“Trespassers Are Welcome: Dog food is getting to be expensive” (sign)
“Trespassers Are Welcome: Dog food is getting to be expensive” is a jocular warning sign that has been printed on many images. The implication is that a dog will eat trespassers.
“Peddlers Welcome Dog Food Is Expensive” was printed in The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) on June 21, 1953. “Salesman Welcome—Dog Food Is Expensive” was printed in The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) on June 16, 1964. “TRESPASSERS WELCOME—DOG FOOD IS VERY EXPENSIVE” was printed in the Bemijdi (MN) Daily Pioneer on October 7, 1974.
“Sign on fence: SALESMEN WELCOME DOG FOOD IS EXPENSIVE” was posted on the newsgroup rec.humor on September 27, 1996. “Trespassers welcome, dog food is expensive.—unknown” wass posted on the newsgroup alt.games.tombraider on November 26, 2002. “Trespassers Are Welcome: Dog food is getting to be expensive” (shown on a sign) was posted on Facebook by K9s.org on August 14, 2019.
Newspapers.com
21 June 1953, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), “The Grapevine” by Joe Creason, Magazine sec., pg. 6, col. 2:
These Signs of The Times
The signery, like the scenery, is at its best during the summer.
Aulyn E. Canston, who has been wintering in California, vows his spotted this sign on a fence outside a Van Nuys home:
Peddlers Welcome
Dog Food Is Expensive
Newspapers.com
16 June 1964, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), “Joe Creason’s Kentucky,” sec. 1, pg. 7, col. 6:
Welcome For Dinner
This stop-you-in-your-tracks sign hangs to the fence surrounding a place just off Bardstown Road south of Louisville:
“Salesman Welcome—Dog Food Is Expensive.”
Newspapers.com
16 January 1968, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), “Joe Creason’s Kentucky,” pg. B-17, col. 3:
Soup’s On!
THIS SIGN which hangs on the front gate surrounding a home on Preston Highway outside Louisville leaves little ot the imagination: “PEDDLERS WELCOME: DOG FOOD IS EXPENSIVE.”
Newspapers.com
7 October 1974, Bemijdi (MN) Daily Pioneer, “Light Side of Hunting and Fishing” by Roger W. Dana, Farm And Home Magazine, og. 12, col. 1:
...and the one that reads, “TRESPASSERS WELCOME—DOG FOOD IS VERY EXPENSIVE”.
Google Groups: rec.humor
SIGNS
Nancy Carson
Sep 27, 1996, 3:00:00 AM
Sign posted: QUIET… HOSPITAL ZONE Sign outside house in the city: TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF ONE GERMAN SHEPHERD Sign outside a house in Sussex, England: BEWARE OF OWNER… NEVER MIND THE DOG Sign on Garbage Truck: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED… OR DOUBLE YOUR GARBAGE BACK Sign in front of clock repair shop: CUCKOO CLOCKS PSYCHOANALYZED CHEAP Sign outside school: FITE ILLETERACY (Fight Illiteracy) Signs in store windows: DON’T BE FOOLED BY IMITATORS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS. WE HAVE BEEN GOING OUT OF BUSINESS LONGER THAN ANYONE IN TOWN. DON’T GO ANYWHERE ELSE AND BE ROBBED….TRY US! Sign on newly-mown lawn: YOUR FEET ARE KILLING ME Sign in front of ice cream store: YOU CAN’T BEAT OUR MILK, BUT YOU CAN LICK OUR ICE CREAM CONES Sign on dentist’s houseboat: OFFSHORE DRILLING Sign in front of a record shop: RECORDS FOR SALE, FOR SALE, FOR SALE…..... Signs outside music store: GONE CHOPIN. BACH IN A MINUET. OUT TO LUNCH. USUALLY BACH BY ONE. OFFENBACH SOONER. Sign outside of planetarium: CAST OF THOUSANDS… EVERY ONE A STAR Billboard on road: BELT YOUR FAMILY AND SAVE THEIR LIVES Sign in front of a garage: MAY WE HAVE THE NEXT DENTS? Sign outside tailor shop: DON’T STAND OUTSIDE AND FAINT ...COME INSIDE AND HAVE A FIT! Sign on dairy truck: FROM MOO TO YOU IN AN HOUR OR TWO Sign in a supermarket: PRICES