# The Dog Food Company



## Blobbet (Aug 11, 2010)

Just wondering if anyone can answer some questions about this company as i might be ordering from them in a couple of weeks or so,

(here's a link just incase it helps with any answers) 
Raw Dogfood provides many nutritional and health benefits over traditional wet feed. Our business specialises in BARF

Firstly , bit confused about the minimum order , it says in the home page 'no minimum order' but on the product list page it says '£20 minimum order' and then i've read people on the forum saying they have a £25 minimum order  so which is it lol

Secondly, am new to this weird way of ordering things, as i see it's not just your usual 'click on add to basket and checkout' type thing, so was wondering how do you actually go about paying? 

I felt too silly to ask them how the payment works myself lol so was hoping someone could tell me :lol:

And just would generally like to know what peoples opinions on the company are , like are they friendly helpful people/do deliveries arrive on time and in good condition/what sort of things you normally order(apparently you can order quite a few things that aren't on the product list, anyone done that? and what other things can you get?) ... etc 

I feel like they might get annoyed if i go spamming them with a million questions lol (which are all rather stupid!) 
So i'll ask them here instead! :lol:


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## Sam1309 (May 18, 2010)

i emailed them over a fortnight ago and am still awaiting my reply!!!!

they didn't answer the phone either


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Have used them for almost a year, meat is very good quality - The best online supplier I've found so far. Yes, Scott can be hard to get hold of but this is because he delivers and answers enquires so not always able to reply. I usually send a few emails if he doesn't reply at first. Although often he will email if he in my area to see if I need an order. 

Min order is £20 to come to me with a £5 delivery charge. I think the min order will depend on where you are. 

Payment is cash on delivery, or cheque. They don't take cards. 

Just ask if there is anything you'd be interested in - He can get most things he's said. I mainly stick to what's on the site but do sometimes get minced rabbit too. 

As I said he can be hard to get hold of, but once you do he's very nice and helpful. Sometimes his wife answers the land phone. 
Deliverys are on time, and sometimes we get meats that were only slaughtered the previous day! Sometimes it's frozen but you can ask that it's fresh. Also you can ask for the heart/liver to be minced too which is great it your dog is slightly fussy. 

All in all, I'd defo recommend them.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

I'll second that MarKalAm, you have to be persistant but it's well worth it - just keep bugging him, lol, he'll get in touch eventually it's just that he works alone so is not always available.

This guy needs to employ some staff as he's becoming more popular and is rushed off his feet already.


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

wot MarKalAm said!! lol 

I know lots of people that use them and always been very happy.

If there is something in particular you want to get hold of, just ask them via email (or keep being persistent on the phone) and scott will let you know if he can get it/when he can get it 

For me it is £20 min order and £5 delivery to Surrey which I thought was a good price considering the distance.


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## dodigna (Feb 19, 2009)

This might be a long shot 

How much is in volume terms £20 worth of order from this company?? I would be eternally grateful is some one was to post a picture of this....
In fact, very cheeky I know, katiefranke how about a shot of the amount you get for your sticky thread (which I love by the way!!!!). If I am not wrong you order fresh whole pieces and section yourself...
And would the ones that order frozen mince do the same? It would help the very overwhelmed new rawers..

I have a pathetic 2 draws freezer space available (never been big on frozen stuff) and will need to purchase a new one especially, I cannot figure out how much space a £20 order from the dog food company (they seem to be the best one) takes, dumb I know!  
In truth I can only find space for a smallish one (a further 3 drawers), would this be enough? mmh probably not...
Shopping at supermarkets comes up quite pricey!

CANNOT BELIEVE I POSTED THIS HERE!!! So sorry! It was meant to go under "The dog food company" thread. *MODERATORS HELP!!!* Can you move this thread!? Hanging my head in shame as I type!


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

I have added some piccies of how I portion up the chickens in my main thread and I do the rabbits pretty much the same but they are not quite so big so I dont get the breast meals out of them too (and obviously no wing tips for the cats!! lol).

I would suggest that if you don't have a big freezer, then you probably won't be able to do a £20 order from The Dog Food Company as there will be too much - the example I give below is around 13kg worth of food, and you would get even more for your money with some of the other items...

*However, you could see if anyone else in your area wanted to share the order?*

I only order certain things online for my lot, as I get the majority at butchers/farm shops etc...this is the easiest way to do it if you have limited space (but obviously more costly)...so in the long run, it really does pay to buy a dedicated freezer as then you can buy stuff a lot cheaper.

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So to help you visualise how much an order is:
The Dog Food Company show the weights on their site as lbs, so for anyone needing to convert to metric (like me!), it is just under half a kg to a lb.

