German Shepherd dog

I experienced this same issue several years ago. Royal Canin makes plenty of dog food, but I think you will agree that it is a bit of a specialty item for pet food stores hence they tend to not stock much more than a single pallet of the food. When this happened to me on a few occassions I questioned the employees of a local PetSmart. Each time I asked to speak to the store's manager I was directed to someone who was obviously a regular employee to voice my concerns.

Funny though; after hearing the bunk mantra "we only get about two (2) or three (3) bags with each shipment" three (3) times I went to that company's website and posted my comments and concerns. Within one (1) or two (2) days I received a telephone call from the store's manager who was a bit distraught after being contacted by upper management about my comments. I repeated to her what her employees told me, and she promised to keep it in stock for me. She kept her word and I never missed it again.

So in short, you may need to do as I did. I knew that the food was shipped on complete pallets of about sixteen (16) bags so I never bought the "two (2) or three (3) bags" part of the answer. In my case, it was all about speaking to the person who could do something about the situation, and maybe it will be the same for you. I would give that a try.

Regards,

Bob-O

Royal Canin is coming out with some new packaging. They have done so in other parts of the world for other food of theirs.

I'm pretty sure that GSD 24 is soming with new packaging and higher price:)

cheers

 The price for MAxi GSD24 has already risen over and over and over in the last year. My cost per bag as a distributor is now more than $36 per bag. In stores, it is much higher. They also put the Maxi Light in a new bag, cut the weight and raised the price.

Cheryl, Hodie, thanks for the information. I don't buy very much-about one (1) bag per week so I guess I do not feel the pinch from it that others do. I noticed that the bag type has changed, but I really paid no attention to it. I can say this though; all kibble bags are not created equal. My short stint in the dog food industry taught me that even minor changes and/or defects in the construction of a bag cause severe throughput issues with the bag hanging/filling/sealing equipment.

"Maintenance-Baghanger Line 2", "Maintenance-Baghanger Line 2" Wow, I can still mentally hear those telecom pages! I agree that the cost continues to increase, and of course some of that is caused by increases to the cost of OTR transportation as well as higher prices for corn due to the Methanol surge.

Another thing I noticed during my time there was that the cheif ingredient for most dog foods (corn) was purchased through the futures market for a set contract price. Of course a new contract is negotiated each year and that is when the major price increase hits. My last days in the dog food industry were in June 2007, and I remember well a high-volume brand made there was priced at $8.99 for fifty (50) pounds. I saw some of this in the grocery store the other day and the preprinted price was more than $11.00. So within ten (10) months the price rose more than 20%. I realize that a large component of Royal Canin is poultry, but of course they are fed corn as well and it is purchased the same way. 

Regards,

Bob-O

cheryl,

 I will check locally. If I find any, would you want me to pick it up for you?

K9 Kaylee

Here in Toronto Ontario Canada I am paying 6200 for a 30 pound bag of the Royal Canin GS24.What a drastic price difference and WHY

 Just heard from my distributor late this afternoon that my order of the Maxi Light is also unavailable. So I will take this opportunity to look into other foods. RC has been a good food for me for the past 5 plus years, but they continue to shoot themselves in the foot and I cannot have these kinds of problems.

Dominic, your GSD 24 is only 30 lbs, and not 35lbs? I hope they are not cutting the weight per bag like they just did with the Maxi Light...... And are you saying you are paying $62 Canadian dollars per bag?  

How are you?

 LeNore,

Get serious. The bugs die because they are ready to die and if they did not die in the open bag, they would be dying elsewhere in your house. Find a way to keep the food in a closed container anytime there is a potential for vermin to get into the food. In that way, you can also prevent your dogs from getting ill.

Wow Dominic,,,,,,, You are buying Royal Canin Maxi GSD 24 in 30 lb bags? For 62 Canadian dollars (and the Canadian and American dollar are just about equal last time I checked, unlike the Euro.....)!!!! Geez, our bags HAVE been 35 lbs and in store costs have been about $42.00. So I guess the first question I would be asking is where are you buying this? I wonder if there is some sort of tariff on food produced in the US, as this might be. Does RC have a Canadian plant? I don't know without looking it up. I like the food, but if they continue to raise the price I too will look at other alternatives like Solid Gold, Breeders' Choice, Wellness....but last time I checked all of those foods too were pricey and prices going up and up. 

