Convincing family to switch foods.

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#1
Milo and Benji right now are eating science diet dry and *shudders* pedigree wet.

I've mentioned putting him on raw, but my mom says "he's a dog. That's why they make dog food."

If i try to get her to switch to Canidae or Innova, she'll say "it's all the same", "all my other dogs did fine on science diet" "Cody lived 16 completely healthy years on science diet", etc.

How can i get her to let us switch dog foods?
 

gale

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
158
Likes
0
Points
0
#2
My dh is a big advocate of CHEAP. Our old dog got sportmix which is probably better than generic (and probably a little better than purina) but not much. We paid $13 for a 50# bag. lol. Anyway our new puppy will soon be getting Canidae. Somehow dh has not protested much but I think when I told him about all the fillers and her poos being more solid and fewer with the better foods he understood. Plus I explained how we didn't need to feed as much with a better food since most of it is not going through her like it did with the purina. I did it in stages though. First I mentioned something better than purina like iams or something (didn't know that it isn't much better, actually). Then we went to a store and looked at eukanuba. The prices of that made his eyes bug out and now the price of Canidae doesn't seem so high. The Eukanuba was $46 for a 36# bag (or thirty-something). Canidae is at least $10 cheaper for a 40# bag. Suddenly it doesn't sound so expensive. ;)

It probably helps that we only have the one dog. Now I need to work on changing our cat's food.
 

Lilavati

Arbitrary and Capricious
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Messages
7,644
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
47
Location
Alexandria, VA
#3
I don't know how old you are, and thus if you have money of your own. But if you do, I'd offer to pay the difference. When your mom sees that you care that much, she might well agree . . . though you'll probably have to pony up the dough.
 

PWCorgi

Priscilla Winifred Corgi
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
14,854
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
34
Location
Twin Citay!
#4
Pay for it yourself? That's what I do, it's not cheap or fun when you don't have money to hang with friends, but I wouldn't want to eat what's in some of those grocery store foods so I'm not going to make them eat it.

You could also try sitting her down and explaining to her what the ingredients in SD actually are, like by-products and stuff.
 

Dekka

Just try me..
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
19,779
Likes
3
Points
38
Age
48
Location
Ontario
#5
I would give her some links..there is one by someone at harvard (that tends to get peoples attention) Also her dog might have lived to be 20 if he was fed better food.

Its only the last 40-50 years that dogs have been eating kibble.
 

*Amy*

New Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
904
Likes
0
Points
0
Age
34
Location
FL
#6
I know exactly what you are going through. My parents have two golden retrievers and are feeding them Iams. My brother and I have both tried to convince her that if she bought a healthier, better food: 1) she wouldn't have to feed them as much, 2) they'd live a lot longer, 3) their coats would be healthier, etc etc. My brother has been trying to convince her to change dog foods for over a year and she continues to feed them Iams. :rolleyes:
 

Dekka

Just try me..
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
19,779
Likes
3
Points
38
Age
48
Location
Ontario
#7
When people feed Iams or worse (Iams you can tell them how many dogs suffered to cruel and non typical treatment to be tested on) I ask them if they would feed their children McDonalds every day?
 

Melissa_W

New Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
4,290
Likes
0
Points
0
#8
Milo and Benji right now are eating science diet dry and *shudders* pedigree wet.

I've mentioned putting him on raw, but my mom says "he's a dog. That's why they make dog food."

If i try to get her to switch to Canidae or Innova, she'll say "it's all the same", "all my other dogs did fine on science diet" "Cody lived 16 completely healthy years on science diet", etc.

How can i get her to let us switch dog foods?
What does she think dogs did before there was such a thing as "dog food". They ate real food like the rest of us.
 

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#9
I don't think it's the money that bothers her, it's the trouble of going out of the way to buy the food.

Thanks for some of the suggestions, i'll try them.
 

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#12
Thanks for your suggestions, guys, but it's not helping (plus my mother is stubborn as all hell).

She keeps saying "science diet is a good food". She's never even GLANCED at the package, much less done research, so how the hell does she know? She gets really snappy every time i mention it to her, i don't know what the heck her problem is, she won't even hear me out.

I might just start Milo on raw without saying anything to her, but around here, we barely even eat meat because it's so expensive...so idk.
 

showpug

New Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
5,218
Likes
1
Points
0
Location
Oregon
#13
Thanks for your suggestions, guys, but it's not helping (plus my mother is stubborn as all hell).

She keeps saying "science diet is a good food". She's never even GLANCED at the package, much less done research, so how the hell does she know? She gets really snappy every time i mention it to her, i don't know what the heck her problem is, she won't even hear me out.

I might just start Milo on raw without saying anything to her, but around here, we barely even eat meat because it's so expensive...so idk.
Sometimes if something is out of your control you just have to let it go as hard as it may be to do so. Maybe you could sneak Milo healthy table scraps to enhance his diet? Veggies, leftover meat, cottage cheese, cheese, apples etc. It's not as good as feeding a more quality kibble base, but it will definitely help. Maybe if you don't bring the food up for a while and try again later, or could you write you Mom a letter about how you feel with examples of what is quality vs. what isn't?
 

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#14
Sometimes if something is out of your control you just have to let it go as hard as it may be to do so. Maybe you could sneak Milo healthy table scraps to enhance his diet? Veggies, leftover meat, cottage cheese, cheese, apples etc. It's not as good as feeding a more quality kibble base, but it will definitely help. Maybe if you don't bring the food up for a while and try again later, or could you write you Mom a letter about how you feel with examples of what is quality vs. what isn't?
He does get healthy table scraps, at least (and some not-so-healthy ones to balance it out :rolleyes: ).

When we go to the grocery store next time, i'm just going to buy some chicken legs and tell her that that's what Milo's getting, end of story. I'm paying for it, i'm giving it to him, the grocery store isn't out of the way what so ever, the dogs eat seperately anyway, there is NO reason whatsoever why she can't let me feed him raw.

I should have my license in about a month or so, anyway.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top