# has anyone heard of Member's Mark Exceed Dog Food?



## Coldbrew

I was at Sam's Club yesterday, and while I normally avoid the pet aisle (mostly for my own sanity, because i'd end up buying a toy the dogs don't need), there was a aisle-end display of Member's Mark (their brand) Exceed Dog Food.

The only kind they had on display was Grain Free Alaskan Salmon and Pea, and looking at the ingredients I was pleasantly surprised. The first ingredient was Salmon and there were no by-product ingredients. I didn't buy it because I purchased a bag of 4health Grain-free Whitefish and Potato a few days ago, and it takes about 3 weeks for us to go through a 30 pound bag.

I was just curious if anyone else had heard of this brand, and if they've tried it what they thought. I'm at Sam's every two weeks and since Jasper can't have chicken and I'd prefer grain free, this might be a good option for us, since the only TSC (where they sell 4Health) is an hour away - assuming it's a good brand, that is. 

Dog Food Advisor gave it 3.5 stars because it has a relatively little protein that definitely comes from meat, but since we feed duck necks/back and various meat at least every other day, I'm not overly concerned about that. 


Here's a link to it Sam's Club


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## MollyMuiMa

3.5 isn't a bad rating and the ingredients look ok too, so if your dogs like it and will eat it......go for it! That you supplement their diet with raw helps too I think!


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## Coldbrew

Thank you MollyMiuMia! 
I'm hopeful that it will work out, given that it's much more accessible than our current food, and appears to be good quality too.


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## lily cd re

Having easy access to the food you want is important. I understand your interest and hope that food works out for you. For me I like to stick with Blue for accessibility reasons when I travel as well as for the quality (plus I don't want to switch if I don't have to since diet change is very hard for Peeves).


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## Viking Queen

Member's Mark is private label food manufactured for Sam's club by Purina.

Viking Queen


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## Coldbrew

Yes Catherine, accessibility is definitely important. I don't travel too much, and when I do it's to my hometown and to Chicago, both of which have Sam's Clubs close by. 

Thank you for that information Viking Queen. I'll have to look into that, since I know I've heard things about Purina, but for the life of me can't remember if it was positive or negative.


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## MollyMuiMa

Purina is a dirty word to many! I may have to take back what I said about using this food if indeed it is made by Purina! ICK! I've heard they source ingredients from China?


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## Viking Queen

I worked for many years in a local pet food/feed store. We all attended many many product information meetings about the benefits, or not, of each of the various foods that we and our competitors were selling. Purina was not and is not very highly regarded in the pet food industry. It is an old brand name, thus well recognized by consumers due to decades of advertising. Their ingredients are sourced from various and dubious countries and it is darned near impossible to get their sales reps and staff to completely disclose their sourcing. Their foods are also well noted for containing lots of "filler ingredients" to add bulk and fiber and not necessarily to improve the nutritional content in their products.

Many of the higher end foods are much more open about discussing and disclosing sources for their food ingredients. Their sales reps are very proud to discuss all aspects of their foods and how ingredients are sourced.

As most of us on the forum already know, if you feed a higher quality food you usually feed less as the dog gets more nutrition and more satisfaction from a food with better quality ingredients. I feed Iris a very high quality high protein food and it is expensive, per bag. I calculated how many days it takes for her to eat a bag, divided that into the peice of the bag and voila.......it costs about $1.15 per day for me to feed her. A cup of coffee from a fancy coffee shop costs more than that!

Ok, I am off my soap box now.  While Purina is not a completely horrible dog food company, I believe there are much better choices out there in the dog food universe. 

VQ


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## lily cd re

VQ I just did the same calculation you noted regarding Iris' food and came out with virtually the same cost per day per dog for Blue Buffalo. That is an interesting way to look at it.


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## Coldbrew

Viking Queen, I do very much appreciate your soapbox! Having "insider knowledge" is very valuable. :adore:

I do not think I will buy this brand, knowing now what you've said. I'm quite glad to have Poodle Forum as a resource for making decisions like this.