To be exact: 1 pound = 0.45359237 kilograms

So for instance, a £20 order might look like:

Rabbit: x5 wild rabbits (so this is half the money straight away) - rabbits are about 0.8-0.9kg each (skinned & gutted) so I tend to just halve these for big meals before freezing. (Imagine 5 small chickens and thats about the space they take up)

Tripe: Then say 10 of the packs of minced green tripe (1lb/450g each) for £3.50. I would defrost one at a time and it would do for two meals (maybe a morning meal two days running - and I often add an egg to this meal too). I prefer the 2lb packs of chunky tripe but but they can't get it at the mo. However, the mince is a good consistency (not sloppy).

Ox Heart: Say around 10 lbs (4500g) of ox heart for £7.50. I usually feed heart along with something else for a meal...so I tend to portion up and freeze in bags of about 250g at a time (same as an average size chicken quarter) and then either feed as a whole meal or split in two with something else like lamb ribs (a boney meal).

And thats it £20 already!

They can also get ox tongue and other less popular offal, plus different game items - just ask for what you fancy and scott tries to get hold of it.


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

I have some pics if you give me your email I wil send them to you so you can visualise the sizes. The minces come in 2lb blocks.

Let me know. :thumbsup:


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## dodigna (Feb 19, 2009)

Thanks Katiefranke and yep! I need way more space that I have... I live in a flat (no garden) so I cannot find the space for the actual freezer, I was planning of rid of one of the recycle bins and fit an undercounter type there instead, but doubt it will make a massive difference, should help though!
I like feeding from the supermarket as the mince are beautiful (well, of course they are for us!), I bought some prizechoice from [email protected] as a try and almost felt sick to give, pulped, watery mush, yak! And a hungry dog afterward. I should imaging the DogFoodCo is better quality then that.



MarKalAm said:


> I have some pics if you give me your email I wil send them to you so you can visualise the sizes. The minces come in 2lb blocks.
> 
> Let me know. :thumbsup:


Done!!!


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

dodigna said:


> I bought some prizechoice from [email protected] as a try and almost felt sick to give, pulped, watery mush, yak!


yuk!!  I really dont like most of the commercial minces. I gotta say, Im really not a fan and only buy tripe like this as its often difficult to get hold of and so I get it how I can 

*MarKalAm* - why dont you upload on this thread? Im sure the others would like to see too :thumbup:


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

I could email them to you to upload? My pc is slow and takes an age to upload to photobucket.


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

Ok here we go, some piccies from MarKalAm so you can see what some of the items look like and their size:

This is one of the 'Lamb (Breast)' items frozen - these are £1/lb - but see MarkKalAm's comments in the post below...:









And here is a nice 'Meaty Bone' defrosted - these are a mix of lamb and pork edible meaty bones, incl things like breast, ribs, neck etc for 32p/lb:









This is their 'Chicken mince with bone' frozen - 33p/lb:









An 'Economy mince' at 31p/lb:









Minced 'Ox Heart' (they will do this whole, chunks/diced, minced etc) at 75p/lb:









Minced 'Tripe' in a block - listed as chunky at the mo but they cant get this at the mo, so it is minced in 2lb blocks at 40p/lb:









'Ox liver' at 48p/lb:









This is the chicken mince defrosted - so you can see the consistency:









And here is a glimpse in the freezer!!! 









Thanks MarKalAm!


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Thanks Katie! That freezer could do with defrosting eh lol!

Just a quick note - The breast of lamb is quite expensive (£1 a lb) and don't think it's worth the price. For 32p a lb the meaty bones are much better value. 

Oh and on this order I had ordered green tripe but got the block.


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

MarKalAm said:


> Thanks Katie! That freezer could do with defrosting eh lol!
> 
> Just a quick note - The breast of lamb is quite expensive (£1 a lb) and don't think it's worth the price. For 32p a lb the meaty bones are much better value.


Good point - I was going to ask you whether that breast was from the 'meaty bones' or the 'lamb breast' product...

I am going to edit the above to state what they are & price from the website to help.

Blobbet, if you dont mind I will link this from the 'Supplier' area of my raw feeding thread


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Katie in your raw thread where do you get your beef brisket and leg if lamb from? They look like joints or meats from the supermarket? But surely that would cost a lot??


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

MarKalAm said:


> Katie in your raw thread where do you get your beef brisket and leg if lamb from? They look like joints or meats from the supermarket? But surely that would cost a lot??


Butchers, supermarkets and farm shops mainly - and yep, it does cost quite a lot  Although I buy some expensive things and some cheap things and so over time it doesnt work out too bad - plus I have started getting some better contacts so can get things a lot cheaper.

The beef brisket is a relatively cheap cut and I look out for offers on the lamb.

