Hey,

I am wondering if it is at all possible to buy dog food in bulk to get it cheaper. It seems we are paying double what we pay in the UK. We use Science Plan for our hundes x 2 Labs. They go through a 2 15 kg bag a month @ a cost of 160CHF. In the UK we only paid £75.

I am even considering buying it from a UK website and getting it shipped here....I guess there will be duty to pay?

We buy all the dog food in Germany, with the exception of the one food we can only buy at the vet but I am thinking of asking about the price of that food at the vet in Waldshut.

I don't have a dog here, so this is just an idea:


In Australia, the Rural outlet stores often sold dog food in bulk.

I don't know the names of any rural outlets here, but surely the farmers get their gear from somewhere.

...... One thing I've learned is that farmers everywhere are the same.


I'd suggest you track down a rural supply store near you and check it out.

(a proper rural supply store, not some panzy 'nursery' place for weekend gardeners)

www.landi.ch

Not sure where you are buying your dog food from currently.

We buy our Eukanuba dog food from http://www.fressnapf.ch/. we have found it the cheapest for the large bags.

Otherwise go over the border http://www.fressnapf.de/

try here: http://www.zooplus.com/shop/dogs/dry...s_science_plan
they don't seem to have 15 kg, but 2x12 kg is 84 euros. Free DHL delivery of you buy fomr more than 99 eur.

I can get a 15k bag of premium dog food in Germany at Kölle-Zoo for what it costs a 4k bag of the same brand in at Fressnapf in CH.

There's a pet store in France, too, that I could probably get a good price at, but I don't patronize it because they actually sell puppies and kittens and I don't want to support the mill breeders.

You are better off taking a trip to Germany monthly or so than getting it shipped from the UK.

I go to this place in Waldshut:
http://www.tiernahrung-eckert.de/

Many people have questioned if its worth it to waste petrol driving there. But to me, it sure is. 15kg of my dog's food costs 35Euros there and about 80CHF here. I stock up on his chew toys and treats when I make the same trip too.

Proceed then to Kaufland down the road for cheap groceries

This is probably going to sound like a ridiculous question, but do I need my passport to cross?

And are there customs stopping you etc? An finally I know Germany has 19% vat so how do I get that back?

Is there any need for your dogs to have Hills? there are many 'brands' that cost way less than that, with similar nutritional values. Some people use these expensive foods as they are steered that way by vets who sell the stuff, and there isn't always a need for it. In the UK we used a Purina dry kibble mix for all our pups and for our dogs, we bred Labs and have 3 here. When moved to France we couldn't get it without a lot of hassle and switched to a Winalot light (iirc) dry kibble which was more reasonably priced. That wasn't available here, so we experimented and now use Mulitfit light from Fressnapf at about CHF 45 for a 15 kg bag (we get through a sack in 9 days), with a broadly similar nutritional content to Royal Canin adult light... just 60% cheaper. It is a little light on oil I think for our dogs, so we get Salmon oil from Qualipet at CHF 40 for 1 litre bottle and put a couple of squirts of that in their breakfast, and that bottle lasts about a month. The dogs weight is great, condition, teeth and gums are, good, health is great, coats are good... and the bank is ok too, and no stress with travel, tax, yada yada yada;-))

So with the dustbins on legs that are Labs, if there isn't a special dietary need for 'special food' give them a try on that and see how you get on

Thank you!!!

Will have a look. You're right...Vet steered us to Hills. I just need to make sure their coats stay gleaning....they were on James Well Beloved before and had flaky skin :-(

We've started giving them a can of sardines each per week, pongs the house out though!!!

Thanks again!

When we got our Cocker, 10yrs. ago the breeder recommended that we continue with Eukanuba - which we did, and it wasn't cheap (but not as expensive as Hill's).

A few years ago Landi added a Premium line to their Bitsdog range (Bitsdog Premium) - almost identical to Eukanuba in appearance and ingredients, at a fraction of the price - and not too dissimilar to Hill's, either.

Mutt seems to like it and seems to be doing well on it.

EDIT: just re-read your above post. For a healthy coat - with dry feed - drizzle a bit of olive oil on the biscuits from time to time.

