IS THE DOG FOOD ADVISOR OWNED BY A DOG FOOD COMPANY?

[stein74]

There is a dog food company called "brothers" on the dog food advisor that seems to be the house brand. Anytime anyone says something negative about it or questions any of the ingredients they get SLAMMED. First a small group of regulars will start making rude and nasty comments like "crawl back under your rock" "oh no not another negative post about Richard" (Richard Darlington, the owner of brothers), "not this again" . Then the owner of dog food advisor will remind the poster of their "subversive agenda" guideline. Then the poster of the negative comment will be required to immediately post "facts" to back up their statement. Even when the poster posts the "facts" supporting their statement they will then be accused of being argumentative, reminded again about the "subversive agenda" rule and told to:move on"

The thing is anytime someone posts something good about brothers they are NEVER EVER challenged.Mike Sagman never asks them for "proof", the brothers groupies never attack and they are NEVER told to "move on" on. Seems like dog food advisor has its own agenda of "promoting " certain foods.

Heres an example of the bias prevalent on the dog food advisor. Recently a poster revealed the fact that the chicken meal used by brothers is made from:
The frames and backs of chickens after they have already been stripped of meat, chicken necks, chicken skin, chicken leg BONES and chicken led quarters. This poster had contacted the manufacturer of the chicken meal brothers uses (tyson animal nutrition) and posted ALL the contact info so anyone could verify what they had posted. This poster also shared a link to the PDF of the chicken meal fact sheet which listed the ASH content of this chicken meal at up to 20%. An ash level this high is indicative of A LOT OF BONE in the chicken meal. Here is the link to the fact sheet about the chicken meal used in brothers. Tyson makes only one straight chicken meal. The phone number is at the top of the pdf

http://www.tysonanimalnutrition.com/Products/~/media/TANG/Files/24802903-0001_PGM.ashx


Well this poster was pretty much attacked by the dog food advisor groupies and even Mike Sagman the owner of Dog food advisor was very RUDE to this poster and just couldnt accept the FACT that this poster had revealed the EXACT details about the chicken meal used in brothers which it turns out is MOSTLY BONE!

I thought that Mike Sagman who owns a dog food review site should be thanking this poster for revealing the facts about an ingredient that the people who buy this food would NEVER have learned from the foods manufacturer Richard Darlington who I must admit comes across like a used car salesman to me. Richard is always describing his food as TOP QUALITY and referring to his PhD nutritionist (who by thy way he REFUSES to divulge the name of) and anyone who probes a little deeper is accused of having the "subversive agenda" and usually winds up banned.

All in all Mike Sagman acts like an advocate for brothers dog food and NOT as an advocate for the CONSUMER. Mike Sagman even tried to discredit this poster by trying to make it sound like this poster was someone from another dog food company trying to hurt his house brand "brothers".

So this is why I ask "IS THE DOG FOOD ADVISOR OWNED BY A DOG FOOD COMPANY" and if it isnt then why does it act that way!

[siuaghan]

to long to read

[herald]

Not that I know of. That's not to say there isn't some financial backing going on somewhere behind the scenes. There is so much politics and financial connections between dog food companies, it would be more suprising to find out nothing was going on.

I'm only moderately familiar with dogfoodadvisor.com, but I would assume most of their viewers don't know much about dog food in the first place. Examples like the one about chicken meal is common knowledge to people familiar with the industry, but a shock to people who take ingredients at face value.

Always take these kind of sites with a grain of salt. They are only opinions. It is far better to educate yourself about ingredients, labeling, and manufacturing practices in the industry. They you can evaluate food on your own. Check you www.dogfoodproject.com.

[ingel]

No.

I assume this is what your talking about:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/brothers-complete-allergy/

First of all, the comment about the chicken meal referred to meal from Tyson, a huge company that produces chicken meal for probably hundreds of dog food manufacturers. Also, other producers of chicken meal are going to have similar mixes for chicken meal. Therefore, that post didn't just bring down Brothers, it attacks every single dog food formula that uses chicken meal as a primary protein source! Of course people aren't going to want to believe it. Personally, I believe in using as much fresh meat as possible in kibble, but that's another discussion.

