# Dogswell



## meggels

Soo....

The various Dogswell jerky treats are some of the most popular treats I see in the various stores I demo in. 

I know one person, who I consider pretty damn smart when it comes to dogs, who feeds ONLY these treats. 


I can't lie, I actually fed one small bag of the happy hips before I realized....they are made in China. 

Dogswell has always seemed like a reputable and trustworthy company to me, but this just seems so ridiculous. It seems like a lot of people have turned their back on the company in the recent recalls (of non Dogswell chicken jerky's). I know one store actually wanted to stop carrying the product and Dogswell basically told them they would not accept returned products and the store would have to eat the cost of all the products if they chose not to sell them. 

Why would Dogswell make their jerky products in China? It seems like such a stupid move on their part. I'm pretty sure their Nutrisca kibble is made in the USA...so why not the jerky?

What do you guys think? A company that can be trusted? Or would you steer clear as well?


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## Caty M

Personally I wouldn't feed them.. there are so many good treats available that you don't HAVE to feed one made in China. I feed Ziwipeak, Zuke's or else make my own.


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## Caty M

Ziwipeak is super expensive to feed as FOOD, but really affordable if you buy the smallest bag of their dehydrated kibble food and feed it as treats only!


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## Makovach

I make my own chicken jerky. its cheaper. And i know exactly what it is. Chicken. And what its touched, been around and processed with.


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## meggels

ziwi peak is dog crack


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## Caty M

Anything is crack to Tess.. but, Bishop likes it too!


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## MollyWoppy

Nope, would never feed it, even as treats. You just don't know. I must admit that I was quite surprised too, they seem to be a pretty reputable company, but when I saw the little 'made in china', there's no way it's ever going past Mollie's lips.


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## Scarlett_O'

Yup, I wont feed any of their product. I wont feed any product that has questionable standards...and IMO, having "some treats" made in China IS questionable!


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## 1605

*Similar report*

I had a similar issue with Sergeants: http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-fo...-sams-bull-wrinkles-now-china.html#post158901


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## meggels

I think my biggest thing is...it does just seem so stupid in terms of business moves. Kind of surprising. I for sure will not be feeding them. Lots of other jerky treats to choose from, but they seem to be the "biggest" one.



On a related note...anyone know anything about Weruva? I was in my friends store when the sales rep came in from that company and I heard his speech. When asked where the canned food is made, he said Thailand. But also went into a lengthy speech about how safe it is and there's an extra precaution taken with a certain group of people who ensure it's meeting the proper standards. But...still made me weary. not that I have a cat to feed canned food to anyways lol. And that seemed like a pretty damn pricey food.


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## PDXdogmom

Some Dogswell treats are made in China, as are many other brands, because it's cheaper to source and manufacture there; and the companies know consumers pay more attention to the dog food than they do to the treats.

Dogswell brand kibble, Nutrisca, is made in the U.S. but I haven't been able to find out what company's plant actually manufacturers it. Dogswell headquarters is in Beverly Hills/Los Angeles. The president has an MBA in entrepreneurial business. I can never find any references to nutritional research regarding the formulation of their two kibble formulas. It strikes me as a "made-up on paper" formula following AAFCO standards and utilizing trendier grain free carbs like chickpeas. Could be wrong but that's the skeptical side of me.

Along the same lines, Canine Caviar is test-marketing a new buffalo ears treat (at some Costcos) made in India.

As far as your mention of canned food from Thailand, my impression is that Thailand is the new China - even cheaper labor costs


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## meggels

Do you think there are ANY treats that can be trusted made over in China/Thailand/India etc? Or is it all or nothing for you guys? (Just asking cause I do find this interesting)


I've heard of Merrick doing a new chew/treat that will be made in India. 


I had Murphy on the Nutrisca lamb & chick pea formula when that snowstorm in October had me homeless and on the road for 5 days. He pooped SO much, and I think the kibble had something like 7% fiber lol.


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## twoisplenty

I personally would never feed any thing that comes from over seas. 

I bought a dehydrator for like $60 from Amazon and I make all my own little treat tidbits. Liver bites, chicken bites, you name it!


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## MollyWoppy

There are a few countries I wouldn't have any hesitation feeding food imported from. However, my brother lives in Thailand a large part of the year and by all accounts they can be not so nice to animals. 
I'm sure there are reputable companies in China/India/Thailand for sure, but how do you know which ones? Too much of a gamble for me.


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## xellil

meggels said:


> Do you think there are ANY treats that can be trusted made over in China/Thailand/India etc? Or is it all or nothing for you guys? (Just asking cause I do find this interesting)


No. Remember, the melamine put in dog food was put in there on purpose - no accident. 

