# BB's recent FaceBook post



## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

What do you think about it? All carp or all genuine? Why?

Hi pet parents.... | Facebook


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## RawPitbulls (Feb 7, 2013)

I think it's genuine. Don't know why, but I do.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I actually think it's genuine, too. 
While I DO think commercial pet food companies are out for the bottom line more than anything (come on, ALL big business is) I also don't think they are out to hurt anyone. Recalls are the result of quality control issues... absolutely. However, I just don't think they're the big devil they're often made out to be.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

I have no idea. I do know there has been a flurry of new complaints on Consumer Affairs in the past week about BB. If it were my dog that were sick, would I care what their intentions are?

207 Complaints and Reviews about Blue Buffalo Pet Foods


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

FBarnes said:


> I have no idea. I do know there has been a flurry of new complaints on Consumer Affairs in the past week about BB. If it were my dog that were sick, would I care what their intentions are?
> 
> 207 Complaints and Reviews about Blue Buffalo Pet Foods


Fair point.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I'm not sure what to expect but I have spoken to people, on a couple forums, who switched their dogs to Blue and they got sick. Could have been something else, could be the food.


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

Emma didn't do that great on any of the Blue formulas, soft poos and always gasy gasy. But I, myself, feel the post is very genuine. Like any business, they want to resolve issues and fix what was done wrong. I've often said "What works for one dog, may not work for the next dog." I've seen a dog look exceptional on Dog Chow. Yes, Dog Chow. And another dog practically on his death bed with a higher end kibble. The next day, that company had a recall, accidents happen and they'll always happen.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

SuperPug said:


> Emma didn't do that great on any of the Blue formulas, soft poos and always gasy gasy. But I, myself, feel the post is very genuine. Like any business, they want to resolve issues and fix what was done wrong. I've often said "What works for one dog, may not work for the next dog." I've seen a dog look exceptional on Dog Chow. Yes, Dog Chow. And another dog practically on his death bed with a higher end kibble. The next day, that company had a recall, accidents happen and they'll always happen.


I don't think we, as consumers, should accept this. We should demand better quality control, better quality ingredients, clarity on the ingredients list, etc, etc, etc. I don't think things happen by accident, either in human or dog food. It happens with carelessness and cutting corners to increase profit. Even with the companies who we believe might actually care about our dogs' health - which I am sure is not always true, even though they would love for us to believe it.

I agree that some dogs do fine on food that other dogs don't do so well on. But no dog should need medical intervention to recover from eating their nightly dinner.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Well, for what it's worth. This forum is one of the very few social or consumer sites who haven't been bashing Blue Buffalo lately. Ok, it doesn't have a big fan-base here but there have been nothing of what might look like a targeted campaign against them happening here. And that's a good thing.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

That website is not an official website and there is a lot of information out there that makes it out to be nothing more than a scam website that bullies companies and gets money out of them because of their so called 'reviews'. If you pay close attention the reviews sounded like they may very well be written by the same person. Sorry, I don't buy it.

You guys know how it is, on Fromm, one of my dogs puked constantly and had horrible gas and bad poop (is there good poop? ha!) Does it mean Fromm is bad? No-it means it wasn't working for my dog. 

So you have people who may or may not be paid start a flow of complaints-then people who have dogs that did not do well on it start to post their complaints then people with 15 year old dogs who have kidney's failing start to post complaints... see how it goes? I just don't buy it anymore, and I don't trust these websites. If people have issues they need to start reporting to FDA and BBB I'm not taking stock in anything else anymore.


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

DaViking said:


> Well, for what it's worth. This forum is one of the very few social or consumer sites who haven't been bashing Blue Buffalo lately. Ok, it doesn't have a big fan-base here but there have been nothing of what might look like a targeted campaign against them happening here. And that's a good thing.