Second, it's a good food. It's going to have "groupies", just like Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Taste of the Wild, and all of those. Go and slam any of those brands without offering some evidence - you'll get a similar reaction.

Third, I scrolled through the comments and didn't find any nasty responses. I did see someone who questioned the use of tapioca, and s/he got what I thought was a civil, helpful response. I'm not really interested in sorting through hundreds of comments in order to find one mean-spirited one. Also, even if DFA was owned by said company, it would have NO affect on the behavior of the food's "groupies", because they would have no way of knowing that.

There are more important things to worry about than whether or not some dog food review website is biased towards a dog food that most pet owners have never heard of. I'm just saying.

[lifton]

No.

I assume this is what your talking about:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/brothers-complete-allergy/

First of all, the comment about the chicken meal referred to meal from Tyson, a huge company that produces chicken meal for probably hundreds of dog food manufacturers. Also, other producers of chicken meal are going to have similar mixes for chicken meal. Therefore, that post didn't just bring down Brothers, it attacks every single dog food formula that uses chicken meal as a primary protein source! Of course people aren't going to want to believe it. Personally, I believe in using as much fresh meat as possible in kibble, but that's another discussion.

Second, it's a good food. It's going to have "groupies", just like Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Taste of the Wild, and all of those. Go and slam any of those brands without offering some evidence - you'll get a similar reaction.

Third, I scrolled through the comments and didn't find any nasty responses. I did see someone who questioned the use of tapioca, and s/he got what I thought was a civil, helpful response. I'm not really interested in sorting through hundreds of comments in order to find one mean-spirited one. Also, even if DFA was owned by said company, it would have NO affect on the behavior of the food's "groupies", because they would have no way of knowing that.

There are more important things to worry about than whether or not some dog food review website is biased towards a dog food that most pet owners have never heard of. I'm just saying.

You asked, "Is the Dog Food Advisor owned by a dog food company?"

As the creator and editor of The Dog Food Advisor, I can assure you, my wife, Patti, and I are the only owners of our website. Together - along with the help of one paid and overworked research assistant (Sandy Brown) - we are the only ones responsible for the content of my reviews.

What's more, in full compliance with US Federal Trade Commission law, I publicly state in my Disclosure link found on virtually every one of the more than 750 reviews and articles on my website, "I do not accept money, gifts, samples or any other incentives from pet food manufacturers in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of my reviews or ratings."

Richard Darlington is the independent owner of Brothers Pet Food and The Doggy Store in Miami and has absolutely no financial relationship whatsoever with my website.

Like all blogs, the comments posted at the end of each article on my website represent the advice and opinions of my readers. And with more than 200 comments posted each day, it's impossible for me or anyone to control what people say to each other - especially when they're debating a controversial topic like dog food.

[zadok]

Yes, Mike Sagman is getting compensated to drive sales to particular dog food companies. I know this for a fact because someone, I personally know, that runs a pet related website receives propositions constantly by pet food manufactures to advertise and promote their food. They offer kickbacks but it is done quietly and everyone will deny it. It's illegal and that's why Mike will deny it until he's blue in the face.

MIKE SAGMAN IS A FRAUD! He is suppose to be a dentist but claims he's an expert on dog food. I wouldn't trust him to give me advice on anything, period. HE BLATANTLY LIES!

And for your information, Mike Sagman, I'm not Yent! My name is Sue and I was also banned from his site when I tried to expose the Diamond Pet Food Recall back in March. Mike and his manufacture reps friends, like LabsRawesome, and many others bashed me when I posted my warnings under Kirkland Dog Food (Dry).

Mike Sagman LIED and said I posted under different names, when he has access to my IP address to confirm I wasn't.

