Does anyone buy dog food online? Have you got any advice as to which is the best site, or is it more economical to buy from a shop?

Yes, I tend to only buy on-line as I feed Orijen and it's not widely available up here, I use either Zooplus, who have just about every brand there is, or GJW Titmuss, I tend to stick to Zooplus now as they do the smaller bags with 50p delivery, where as Titmuss only do free delivery on large bags of orijen.

I've always bought kibble online and I buy raw meat over the telephone direct from the company.  I've never found a local supplier to match online prices unless they happen to have special offers or short sell-by dates.

What are you looking to buy?  I found that I generally shopped around when I was buying Arden Grange and no one site had the monopoly on the cheapest price although Vet UK was consistently low.  eBay is always worth a look too

It we get Kibble I usually but from countrywide. Otherwise I feed raw and get that from various butchers, supermarkets and from Countrywide again as they have a freezer with blocks and also bags of tripe or nuggets.

I use Berriewood Wholesales and they get it out to you very quickly usually 48hrs. They have a very wide range and very good on price.

I have a list of several sites and when I need to buy I just google to see which one has the best price on that day. There is always one of them with it on special offer, and of course free delivery matters

Just looked at Zooplus very competitive do you know who their courier is?

You have a choice of Yodel or Royal Mail, if you spend over £19 ( I think ) it's free by Yodel or 50p by Royal Mail, I always go by Royal Mail, not impressed by Yodel at all.

Same here that's why I asked they seem to be the worst couriers ever. 50p very good with Royal Mail Thanks for that.

I'm waiting for a sack of Burns from Zooplus - ordered on Thursday evening - handed to Parcelforce on Friday, (I went with PF for 50p as also heard bad stories on Yodel) Zooplus were cheapest on web and also had 10% new customer discount which made the price even better. I then got a message with a 5% discount for next order code no - just make sure I don't lose it before next order :-D
Chris

> they seem to be the worst couriers ever

It must be a regional thing,. Yodel here in Bristol are brilliant even combining deliveries from different companies.  So much so I have taken the trouble to complement them for their good service.

If you use zooplus a lot you can buy a discount package so you save on further orders-I got the price of this back with the money I saved on my first order.

We get Orijen from Zooplus and JWB from Titmuss, hubby seems happy so I'm assuming the price is good, as he's the one who thinks about finances! :-p

I have decided to use JWB for Willow because we got a free sample from the puppy party and she seemed to much prefer it to the Chumleys ( spl ?) which the breeder had her on, plus I am assuming that it's better quality because it's more expensive ( !! ) and seems to have more meat in it. Anyway I impulse bought a 15 kg bag from the local farm supplies for £50, the online price seems to be £10 cheaper, but I wanted to make sure I'd got it in time.
Does everyboby think JWB is OK?
Next time I will get better organised and order it in advance off the internet. However I do quite like supporting the local businesses.
I saw that BARF stuff in the shop. I don t know why, but I always thought it stood for 'Bones and Raw Food' but it's something entirely different. Anyway it looks awfully expensive.

Ditto Barbara.  Yodel are pretty good in North Somerset too, prompt timings and friendly delivery men  :)

> I have decided to use JWB for Willow ...plus I am assuming that it's better quality because it's more expensive

Sadly you can't always equate cost with quality although it's not a food I know so can't comment on how good it is.  Supporting local businesses is good but it's hard to be able to afford to do so if they are so much more expensive.  It might be worth finding your lowest internet price and seeing if they are able to price match for you.  Some farm supply shops can give small discounts for members and/or for buying in bulk so it's always worth asking :)

I'm not sure what you saw labelled BARF - was it raw food?

Yes  - have just googled it and it was called 'Biologically Approppriate Raw Food'

Yes, JWB's a good food, all of mine (except the picky princess) have eaten it with no problems for quite some years now.

I used JWB for years too, until I changed to Orijen, it did most of mine just dandy until Spud, who got a bit loose on it.

