TOTW - Page 2

I,ve been feeding TOTW bison formula for a year all dogs have good coats good energy and all have had atleast 2 blood panels during check up,s and are all doing well.

I may be changing the older dogs to a lower protein feed as they don,t need that much protein for there age.all 9 years  and above and coach potato,s (3 that is)

 Bob,

I have also had to change to a lower fat/protein food as my dogs have aged and we have, to date, had a winter that precludes me from being outside with them for long exercise periods. They otherwise would end up too fat!

ZeigenFarm    :  You got that one RIGHT....I have never seen such a mess when I use to use it  , tried it, should I say...Every bag I opened got a two day of runs, and then by the time third day came    everything ok...and the coats and shine disappeared in two months time.....DITCHED that one...I even tried talking to the Head Veterinirian of their company..She lied to me big. time..No we   have made no changed to the Lamb and Rice food..it must be your dogs...YEah right ...she must have thought she was talking to a newbie .>>>>she even instructed me to be sure and buy all 10 bags out of the same date and code so they would all be consistant.......BINGO     first wink of not telling the truth....then 6 mos later I got a call one day...oh me,,the head super finally got my message  210 days after I left it .., and he told me yes we did make some changes along the way...LIE  < LIES: AND when do you know what to believe....

I tried it   three different years ...

YR

I had My German Shepherd on TOTW both fish and bison the dog got sick and never recovered. When my male died i call a friend that I bought the dog food from she was feeding  her dogs TOTW and she had two of hers died, she also told me that she had friends that were feeding there dogs the food to and there dogs were sick. TOTW i here they had a voluntary recall in late 2009  does any one know anything about it? I lost a very beautiful dog and a true freind.

I have been feeding TOTW salmon and my dogs are all fine and love it.I just changed to the bison one cause it said it was more protine.(thought the fish would be) From switching they had a little bit of loose stool but then the next day fine. I think it was cause I didn't have enough of the other to switch them over gradualy. I like it cause their stools are normal and not much of them.I have known a few people that fed Nutro and my gosh the amount of crap that came out of them was more then a mini horse!! I was feeding them the Diamond L/R and I think that caused my GSD to get stones or a UTI.I put him on some anti biotics and he is fine.That is why I switched.Plus the ingredients are very good. Maybe it was the plant that the Diamond food was made at that had some kind of contamination.My dogs like it and even the dog I just got that use to be free fed and took too long to eat is now eating right away.I guess i will stay on this untill I see something bad come of it.
~L~

Been feeding TOTW for as long as it's been available - however long that's been LOL - all dogs in perfect health, beautiful coats,  great tone and normal poo.  I've been extremely happy with it.  I mainly feed the bison/venison formula but switch out here and there to the fish.  The only thing I don't like about the fish formula is the fishy smell - if the dog has gas, it will chase you out of the room LOL - but I do like the food and recommend it highly.

The only recall was last year, one batch had the wrong information on the bag.  Nothing harmful, just that batch had a lower or higher - whatever the % of whatever it was, can't remember - but nothing harmful.  I buy in bulk and got a call from the distributor to check my bags for the batch date - none of my bags were from that batch.

molly

Molly-- I am imagining that the answer is yes but I am going to ask anyway....is buying it in bulk cheaper? Do they give you a discount? I don't recall looking that up on the website.Also was trying to find where to get couponds for it on the website that someone told me about but I coudln't find that either.Do you know of that? 
I do agree that the fish smell is...fishy.lol I switched to the bison and I am thinking that I like the fish one better!! The dogs don't care...the new one I have i think likes the bison one better though.Or he is just getting the hang of eat now or don't eat. I don't like to free feed.I like my dogs to eat all at once then I know they ate,how much(all) and if they don't eat I know something is wrong!! Plus then after they eat I have them settle for a while and then less chance of bloat.
~L~

okay folks, jim and i were discussing some of our recent troubles with dog food and came to this conclusion:
since most dogfoods have an expiration date of up to a year or so, we are beginning to think storage problems are a big  part of what is going on.  we used to store dogfood in a container on the porch but found that it gets too hot out there and the fats turn rancid.  we have, from time to time, brought a fresh new bag home only to open it up and be assaulted by that same smell.  it can only get that way either by manufacturing with rancid fats to begin with or by spending time on a pallet, wrapped up in plastic in a warehouse when the thermometer hits 90 plus.  in checking lot numbers on the bags of our most recent problem, we found them to be from different lots.  so one of two things has happened.  this would also explain how people can have completely opposite results from exactly the same food.  i have said before that we have had mixed results with different brands, TOTW being one of those brands.  i had not thought to check lot numbers or even question the storage ---my first thought was always that the manufacturer had done something different and cursed them for the diarrhea i was having to clean up.  typically, we buy food from feed stores and farm stores because we can get better prices than petco or shipping direct.  lets say you buy TOTW at tractor supply.  it goes from meta, mo to one of TSC's central warehouses, sits there for go-only-knows how long; gets on another truck and is delivered to a store and sits in that warehouse until they need to put it on the shelf, which incidentally is the first time it is in a climate controlled environment.  ideally, dogfoods should be stored in only a cool dry place, but i am quite certain that is not the case with the majority of shipments.  i guess, if you have a retailer that gets direct shipments and stocks their shelves immediately, you should consider yourself fortunate.  i will be paying attention to lots, dates and storage from now on.  let me know what you think.
pjp

Very interesting ziegenfarm...never thought of that.It's true though.I don't think that there are as many preservitives as well in the more natural foods ike TOTW. Like having a box of twinkies last for years and a box of granola bars go bad in a few months.lol I get my TOTW from a feed store but I think that they pretty much unload to the shelves right away but who knows where it was and how long it was there before I bought it. Something to think about for sure.

~L~

Yes I would never store TOTW or any other high-meat content and/or no-grain food - ie any "better quality" food - anywhere hot, moist or damp.  Though, they do package in nice water-proof bags (plastic, not paper) - this would definately be a problem if stored in a hot place for sure.  I can see that causing a problem with spoiling.

Ziegenfarm - yes you can buy in bulk and yes you will save at least 10% from shelf price, the more you buy (from a distributor such as Phillips feed) the more you save - plus they deliver.  I normally buy $600 at a time and I get it for $34 per bag I think - or $36 now can't remember.  The bigger stores save more as they buy and can store more.   Recently I haven't been able to afford ordering from Phillips and have been buying 5-10 bags at a time from the local feed store - they give 10% off if I get 5 or more bags, so it works out almost the same only without delivery.

I have never seen coupons, but once in a while Phillips will have a special on various foods which is advertised on their website and the agent will tell you about it when you make the order - usually buy two get one free, or something like that.

molly