admin answers:

Your mixed breed Border Collie can be started on livestock, since she is keen on herding. Go to the United Stated Border Collie Assoc. Site. There, it lists sanctioned herding trials. You can go to one and speak to the handlers. When your dog turns a year old, you can get her started. In the meantime, you can take her and have an instinct test done. You don’t need to own a farm, for your dog to be started on livestock, you can take lessons 2-3 times a week.

Agility/obedience and walks are not enough mental stimulation for a BC/BC mix.

admin answers:

Tell them as you’ve told us. I agree, having a wonderful friend to tell every thing to makes life easier.
As long as you are willing to care for it I’d say yes.
Getting a rescue is a wonderful idea and you can give a lonely dog a forever home.

admin answers:

They have puppies at pounds.

admin answers:

Well with a GSD you should be careful not to feed a high protein food
How to grade your dog’s food: (Some brands are done at the very bottom)
Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of “by-product”, subtract 10 points.

2) For every non-specific animal source (”meat” or “poultry”, meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points.

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points.

4) For every grain “mill run” or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points.

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. “ground brown rice”, “brewer’s rice”, “rice flour” are all the same grain), subtract 5 points.

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points.

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points.

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points.

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points.

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points.

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points.

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points.

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points.

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point.

15) If it contains salt (or sodium, as it is also called), subtract 1 point.

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points.

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points.

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points.

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points.

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points.

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points.

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points.

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points.

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points.

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point.

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point.

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count “chicken” and “chicken meal” as only one protein source but “chicken” and “salmon” as 2 different sources), add 1 point.

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point.

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free add 1 point.

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Dog Food scores:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 = A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 = F
Blue Buffalo / Score 114 = A+
Canidae All Life Stages Chicken & Rice / Score 94 = A
Canidae All Life Stages Lamb & Rice / Score 101 = A+
Canidae Platinum / Score 91 = B
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 = A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 = F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 = B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 = A
Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 = A+
Dick Van Patten’s Duck and Potato / Score 106 = A+
Doctors Foster and Smith Adult Chicken & Brown Rice Formula / Score 101 = A+
Doctors Foster and Smith Adult Lamb & Brown Rice Formula / Score 102 = A+
Eagle Pack Holistic Select Large & Giant Breed Adult Formula / Score 101 = A+
Eagle Pack Super Premium Large & Giant Breed Puppy Formula / Score 97 = A
Eagle Pack Super Premium Natural Formula / Score 96 = A
Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy Formula / Score 82 = B
Foundations / Score 106 = A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 = B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 = D
Innova Dog / Score 114 = A+
Innova Evo /Score 114 = A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables (Costco brand) / Score 110 = A+
Natures Recipe Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 96 = A
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 = B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 = B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult / Score 86 = B
Nutro Max Large Breed Adult / Score 85 = C
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 = F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice & Vegetables / Score 111 = A+
Premium Edge Lamb, Rice & Vegetables / Score 110 = A+
Premium Edge Puppy Large Breed Lamb, Rice & Vegetable / Score 104 = A+
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 = A+
Purina Beneful / Score 17 = F
Purina Dog / Score 62 = F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 = F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 = A+
Royal Canin Large Breed Giant Adult Formula / Score 95 = A
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 = A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 = A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 = F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 = F
Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato (

admin answers:

Organix would be better for the fact that organic foods use no pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones. The best way to look for a good food beyond this is to check the protein source. Avoid by-products. Chicken/beef meal is good but fresh is better. The protein source should be the very first ingredient, there shouldn’t be a lot of fillers such as corn, the food should be naturally preserved with vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), free of preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, the more protein sources the better, it is good to have digestive enzymes and omega 3 and 6 in the food. If the food is made by a major brand, avoid it…such as Science Diet Naturals. Major companies that put these products out are just trying to keep up with the profits and are more likely to use inferior ingredients. Natures Variety is a good organic food. I think Nutro is at the lower end of your list. The others are all good foods, just check ingredients as outlined above.

admin answers:

Oh, no, no, no! Science Diet and Pedigree are two of the worst! You don’t want to feed your pup anything that contains corn (dogs cannot digest corn well at all), by-products, animal digest (animal feces), artificial colors and/ or flavors, etc. I would strongly suggest that you don’t talk to your vet about nutrition. Vets take a class on nutrition and it’s taught by a dog food company. The vet learns whatever that company wants them to learn and then they sell that dog food in their office. Also, any dog food that you see on a commercial or that you can buy from the grocery store is going to be a poor quality food. Grocery stores are for people, pet stores are for pets.