Zooplus deliver from Germany to Switzerland, too: http://www.zooplus.de/
I haven't tried them because my cats aren't such big eaters.

You can check the delivery costs here:
http://www.zooplus.de/content/shippingcosts

Hi all - we are getting a new puppy soon and need to stock up on supplies, preferably in Getmany.

Does anyone know if there is a big pet store in and around the Waldshut - Singen - Condtance area?

Thanks

Last week, TSR did a programme on dog and cat food, based on price and nutritional value. They tested many brands, and the Migros ASCO brand came out top, and was one-third of the price I pay for my dog's present food. I have just visited the Migros website, and there now exists an ASCO Swiss Brand food which is made entirely of Swiss products.

This address near Basel & is a Mall, it has 8 floors of free parking, is right on the border and so it is easy to walk back and collect the tax refund.

There is a very large cheap supermarket "Marktkauf" on the ground floor, and on the first floor is a very large cheap pet shop "Kölle-Zoo". I saw no live animals for sale. There are several bowls of free dry dog food, and water, so our dog enjoys going there!

http://www.rheincenter.com/

http://www.koelle-zoo.de/hunde/techn...en/index.shtml

http://maps.google.ch/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Rhein Centre, Hauptstraße 435, D-79576 Weil-am-Rhein, Deutschland.

I can't answer your question about buying Hill's dog food in bulk. However, I feed my cat and dog food from www.bestesfutter.ch and am very satisfied with it. The dog gets Fenrier which is a food made with no grains and a lot of meat.

Cheap dog food is also awailable at landi and migors. But as said, it's main quality is that it's cheap, and that's that. These foods are not quality pet foods.

That is a very sweeping and incorrect statement, you do realise that many 'premium' brands package for other brands under license don't you. Foods with similar nutritional contents can only really be disseminated by price and packaging... nothing else. There is so much hype about dog foods, many chose the 'Premium' brands, without actually knowing if the contents of the bag are actually any better for their dog than the 'not quality foods' you mention.

Up to 12-18 months or when ever the bone developmental stage of you particular breed is complete, for sure they should be on the appropriate quality food. After that, unless there is some dietary need (which largely there isn't) owners continue to buy 'premium' products that cost a mint, or to keep the cost reasonable go to ridiculous lengths to get it, without any discernible benefit to their pooch.

So before people, go cross border hopping, or importing, why not check the dietary requirements of your individual dog (they are all different) and buy a food which gives Fido what it needs. There are some surprising non 'premium' brands on the shelves in places like Fressnapf which may suit you dog and your bank balance... read your dog, read the label and match the 2,

I'm sure some people just like to say I feed my dog X brand, when honestly, there genuinely isn't always a reason to be OTT on dog food

Example:
When we were breeding labs in Scotland, someone we used to meet regularly on walks had a black lab (so not 1 of ours thankfully). It was 'very well covered', and on one walk with the 3 of ours was so out of condition just couldn't keep up. The subject got on to food, and the owners were feeding it on kibble recommended by someone who owned and trained labs as gundogs.... the food great for a dog out on the hill working for 5 hours a day 4 times a week in all weather, for a house dog that got out for an hour or so a day, waaay to loaded with fat and protien. Hence the poor thing was starting to look like a canine candidate for the Biggest Loser.

PG is spot-on here.

The 'best' food is the one that keeps your own dog in good condition: shiny coat, bright eyes, good energy levels. Which food that is is wholly dependent on individual needs.

There are very good foods at bargain prices, and there are very good foods that cost an arm and a leg. Just as there are there are rubbish foods at bargain prices, and rubbish foods that cost an arm and a leg.

What I would suggest is that every pet owner learn to read labels and nutritional analysis, understand just what those rather oblique statements really mean. Disregard the marketing - look at the labels.

And then a dog owner should make decisions based on his/her dog's individual needs.

We've tried many different brands of dog food for our GSD, from the cheap and cheerful to the ultra expensive, because she has a fairly sensitive stomach. A lot of foods make her sick or give her an upset stomach and extremely bad gas , so as Meloncollie and PG have said, you just have to figure out what your own dog needs, regardless of the price of the food.