do you feed your dog people food

[Brie]

I replied no to this, because when I think of people food, I think of the processed, cooked, seasoned, processed table scraps people feed from the dinner table.

I do think BARF diets are the way to go! If you have time and can afford to cook your dogs food more power to you.

I wanna give everybody a website that talks in dept about dog foods and what's in them. READ THIS:

http://home.attbi.com/~mstraus/dogfeeding.html


Go! Natural (this is the food I'm currently giving my Boston)
top ingredients:
Low Ash Chicken Meal, Human Grade Chicken, Whole Brown Rice, Whole White Rice, Hulless Barley, Sunflower Oil, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (vit. E), citric acid (vit. C) and Rosemary extract), West Coast Salmon Meal, Dried Whole Potatoes, Rice Bran, Natural Chicken Flavour, Dried Whole Apples, Dried Whole Carrots, Ground Flax, Bee Pollen, Dried Whole Garlic, Ginger, Dried Alfalfa, Dried Whole Egg Beta Carotene, Cranberries, Kelp, Yucca Shidegera, Glucosamine, Chondrotin Sulphate

Pedigree
top ingredients:
GROUND YELLOW CORN, MEAT AND BONE MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA/BHT), WHEAT MILL RUN, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, RICE, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT GLUTEN, VEGETABLE OIL (sorry about the all caps, that how it was when I copied it from their website)



Which would you eat???

[tomkatzid]

Brie,
top ingredients:
Low Ash Chicken Meal, Human Grade Chicken, Whole Brown Rice, Whole White Rice, Hulless Barley, Sunflower Oil, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (vit. E), citric acid (vit. C) Here is a site that was posted on PT about bloat, when you ad water to dry food that has vit C in it. We ad water to the girls food, a little. I forgot to look at our food and see if it had C in it. Still don't know if I agree or disagree with the idea of raised dishes. We are still using ours.
http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm#Prevention

[Brie]

So, I agree with vitamin C.
First it's one of the few ingredients that is in a non-chemically preserved food (BHA/BHT is chemical and has been known to cause cancer in animals)
http://www.beowulfs.com/magazine/label.htm

WHAT ARE PRESERVATIVES?
        "The average dog consumes 26 pounds of preservatives each year!" (Anderson, John "The Poisons in Pet Food", Alternative Medicine, May 1998)   Have you ever wondered how the bag of dog food you buy at the store is marked to last as long as the next two inspections on your car?   This is due to the miracle of preservatives.   They have been closely linked with a laundry list of problems ranging from cancer to severe birth defects in litters.  The main preservatives used in dog food are BHA, BHT, and Ethoxyquin.   BHA and BHT have been shown to cause liver and kidney failure and in high doses have been implicated as carcinogens.   Ethoxyquin in one form is used to prevent the break down of rubber, another form is used as an insecticide for apples, and the "food grade" form is used to preserve dog food.   It is banned in Europe, blamed for skin, reproductive, and nerve problems.   You may wonder why, given all the dangers to our animals, manufacturers would use chemical preservatives?   That's easy; they give pet foods the shelf life of approximately two years and are much cheaper than natural preservatives such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Rosemary.   The most widely used argument for the use of BHA and BHT are that they are found in human foods as well. (Humans had the sense to avoid Ethoxyquin)   This point is invalid with animals, however, because animals eat the same diet twice a day for years.   Humans vary their diets, reducing how much they consume and are therefore at a lower a risk.   Be aware that some manufacturers will say they use Vitamins to preserve their food, but that food still has an extended shelf life.   The chemical preservatives are not added by the manufacturer, but rather the ingredients are pre-treated with the chemicals.   If the manufacturer did not specifically add the "ingredient", they do not have to list it.   This is another loophole for manufacturers and just as unhealthy for your animal.   Make sure to check yourself.   A truly natural food will have a shelf life of one year or less.