My husband and I have been very happy with Natural Balance and Canidae. They are both good quality dog foods and those are the two food our three dogs have done the best on. They eat Canidae because they seem to do a bit better on it, but we were very happy with Natural Balance as well. I would highly recommend both brands!

Here’s a kibble rating chart and some foods and what they scored. This is what we used to find a good quality food for our pups.

You will need your kibble’s list of ingredients, as found on the bag (or oftentimes their website).
Please note, however, this is for ingredients ONLY…. So before feeding a pup be sure to look at
the protein and fat and calcium and calories in the Guaranteed Analysis.

Start with a grade of 100:

-For every listing of “by-product”, subtract 15 points
-For every non-specific animal source (“meat” or “poultry”, meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract
10 points
-If there are no specific meats or meat meals, subtract 25 points
-For every grain “mill run” or non-specific grain source, or grain “middlings”, subtract 10 points
-If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 15 points
-If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. “ground
brown rice”, “brewer’s rice”, “rice flour” are all the same grain), subtract 5 points for each
occurrence
-If the protein sources are not (specific) meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3
ingredients, subtract 3 points
-If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 5 points
-If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points (subtract 5 if corn is listed in the
top 5 ingredients)
-If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 3 points
-If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources),
subtract 2 points
-If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 5 points
-If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
-If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
-If it contains salt, subtract 3 points
-If it contains corn syrup, molasses, or other added sweetener, subtract 10 points

Extra Credit:

-For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count “chicken” and
“chicken meal” as only one protein source, but “chicken” and “turkey” as 2 different sources – do
not count egg, cheese, or other similar ingredients), add 1 point
-If the food contains 3 or less different mentions of grains (or other high-carb plant-based foods
like potatoes), add 5 points
-If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points (if the number 1 ingredient is organic meat,
add 10 points)
-If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 3 points
-If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
-If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
-If the food contains fruit or vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
-If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point
-If the food contains barley or oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
-If it contains sunflower, hemp, flaxseed, or other polyunsaturated vegetable oils, add 3 points
(add 5 if it is the #1 fat)
-If the vitamin and mineral sources are chelated, add 5 points

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F

Food Grade Results
A's Score
A+ Chicken Soup for the pet lovers soul 113
A+ Eagle Pack Holistic chicken 114
A+ Eagle Pack Holistic LG and Giant Breed Adlt 113
A+ Eagle Pack Natural 104
A+ Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison 136
A+ Solid Gold Bison 123
A+ Solid Gold Wolf King 109
A+ Solid Gold Hund N flocken 105
A+ Solid Gold Mmillennia 111
A+ Innova 117
A+ Natural Balance Duck and Potato 114
A+ Canidae 119
A+ Foundations Chicken and Vegetable 109
A+ Flint River Ranch Fish and Chips 109
A+ Wysong Synorgon 110
A+ Flint River Ranch Lamb, Millet and Rice 117
A+ Back to Basics 107

B's
B Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice 87

C's
C Nutro Lamb and Rice 85

D's
D Iams Lamb and Rice 74

F's
F Pedigree Adult Complete 14
F Ol'Roy 9
F Science Diet Chicken Adult Maintainance 45
F Purina Beniful original 23
All Purina and Pro Plan foods rate as a F
F Pro Plan Giant Breed Adult 41
F Pro Plan Performance 53
F Pro Plan Chicken and Rice
F Purina Dog chow
F Purina Large Breed 40
F Diamond Lamb and Rice 61
F Diamond Performance (formerly professional)
F Diamond Large Breed 55

As for mixing the wet and dry food together, yes you can do that. Both of our females will eat anything, but our male is really picky! So, we feed them the Canidae dry food and mix in some Canidae wet food and they LOVE it! : )

Also, here's the Canidae.. Http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html

And the the Natural Balance website.. Http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

This website was also very helpful to us.. Http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

I hope this helps some! Good luck! : )

admin answers:

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 and higher quality ingredients 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!

