When I started Keep the Tail Wagging I was soon introduced to Life’s Abundance and saw it as a fantastic business that I could build from home. Life’s Abundance makes dog and cat food with the finest ingredients that I was excited to feed to our pets and promote to dog lovers through my blog.
Today, over a year later, I am no longer a Life’s Abundance representative and occasionally someone will reach out to me to ask about my thoughts on the company and their product. I made the choice to stop being a Life’s Abundance representative 6 or so months after I started for many reasons.
5 Reasons Why We No Longer Feed Our Dogs Life’s Abundance Dog Food
Rodrigo is Allergic to Chicken
One thing that we’ve experienced with Rodrigo is obsessive paw licking. Our first veterinarian said that it’s normal, because some dogs have a reaction to grass. When he continued licking is paws in the winter, it was because they’re sensitive to the cold. The research I’ve done as a pet blogger made me wonder if it’s a chicken allergy. Every food that Rodrigo has devoured from 8 weeks was a chicken recipe. Once we switched to Halo Pets, we started buying the Salmon Formula
Symptoms of Chicken Allergies in Dogs
Did you know that allergies to food is thought to be responsible for 20% of all cases of scratching and itching in our dogs? I learned this when I was researching chicken allergies when Rodrigo was licking his paws like crazy. Dogs can develop allergies to chicken at any time in their life; so it’s not surprising that Rodrigo has been eating chicken for his first year and then a few months into year 2, he started licking his paws like crazy.
What we noticed was his paw licking. He would be licking his paws for an hour if we let him. Dog parents will notice intense licking and scratching that can lead to skin problems in the area. Sometimes dogs can have tummy issues too.
We didn’t have him diagnosed. Being a pet blogger, I started learning loads about dog health, including chicken allergies. And by comparing notes, I decided to try changing Rodrigo’s food and the paw licking stopped.
Update: After switching our dogs to a partial raw diet, we realized that they don’t have a chicken allergy (we thought Rodrigo and Blue were allergic). It was something about the Life’s Abundance kibble. This doesn’t mean that the food is bad, just that our dogs couldn’t eat it.
Encouragement to Sell to Dog Breeders
When I signed up with Life’s Abundance, I was told that I could build my business how I saw fit and that was perfect, because I wasn’t sure where I was going with Keep the Tail Wagging, which was my priority. When I started Keep the Tail Wagging, I wanted to promote dog rescue, but also educate people about how to find a reputable breeder. I felt there was room for both choices. As the months passed and I learned more about dog rescue, I started to question if I could support dog breeding.
At the same time I was grappling with this choice, I was being encouraged to build my “downline” – the people who sign up and sell under me – through dog breeders. It wasn’t something I felt comfortable doing. If I don’t support dog breeding, how can I sell them the business of Life’s Abundance?
Today, I support reputable dog breeders; dog lovers who love their breed and want to continue providing the world with healthy, wonderful dogs. I also support responsible dog owners who think carefully before adopting a dog (or multiple dogs), spay and neuter their dogs, and train and socialize their dogs.
Mail Order Doesn’t Work for Our Family
Although Life’s Abundance allows customers to set up an auto-shipment to receive food on a regular basis, I could never get it right. In fact, this is how we ended up trying Halo Pets. We would run out of Life’s Abundance and I had heard so many great things about Halo Pets that I decided to give it a try. The dogs loved Halo, they offer formulas other than chicken, and I could pick it up at the local pet store on the way home.
There are No Coupons for Life’s Abundance
If you feed your dog premium, holistic dog food, then you know that it’s not cheap. Halo Pets offers coupons online and in stores and my Petco PetPals membership allows me to earn $5-$10 off our dogs’ food each month. Saving money has been a great bonus now that we have three dogs.
I Suck at Direct Marketing
There are many direct marketing opportunities out there and it’s a great way for a blogger to make money if you’re good at sales. What I learned in my short stint in direct marketing is that the money comes from building your downline, not in selling the product. Get people to sign up and let them sell for you. I just sucked at it.
January 25, 2013 at 5:35 am
I appreciate your take on this type of business…I have thought about it but, like you, I suck at sales and the whole idea of “building a downline” is something I just wouldn’t be able to do…Cross this idea off my list
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Gizmo Geodog recently published..TOYS, VEGGIES, BUTTERFLIES & GEOCACHING – BEHIND THE PAW #4
Twitter: GizmoGeodog
January 25, 2013 at 7:51 am
I’m still trying to keep my eye out for a great business to partner with my blog, but I haven’t found one yet. I figure that at least I gave LA a try and I know for certain that MLM doesn’t work for me.
