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A year after I signed up to become a Life's Abundance rep, I stopped - this post shares the five reasons why I no longer promote Life's Abundance.  It's probably not what you think.

Not long after I launched Keep the Tail Wagging I was introduced to Life's Abundance pet food and saw it as a fantastic business that I could build from home.  I was told that Life's Abundance makes dog and cat food with the finest ingredients, and I was excited to feed their food to our pets and build a small business through my blog.

A year later, I was no longer a Life's Abundance representative, and our dogs were enjoying a raw food diet.  Quite often, someone will reach out to me to ask about my thoughts on Life's Abundance and their products – Spoiler Alert: I have no issues with the company.  I chose to stop being a Life's Abundance representative six or so months after I started for many reasons.

1 – Rodrigo is Allergic to Chicken

Rodrigo presented with food sensitivities during the first few years of his life. I turned to Dr. Google and convinced myself that my dog was allergic to chicken. Not a surprise, really, because the food and treats I purchased always had chicken as an ingredient. A sensitivity test confirmed that I should limit the chicken in my dogs' diet.

I tried other dry dog food brands and cleaned Rodrigo's paws daily, but this didn't help. The paw licking finally stopped when I switched our dogs to a raw food diet 

Symptoms of Chicken Allergies in Dogs

Did you know that allergies (actually, it's a sensitivity) to food are thought to be responsible for 20% of all cases of scratching and itching in our dogs? Dogs can develop food sensitivities at any time in their life. Chicken was such a large part of my dogs' diet, and it's not surprising, looking back, that one of my dogs developed a sensitivity.

Rodrigo experienced…

  • licking his paws until they were red and irritated
  • regular loose stool, diarrhea, and gas – this also lead to anal gland issues

If you suspect that your dog has a food or environmental sensitivity, have your dog tested. It's affordable and eye-opening. Check out the details on my Glacier Peak Holistics review.

2 – Encouragement to Sell to Dog Breeders

When I signed up for Life's Abundance, the people who trained me encouraged me to build my “downline” – the people I signed up to sell Life's Abundance – through dog breeders.  At the time, I struggled with the dog breeding business – I didn't know if it was ethical and believed in “adopt, don't shop.” It wasn't until I began meeting reputable breeders that I gained a better understanding. But, when I was trying to sell dog food, I felt like I'd be a hypocrite if I were promoting the food to breeders while silently judging them.

3 – Mail Order Doesn't Work for Our Family

What I loved about Life's Abundance was that it was delivered straight to my door. And I could get many things – dog food, cat food, treats, and supplements.

The downside was that I could never schedule the orders right – I kept running out of food before my next delivery. I don't know what I was doing wrong back then, and I admit this was lame. How hard can it be to set up a recurring order? Today, I do it all the time without issues; with Life's Abundance, I was always a week off, no matter how I set it up.

4 – There are No Coupons for Life's Abundance

When I failed at setting up auto-ship, I had to stop by the pet store to pick up enough dog food to hold us over, and that's when I discovered another brand that Rodrigo did well on and the wonders of coupons. I set up an account at a local pet store and received coupons that shaved $5-$10 off my purchases. The savings are always welcome in a multi-pet home.

Today, I belong to a local raw food co-op, and I can buy food and other pet products in bulk, which saves money. And one of our local pet stores offers 20% off all fresh food products (raw, freeze-dried, dehydrated) on the first Wednesday of the money.

5 – I Suck at Direct Marketing

I am TERRIBLE when it comes to Direct Marketing. I've tried several MLM opportunities over the years and failed because I don't like sales. I don't feel comfortable selling to my friends and family. It was difficult to market these businesses through my blog. And I quickly learned that direct marketing companies had gotten a bad rap over the years, so many people aren't receptive, which was discouraging.

Check out the following podcasts and programs about MLMs:

I'm sure there are great MLMs out there, and there are people who ROCK at direct marketing. My experience with Life's Abundance, Pawtree, and Young Living repeatedly taught me that I'm not a good fit for sales. I have tremendous respect for folks who are good at sales.

Learn More About Raw Feeding for Dogs

Transitioning to raw turned out to be the best step for my dogs. This diet cleared up food sensitivities, environmental allergies, and more. You can check out my book, Raw Feeding from A to Z, to learn more about my experience. And visit my Resources Page if you'd like to learn more.

As humans, we know that eating processed foods daily isn't healthy, so it's not a leap to understand that feeding our pets a processed diet will lead to health issues. 

Read More About Raw Feeding

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