This is a sample of one of many articles written on the side effects of BHA/BHT

Dogs naturally produce their own vitamin C, but, they may not be getting enough: http://ighawaii.com/naturally/newsletter/lpvc.html
I never seen any negative effects of vitamin C. So, I see nothing wrong with supplementing it a little in their food, especially being so far down on the list of ingredients, it's not a huge amount.

I also believe NO DOG should be eating in a bowl where their head is much lower than even with ther shoulders... This creates stress on the back and neck. Do you eat bent over with your head down??

[Brie]

So, I can't find any info to back up this person's theory of vitamin C causing bloat. I mean it's not like you're giving your dog an orange or lemon...

Many animals make their own ascorbic acid; they typically have much higher concentrations in their body than humans do. The common sugar, glucose, can be converted to ascorbic acid through a series of 4 steps, each requiring its associated enzyme. The final step involves the conversion of a molecule called gulonolactone to ascorbic acid. Unlike most animals, humans do not have the enzyme to effect this conversion and thus are dependent upon obtaining ascorbic acid through diet.

http://www.el-dorado.ca.us/~tstout/articles/vitc.shtml

If you are going to maximize the efficiency of vitamin C (metabolizing it) and use other nutrients essential to joint care, flavonoids have to be present in your pet’s body. There are hundreds of them and they are found in nearly every food you can think of. Fruits, vegetables and grains contain large amounts and that is the reason we recommend ample amounts of these in your pet’s diet.

http://www.arthritis-glucosamine.net...cle/aug02.html

more positive:
http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/belfield.html
http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/DogsDonLie.htm
http://members.aol.com/abywood/www/vit_c.htm
http://www.cyberpet.com/cyberdog/art...ealth/vitc.htm
http://www.cm-d.com/buckeye/tech_manual/8_21.html
http://www.petsmart.com/articles/article_7050.shtml
http://www.skansen.com/nutrition/VitC.htm
http://www.mineralconnection.com/whypetvit.htm
http://samw.home.attbi.com/dachback/ester_c.htm
http://samw.home.attbi.com/dachback/ester_c.htm
http://www.5webdogs.com/dog_jointhealth%20.htm

negative:
http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/013.html

I searched the web and the only article I could find talking about the dangers of vitamin C is this one listed above, but, my lists of positive articles in support of vitamin C could go on much longer than this.

And if you're still concerned one the articles posted by the bloat link was about bloat being largely caused by lack of pro-biotic enzymes... go get a acidophilus supplement. http://www.pet-authority.com/prod01.htm That's the "good" bateria found in yogurt everyone is talking about.

I give my dog Vetbasis Healthy Breath & Body, it contains acidophilus and I have a gassy little dog, let me tell you :::whewwwww::: Since he's started on this product, the gas is gone. www.vetbasis.com

So for now, I think this peron is trying to scary all of you. Even the one article I did find on vitamin C being bad, didn't even mention bloat. Maybe you can find something.

What food are you feeding, I can tell you if it contains vitamin C or not.

[Brie]

and going back and re-reading your post

when you ad water to dry food that has vit C in it.

well, don't add water to the food if bloat a concern for you. That just doesn't make since to me. Why do something if it gives you cause for concern.

[tomkatzid]

The whole dog food thing is a concern to us. Like some one else posted, one day something is good, the next day it is bad. Just hard to know what is the right thing to do. We go along thinking we are doing the best we can and someone writes a study on adding water to dog food is bad, raised dishes are bad, dog food is bad, home cooking is bad, what to do Same thing for people I guess, what was good for us yesterday is bad for us today. Thanks for all the sites, I will read all I can tonight.

[tomkatzid]

I looked and it has C. I think most do, because they need it. We feed, Nutro Natural Choice Chicken for Ashlee and for Nina Nutro Natural Choice Lite. After this bag we will put Nina on Ashlee's kind too. We did feed Wellness, which sound so good, but they pooped more on it and we thought maybe their bodies weren't using enough of it Not sure on that though. What do you think?

[Brie]

it's all a matter of who and what you believe.