Twitter: thefurmom
January 26, 2013 at 3:46 pm
Interesting. MLM isn’t for me either, Kimberly.
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Carol Bryant recently published..How Many Sounds Does Your Dog Know?
January 26, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I wish I could have done better, but I couldn’t bring myself to convince someone to try LA if they were already feeding their dog a good diet and there are so many. And with the introduction of the raw diet and cooking for your dog, I found myself being swayed by potential customers. Thanks for the great article about grains.
Twitter: thefurmom
January 27, 2013 at 5:43 am
Kim…just read this and I thought you mind find it interesting http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/
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Gizmo Geodog recently published..TOYS, VEGGIES, BUTTERFLIES & GEOCACHING – BEHIND THE PAW #4
Twitter: GizmoGeodog
January 27, 2013 at 9:46 am
Thanks!
Twitter: thefurmom
February 8, 2013 at 5:23 am
Please tell me more about LA. Did they recently change their formulation? All of a sudden my Springer will not eat it. She has been getting some strange skin lesions lately so I am worried. What are the symptoms of a chicken allergy? Could they have added something new?? Please need your help. Who is the manufacturer?
February 8, 2013 at 7:55 am
Hi Susan – I’m so sorry to hear about your dog. That is so frustrating, because they can’t tell us what’s going on. I don’t know if Life’s Abundance changed their formula. I’ve been out of the loop with them since I stopped buying their food. I only buy their supplements.
I updated the article with more information about chicken allergies. From what I understand, it involves intense licking. Rodrigo was licking his paws like crazy; they were super red and we were worried about infection. We changed his food on a hunch and the licking stopped. Skin lesions can result from the intense licking. I would suggest calling your vet to see what they have to say, because the lesions could lead to infection, which requires antibiotics.
Twitter: thefurmom
February 8, 2013 at 11:26 am
Susanne, we have a 9 month old puppy that was given LA since day one. Our first bag of LA was ok, his stools weren’t the greatest and he seemed lethargic at times. We got our second bag of LA in early December 2012 and it caused major diarrhea. Called LA about the problem and they didn’t really care about the issue. Rep. simply said, “Do you want us to cancel your account?” Sorry, but I can’t trust a company that doesn’t care about its customers. We’ve moved on since and our pup has more energy than he ever has. Everything has been great, including the coat getting shinier and having more volume.
February 8, 2013 at 1:49 pm
That is so sad. I can’t believe that they didn’t show more concern. That’s just bad customer service. I’m so sorry that you had that experience, but I appreciate you sharing your story. Hopefully an LA rep will read this and look into it.
Twitter: thefurmom
April 26, 2013 at 11:22 am
I concur about customer service policy. My cat got sick from the canned food and when I called to ask to return, I was told not only did I have to pay the $9 shipping but my own return shipping which would cost $16 now due to increase in all methods to ship. I called back and told them I did not see anywhere on their site about my paying to return but more bout their 100% satisfaction guarantee and safe purchase etc. I received a nice letter from Dr. Bicks informing us our cat is the ONLY cat EVER to get sick on this. But she was sorry. So bottom line, we are stuck with $33 to pay for food which sickened our cat. I have never run into this before anywhere else so to me this business is just that, a business. And one I cannot approve of. I hope one day they understand this is not standing behind their product.
April 26, 2013 at 1:57 pm
That’s so awful! I’m so sorry that you experienced that.
Twitter: thefurmom
February 16, 2013 at 4:40 pm
This is great information when you read the ingredients on the bag it all sounds good. Something has to be wrong with their food if your dog refuses to eat it.
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Sue Huss recently published..To Neuter Or Not To Neuter
Twitter: SueHuss
February 16, 2013 at 6:22 pm
I think they are missing out on a target market by only carrying a chicken version of their kibble. 2 of our dogs are allergic to chicken; it just stopped making sense for me to buy it, plus I kept meeting other dog families who had dogs who were allergic too. I think it’s important for food companies to provide several protein option; because allergies can develop over time; not necessarily when they’re puppies.