Sometimes I get good deals just because I buy a load of other stuff ... or because it needs to be sold and I have dropped in at the end of the day...


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## dodigna (Feb 19, 2009)

Thanks, that is very useful!
I think the minced heart is a good idea... I have fed them whole and bought them from the supermarket (although Morrisons does a chopped pig's version which was handy for introducing it), I have had to hand feed the heart  after seeing Ray gobbing the whole thing down in one piece... Not fun when they are fresh as the blood really runs... I feel like a serial killer. Now I freeze them first and it seems to resolve the issue.


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Yeah it's much easier to deal with minced (liver too) and fussy dogs can't pick bits they don't like out! I like eco mince as well for that, although mine will eat heart chuncked too. :thumbsup:


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## Blobbet (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks alot to all who have replied :thumbup: 
All very helpful, those pictures are certainly a big help 
The lamb ribs things look huge to what i imagined them to be!

So quite alot of you say they're quite hard to get a hold of lol does this mean i should try emailing a week or 2 in advance of actually needing an order? 

To Dodgina - I bought an undercounter freezer, and it actually holds alot more than i thought it would! I too had nowhere to really put it so it's in my bedroom on top of a chest of drawers! :lol: 
Weirdly, undercounter freezers capacity can vary quite alot even though they have similar outside measurements, i got a 102 litre one in the same price range as ones that were only 70 litre or so 
I only have 2 small dogs though so they don't need very much, but i could probably fit about a month and a halfs worth of stuff in there, maybe even 2 months worth depending what things i get 

I like the method of payment too, nice and 'safe' lol , i wonder though do you have to have the exact amount or does the delivery guy have change or something?


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Blobbet said:


> So quite alot of you say they're quite hard to get a hold of lol does this mean i should try emailing a week or 2 in advance of actually needing an order?
> 
> I like the method of payment too, nice and 'safe' lol , i wonder though do you have to have the exact amount or does the delivery guy have change or something?


Yes! He will only come set days (he comes to my area every 2 weeks), so you'll need to ask when he's in the area.

I usualy have the right money for him, but he has let me off the odd and pay next time if he doesn't have change. I owe him £25 at the mo as no one was in when he came.


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## Shrap (Nov 22, 2010)

I'm assuming the delivery would be extortionate and not worth the savings on the products for a Glasgow order? 

Anyone used Durham Animal Feeds?


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Shrap said:


> I'm assuming the delivery would be extortionate and not worth the savings on the products for a Glasgow order?
> 
> Anyone used Durham Animal Feeds?


Probably right about delivery prices to Glasgow.

Never used DAF but have heard lots of reviews about them. All have been positive with regards to the quality of the products, but some have said they rarely have everything on their price list in stock.

Join the Yahoo group BritBARF (if not a member already), lots of people there use DAF and would be happy to give you their experiences.


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## Shrap (Nov 22, 2010)

I'm not a member, planning on feeding prey model so only member of other yahoo groups RMBs and such. Will have a look though thanks


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

how much (in lbs) do 30kg dogs need? Im thinking half and half with th boys as they love raw bits but i dont have the freezer or the room to do it full time. i dont think theres a raw feeder like that near me neither


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

Daynna said:


> how much (in lbs) do 30kg dogs need? Im thinking half and half with th boys as they love raw bits but i dont have the freezer or the room to do it full time. i dont think theres a raw feeder like that near me neither


Hi Daynna, a 30kg dog needs roughly somewhere around 2.5% of their body weight per day - so 750g/0.75kg per day.

1 kg = 2.2lb, so 0.75kg = 1.65lb. 16oz in a 1lb, so about 1lb 10oz I think if I worked it out right!!


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

katiefranke said:


> Hi Daynna, a 30kg dog needs roughly somewhere around 2.5% of their body weight per day - so 750g/0.75kg per day.
> 
> 1 kg = 2.2lb, so 0.75kg = 1.65lb. 16oz in a 1lb, so about 1lb 10oz I think if I worked it out right!!


wow thats not as much as i thought! defo something im going to look into them after xmas thank you 

need to find a decent supplier that doesnt charge the earth for delivery


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## MarKalAm (Sep 6, 2008)

Shrap said:


> I'm not a member, planning on feeding prey model so only member of other yahoo groups RMBs and such. Will have a look though thanks


Many on there feed prey model too, it's for all raw ways of feeding, just originally named BritBARF. Worth a look.


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## Lesleyann (Apr 22, 2009)

We placed our first order with scott he delivers in our area every 4weeks for £5, All the stuff looked nice even got more than we should have for some bits although he forgot to drop off our chicken cark lol so his bringing that next time. We got quite a bit and some rabbits although i made my mum deal with them :lol: since she was gutting hers at the same time


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## logansmum (Feb 23, 2011)

Raw feeder here!
My GSD is 40k and i feed 2.5-3lb of food a day.