Mike Sagman LIED and said I used profanity on his site. I only used the word "Hell" when LabsRawesome so aggressively went after me.

LabsRawesome also followed me to "DOG FOOD CHAT" to continued to bash me. Look under Dog Food Reviews for 'Kirkland Dog Food'. Someone posted that our exchange got so out of hand that it needed a moderator. Read our exchange of words. I told her to stop. LabsRawesome is aka Michelle, aka, a personal friend of Mike Sagman and I believe affiliated with Diamond Pet Foods.

I want to puke when I read his comment "It's always been my intention to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information to help them make better decisions when choosing a dog food."

Then he directs you to his site PETFLOW where you can order dog food and he gets a kickback from that also. He's making lots of money persuading people. And don't believe differently! According to PETFLOW, you get to work directly with the manufactures. Well if you get to work directly with the manufactures, than you have direct contact with them!! Don't think we're that stupid, Mike.

And Mike Sagman, please try to sue me for slander because everything I have said is the truth!!! Now more people are aware of your BS. I'm not Cali either!!! Thank goodness someone else is also exposing Mike Sagman as a fraud!

Check out the aggressive bashing from LabsRawesome on 6/11/12 under Diamond Naturals (Dry). I'm beginning to think this is Mike's alter ego. I think Mike Sagman maybe LabsRawesome! Before LabsRawesome's name change, it was Michelle. Mike - MIchelle, looks fishy! Why would someone running a reputable website let this person and others continue to degrade people? BECAUSE THE DOG FOOD ADVISOR IS A SCAM!

[lorenzo]

This site is highly manipulated. When you say something against their favorite companies for instance Nature Logic or orijin then you find your posts eater officially deleted or magically disappeared a few days later. Only the groupies' posts will remain.When you say something about their high protein diets who are proven wrong then they will bully,flag,block and delete you in order to promote their subversive agenda.They misrepresented the studies.and then when you point out the dangers their own studies have shown they will delete your posts making up stories why and only their one-sided information remains and you won't know both sides receiving flawed and biased information as a result of this.
I work as a nurse and also have a diploma in veterinary assistant, that is 20 years old, and have been very concerned about their false claims, their conduct and their misrepresentation of facts, so do all the veterinarians I know. They are so many dogs who got sick listening to Hounddog or Shawna recommending too much protein or a raw diet. If the posts are still there, look at the Orijen or Primal thread.
They misconstrue textbooks for instance claiming the textbooks state you can give 40 or 50% protein to a senior dog while they say 28% max. then they use studies sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or purina to falsely substantiate their claims.When you point out the flaws then your posts will disappear. Shawna will misrepresent pretty much about anything to promote her 50% protein diet. For instance falsely claiming her dog is not on medication or those dogs would not live very long while it would not be unusual if the dog is still alive. Then she keeps contradicting herself how much protein she feeds
depending on the arguments, check out the web under scam about more information about this site.
100s of people have been bullied and unfairly blocked on here not doing anything wrong and being the victims of bullying. Vets get regularly blocked and their posts conveniently deleted. Of course the groupies can do whatever they want and their posts remain as long as they back up Mike the owner/editor. End result is you have indeed very biased information. Mike the owner/dentist is not an expert yet him among the groupies without any credentials make so many false claims but think they know it all.
Please don't buy into their high protein diet is all not necessarily superior, also don't believe their
exaggerated claims on lentils,gluten, peas, tomatoes, potatoes, raw food etc.

Buyer Beware! Go to other sites in order to get information about dog food. Get the information you need from a vet and perhaps a second opinion, then research for yourself but please do not listen to these self-proclaimed experts, they don't have the credentials they simply read the information online and for the most part, have fed purina until two years ago. Now they pretend they know all about holistic foods. The same with the editor Mike. He has fed his dog Iams and other crappy foods that killed his dog. Now he got smarter but this doesn't make him an expert.