Seriously on a budget? Two of the most affordable of the higher quality foods would be Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul and Canidae All Life Stages.

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… You guessed it, the crappy pet food companies! They also often get kickbacks from the companies for pushing these products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)

A great option is to go with an entirely grain-free diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grain-free formulas. Some good grain-free diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, GO Natural Grain Free, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and 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 Select, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo.

If you can’t find a food, most of the high quality dog food brands have websites with store locators on them that will help you find the store closest to you which supplies their products. Simply type the dog food brand’s name into Google, go to their website, and type your zip code into their store locator.

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 the new slowly in with the old over the period of about week or so), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies. For example:
Days 1 & 2: 75% old food, 25% new food
Days 3 & 4: 50% old food, 50% new food
Days 5 & 6: 25% old food, 75% new food
Day 7: 0% old food, 100% new food

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:
http://www.rawfed.com/ (RawFed)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Site)
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (Raw Fed Dogs)
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ (Raw Meaty Bones)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile/ (Raw Dogs Livejournal Community, excellent raw feeding information on the profile page and overall helpful community for raw feeding questions)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths About Raw Feeding)

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times loosely based on the feeding guidelines on your dog’s food. Adult dogs are typically fed two meals a day.

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.)

Darksong~

admin answers:

A high quality one!

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 and higher quality ingredients 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!

Seriously on a budget? Two of the most affordable of the higher quality foods would be Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul and Canidae All Life Stages.

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… You guessed it, the crappy pet food companies! They also often get kickbacks from the companies for pushing these products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)

A great option is to go with an entirely grain-free diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grain-free formulas. Some good grain-free diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, GO Natural Grain Free, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and 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 Select, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo.

If you can’t find a food, most of the high quality dog food brands have websites with store locators on them that will help you find the store closest to you which supplies their products. Simply type the dog food brand’s name into Google, go to their website, and type your zip code into their store locator.

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 the new slowly in with the old over the period of about week or so), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies. For example:
Days 1 & 2: 75% old food, 25% new food
Days 3 & 4: 50% old food, 50% new food
Days 5 & 6: 25% old food, 75% new food
Day 7: 0% old food, 100% new food

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:
http://www.rawfed.com/ (RawFed)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Site)
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (Raw Fed Dogs)
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ (Raw Meaty Bones)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile/ (Raw Dogs Livejournal Community, excellent raw feeding information on the profile page and overall helpful community for raw feeding questions)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths About Raw Feeding)

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times loosely based on the feeding guidelines on your dog’s food. Adult dogs are typically fed two meals a day.

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.)

Darksong~

admin answers:

They can, but there’s really no need for them to. Dogs are carnivores, so they really have no need for grains or veggies and it isn’t really very easy for them to digest them. You do have to be careful of what you as well. Apple seeds are dangerous, as are raisins and grapes.

Give this a read to make sure you aren’t feeding anything dangerous (though, honestly, a couple of the things they say are ‘dangerous’ on there are actually just fine.):
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=1030 (Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Dog)

Treats aside, I’d recommend getting him on a higher quality dog food. Iams is actually a very low quality dog food.

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: 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 and higher quality ingredients 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!

Seriously on a budget? Two of the most affordable of the higher quality foods would be Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul and Canidae All Life Stages.

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… You guessed it, biased, low end pet food companies! They also often get kickbacks from the companies for pushing their products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)

A great option is to go with an entirely grain-free diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grain-free formulas. Some good grain-free diets include: Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and 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 Select, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo.

If you can’t find a food, most of the high quality dog food brands have websites with store locators on them that will help you find the store closest to you which supplies their products. Simply type the dog food brand’s name into Google, go to their website, and type your zip code into their store locator.

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 the new slowly in with the old over the period of about week or so), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies. For example:
Days 1 & 2: 75% old food, 25% new food
Days 3 & 4: 50% old food, 50% new food
Days 5 & 6: 25% old food, 75% new food
Day 7: 0% old food, 100% new food

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:
http://www.rawfed.com/ (RawFed)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Site)
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (Raw Fed Dogs)
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ (Raw Meaty Bones)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ (Raw Feeding)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths About Raw Feeding)

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times loosely based on the feeding guidelines on your dog’s food. Adult dogs are typically fed two meals a day while puppies are typically fed three or four.

