I know, I know: we are first and foremost supposed to support our local pet supply store. Believe me, if I had one in my town, I would not be writing these words. The closest independent pet supply store is 30 miles from me, and believe me, when I go to that town for any reason at all, I also go to that store and buy stuff. (Shout-out to my friends at Trailblazer Pet Supply!)
In my town, we have a chain pet supply store, and I was super glad when they opened a store here a few years ago; it meant that there were at least a few foods I could pick up there, and at least a few toys, leashes, and other items that meet my standards for safety and quality.
When I want really cool, top-quality stuff made by U.S. manufacturers, I go to the independent stores. And I mean, any independent pet supply store I see open in any town in any state I travel to. My family members all groan when they see me spot a “pet supply” sign when we are on vacation, because they know we are going to pull over and they are going to have to amuse themselves for at least a half-hour while I walk the aisles and chat with the employees. (Independent store owners all stock different, unique stuff that grabbed them at one or two of the huge annual pet supply trade shows, and I think of them as curators; almost every independent store offers something that I’ve never seen before.)
But, guys, when I open the dog food container and all of a sudden it’s incredibly low, or I’m feeding a starving mama and her nine growing puppies and going through food at an unpredictably fast rate and I’ve been crazy-busy putting the magazine to bed and haven’t so much as taken a shower for a couple of days, being able to punch up my favorite online store and order food and have it on my porch in two days – you guys, that’s a blessing.
Mama is not keeping up with the demand, and I just ordered five pounds of milk-replacing formula to get us through the next couple of weeks. And the dry puppy food I like to soften in formula and feed to the growing pups is not one I can get in my very close chain store, OR my favorite independent store 30 miles away. Yes, I could have them order it, and wait a week, and drive a half-hour over there and a half-hour back… but no, placing an online order is just too easy. And when you are feeding four big dogs – Otto, Woody, my tenant’s dog (I don’t know exactly how this happened, but here we are…) and the foster mom – food goes much faster than my fractured attention span can keep up.
What about you guys? Are you using online dog food delivery? Or are you strongly against it?
I live out in the sticks, and am disabled. I feed my dogs fresh food from The Farmer’s Dog, which is so good for them and so convenient for me. I also get any medicines I need for my dogs online, and get several items at Chewy. If there is any problem, the customer service department at Chewy is wonderful! I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t order online; probably have to move!
Has anyone used Farmer’s Dog? If so what do you think?
I like to get the food locally most of the time so I can check the expiration date, make sure there are no holes in the packaging and that everything looks ok. But I do order online about 20% of the time. As you say, it’s too darned convenient. ANd now that I’m trying to rotate the kids through different brands of food, many items on my list can only be obtained by ordering online.
I use Chewy to send dog food to my elderly mom. She lives over 80 miles to the closest pet food store. Her food arrives to her door step every 3 months. She is not in the best health and can’t be safely out and about right now due to Covid so this is the best option for her. I buy my own dogs’ food/supplies from a local independent pet store. Thank goodness for Chewy. Otherwise, my mom would have to feed her dogs awful grocery store dog food instead of the high quality food I can have sent to her.
I switched to a raw diet for my dogs about 20 years ago, and shopped for the ingredients,(meat, poultry, meaty bones etc.) myself, but now that it’s harder to get the meat etc. because of the Covid-19 and me being 81 years old, I order my dogs raw food on line. I have ordered from Chewy, but now with the Virus, it’s difficult and the last time I ordered from them, it was half the order and thawed out by the time I got it, but when I contacted Chewy they were very prompt at making things right. However, until the epidemic is over, I am ordering from another place.
I usually don’t order (canned) dog food from Chewy, because my independent pet store sells it CHEAPER. But, with shipping delays, and “out of stocks” at EVERY level, I am SO grateful that I can get my dog’s food at BOTH Chewy and my local store.. (She has a severe allergy to some food ingredient, possibly yeast, with 2 SCARY visits to the emergency all-hours clinic in my town.) I heartily support my independent pet store, whose staff know a TON more about canine nutrition than most vets! But, Chewy has always been super informative to it’s customers, offers lightening fast shipping, and has a VERY generous “return” policy. I will (and do!) support local businesses whenever possible, but my dog HAS to have food that will not make her sick! Kudos to EVERY company, large or small, that HELPS us during this extremely stressful time!