Should we be thanking Purina?

My business is sponsored by P&G and I am proud of it.  They furnish our facilities with all our food (EUK), paid for our agility equipment, and pay for major cross promotional marketing for me. 

In the past 5 years, P&G has done more for dogs as a whole than any other dog food company out there.

IAMS does testing on live dogs.  I won't tell you how for the sake of the fainthearted.  You can read about it on PETA website.  You would never buy IAMS once you knew this. 

In large part they are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, folks.  Even donations to shelters and rescue programs is viewed in terms of promotion opportunity.  I know, because I've had to pitch both rescue efforts and MAJOR breed events to the "big boys."  They are not interested in education, the betterment of breeds, or the promotion of responsible dog ownership.  All they want to know is, how many eyeballs will be looking at their logo at the event or as a result of the donation.  The big boys want about 10,000 for an event and the #1 place, right in with the prizes.  They want their name on a cash prize or a donation program, and you lose all rights as to how it is promoted.

I like working with the little guys better anyway.  You can get almost as much money and/or product, and you'll get the local staff or even the owner of the company to answer questions about their products, and they are sooooooo grateful and usually very humble about the when and where of product placement.  I've worked with Cal Natural (a delightful experience), Blackwood, Diamond (yes, Diamond), and Southern States. All marvelous companies to work with on this front - they are really interested in what YOU are doing and what you can do together to target your audience.

Some of this is admittedly sour grapes since Purina several years ago left us in the lurch by deciding to pull sponsorship of the National Finals a mere four weeks prior, to throw in their oars with the AKC club, exclusively, instead.  But since then we've found that getting locally oriented sponsors for events makes more sense anyway - they are less demanding and the sponsors get more bang for their buck, too.  We've helped raise visibility on good companies like Blackwood and Southern States, among the sheepdog people and their friends.

Here is an example of a major sheepdog event with local sponsoring.  [linkhttp://www.meekersheepdog.com/]http://www.meekersheepdog.com/[/link]

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

Dasher I can't say I've ever felt bad about attending a show because Purina/Pedigree was sponsoring it.

I have never competed in an event sponsored by Purina/Pedigree. But I will say if Dasher and I ever make it to the AKC agility finals, or USDAA finals, I would happily attend [] even though I am sure they are sponsored by the big dog food companies.

I do think some of these companies do a lot of good things for dogs and dog sports. Even though I don't like the type of food they make for my particular dog, I am greatful for the other ways these companies contribute. And I do realize that its advertising for them and they benefit from this, but I don't see any of the smaller companies stepping up. I would think that some of the smaller food companies could do some sort of smaller sponsorship or ads for these events, I just haven't seen it happen, so I am greatful someone steps up.

And yes, RWbeagles, I agree with your Pen and Teller![]

ORIGINAL: Hollysmom

IAMS does testing on live dogs.  I won't tell you how for the sake of the fainthearted.  You can read about it on PETA website.  You would never buy IAMS once you knew this. 

 
And if you can't believe PETA, who can you believe.

IAMS does testing on live dogs. I won't tell you how for the sake of the fainthearted. You can read about it on PETA website. You would never buy IAMS once you knew this.

 
That is actually entirely untrue.  This testing went on at a facility once contracted by P&G.  At the time of this was filmed they weren't even under contract with P&G.  The abuse that was recorded at this location was propagated by radical members of PETA to defame Procter & Gamble.  The company  has not, and never would stand for that kind of treatment of animals. 
 
A.G. Lafley, Bruce Burns (president of household products), and Jeff Ansel (president of Global Pet Health and Nutrition) are all good caring people, and would never under any circumstances stand for any kind of animal abuse.  These people are friends of mine and my family, and have been for years.  The accusations made by PETA were not only untrue, but hurt real people and families.
 
Check your facts beyond radical animal rights organizations before making uneducated comments.

I don't think anyone here thinks its warm and fuzzy.
 
I think we all know it's about exposure, advertising, and money, everything is about money....same with ALL dog foods...even those sold by the approved preferred companies...they would be free and marked 'dog food' and packaged in plain brown wrappers if it were not. They would not all be trying to outdo each other...even the "organic natural" companies would love to have each others customers. Nor do I think any of the small companies would EVER want to go big...not because of quality..but because it's better business to keep things small and exclusive and charge BIG. If these companies really wanted the whole dog population of America to eat better they'd charge the same price as Ol' Roy or Pedigree...but that's bad business...and I can certainly see why they do things the way they do.
 
I can see your point...leaving you guys hanging at your Nationals was majorly rude. I can also see how as you also admit...it'd make you LESS favorable of the company or the idea of big business sponsors, as a whole.
 
Thought provoking subject.
 
As an aside,...I never stop by any booths at shows aside from "stuff vendors"....I have a food I like..and I have a genuine dislike for being talked to or AT while I shop lol. I am not a friendly or approachable shopper...leave me alone and I'll let you know when I'm done and if I have a q I will sure ask []. I've never gotten food samples or even gotten NEAR a food vendor booth lol! So as far as thier effect on my buying habits...booths or banners at shows...don't affect me at all.
 