ARE BORN HERE AND RAISED ELSEWHERE Sign in front of magic shop: DISAPPEARED FOR LUNCH Sign at a bank: JESUS SAVES - WHY CAN’T YOU? Sign in realtor’s office: LOTS FOR LITTLE Sign in shoe store: COME IN AND HAVE A FIT Sign in a maternity clothes store: WE ARE OPEN ON LABOR DAY Sign on door of maternity ward: PUSH - PUSH - PUSH Sign in a non-smoking area: IF WE SEE YOU SMOKING WE WILL ASSUME YOU ARE ON FIRE AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION Sign at entrance of the IRS: WATCH YOUR STEP Sign in a book store: WE TREAT YOU WRITE Sign on front door: EVERYONE ON THE PREMISES IS A VEGETARIAN EXCEPT THE DOG Sign in an optometrist’s office: IF YOU DON’T SEE WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR, YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE Sign in a taxidermist’s window: WE REALLY KNOW OUR STUFF Sign in a podiatrist’s window: TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS Sign in a butcher’s window: LET ME MEAT YOUR NEEDS PLEASED TO MEAT YOU Sign on used car lot: SECOND HAND CARS IN FIRST CRASH CONDITION Sign in a car dealership office: THE BEST WAY TO GET BACK ON YOUR FEET… MISS A CAR PAYMENT Sign in a muffler shop: NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY WE’LL HEAR YOU COMING Sign on fence: SALESMEN WELCOME DOG FOOD IS EXPENSIVE
Google Groups: alt.games.tombraider
New TRAOD video
snark^
Nov 26, 2002, 5:08:59 AM
(...)
Trespassers welcome, dog food is expensive.—unknown
Google Groups: soc.culture.irish
Funny Signs
An Mac Tíre Bán
May 31, 2005, 11:27:32 AM
(...)
On a fence:
“Salesmen welcome, dog food is expensive.”
X/Twitter
Sarah Sanford
@TheOpalTurtle I leave you with today’s calendar quote: “On welcome mat: Salesmen welcome; dog food is expensive.”
11:29 PM · Nov 13, 2008
X/Twitter
Barry Roodt
@barryroodt
Sign on a Fence : “Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive!”
9:22 AM · Feb 5, 2009
Facebook
Allen Duncan
September 25, 2011 at 5:29 PM ·
My beware of dog reads “Trespassers welcome, Dog food is expensive…
Facebook
Kevin Larson
January 14, 2012 at 6:46 AM ·
Trespassers Welcome. Dog Food Is Expensive! Forget About The Dog, Beware of the OWNER! There’s only 1 Way In, and 2 Ways Out! Vertical OR Horizontal !!!
X/Twitter
Tim Lenox
@TimDenchanter
Trespassers, Burglars & Home Invaders are Welcome because dog food for THIS guy gets Expensive !!! http://fb.me/4hJdyEWBE
2:49 PM · Feb 21, 2015
Facebook
K9s.org
August 14, 2019 at 10:32 AM ·
TRESPASSERS ARE WELCOME!!! Dog food is getting to be expensive!
X/Twitter
The Minuteman is a WOMAN. WOMEN’S LIVES MATTER!
@DSampsonGannett
There’s a sign I’m thinking of posting on my property. It shows the sihouette of a barking dog, and reads as follows:
“Trespassers welcome. Dog food is getting expensive.”
Where can I find the perpetrators?
#SisterhoodIsPowerful
2:07 AM · Feb 24, 2020
X/Twitter
🐶🐾
@yourpuppyplug
Trespassers at night are welcome. Dog food is expensive now 😎
11:53 AM · Nov 27, 2021
X/Twitter
Quetzalli Writes
@QuetzalliWrites
Trespassers are welcome…
dog food is getting expensive!😎
(A sign is shown.—ed.)
9:31 AM · Jul 5, 2022 from Seattle, WA
X/Twitter
Someone else’s husband
@fugged_aboutit0
I used to have a sign out front that said “Trespassers Welcome, Dog food is expensive & they ain’t picky about what meat they get.”
5:10 AM · Apr 24, 2023
Bluesky
Lill, Paul’s daughter🇳🇴♈️🇳🇴 🇺🇦🇬🇱🇨🇦🇲🇽
@lillnordheim.bsky.social
[Dog sign:
TRESPASSERS ARE WELCOME
Dog food is getting to be expensive
ALT]
July 6, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Facebook
im not right in the head.com
July 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM ·
(“Trespassers Are Welcome: Dog food is getting to be expensive” is shown on a sign.—ed.)