Good Day

My wife and I started a new business last year, that's why I have been absent from the board for so long. We started a retail pet supply store in our local town here in Dorchester, Ontario (just outside of London).

Here is the website: www.dorchesterpetcare.com

or check out our facebook pages under Dorchester Pet Care

We specialize in good to high quality pet (Dog and Cat mostly) food. It's scary to see what they put in "grocery store" brand pet foods.

I'd be interested in your feedback on the website.


Thanks

paul

Thanks for bringing out this awareness. I very much respect your business. I must point out that high quality dog food is NOT SNAKE OIL.

One thing pet owners should be aware of is they think that vets recommend high quality food but it IS NOT high quality. It is based on recommendations from their reps which they get perks off of. Science diet and Iams ring a bell? To put it in terms of speakers it is like Bose BUT WORSE. Bottom of the barrel crap that should not enter into the mouths of any animal. Vets actually do not have much knowledge about animal nutrition

I haven't been able to have another pet since my late dog Max passed away at the age of 13. Nothing can live up to his standards. Hopefully in time I will be able to get over it.

Dog foods like Orijen and Go! Natural just to name a few that I have experience are night and day differences in quality to dog foods like Iams, Science Diet and all those usual suspects. They are high protein with very high quality ingredients which I find work very well for active dogs. However all dogs are different, some might need a different type of diet because of certain health conditions for that pet. You have a great selection of dog foods at your store.

I wish you success with your business and I agree totally with your vision.

Cheers!

Thanks BJ1

We did a lot of research on pet food before we even had the idea of the store. We were really shocked at what companies are able to get away with. Government regulations in Canada and the US are almost non existent.

Before we bring a food into our store and recommend it to our customers pets (living breathing members of our customers families) we look at a number of factors including of coarse, ingredients and what many people forget, sourcing. Where are the ingredients coming from. It's a huge consideration. Many of the foods we carry source over 90% of ingredients within 100 kms of the processing facility. This allows them to maintain a very stringent and robust quality control program. Many others, including the ones you mentioned source most of the ingredients from China and other Asian countries.

One of our biggest fears is to have pets get sick form a food we recommended.

What's a good cat food? All I saw there was info on dog food.

Warmest wishes for great success, Paul.

The ethics, quality of manufacturing, the sourcing and quality of ingredients is what separates the good food from the crap. Good dog food uses real ingredients fit for human consumption and quality manufacturing. The big brand food has none of that. Its scary what goes into some dog food (filler) that is sold, and even scarier the ethics behind it all. If you remember that dog food scare from years back? All the popular, big brands of dog food were the ones that was killing all those pets. IIRC it was an ingredient sourced from China that was contaminated with melamine.

Most of the foods we carry have a line of food for dogs and cats. Cats have even a harder time processing grain based carbohydrates than dogs. Dogs can handle a small amount of plant based carbohydrates such as peas, apples, carrots, etc. Cats however, not so much. And never should you see grains like corn, wheat, or soy in dog or cat food!

Look for a cat food that has a high protein content such as Orijen, Acana, Wellness, etc.

paul

That was from a central source for that ingredient that just about all "grocery store" brands used. The company was called Menu Foods. It happened in the winter of 2007. And yes, it was very scary!

pn

Thanks Tom

Grocery store brands is an excellent term. I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I go past the Ol'Roy dog food at Walmart.