The first couple of times I used Yodel they were great, but it seems to be someone else who delivers it now, and they are pretty slow.
My friend was going to work for Yodel, what they do is, employ people in a certain area to cover that area, all you need is somewhere to store packages, such as a garage, a car and a good knowledge of the area, so it's understandable why they are so hit and miss.

Ready prepared barf can be expensive but if you prepare yourself with or without fruit and veg it is often cheaper than kibble completes.  You do however need to do research so u know what to buy and feed.            I raw feed (barf) and pay about 50pounds amonth to feed one larhe breed one medium breed and a toy breed

>  it is often cheaper than kibble completes
>  I raw feed (barf) and pay about 50pounds amonth to feed one larhe breed one medium breed and a toy breed

A 15kg sack of Arden Grange at about £28 lasts my 4 medium dogs about a month

Would last my 6 20kg girls 12 days, cannnot feed BARF at that price, they would need 78 pounds of raw for the same period, at roughly 50p per pound (for various ingredients/meats) that's £39, and then they would need some extra's like oils vitamins etc.

Interesting re price of kibble. When I was feeding kibble it was costing me about 50 pounds a month for one gsd so infact I am. In pocket now I have 2 extra dogs.. Well don't really count pom x she eats so little. . Oh and mine have no extras onnly raw meaty bones and fish. Its interesting how costs vary around the country. I know some who can get their rmb much cheaper than me in london . Still we all do what we believe is best for our dogs and our pockets :)

My dog food is delivered by Yodel. Always reliable .They seem to use other delivery services from time to time but under their command ! Even had an evening delivery. Friendly staff who are not phased at all by welcoming pack of dogs !

Yes the kibble I use is JWB.

Yes some of the freezer stuff in Countrywide ( I presume that is where you went ) can be expensive but good as back up when I am running low on the fresh raw meat or I haven't had a butchers trip to stock the freezer up.

I also have a supply of Nature Diet to hand as well as the kibble is normally only used as a quick meal as it is just a bowl in the kid tub and it gets scattered on the back patio or lawn for them to eat.

I will have a chat about food when you come over next week. Thursday is still looking good at the moment !

I saw that BARF stuff in the shop. I don t know why, but I always thought it stood for 'Bones and Raw Food' but it's something entirely different. Anyway it looks awfully expensive.

I order all my raw food for 7 toydogs (and for lots of cats) online from Natures Menu and for one month the 7 little dogs costs me approx. £65. The big dogs we pay £10 a month for for raw meat and bones straight from the butcher, and another £13 or so for CSJ as they get a few meals of complete (less than 40 % of their total diet -the toys are 100 % raw). So in total I spend just £90 a month to feed 19 dogs! It would cost an awful lot more if all were fed complete foods. Once I stopped feeding my cats on anything but raw I halved the cost and I'm sure it will have worked out much the same for the dogs.

I can feed my 3 large breed dogs for less than £60 a month (much less depending on what the butcher gives me free) it would cost a lot more to feed my choice of kibble (orijen) A 15kg bag would last me about 12 days.  I get my raw food delivered by the companies delivery man when I need more they cover my area once a fortnight, however I am considering changing next time to a new company and have yet to compare delivery. I have had one lot from them but it was £10 delivery but they are starting to cover more areas at less cost so I have yet to see how it goes.
Feeding each dog aporox 850 gms of raw a day or 500 kg of dry food for comparison.
Aileen
PS I do have a very very good butcher !! Not it seems as good as yours though Goldmali !! However I think you feed more bones than I do.

This is where Raw would cost me more, I can't get any free supplies, our butchers charge for everything, and not just a nominal amount.  I only have a little chest freezer (single unit size) so the delivery charge on top of the items adds to the cost, even if they are happy to deliver less.

We have recently become friendly with a retired sluaghterman, and he sometimes brings us odd bits, (for a pint) when he gets called in to help, most often sheep's tripe, though we had 6 lovely calf necks the other week, but these I view as random supplements to their kibble based diets.