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.)

WARNING: Natura Pet Products (Innova, EVO, California Natural, Karma, Healthwise and Mother Nature) used to be high quality pet food products but Natura has recently sold out to Proctor & Gamble, a company known for it’s animal testing and low quality pet foods (they put out Iams and Eukanuba). If you are still feeding any of the products previously owned by Natura you may want to consider switching to a different food now that those products are owned by a large, shady company like Proctor & Gamble.

Http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/breaking-news-proctor–gamble-purchases-natura-pet-products.html (Breaking News: Proctor & Gamble Purchases Natura Pet Products)

Edit: Actually, Save Shelter Dog’s, it’s a myth that dogs are omnivores. 🙂

http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id51.html (Dogs are Carnivores)
http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html (Myth: DOGS ARE OMNIVORES.)
http://www.doggedblog.com/doggedblog/2004/11/of_carnivores_o.html (Of Carnivores, Omnivores, Teeth, and Science)
http://rawdogfood.com.au/carnivores.html (DOGS ARE CARNIVORES)

Some skull comparisons:

http://fc02.deviantart.net/images/large/stockart/animals/Wolf_Skull_1.jpg
(Wolf Skull. Note the molars are sharp and designed to rip and tear meat. Signature of a carnivore.)

http://sibar.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/sm-130-lg.jpg
(Dog Skull. Again, note that the molars are sharp and designed to rip and tear meat. Signature of a carnivore.)

http://www.educationalbiofacts.com/images/Alaska%20Grizzly%20Bear%20Skull.jpg
(Bear Skull. Note that the molars are more blunt and capable of chewing vegetation. Signature of an omnivore.)

Darksong~

admin answers:

Well, there’s your problem right there. Science Diet is a crappy quality dog food!

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

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times based on the feeding instructions on your dog’s food.

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.)

Darksong~

admin answers:

They don’t belong in purses. Anyway, Cesar is a very low quality dog food.

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 dump cheap leftovers in. 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.

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!

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.

Remember that foods should be switched gradually, 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:

Good for them? No, it’s a pretty low quality food.

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:

Dry dog food is dog food that has been baked or cooked and then ‘dried’ into small cubes or shapes. One of the major benefits of dry food is that it helps keep your dogs teeth in good condition as the chewing action helps remove plaque. Dry dog food is normally ‘complete’ meaning it contains all the recommended daily vitamins and minerals for a dog’s daily diet. There are many kinds of dry dog food that you can buy, including organic dog food, holistic dog food and natural dog food. You even get a variety of dry dog foods specially created for different kinds of dogs. There’s dry puppy dog food, junior dog food, adult dog food, senior dog food, even dog food for lactating bitches or those recovering from surgery.

Mixer

Dog food Mixer, is ‘dry’ dog food, but generally, it is not a ‘complete’ food and is intended to be ‘mixed’ with tinned dog food or other foods. Its original use was that it added ‘bulk’ to the food at feeding times and was therefore used to help with dogs that ate excessively and needed to cut their calorie intake. However these days dog mixers are not so widely used, as other foods, particularly as ‘complete’ dry dog foods come in various packages aimed at different kinds of dogs (including overweight dogs).

Hope this helps!

admin answers:

You need to change the food. I have a 2 yr old Boxer and let me tell you, he’s nasty. My Dane (who I had first) was eating Eukenuba and loved it. When I got my Boxer, he started eating it too, and I swear, it smelled like he took a Sh** in the house. Anyway, someone told me that the expensive/rich foods cause gas. So I switched to Purina One and its soooo much better.

Also, it you want a good laugh, get a kids book called “Walter the farting dog”. Its so true…

admin answers:

They will be fine. There are laws about how pet food is made, it has to be safe for human consumption. Sounds terrible but SOME homeless and/or poor people buy pet food to eat because it is cheap.
Don’t everybody attack me, I said some.

admin answers:

There is only one answer for this!

A Rough or Smooth Collie-Lassie! (Smooth is the short haired version of the breed)

The nice thing about Collies is not only are they smart and gentle, they are not hyper and pig headed as some of the other breeds that people will suggest here.
Also they do not have the health issues of other breeds.

Visit the CCA website to learn about the Collie as a family dog.