I did the same math on 4Health, and it's costing me $1.75 per day per dog to feed them. The math on that makes it pretty clear I'm not saving the money I thought I was(or feeding the quality I assumed!), so I'll have to reconsider my options.

The hunt is on for a grain-free, chicken-free high quality kibble that Picky Piper enjoys. I think I'll pick up the smallest bags of Blue Buffalo, Fromm, and TOTW when I'm at the store next.


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## Viking Queen

Since you mention that Piper is picky, as is Iris, you should check at your local store to see if you can return food which your dog refuses to eat.

The store where I worked would accept returns on food if the dog refused it, if it made the dog sick, or for almost any reason. Just make sure you keep the original bag. I pour my dog food into plastic storage containers for fresh keeping, but keep the bag in case of food contamination, manufacturers recall, etc. (it is helpful to have lot number info and expiration date info from the bag) 

The food suppliers just refund the cost of the returned food to the store so they are not out the money. On returned foods, as long as they were not spoiled, our store would donate them to the local food bank. People in financial difficulty who use food banks often have pets in need as well.

If your pet store will accept returns then you will not be paying a lot of money for foods your dog decides not to eat, or which they can not tolerate.

Good luck with your food search.
Viking Queen


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## Viking Queen

I'll share one more food story. A customer came in one day quite distressed about his young 8 month old lab. He was feeding the recommended quantity per day, 4 1/2 cups, of Purina Pro Plan. 

The young college student was feeling like he was going broke buying bag upon bag of the stuff, his dog had chronic runny poo, was always hungry and in his words was a "pooping machine." He said he could not afford a higher quality food. We did the math, cost per day, on a higher quality food which would have him feeding half his current quantity. I explained that he would feed half as much, not be buying as many bags of food, the dog would poop a lot less, less poo to clean up and with better quality ingredients the dog would feel more satisfied and less hungry, and in all likelyhood he would lose the runny poo as well.

He made the change, all was well with the poo, dog happy, human happy, pocket book happy! Happy ending. Lesson learned for all involved. Now he is a long term customer of the store. The end.


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## lily cd re

Coldbrew our dogs all do very well on Blue. Lily and Peeves have been on it for 6 years and I have no plans to change. Javelin came home on Fromm Puppy Gold but Fromm is not the easiest food for me to find (the availability thing we talked about earlier) so we switched him to Blue too. He is thriving.

Also as far as picky eating goes I think most dogs are really only picky if we let them be so. A healthy dog may let itself be hungry a day or two but won't let herself starve. If what you pick is it Piper will adjust. 

And what Viking Queen suggested about keeping the original bags and being able to take food back is an important option to leave yourself. I think all Blue retailers will take back food that there are problems with.


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## Coldbrew

I am feeding a lot of food (4 cups a day each) and am also living on a grad student budget, so that lab puppy story hits very close to home!

I believe that both pet stores I frequent accept returns, so that is good to keep in mind.

I've done some math and am going to go to the store today to see what prices are like on Blue Buffalo, the Fromm 4-stars, and Orijen. I have very vivid memories of shying away from the "very expensive" food when first seeing it, but since a bag the same size as what I'm buying now would last my dogs nearly twice as long, I know now I was wrong in my assumptions.


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## lily cd re

Coldbrew, you are a brave soul in my book. When I was in grad school guinea pigs were the biggest commitment I could make to companion animals!

Once again I thank VQ for turning out the unit pricing concept here. It was really a useful direction to take.


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## Viking Queen

Coldbrew said:


> I am feeding a lot of food (4 cups a day each) and am also living on a grad student budget, so that lab puppy story hits very close to home!
> 
> I believe that both pet stores I frequent accept returns, so that is good to keep in mind.
> 
> I've done some math and am going to go to the store today to see what prices are like on Blue Buffalo, the Fromm 4-stars, and Orijen. I have very vivid memories of shying away from the "very expensive" food when first seeing it, but since a bag the same size as what I'm buying now would last my dogs nearly twice as long, I know now I was wrong in my assumptions.