Sadly the abattoir will not deal with the general public, and the stuff goes to dog food suppliers/manufacturers. 

Where in the past people went direct to their local slaughterhouse all these companies supplying raw are not the middle man with the upsurge in popularity of raw food, ditto the butchers charging for stuff they used to throw away as more dog owners ask for it, a business opportunity.

However I think you feed more bones than I do.

Not sure -it's only about once, sometimes twice, a week they get a full meal of bones.

In that case mine get more ! They get chicken carcasses 2 -3 times a week and lamb ribs at least once. I do find my butcher gives me a lot of beef fat so that has to be mixed with other things. I do not however feed many beef bones as meals, they get large beef rib racks for recreation and beef brisket which is softer as part of a meal. I find I get quite a number of sausages !! or sausage meat !! have had the occasional dried up sirloin ! (Lucky dogs) He throws in chicken wings (I chop them into 3 pieces or my greedy lot will swallow them whole
:-O ) Sometimes some liver or kidneys, my human meat supplyer (Meat for humans...not human meat !! ) has sent 6 lambs off this week so I have a whole one coming Thurs and I get the bones etc..from all 6  for the girlies as well.
At the moment my freezer is full, most of it free. I have to overspill into the human freezer some times. I do buy tripe regularly though as it forms the basis of the diet.
Pity you are not nearer Barbara, I could let you have some when I get to full up status! At the moment I have a surplus of beef bones..anyone like to collect a couple of bags ?? Yeovil area...
Aileen

Ah I don't count chicken carcasses as bones! Although the cats get most of them to be honest. :) I find I have a problem if I give bones more often, because the dogs get very flatulent and without fail, every time they have had bones they mess and/or wee indoors during the night! So once a twice a week it is and it seems to work fine.

I usually feed Lamb's ribs.  Feeding too many beef bones does wear the teeth down because they are so very hard.  Lamb's bones are much softer, and my dogs eat every bit. I have to say that the next day the air does HUM !!!! Two weeks ago a friend told me of a poor red deer that had been killed by a driver ignoring all the warning signs of deer's crossing.  I brought it home with a sinking heart as I knew it was going to take me hours to skin and cut up the meat.  I dragged it out of the car and into my front yard.  Then brought the dogs to see, and explained to them that having this deer did NOT mean that they should start to disregard the strict rule that deers will NOT be chased.  Often we share a field with a herd of deer and the dogs play at one end and the Deer stay at the other end. The deer know us and I am proud of my dogs that the deer trust us.  However, back to the dead deer; I told the dogs that I was going to have to deal with it which would take time, - OH, said Luli, don't worry, I'll see to it for you, and unbelievably she immediately set about skinning the entire side that was uppermost. There was no damage to the skin; she cut it open with her teeth.  The others all sat on the front step watching but not going near.  I realized that Luli really believed the whole thing was hers!  I let her eat what she wanted and then the others had their go.  Unlike us, dogs will always go first for the entrails and stomach, then the organs, and lastly the meat humans prize so much.  The postman would not come in as he said it looked like something on the Serengeti plains!  The dogs took about 10 days to completely finish the carcass; the only thing I had to put into the brown composting bin was the skin from the top of the back.  Everything else was eaten, bones and all - although there were a very few bone scraps to pick up, and the two side jawbones with teeth.  Friends had asked what I was going to do with the head, but my male crunched his way through it. It is the most natural food a dog could have, and they were very fortunate to be able to have the opportunity.  It taught me a lot too.  I feed raw, but for puppy owners who cannot or will not continue this feeding regime I recommend a German food, Markus Mühle NaturNah, available through Zooplus, it is not extruded kibble, rather a compressed food containing all the prey foods that a dog in the wild would consume. Feeding instructions should be followed, as less is needed than extruded feeds, it is a comparatively good price, and the dogs love it.  You must always have fresh water available.