Which is exactly why I posted it here and not the other forum I'm on. Every time I mention Blue as a decent high quality kibble to use, there's always something someone brings up to bash about the company. Mostly about their recalls and how many people have issues with it



shellbeme said:


> That website is not an official website and there is a lot of information out there that makes it out to be nothing more than a scam website that bullies companies and gets money out of them because of their so called 'reviews'. If you pay close attention the reviews sounded like they may very well be written by the same person. Sorry, I don't buy it.
> 
> You guys know how it is, on Fromm, one of my dogs puked constantly and had horrible gas and bad poop (is there good poop? ha!) Does it mean Fromm is bad? No-it means it wasn't working for my dog.
> 
> So you have people who may or may not be paid start a flow of complaints-then people who have dogs that did not do well on it start to post their complaints then people with 15 year old dogs who have kidney's failing start to post complaints... see how it goes? I just don't buy it anymore, and I don't trust these websites. If people have issues they need to start reporting to FDA and BBB I'm not taking stock in anything else anymore.


I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. What "official website" are you talking about? I don't see any reviews on the page I linked. Just people supporting or going against the company.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

SuperPug said:


> Which is exactly why I posted it here and not the other forum I'm on. Every time I mention Blue as a decent high quality kibble to use, there's always something someone brings up to bash about the company. Mostly about their recalls and how many people have issues with it
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. What "official website" are you talking about? I don't see any reviews on the page I linked. Just people supporting or going against the company.



ConsumerAffairs.com: Knowledge is Power! Consumer news, reviews, complaints, resources, safety recalls is the website that people keep passing around about the bad reviews.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I like Blue...even though I don't meet a ton of dogs that do well on it.

I did find it interesting when reading the comments on their FB post yesterday, someone, who uses Blue...said never use Fromm because they employ a bunch of illegal aliens at their factory LOL.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I think you have to be very vigilant. If I fed a food which had a lot of recalls or where there were a lot of complaints of dogs/cats getting ill, you can bet my bottom dollar I'd be suspicious and checking it out very thoroughly.
I've been forever morally damaged after the 2007 recalls when certain companies would not recall their foods until they were absolutely forced to. And, how many dogs and cats died because of that?
PS I'm not saying BB has done anything wrong at all, I haven't even looked into that to make a judgement. I'm talking about dog food manufacturers in general.


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

shellbeme said:


> ConsumerAffairs.com: Knowledge is Power! Consumer news, reviews, complaints, resources, safety recalls is the website that people keep passing around about the bad reviews.


Ah, thank you for clearing that up. I looked through that site and it seems to only be used for the negatives. I see very few positives and yes they are reviews written by people. People who have tried out the product and only deem it fit to post about products that they've had negative experiences with.


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

hm....someone gave me a link about Blue Buffalo giving false advertising. If they lied about what's in their food, do they really care about your animals?

It's a PDF file
http://www.lawpublish.com/Issue729.pdf

As quoted from the article:


> NAD'S SELF-REGULATORY PROCESS
> The staff of FTC's Division of Advertising Practices conducted an
> investigation into whether representations made by the Blue Buffalo
> Company, Ltd. regarding its pet foods violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade
> ...





> CONTINUING CLAIMS
> In addition, FTC staff reviewed, at NAD's request, Blue Buffalo's
> continuing claims that its pet food ingredients provided superior antioxidant protection, after Blue Buffalo promised to stop doing so.
> Accordingly, FTC staff determined not to recommend enforcement action
> ...


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

meggels said:


> I like Blue...even though I don't meet a ton of dogs that do well on it.
> 
> I did find it interesting when reading the comments on their FB post yesterday, someone, who uses Blue...said never use Fromm because they employ a bunch of illegal aliens at their factory LOL.


I'd like to know where they got that information from....


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

SuperPug said:


> I'd like to know where they got that information from....


Me too haha


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

I know from past experience that the Consumer Affairs site has been the parakeet in the mine. You will see problems in a food there before there is anything in the news, or a recall, etc. etc.

There are often no glowing reports on food because people don't go there to praise - they go there to complain. It's in our nature. 