Coldbrew,

Just to give you an idea on quantity. Iris is a 35 lb spoo, 13 1/2 years old and she has always eaten EVO, a five star very high protein food. She loses weight that she can't afford to lose if she eats a lower protein food. She eats between 1 1/2 and 2 cups per day, her choice as she free feeds. That's a huge difference in quantity from what you are feeding. 

They also have a frequent buyer program where you save receipts and after a certain number of bags you get a free bag. It needs to be the same food, flavor & size of bag, in order to get the free one. Some other food companies offer that too. Ask at your store.

I date my bag with a magic marker on the day I buy it, then I can track how many days a bag lasts.

It was a great sales technique to reduce the cost of the bag to cost per day to feed...more doggies & kitties wound up on better food using that technique.

I am glad that sharing this calculation has offered you all an alternative way to look at pricing and quality of food.

VQ


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## Coldbrew

Catherine - I think it's possible that our different fields make more possible for me to have "dog time". In your field, I imagine you had to actually be IN the lab, whereas for my field the "lab" is simply where our university-provided desktop computers are, and if we can do the same work from home as we can on campus, there's no need for us to go anywhere. The only times I actually HAVE to be out of my house is for class (both taking and teaching), office hours, and scheduled meetings. Plus I have a partner to split bills with, which I know from chats with fellow students makes a big difference!


I went to a local store to price foods earlier this morning, and using the calculations found the following prices per dog per day (this is for wen they reach their adult weight), and includes the lowest price I could find the foods at. Most were lower at the store than online or in big box stores.

Fromm Large Breed = $0.88/day
Fromm Large Breed Puppy = $0.98/day
Wellness Core Grain Free = $0.98/day
Canidae Grain Free Pure = $0.98/day
Taste of the Wild = $1.02/day
EVO = $1.07/day
Orijen = $1.17/day
Nature’s Instinct = $1.34/day
4Health = $1.41/day
Blue Wilderness = $1.47/day
Blue Freedom = $1.50/day

I was carrying around a notebook and quite clearly writing things down, and a sales associate came over, we chatted, and I now have free sample bags of EVO, TotW, Fromm, Blue Wilderness and Orijen. 

Since Blue Wildnerness is more than we are spending now I think that is out, but I can see a "taste test" in the future between EVO, TotW, Fromm and Orijen. 

Viking Queen - Iris's good health at her age is certainly a testament to EVO. It does seem to be the highest protein of any that I am looking at, and the manufacturers make no secret of where their meats are sourced which I find wonderful. It is also the best dog food according to most RAW resources I've look at, which is another big plus. I think I am leaning towards it for sure.


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## lily cd re

VQ your post reminds me that Blue also has a frequent buyer program.

And Coldbrew, yes my research time was in a lab (couldn't bring blood, isotopes and centrifuges to my apartment), not at a computer (which barely existed then anyway for personal use, only DOS IBMs). I also kept wildly dog unfriendly hours, but the little guinea piggies were happy to see me at any time.


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## Joel Abramowitz

*Blue Buffalo*

Blue Buffalo has been lying about ingredients.


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## Shortsts

Viking Queen said:


> Member's Mark is private label food manufactured for Sam's club by Purina.
> 
> Viking Queen


Made exclusively by Red Collar Pet Foods not Purina. I'm in the biz.


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## Deere

Coldbrew said:


> Viking Queen, I do very much appreciate your soapbox! Having "insider knowledge" is very valuable. :adore:
> 
> I do not think I will buy this brand, knowing now what you've said. I'm quite glad to have Poodle Forum as a resource for making decisions like this.
> 
> I did the same math on 4Health, and it's costing me $1.75 per day per dog to feed them. The math on that makes it pretty clear I'm not saving the money I thought I was(or feeding the quality I assumed!), so I'll have to reconsider my options.
> 
> The hunt is on for a grain-free, chicken-free high quality kibble that Picky Piper enjoys. I think I'll pick up the smallest bags of Blue Buffalo, Fromm, and TOTW when I'm at the store next.


Don't forget to add Orijen; it's high protein and produced in the United States. I feed Orijen Large Puppy food and their "Red".


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## TeamHellhound

Five year old thread, and it looks like the OP hasn't been active the past couple of years.


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