admin answers:

They have had recalls because of dogs getting sick. They are also very low quality dog foods to begin with.

Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to the dump cheap leftovers and things that aren’t safe for human consumption (from human food processing plants) into their foods. Will it kill your dog? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot.

Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets.

Thankfully, there are some excellent dog foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption.

Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Pedigree, Kibbles n’ Bits, Beneful, Ol’Roy.

Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Canidae All Life Stages, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature’s Variety Prairie, Nature’s Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timberwolf Organics.

Although the high quality foods are more expensive, you’re getting what you’re paying for. Less filler material means more concentrated nutrients… This means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less poop!

Before following your vet’s food recommendation, keep in mind that vets get /very/ little nutritional training during their schooling. Besides that, what training they /do/ get is usually sponsored or taught by the crappy pet food companies! They also often get paid to sell some of their products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)

A great option is to go with an entirely grainless diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Merrick Before Grain, Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now! And Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Taste of the Wild.

Some pretty decent foods can even be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo. If you can’t find a food, most of the high quality food brands have websites with store locators on them.

Another option, if you can’t find anywhere around you that sells good foods, is to order your pet food online. Here’s an excellent place to do so: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/

Remember that foods should be switched gradually (mixing new slowly in with the old over about a two week period), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies.

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.rawfed.com/
http://www.rawlearning.com/
http://www.wysong.net/controversies/rawmeat.shtml

More on dog food:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main (Learn how to determine the quality of your dog’s food.)
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ (Dog food reviews. Four stars is a decent food, five stars is a great food, and six stars is an excellent food.)

admin answers:

I don’t have 100% confidence that grains are bad for a dog. In fact, I’ve home cooked for years and fed rice to my dog along with protein .

The problem I have with pet food that contains grain is not that its in there – its that many so called premium AND grocery store pet food do not actually contain the actual grain or kernel – so you are not buying grain – you are buying husks, or the parts of the grain they throw away with little to no nutritional value.

Its fake grain. Worse, since around the early 1990’s, its Fake Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) grain – which means the grain is not a grain, but a fish, that looks like a grain (if you think I’m kidding, research Monsanto). Same for soybeans – the World according to Monsanto is a great documentary to watch on You Tube. Google Monsanto GMO and you will learn they have a huge vested interest in soybeans that are modified from fish, as well as corn, wheat and others.

These grains are literally resistant to herbicides – and Monsanto made them that way because Monsanto ALSO markets a very deadly herbicide (similar in organic structure to Agent Orange) called Round Up and its cheaper for a farmer to plant a grain resistant crop because they can load the field down with ROund Up which will kill the other plants (actually it kills anything ) EXCEPT the GMO crop.

POINT: Why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to feed a dog something even poison cannot kill?

So to circle back to your question – is grains good for dogs – YES, if they are real grains but NO they are not going to be found in any commercial dog food LEAST OF ALL PURINA.

On Purina specifically, bluntly speaking, outside of the grain issue, the problem I have with them is there definition of what constitutes actual “dog food”. When a company can market products ranging from absolute garbage (Ol Roy which I affectionately call Ol shoe) to Purina Dog Chow (mostly garbage but maybe a few less shoes) to Kibbles and Bits (full of dyes and dubious other ingredients none of which are good for a dog mixed in with corn which again, is not even whole corn) to Pro Plan (which is the best they can do and its mediocre…or even Purina One which is Pro Plan with more chemicals and less dead diseased chicken)… I wonder what their mission statement reads.

Is it: Provide the public with the best quality commercial dog food money can buy with MINIMUM STANDARDS of NUTRITION AND COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY ON WHAT EACH FOOD CONTAINS OR

Throw shyte against the wall and hope it sticks.

I tend to feel its the latter.

How does the vet here explain that? Is Ol Roy food? By who’s standard? Will they open their plant and provide the public with a thorough inspection on EXACTLY what is in that food because beyond that, I don’t believe them. Its absolutely toxic to dogs.

Here’s a review of Ol Roy …note the definition of “wheat middlings” which (I quote)

QUOTE: In reality, middlings are nothing more than milling dust and floor sweepings. UNQUOTE

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/ol-roy-dog-food-dry/

How can anyone take Purina seriously when it is clear they market to the masses -with formulations for every price point – with NO regard for nutrition. They may have the last laugh, because the more I read, the more I”m convinced Ol Roy is probably not more than 2 degrees worse than Pro Plan – the main difference in price attributed to the cost of the bag – the rest is margin.