I think you take it as you want - believe it, or don't. Or be prudent and don't take risks with a dog's health until you know for sure the stories are true, or not. Things get passed around as fact all the time on facebook and people believe it blindly just because a buddy posted it when often it's not true. Sometimes it is. Check it out for yourself. 

But if you look at the symptoms described on Consumer Affairs, they are similar to the symptoms in the BB a couple of years ago: Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recalled - WKBN - 27 First News - Local News - Youngstown, Warren, Columbiana, Ohio - Sharon, Pennsylvania

So it's not like there is no precedent for a recall with this company.


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

Even if that info is true, I don't even care. How does it affect me?? Maybe I would feel differently if I lived in the US.. but probably not.


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## BeagleCountry (Jan 20, 2012)

Looking through the first two pages of complaints at consumeraffairs.com makes me wonder about their validity. Notice the correct punctuation especially commas, spelling, grammar, flowing content, easy to understand details, and the use of an exclamation point at the end of the last sentence. Compare that to the posts on any public forum. Either Blue Buffalo has a customer base of English majors and copywriters or something is amiss.

Notice the number of complaints that were posted on the same dates. March 8th (Friday) and 4th (Monday), both work days, were especially busy.

None of the messages urged others to file a proper complaint with the U.S Food and Drug Administration where if enough complaints are received an investigation will be initiated. Perhaps they do not want to go so far as to involve the federal government.
How to Report a Pet Food Complaint

I am not a defender of Blue Buffalo. In fact, I have my own issues with them and no longer feed it to the rescues.

Can't imagine what company would stoop to such tactics. OTOH, the dog food industry is a bottom line cut-throat industry. It could be one individual with a vendetta. Several of the dog food forums have one or more "I have read or heard ..." posts in regard to Blue Buffalo and it seems to be spreading. Blue Buffalo could potentially seek a court order to obtain the IP address(es) of the posters on consumeraffairs.com. 

BTW, our ol' friend ,the monster, was recently banned on another forum. "VanLeeRet" made it through 23 posts before calling people "fools". It could be someone with a similar personality going after Blue Buffalo just for the fun of it.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

BeagleCountry said:


> Can't imagine what company would stoop to such tactics. OTOH, the dog food industry is a bottom line cut-throat industry. It could be one individual with a vendetta. Several of the dog food forums have one or more "I have read or heard ..." posts in regard to Blue Buffalo and it seems to be spreading. Blue Buffalo could potentially seek a court order to obtain the IP address(es) of the posters on consumeraffairs.com.


You'd be surprised what tactics are common these days. You don't even have to be that big to have paid posters or deploy negative campaigns via a third party targeting a competitor. You can arrange everything online in relative anonymity for a not much money at all. It's a whole new industry that's been growing in the last 10 years.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

Interesting article on the exchange between Susan Thixton and reps of Consumer Affairs concerning her post that some of the complaints about Beneful MIGHT be bogus:

Consumer Affairs Threats of Lawyers to TruthaboutPetFood.com


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

FBarnes said:


> Interesting article on the exchange between Susan Thixton and reps of Consumer Affairs concerning her post that some of the complaints about Beneful MIGHT be bogus:
> 
> Consumer Affairs Threats of Lawyers to TruthaboutPetFood.com


Interesting...

I would never feed beneful personally, as I babysat a dog who was fed it and the food reeked up my entire garage. However the neighbors 2 border collies eat it and they are a nice weight, full, shiny coats and their poo turns white and crumbles.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

The ingredients in beneful are unquestionably close to the bottom of the barrel. Anyone looking at the food should have a red flag raised simply because of the colors. And like humans, poor food doesn't always show up as a health problem immediately. If a dog gets diabetes or kidney failure or cancer it is rarely blamed on the food. Undoubtedly i have had dogs live many years on cheap food but they had a varied diet.