 

Well, I'm going to admit that I'm one of the 'bad' dog owners here who feeds Purina to both of my dogs. And since reading everything here at this forum, I do realize that the premuim brands are more healthy and probably better for your dog, but the truth is, I really can't afford to pay $50 for a 20 lb bag of dog food. It's not that I can't afford to have dogs; I pay for all their vet bills, training classes, food, tons of toys and treats, but I also have to pay for the horses I have, and a lot of other animals, my goats, rabbits, cats, etc. It's just more affordable for me to feed the Purina brand.

And I'll even go so far as to admit that  the Purina dog food is a step up from what the dogs used to get. With the family dog we used to have, my dad just bought the store brand dog food for her; that's just what she always got. And when I got my dog, I gave her 'Ol Roy dog food for a little while, and then went to Purina Dog Chow. And I understand that she would probably be better off, more healthy, etc. on a premuim brand like Innova. But she is doing fine with the Purina dog food. I do think, though, if I had plenty of money all the time and didn't have to worry about anything else, then, sure, I would go and buy the exspensive premuim brand. But as things are now, and I can't justify spending that much when my dog is doing all right with the kind she has. ( I'm not saying that I don't have enough more to take care of my dogs....please understand here[8|] [])

And, would you say that all the dog foods that are not premuim are bad, or do they have an order?  I mean, is Eukanuba food better than Purina, even though they are both 'not good ones'?

lovemydog....I for one am not going to tell you anything lol! I have never understood the link between what you choose to feed and what you can 'afford to spend on your dog'. I think that attitude is wrong.
 
I think your questions about ranking have been discussed a lot over in the Nutrition area of I-dog...that area is usually quite active and forthcoming with information...so it'd likely be a great place to explore the archives!
 
NOW Dasher..my apologies for my part in taking this thread off topic and I realize this wasn't meant to be a Nutrition thread, & hopefully it will come back on topic. I will make my effort to do so! []

Amen, Gina. Right on point.
 

Well, I'm going to admit that I'm one of the 'bad' dog owners here who feeds Purina to both of my dogs

 
I probably as bad as you feeding "mid-grade, grainy, over-priced" Nutro. If I were showing Shadow, I would not change to Purina, as fine as it may be for some dogs. I would feed what has worked for him. And people at Purina would understand. But I certainly wouldn't put them down. As Gina said, they have done wonders for the dog world. Who cares if they write it off as advertising? They have benefited people and dogs, even if those dogs don't eat their food.
 
Example. My boss charges 7 dollars above my wage on a service call. This barely covers gas and insurance and does not cover parts and admin. costs. He's basically doing it for free, with the idea that low cost service calls will garner us favor in getting a contract on a new school or two, worth a couple of million a piece.
 

Instead of commending them, shouldn't we get angry about their products

 
IMHO, we should thank them for their generosity, whether we buy their food or not.
 

I agree with what was said before. If people quit buying from them because of what people like us may say... then a more holistic company would be that big instead and they would do it in their place. The business has to go somewhere.

 
That has been mentioned before but it is an assumption. Great if it happens but not necessarily destined to be.

ORIGINAL: ron2

I agree with what was said before. If people quit buying from them because of what people like us may say... then a more holistic company would be that big instead and they would do it in their place. The business has to go somewhere.

That has been mentioned before but it is an assumption. Great if it happens but not necessarily destined to be.

The business would go to whomever spends marketing dollars on cute commercials, simple economics.  Name recognition is everything.

But back to the original thread/topic.  I do appreciate Purina for what it does for the dog community at large.  However, if I were to leave a show with a 50lb bucket of Purina, I'd give it to one of my friends that runs GSD rescue, or to the animal shelter, or another place that needs it.  I won't bash the foods, all you need to do is look in the nutrition forum for that, but I won't feed them either.  The large dog food companies sponsor the events because it brings name recognition to them.  That's plain and simple.  If Joe American watches the Eukanuba Tournament of Champions on Animal Planet, he thinks.."hey if that's good enough for Rufus, that's good enough for Fido."  And for the most part it is, even if we don't think so.  Purina and their largest competitors spend money and donate to worthy causes.  This has helped to promote the causes and also the product.  I appreciate it, how else would we be watching dog shows or freestyle dog dancing or agility or JRT trials or flyball or frisbee dogs on TV?

ORIGINAL: ron2

Instead of commending them, shouldn't we get angry about their products

IMHO, we should thank them for their generosity, whether we buy their food or not.

 
I disagree.  It is not generosity, it is advertising, plain and simple.  It's fine that they're doing it, whatever.  They wouldn't do it if there was not profit in it.  Generosity is something you do out for the goodness of your heart.  However, I am not going to thank them anymore than I would than Horse Illustrated for sponsering a horse event.  They do it for advertising.  Come to think of it, I feed Nature's Variety, but I wouldn't think that they were being incredibley generious for sponsering an event.
 
As far as nutrician goes, I will feed the best food that I can afford, that is nutricionally sound, that my dog does well on.  I don't see what the problem is with that additude at all.  That's what I do for my cats, my lizards, and my horse.  Why would it be any different for the dog?