Twitter: thefurmom
February 21, 2013 at 3:11 am
These five reasons are authentic. I had a dog which died on last year due to allergy problems. But I have introduced a new dog to my home and also keep away him from chicken and give him raw food for his full growth.
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dog food chicago il recently published..test
May 3, 2013 at 2:03 pm
That’s pretty fantastic! We just recently started our dogs on a raw diet and I’m blown away by how well they’re doing!
Twitter: thefurmom
May 3, 2013 at 9:57 am
Hello everyone,
I recently came in contact with Kimberly and was sad to hear of her experience with Life’s Abundance. We are reps as well and feed our 7 precious pets their food and have had nothing but great things happen physically for them. As far as customer service goes, I am sorry to hear that people had a bad time with that as well. I am here to state on behalf of the reps I know that we are not all like that. What company can always predict how the people they hire will react? But the only way the company can fix the problem is to be told about it so I hope your complaints about the service reached who they needed to and the problem was handled. As a former HR person myself I can tell you I’ve hired people who came off great in an interview only to be the worst people for customer service and it was handled swiftly. But the only way I was able to handle that was if I was told.
I hope, like anything, a few bad apples don’t spoil the bunch and just wanted to put my two cents in so you know that there are people out there like me who care about your pets safety and health and are here to help.
As far as the allergies go, yes that does happen and it’s very sad. I have turned away a few customers who pets are allergic to chicken. Unfortunately just like humans, we never know what we are allergic to until we try it. I’m glad the allergies didn’t turn into something serious or life ending. My Aunt has three boston terriers who are allergic to wheat. I hope you know it’s not a reflection on the companies and they are not out to hurt your pets, it’s just no one can know what someone is allergic too.
I hope I was able to maybe put a better light on the company or at least on what I can provide for you as a rep and not all of us push for signing up reps. I have one under me and the rest are customers. I prefer to just be able to provide something alternative and healthier than store bought food. Being a graduate of Biology I have taken many courses in food microbiology and have been appalled with what is in pet food. That’s why I made the switch and I don’t push anyone to try it or sign up as a rep.
Have a great day everyone and I hope you found this informative from another perspective. Thank you.
May 3, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Thank you for taking the time to leave this detailed comment, Kimberly. I was hesitant to post it, because I don’t feel comfortable marketing an MLM to my readers (therefore, I removed your URL), but I think it’s important to have a different Life’s Abundance experienced shared for people who may be researching working with the company.
I’m glad that you offer a no pressure environment. That wasn’t my experience. I didn’t feel bullied, but I did feel pressured to build my downline and I was witnessed to a very uncomfortable interaction on one of the training calls that made me realize that I simply couldn’t be part of this company any longer. As I stated in the article, I’m just not made for sales and MLM.
That being said, although our dogs couldn’t eat their food, I won’t say that their food is bad. I’ve been researching and writing about nutrition for over a year now and I’ve come to the conclusion that the best diet is the raw diet, but for people who can’t swing this change, a premium kibble is the best option. Because Life’s Abundance only offers a chicken recipe (and many families are experiencing chicken allergies with their dogs), the controversy about the beet pulp (no one can seem to agree on if this is good or bad for our dogs), and the email from a Life’s Abundance rep – I think it’s best that I only promote foods that we actually use currently.
I do appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment here and to connect with me on LinkedIn. Although I’m used to people immediately promoting products to me (I am a blogger), I’m uncomfortable with Life’s Abundance and MLM in general, because of my own experience.
Side Note: Should anyone be interested in the details of my experience with Life’s Abundance, I will be happy to share them with you in private. It’s not something I care to discuss on my blog or social media sites, because I think my experience was isolated and involved an interaction with one rep and I’d like to believe that this wasn’t reflective of the company as a whole, therefore, I don’t want to “bash” the company by sharing my experience online.
Twitter: thefurmom
May 3, 2013 at 2:52 pm
I appreciate you approving my comment and sharing another side. I just felt it would be fair to share another side. I’ve had bad experiences with MCDonalds but still go back.
Some people are just not very good at promoting a company in a bright light and I am sorry that was the experience for you. I just don’t want any one to suffer for a bad experience. I wish you the best and hope that people will take into consideration we are dealing with people and that’s not always a positive experience but shouldn’t reflect everyone involved. Thank you again for posting my replies. Again I’m sorry for your experience.