I use Landywood Pet Foods : Home as i live near them but there are many other suppliers too..

lil bit on raw feeding...

Quantities - as a guideline feed 2 - 3% of your present dog's bodyweight per day. Calculate this by multiplying 2/3 by your dog's weight and dividing it by 100.

Eg 2 x 30/100 = 600g, 3 x 30/100 = 900g.

However be guided by your hand and eye; if the dog is looking a little too ribby up the amount and reduce if the dog is looking a little too well padded! Dogs will vary depending on age, sex, activity level, temperament and time of year.

Meats - lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, pork, venison, duck, hearts, lungs, kidneys, tripe the list is endless.

Fish - oily fish is good, pilchards, mackerel, sardines, trout fresh or tinned.

Veggies - All except onions; they can cause haemolytic anaemia in dogs because they contain chemicals that oxidise the animal's red blood cells.

Oxalic acid can interfere with calcium absorption; so don't feed too much of Spinach, Chard or Beetroot Leaves.

Care should be taken not to overfeed cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, swedes, turnips, cassava, and broccoli to dogs as this may inhibit thyroid function.

Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines all belong to the nightshade family of plants. Dogs who have arthritis may be sensitive to these foods; I personally don't feed potatoes at all.

Fruit - all except Grapes and raisins which can cause kidney failure.

Dairy - IMHO nothing except live yoghurt.

Eggs - raw with shell

Grains/cereals - none; dogs are not built to digest them

Vitamins/Supplements - Again that is down to the individual; my dogs get:

a fresh minced clove of garlic every other day, 1000mg FBO (Fish Body Oil), 
400 iu Natural Vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol),

Books - The simplest one is Switching to Raw by Sue Johnson but that is not easily available in the UK. The next best one IMHO is Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schulze, very accessible, easy to read, has diet plans. Some extraneous stuff you don't need ie reader testimonials and I personally don't agree with fasting.

Ian Billingshurst has written several books; The Barf Diet is probably the easiest, Give your Dog a Bone is very comprehensive but very badly written, Grow your pups with bones is more for the stud dog/brood bitch puppy owner. Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones is less useful for the beginner IMHO although his latest book is not too bad.

Websites - Britbarf, K9nutrition yahoo groups the first is ffice:smarttags" />lace>UKlace> the second is an excellent lace>USlace> site,

Frequency of feeding - twice a day, especially in larger breeds prone to bloat.

Suggested menu -guide only

Monday am: RMBs eg chicken wings, drumsticks, thighs, carcases etc, ribs, trotters, rabbit, oxtail 
Monday pm: Tripe

Tuesday am: RMBs 
Tuesday pm: liver and veggies

Wednesday am: RMBs 
Wednesday pm: Meat, raw egg, veggies

Thursday am: RMBs 
Thursday pm: Kidneys and veggies

Friday am: RMBs 
Friday pm: Hearts and veggies

Saturday am: RMBs 
Saturday pm: Tinned or fresh fish

Sunday am: RMBs 
Sunday pm: Live yoghurt, raw egg, banana etc.

UK Raw Pet Food Suppliers List www.defra.gov.uk/animalh (UK)

UK Raw Meaty Bones - support and action group www.ukrmb.co.uk/(UK)

TPMS Pet Food www.tpms.co.uk (UK)

Local suppliers for Raw Food in NE Hampshire and Surrey Boarders www.k9matters.co.uk (UK)

Jays of Askern. Unit 48, Askern Ind.Estate, Moss Road, Askern, Yorkshire Tel: 01405 862554/07767 358073 or email [email protected]

Landywood Pet Food www.landywoods.co.uk (UK)

Durham Animal Feeds www.daf-petfood.co.uk (UK)

The Dog-Food Company (Suffolk) www.thedogfoodcompany.net (UK)

Anglian Meat Products www.anglianmeatproducts.co.uk (UK)

The UK Directory for Organic Food www.organicportal.co.uk (UK)

JM Pet Supplies www.jmpetsupplies.com/feeds (UK)

Worldsway www.woldsway.co.uk/acatalog/Pet_Meat.html (UK) 
Berriewood www.berriewoodwholesale.co.uk/cgi-bin/sitewise.pl?act=sect&pt=145&s=148&id=berrie


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## Emmastace (Feb 11, 2011)

I have posted another thread about not being able to contact The Dog Food Company so answers on here have sorted me out too. I didn't want to hassle as I hadn't had a reply but it looks like he almost expects it so I will keep ringing. I had heard great things about their stuff and the guy was really nice on the phone so I was surprised that I hadn't heard back from him. Bless him for doing everything himself.


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