To each his own.

As if it's not obivous I care about what my dog eats... if I won't eat it, neither will my dog. We only drink filtered water, we have air filters running in our house all day... if it's not good enough for me it's not good enough for him.

Have you heard of the Whole Dog Journal? I think their magazine is something that you would greatly appreciated. They are a magazine that does not allow advertising, so none of their articles are ever sponsored or in favor of. Every year they put out an article of the Top 10 Best Dog Foods, Top Canned Foods, Top Raw Foods... the retail aspect of the pet food industry largely basis the higher end foods they have on the shelf based on their reports. When I spoke with someone who works there and asked her if a food was not on the list for a second year in a row was now bad, she told me it's not becuase it's bad now, it's that there's so many new foods on the market that they only have room to review those ones. She said they'd never not recommend a food that was ever on their list.

Thier articles cover everything from toys to leashes to veterinary insurance to nutrition information to health information to supplements, to behavior and training...etc

It's really worth the $20 for a year subscription.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...112743-8222244

Awesome magazine.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/

There is also a Whole Cat Journal
http://www.wholecat.com/

This is their article on vitamin C http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/pub...es/5309-1.html You can only read the first paragraph unless you order the whole thing for $10.00... ::grrr::

[tomkatzid]

OK, I just signed up for the Whole Dog Journal. It won't come for several weeks yet. I can't wait I checked with the library and they didn't have it. Thanks for the link, I really saved a lot buying it from amazon.

[Brie]

We did feed Wellness, which sound so good, but they pooped more on it and we thought maybe their bodies weren't using enough of it Not sure on that though. What do you think?

This is a common problem that people are having switching to Wellness. Not sure why, it's a great food. I've seen tremendous health improvements from dogs who were doing grocery store foods switching to Wellness.

Something that I tend to tell my customers when they ask which is the BEST dog food available, it's not about which is best, it's about what's best for your dog. You look through the ingredients, take out all the crap filers and you're still left with tons of foods to choose from... Find something in your price range (1), find something your dog likes (2)
Keep trying something until you find something you like, but, to see the benefits of any new diet change, I always encourage my customers to give it one month to start noticing any change in stool, coat, breath, energy, etc... (of course, if the dog just refuses to eat it, try something else)
I rotate my foods every three or four months, and my first step in elimating foods: if it has lamb in it I won't feed it. It makes my dogs gas far worse than it normally is. But, lamb, maybe just the thing your dogs need...

This leads into my other thought about why (possibly) Wellness wasn't you best option... Since you were feeding a lamb formula (most Nutros are) before and switched to Wellness chicken, the dogs digestive track could just be very not liking the protein source switch. Dunno. But, If you switched them to Wellness chicken before, I'd say try switching to Wellness lamb (if you're up for a couple week experiement) Or even try another food that's lamb based, like Natural Balance or Sensible Choice Lamb and Rice (<--this might be a good start for you, it's a step up from Nutro because it's eliminates corn from the food.)

Just some thoughts.

[Jessica12345]

I do sometimes with jordan, because he got a few when he was younger. Now he ALWAYS begs. He only gets like a few cheezits or chips here and there



We havnt given jewls ANY people food. It great too, because she doesnt even care its there.

I wish we had done that with jordan though.

[tikeyas_mom]

I feed my dogs...

Bread, apple, carrots, cookies (no chocolate), I feed them peaces of chicken and beef. lol I get in soo much touble when I do it though

[gkristian]

the only humen food i give Foxy is blened vegtabels.

[CathyBogart]

There needs to be an option for "I'm weak.....the dog gets more people food than I do" *chuckles* I have been known to come home from school and cook uptow chicken breasts with rice and split the food with Star. We both enjoy it, and my vet tells me that it seems to be improving her coat. ^_^

[Dakota's Mommy]

We do, but it's rare! They did get some on Thanksgiving and I believe on Christmas. Other than that, it's just a little here and there. I think they get cheese and peanut butter more than anything.