Which brings me to standards and transparency – Purina have their own standards, which we are asked to believe, but they are not substantiated by any 3rd party.

There motto: Trust me.

While AAFCO is hardly the Good housekeeping seal of approval, Purina refuses to even make public their actual formulation so while I can read an AAFCO book and know pretty much the crap that is in dog food, I cannot even do that with Purina. Its all a big secret, and we the consumer as asked to believe them.

So bottom line: I don’t feed Purina. I don’t trust them. I don’t care how many vets they pay. Paid employees who stand to loose their jobs if they speak out against their employer are not reliable sources. Its true of pet food, like it is with cars, dishwashers, and any other consumable item.

Long post to say: feed your dog the best quality food you can buy – and if you cannot afford human grade food 100% – then yes, supplement. Canned tuna is fine in moderation – but there is mercury in canned tuna, so I would prefer to supplement raw hamburger, and vary the protein. And also balance it with some raw cow hock bones (soup bones) which your dog will love.

If you can afford FROMM – buy it. I feed my own dogs the grain free Fromm and its pretty good, but the BEST food is food that you buy yourself, and make for your dog.

Here’s a link to a book for more info.

admin answers:

I feed my papillon Merrick dry foods. She does wonderful on this food, and has a gorgeous, shiny coat. All the ingredients are from the USA, and it is manufactured here as well. Excellent ingredients, excellent results.

Merrick was recommended to me by a papillon breeder / conformation exhibitor. I tried it, and I tried some other high-quality foods, but I came back to Merrick. It’s what my dog does best on.

Http://www.merrickpetcare.com/

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There are other high-quality foods out there as well.

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food.

Here is my “short list” of rules when I am looking at dog ingredients:
1) When I chose a dog food, I chose one high meat content. I want to see preferably at least 2-3 out of the top 5 ingredients be meat or meat meal (first ingredient must be!). Meal is simply the meat with the moisture removed.
2) I want to see higher quality grains, such as barley, brown rice, and oatmeal, instead of seeing wheat and corn. Or an alternative starch/carbohydrate such as potatoes or sweet potatoes.
3) I don’t want to see any byproducts.
4) I don’t want to see a lot of fillers.
5) I don’t want to see preservatives that are believed to be carcinogens (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin).
6) I don’t want to see artificial colorings such as the Red, Blue, and Yellow dyes.
7) I don’t want to see added sugars (sugar, corn syrup).
8) I don’t want to see mystery meats (meats identified only as “meat” or “poultry”.)

Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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There is no food that is the *best*, different individual dog may thrive on different foods. What is best for one may not be the best for the next. And just because a food is good quality, it doesn’t mean it will jive the best for your dog.

What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on.

Here are some examples of high quality foods:
* Artemis – http://www.artemiscompany.com/
* California Natural – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp
* Canidae – http://www.canidae.com/
* Chicken Soup – http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* EVO – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
* Fromm – http://www.frommfamily.com/
* Innova – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Merrick – http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Nature’s Variety – http://www.naturesvariety.com/
* Orijen – http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/
* Solid Gold – http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Taste of the Wild – http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
* Timberwolf Organics – http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Wellness – http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, etc.)

Beware “premium” foods. “Premium” does not always mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. Most of these foods have the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that’s why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don’t focus a lot on nutrition. It’s not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told “this is good food”, so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it’s good as well.

Hills company, the makers of Science Diet, are heavily involved in vet schools. “Hill’s scientists author more than 50 research papers and textbook chapters each year and teach at leading schools of veterinary medicine” (Source of quoted section: http://www.hillsvet.com/zSkin_2/company_info/company_info_general.jsp?JSESSIONID=HMz2B3Jn3hv0rnSoxCobfbBhOec35ODG7yh5t3P0vcvhOtzRlQ9M!598359213!167846923!7005!8005&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026072&bmUID=1196192566575 )

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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“Big box” petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells “Solid Gold” and “Natural Balance” brands and Petsmart sells “Blue Buffallo”, which are all quality foods, but most of the foods aren’t.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren’t good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
– small, locally owned petstores
– dog boutiques
– farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
.