I thought the exchange with Susan thixton was interesting because how do the CA people check for bigus complaints? Do they check? Seems like in all the threats to her they would have a defense


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

FBarnes said:


> The ingredients in beneful are unquestionably close to the bottom of the barrel. Anyone looking at the food should have a red flag raised simply because of the colors. And like humans, poor food doesn't always show up as a health problem immediately. If a dog gets diabetes or kidney failure or cancer it is rarely blamed on the food. Undoubtedly i have had dogs live many years on cheap food but they had a varied diet.
> 
> I thought the exchange with Susan thixton was interesting because how do the CA people check for bigus complaints? Do they check? Seems like in all the threats to her they would have a defense



Along wit the strong color dyes there are many people who found mold or maggots in freshly opened bags.

A few years ago before I got my toy poodle and joined pet forums, I had a pet turtle, and in a dog show they were giving free samples of beneful, I bring one to feed it to the turtle everything looked ok, until a few days later the bag was full of white looking maggots so I threw the bag to the trash .

Even in that time that was before me reading articles online of pet foods and the 2007 recall and the wake up call to many pet owners, I knew beneful was no good... at least in low quality foods like alpo you won´t find the maggots like in beneful.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

Sapphire-Light said:


> Along wit the strong color dyes there are many people who found mold or maggots in freshly opened bags.
> 
> A few years ago before I got my toy poodle and joined pet forums, I had a pet turtle, and in a dog show they were giving free samples of beneful, I bring one to feed it to the turtle everything looked ok, until a few days later the bag was full of white looking maggots so I threw the bag to the trash .
> 
> Even in that time that was before me reading articles online of pet foods and the 2007 recall and the wake up call to many pet owners, I knew beneful was no good... at least in low quality foods like alpo you won´t find the maggots like in beneful.


Yes it's horrible - even in my worst days I didn't feed Beneful. I didn't know much about dog food but I knew it shouldn't come in primary colors! And the list of ingredients - what doesn't raise a red flag? It's one wretched ingredient after another. I guess quality control is low also, or maybe whatever it is invites flies to lay eggs in it. Those people at CA should be glad Susan Thixton even raised the possiblity that some of the complaints are bogus. I know some people have been feeding Beneful with no problems so far but I'd like to talk to them when their 2 year old dog turns 12 if it lives that long.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I looked after a dog that was fed Beneful kibble and Beneful wet food as a topper. The wet food was the one in the tub. I accidently left the tub of already opened Beneful wet food in the car for 2-3 days in the Florida summer sun. When I eventually found it and opened it expecting to be knocked off my feet, it smelt as fresh as if it had been in the fridge the whole time. Now, to me, that's mighty scary.


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

MollyWoppy said:


> I looked after a dog that was fed Beneful kibble and Beneful wet food as a topper. The wet food was the one in the tub. I accidently left the tub of already opened Beneful wet food in the car for 2-3 days in the Florida summer sun. When I eventually found it and opened it expecting to be knocked off my feet, it smelt as fresh as if it had been in the fridge the whole time. Now, to me, that's mighty scary.



Wow O-o it does sounds creepy, like when some people have made experiments leaving fast food or pastries out for several months or years and see if they spoil. 

We have a climate similar to the Florida one, and the canned foods I have used in the past spoil fast after being opened... even ones like cesar and the likes.. I never have used the beneful ones.



FBarnes said:


> Yes it's horrible - even in my worst days I didn't feed Beneful. I didn't know much about dog food but I knew it shouldn't come in primary colors! And the list of ingredients - what doesn't raise a red flag? It's one wretched ingredient after another. I guess quality control is low also, or *maybe whatever it is invites flies to lay eggs in it*. Those people at CA should be glad Susan Thixton even raised the possiblity that some of the complaints are bogus. I know some people have been feeding Beneful with no problems so far but I'd like to talk to them when their 2 year old dog turns 12 if it lives that long.


True! and this remind me that after the food sample issue my mom calls this food "benegusano" (beneworm) LOL


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