Also, heparin - contaminated with a drug that mimicks the real thing but is alot cheaper and kills people. No accident.

And in January of this year - over 100 people dead in Pakistan from a contaminated heart drug. I would bet that's no accident, either.

And in the first two cases, they were never able to trace the source. That is unforgivable on OUR part. We just source this stuff out and say "ok you guys better have some quality control." They say "sure buddy" and proceed to poison us. And we can't track it back to the source.

And remember, the chinese killed a bunch of their own babies by adding melamine to milk.

No, I will never trust one single piece of food that comes from China.


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## PDXdogmom

meggels said:


> Do you think there are ANY treats that can be trusted made over in China/Thailand/India etc? Or is it all or nothing for you guys? (Just asking cause I do find this interesting)
> 
> 
> I've heard of Merrick doing a new chew/treat that will be made in India.
> 
> 
> I had Murphy on the *Nutrisca lamb & chick pea formula *when that snowstorm in October had me homeless and on the road for 5 days. He pooped SO much, and I think the kibble had something like 7% fiber lol.


My lab, who eats anything, was not too wild about the brief couple of weeks I fed the Nutrisca Chicken & Chickpea formula (7% fiber). Maybe the chickpeas make it taste a lot different? She also pooped a lot while eating it. I switched to NutriSource Grain Free (both lamb and chicken formulas) with 5% fiber and it is going very well. . . also very reasonably priced.


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## schtuffy

I would stay away from anything made in China...I used to think they looked pretty appealing until I saw where they were made. I would give Ziwipeak over them any day!

...or the Stella & Chewys, he loves them!


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## Imgliniel

I had a bag and had no idea they came from china, sigh, when the trouble started I read the labels and threw them all out. I give up, I am only going to buy the dehydrated lamb lung that is made in the USA specifically for a local 10 store chain. It is an in house brand. Other then that I am making everything myself. My mom makes tons of treats and I am trading her RMB from my supplier for treats from her dehydrator haha.


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## StellaLucyDesi

I won't feed Dogswell anymore either. I used to feed the jerky and my dogs loved it. I've also fed the canned food (found it at Big Lots quite awhile ago for .50 a can..and it's made in the USA). I've never fed the dry. The funny thing is, Susan Thixton came out with a "list" of foods that she would feed her dogs and cats. It's quite short, btw. What do you know, Weruva is on there! So....I guess if it's good enough for Susan Thixton....


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## meggels

Do you have a link to this list? Would be curious to read it.


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## StellaLucyDesi

Believe it or not, Susan Thixton (as you know charges to 17.00 a year to be a member of "Truth about Petfood" also charged 5.00 to get this list. She said the money was going to go toward research. Anyway, since I actually spent the 17.00 (for the first time) I though I'd go ahead and spend the 5.00 just to see what was on her specific list of foods that she would feed. I will tell you the ones on the list, but you can spend your own 5.00 if you want to see it directly from her lol. 
In no particular order:
1. Fresh Fetch Pet Foods - dog and cat
2. Answers Pet Food - raw - dog
3. The Honest Kitchen - dog and cat
4. Mulligan Stew - dog (you can feed the canned food to cats, as well)
5. My Perfect Pet - dog
6. Nature's Logic - dog and cat
7. People Fud - dog - available online in 2012
8. Raw Health Pet Food - dog and cat
9. Red Moon - dog and cat
10. Weruva - dog and cat - canned only

There you have it.....I hope I don't get in some kind of trouble for listing this here!


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## meggels

Interesting.

Wouldn't even know where to find most of those LOL.


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## StellaLucyDesi

I know.....some are not available to me and most have to be mail ordered. After reading this list, I did start feeding Mulligan Stew. I used to feed the canned food as a topper with excellent results, so I thought I'd order the kibble, too. The dogs loved it, but, Stella, my oldest Cavalier after awhile stopped wanting to eat it because it's a pretty big kibble. She liked the taste, but also she started having rumbly stomach with it. I then decided to switch to Natural Balance LID potato & duck and it helped, but then one of my Cavs started having anal gland issues.....soooo....now they're on Blue Buffalo Basics new grain free and though they've not been eating it long everyone seems to be doing better! I thought about ordering Red Moon for them, but I just really prefer a food I can go out and buy locally. Sometimes I think I become too obsessed with everyone's food anyway. I know both Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo are not everyone's favorites, but if my dogs do well on them then that's all I care about atm. I have fed many, many foods over the years (Wellness, Holistic Select, Orijen, Acana, Nature's Variety, Fromm, TOTW, etc.) and Blue is working fine, in fact better than most of the foods I mentioned. Well, sorry for rambling hahaha!


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