Happy Easter to you too!!! I hope the Easter Bunny brings you something nice!

regards!

 steve1,

To each his own. I have fed this food for more than 5 years to hundreds of dogs, including my own. They all look great. You are ill informed.

Hodie

I do not know what the Stuff contains over there but here it has beet filler the remains of sugar beet, just to bulk it up

and no; i am not misinformed, i have been feeding Dogs for over 50 years so i do know a little of what i am talking about

Plus look at the amount of Dry Kibble Dog foods called back in from your country, and this is one of them and more than once

As i said there is better about , more so if you want to disregard fillers, and a lot of unneccessary grains

The bag looks pretty, its what is inside i do not like, but each to there own

Hodie

By the tone of your writing it seems you are getting a bit shirty, meaning the point of being rude

Never sumise nothing when you do not know the facts, Better to say nothing if your blood pressure is going to go up for no reason, This is what i have said on another thread,

A person cannot post a letter even in a civilised way to some of you people ,

Words from you mean nothing , its only to be expected  by the way you reply that you would know more about the subject than some one else from another country, Thank goodness most of your counrymen do not have the same thoughts or asprations as yourself

And what country are you refering too when you say you would like products taken off the shelf and from the restaurants

I guess you mean England ,because thats what i am an Englishman bred through the gernerations steming back to the Vikings

Say what you will the dog food as had as many recalls in the USA as much or more than most, and there is better on the market without any recalls at all,

And It seems to me you are not even aware of what goes in the make up of Dog food

Have a good day

Steve

 I had an email from Royal Canin today and supposedly the food is in the distributor warehouses, or very soon will be. I hope so, as I only have a few bags left.

How are you doing Bob-O?

regards!

26, March 2008-The reply recieved from Royal Canin:

Thank you for contacting Royal Canin, as every question or comment is important to us.  In regards to your question the Maxi German Shepherd is in stock in our warehouse and available for stores to order.  In regards to price increase, we had a price increase back in January due to the raw material prices went up as well as the price of gas.  Unfortunately with these prices increasing it causes the production of the product to increase as well because it cost more to make the formulas.  I would be happy to add you to our mailing list which will include coupons to help off set the cost of the product.  If this is of interest, please respond with history to this email with your name, address and pet info.  Also we have a consumer rewards program, you will want to save the UPC bar codes as well as the receipts once you collect 10 mail those in and you will receive a coupon for a free bag of the same size.  If you need further assist please let us know.

Best regards,
Kate

Royal Canin USA, Inc

The price of the Royal Canin food continues to climb and there is occassional scarcity of the food in the retail stores. I do understand after speaking with other GSD people that they are experiencing the same poor service and price acceleration by Royal Canin and/or its distributors. What are we breeders supposed to do?

Tonight I had to purchase a 40-pound sack of Bil-Jac Select to hold me until ea

I am on the breeder pro line program and my rep told me about the availibility problem it has to do with a problem with inner lining part of the bags. They are working on getting the problem fixed or it may even be fixed now.

 I believe the problem was temporary and I have received a large order this week ; 4/8/08. I have already placed an order for next week.

LeNore, you are right on target. If the bugs are not dying in the bags of the other pet food, and they are dying in the Royal Canin bag, you have to wonder about what's wrong with the Royal Canin. I was using the Royal Canin German Shepherd food for my GSDs and their coats looked like hell--huge clumps of ratty fur coming out, and faded pigment. I thought they were just shedding unusually heavy coats. Then the RC became unavailable, and I heard that there was a problem with one of the ingredients. I switched to Eukanuba Sporting Dog, and the difference has been unbelievable. The dogs' coats are shedding normally, their pigment is rich again, and the dogs are full of energy and acting great. It makes me wonder what was wrong with the RC.