyway, and Tal does prefer her meat cooked.
It's a "human-grade fresh dog food" as their website says. I had not heard of Butternut Box but it seems to be similar. You subscribe and the food is delivered to your house in pre-portioned packs. Our nearest pet store has FreshPet and our dogs liked it. They also like some of the higher-quality wet foods (in cans/pouches). To me, an advantage of those is getting them from stores at any time. I don't like relying on the Internet, or one store, to provide my pets' food.
Interesting post; I didn't know that some dogs were actually getting sick from Farmer's Dog! For me, a major advantage of kibbles and can/pouch wet food is being able to buy it from more than one store, whenever we want. I don't like relying on any brand that I can only buy online.
The article does state that causation hasn't been proven, but it does suggest that this isn't the right solution for every dog. Prices run about $2 per day for a small dog under 10lbs. For my dogs, between 60 and 80 lbs each, it runs more like $6 per day. That's $180 per dog per 30 days. My kirkland is $40 per month for both dogs. So, my cost would increase 900% per month. In addition, you would need to consider food storage. If you buy weekly, you could probably fit it in your standard fridge. But any more than that and you would likely need to have a chest freezer. For me, I have no place to put a chest freezer so that is not an option. Currently, I buy two bags of kirkland at a time and store the bags in my hall closet. I stagger my shopping so I buy the next two bags about a week after I open my 2nd bag from the prior purchase - so I always have at least one month of food on hand. This means I don't suddenly find myself without any dog food and having to make emergency purchases. Having to depend on a weekly delivery to feed my dogs means that any delay in an order means my dog goes without and I have to figure out an alternative meal for them. Having to rush out and buy a bag of kibble because a delivery was delayed is not something I want to do - and buying a small bag of quality kibble for that delay will cost even more. Buying more than a week at a time, means I need to somehow figure out how to fit a chest freezer into my home that has no room for a chest freezer. They advertise that you can pause your subscription without additional costs in case you go on vacation, etc. However, that leads to an additional concern if you kennel your dog. Do they have the facilities to store fresh food when you board your dog? And can they store enough for the duration of the board, or do you have to figure out a way to get an additional order to them mid-trip? If you take your dog on holiday with you, how do you handle their food? I know my caravan's fridge is not big enough to store my food and their food for a week. So, how do I make that work? It's not like I can just buy some more mid-trip. When I'm in a remote campground, it can be a good two hours from the nearest convenience store, so shopping for my food during the trip isn't always feasable either. If you stay in hotels/motels, then how do you feed your dog during the trip? Again, it's not really practical. So, that all leads you to feeding kibble during holidays. But, suddenly changing your dog's food, especially in the midst of potential stress, is not good for your dog. So, now you potentially need to deal with a dog with gastrointestinal issues during your holiday. Using it as a topper would reduce costs, but will still run you a lot more than just adding in fresh foods you already have on hand. I often top with my leftovers which is basically "free food".
A second fridge would be my problem too. When I sold frozen dog food for a living, I had an ice cream type freezer in the garage. It wouldn't be worth the running cost for a single 12.5k dog. This is why I have been using the long life tray foods, or tinned tripe, as a topper. A 10k bag of high protein, low calorie kibble lasts her around 3.5 months - plus the veg of course. Not counting the veg as it would be there for me anyway, Tally's food costs about £18 a month. Her supplements - herbs, probiotic, salmon oil, allergy meds, probably adds another couple of pounds a month. A frozen or chilled pre-prep food would be at least double that. * A note on allergy meds. Tally has a herbal blend and an antihistamine tablet daily to control her itchy front foot. Every month or so I have to add a low dose of prednisolone for few days. This routine has worked well for almost two years. Recently I have started adding Nettle to her herbal mix and I haven't seen her lick her foot since. Early days yet, but it would be good if I could stop the prednisolone.
