Dog Food Rant-

[NicoleLJ]

When it comes to dog food and peoples choices I have this opinion. If the dog is healthy and happy then it is NONE OF MY BUSINESS what they feed. I am happy with what I feed my dogs. They have been eating Innova Large Breed for 3 months now and are doing great. I used to feed them Purina Pro Plan and guess what. They did great on that too. I only switched because it was hard to get. That is ht eonly reason I switched. But when I did switched this site helped me a great deal in finding a great food:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

What is great for one dog and person may not be great for another. Just because people do not agree on th efoods they feed does not mean they love their dogs any less. Each to their own I always say.
Nicole

[borzoimom]

thats ones easy, because dogs in north america are not intended for humane consumtion they are able to pt many chemicals in the foods that would never in a million year be allowed in the feed of an animal intended for human consumtion.

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wolfsoul]

Though I do have a question...there are some formulated feeds that are pretty good for the dog right? I heard chicken soup for the dog lovers soul is good, as well as a few others (cant remember the name though.)

There are plenty of high quality kibbles out there. Chicken Soup is a good one (though many dog owners find it too rich for their dogs!). As well there is Innova, Nature's Variety, Solid Gold, Canidae, Timberwolf Organics, NAtural Balance, California Natural, Go Natural, Foundations, Summit, etc. Lots of good ones to choose from. Every dog is different though! Some dogs can't digest the high quality feeds as well as the low quality feeds, so some people choose to either go with lower quality dog foods, or feed digestive enzymes.

I feed raw. Tried high quality foods, low quality foods -- never found anything that I felt suited my dogs quite right. Haven't been happier since making the switch. It's been over a year now and my dogs have none of the common problems we see in the dogs that come into the shop I work at, and when there are flea/lice breakouts and the other shop dogs get them, mine never do. It isn't to say a dog fed kibble can't live a long healthy life -- I just prefer a certain lifestyle when it comes to diet -- both myself and my dog. To each their own. I do think people should atleast do their research in order to make choices they are comfortable with.

[buttercup132]

Guys stop fighting!
Lady's human grow up and stop bashing Bmom in every thread she makes.
Bmom I think you need to just calm down a little. I know your frusterated with alot so maybe log off PT for the night and cool off. Some of the stuff your saying isn't even making sense.

[wolf_Q]

Educating people on how they feed their dogs is important. But this is the wrong way to go about it entirely. If I were to interpret this post as real talking, you would be yelling in my face. Calm down please. I'm tired of all the fighting on the board lately.

[borzoimom]

Chicken soup is made by human grade ingredients.. Its a good one!

[borzoimom]

Guys stop fighting!
Lady's human grow up and stop bashing Bmom in every thread she makes.
Bmom I think you need to just calm down a little. I know your frusterated with alot so maybe log off PT for the night and cool off. Some of the stuff your saying isn't even making sense.

THANK YOU BUTTER CUP... I will try to calm down now.. All I posted is actual facts of the dog food industry but in one BIG running long paragraph .. But God Bless you for saying how I felt... THANK YOU ALICIA- THANK YOU!

[Lady's Human]

I'm not bashing BZM.

I am sick of these "scare" threads and how bad everything (plastics, ceramics, dog food, etc.......) is for animals without a shred of scientific proof to back it up.

As an example....

Dog lifespans decreasing? Prove it. Giant breeds have ALWAYS had relatively short life spans. What is so special about 1976? I can pull stats out of my head, too.

The constant preservative rant? Preservatives are present in such minute quantities that they would be more accurately measure in PPM than weight, while the MSDS (safety data sheets) for ethoxyquin, for one, list a harmful dosage in terms of MG/KG of body weight.

There's more there, but I won't continue.

[borzoimom]

Educating people on how they feed their dogs is important. But this is the wrong way to go about it entirely. If I were to interpret this post as real talking, you would be yelling in my face. Calm down please. I'm tired of all the fighting on the board lately.

I am fine now wolf Q and I respect you. I would NEVER yell in your face.. .. Ever..

[Karen]

thats ones easy, because dogs in north america are not intended for humane consumtion they are able to pt many chemicals in the foods that would never in a million year be allowed in the feed of an animal intended for human consumtion.

But still, that's such a broad brush. Dogs have different digestive systems and different metabolisms than we do.

All food is, strictly speaking, made of "chemicals." As is all life. You and me - we are made of "chemicals."

With a statement like that, I'd want to know what specific chemicals concern you, what, if any effect they have on a dog's metabolism, and why the companies add them.

Statements like that remind me of the
"Dangers of Dihydrogen Oxide" emails/webpages/ etc. that go around sometimes. After all too much Dihydrogen Oxide will kill you - human and animals both. It can also cause untold damage to the environment, and render areas uninhabitable. etc. etc.

Dihydrogen Oxide is H2O is water. Too much or too little WILL kill you, but it's also necessary for life and nothing to be frightened of.

[Ceph]

I'm glad to hear back about chicken soup...I am pretty sure I am going to have a bag sent to both my parents.


lol, everything is bad for you...including Oxygen...its a toxic gas....but there are certain things we shouldnt eat...everything in moderation right?

Edit : BM....chinchilla pics, pretty, pretty please

[borzoimom]

Karen- what these tests were looking for was this:
* Ethoxyquin retained in muscle tissue or added
* molded and flax grains- this contains mold and grain refuse
* cancer tumors- organ or meat
* beaks and feathers, hooves, hyde, horns, ( called protein by AFCO but hardly digestable)
* BHA or BHT levels higher than human standards
*Rancid ( road kill) meats.. Like the deer you saw on the road for 4 days- picked up by companies like Valley proteins- and rendered as protein- when in fact its rancid meat..
etc etc etc etc etc etc etc ....
They send you back a true statement on the food you tested. They do not want to know the brand- your name address and your fee..

[Lady's Human]

I'd be amused to see the methodology behind a test which can tell what meat was rancid in dog food that's been processed at temperatures high enough to destroy most nutrients in the food.

Hell, for $75 and a dog food sample I'll tell you anything you want to hear.

[DrKym]

Making Popcorn!!

[borzoimom]

And here is where it gets sick... Lets say I am a company- and I buy a great meat and grain to make food- but I need a rendering company to package it.. And of course it has to be processed.. Meanwhile rendering company has their own vitamin mix and processing- goes into a bat- added their vitamins etc- run through their machines at high temp to cook- kills allllllllllll my vitamins I had in a good mixture and its worthless- but what the hey- I got my food in a bag.. Orrrrrr I own a grain place- like that makes bread- but I need meat- well so in so sold to so in so rendering plant meat protein made of every road kill this side of you know what or meat processing plant with cancerious tumors they could not pass in our food standard- well they have to preserve it so they add their ethoxyquin, then goes to company b whichs adds their bha then to the rendering plant that adds their bht- and you know what- THE ONLY INGREDIENTS THAT HAS TO BE SHOWN IS THE FINAL PRODUCT- THEY DO NOT have to show the other additives before hand - by LAW ... They do not.. We are barely getting in the US instead of " dairy cultures" to now list exactly what that means with human food- .. It will take a long time before they have to list the same in pet foods- THINK about that one!