Http://www.collieclubofamerica.org/cfd/index.html

I picked the breed as I wanted a dog who was gentle with all my different animals, including my cats and parrots. Collies are inherently gentle and are the ultimate family dog.

admin answers:

Collie–rough or smooth (they’re the same breed but with a short easy-care coat) I know of no better family pet, safe, gentle, caring, responsible, loving, as well as active and playful when you want them to be, calm when you don’t. They’re good watch dogs (bark when someone comes or is hanging around) but not guardy dogs that are likely to bite the mailman or your child’s guest. They can do it all and do it well–dog sports, herding, carting, backpacking, therapy work, guide/service dogs, nanny or couch potato. They aren’t obsessive or hyperactive like many herding breeds.

And in no particular order:

Golden retriever–only a sensible, calm one–the active hunting type is way too rowdy until they grow up and settle down, which can take a couple of years or more. But at their best they’re sweet, loving, and beautiful.

Standard poodle–if you can afford the grooming. They’re quick, very funny, happy, bright and responsive dogs, and beautiful. Their coats are just wonderful to touch.

German Shorthaired Pointer.. Handsome, easy-care, bright, responsive, a bit rowdy while growing up but essentially gentle dogs. Very nice to live with. Sometimes predatory with cats though.

Doberman Pinscher–elegantly beautiful, “velcro dogs” that want to be with you all the time. Intelligent, responsive, loyal, gentle. American bred ones mostly lack the strong guarding temperament these days, but they can certainly intimidate if needed.

I will add that the “best” breed for anyone is different for each person, depending on what they want in a dog.

admin answers:

Ridgebacks are from Southern Africa. They have been developed by crossing lots of breeds, mainly from gundog, terrier and hounds, but mastiff types and indigenous African hunting dogs are in there too! The ridgeback is not an attacking breed; it is bred to track game and then keep it at bay and also to be a loyal companion. They are not guard dogs as such, but will keep a very watchful and protective eye on the family they love.

Ridgebacks are bred for endurance and stamina but should be light on their feet and extremely agile. Being a hunting breed and developed to think for themselves, they will chase anything that runs away, which could cause problems. It is important that time is made available to give them the amount of good exercise they need. Without the stimulation a daily run gives the dog, you may find you have a very bored hound on your hands, and a bored ridgeback can be a destructive ridgeback.

These dogs are big and strong in mind and body. If your ridgeback does not respect your authority you may be faced with a problem! Earning a Ridgeback’s respect should be a first priority. They can test you to the limits, so you must be prepared to out think your dog. Never lose your temper though, they are not servants and although they are more trainable that most hound breeds, you won’t ever get the instant submission you see in a working or gundog breed like the collie or Labrador. Once you have gained a Rhodesian Ridgeback’s respect you will have a life long devoted and entertaining companion.

With strangers ridgebacks can be standoffish. Even after a proper introduction a friendship cannot be rushed, but once given it is rarely forgotten. Natural suspicion should not be confused with nervousness. Ridgebacks are playful and love to romp and chase anybody and anything that joins in, and they can play very rough, shoulder barging is a speciality. This can be off-putting to other dog owners in the park, and they may think you dog is aggressive, when all he wants to do is play.

In daily life, most ridgebacks think they are unable to live on an ordinary floor or dog bed, and will try every trick in the book to take over the sofa, or even your bed! Most ridgebacks are gluttons, which makes them notorious thieves; keep your kitchen secure and the butter at the back of the fridge. Ridgebacks are excellent gardeners, you would almost think that they wanted to live in an underground den in the middle of your lawn, instead of on your sofa, and they love rearranging your spring bulbs, and are ready to help with pruning at any time of the year. They can be incredibly lazy and expect to be lifted over the smallest fence; others can outmanoeuvre Houdini. Some have a taste for chewing antique furniture or car interiors; others won’t touch the stuff, and stick to seeing how fast they can chase round your legs as you carry in the shopping.

Ridgebacks don’t necessarily grow old gracefully but if you have a sense of humour and a love of animals then a ridgeback can be the most rewarding of companions. Loyal to a fault, loving, devoted member of the family, they adore children and hate burglars, are sensitive to your moods, but independent. They can lie around the house for hours or walk for weeks, there are no short cuts to training a ridgeback, but once over all the hurdles you will be in danger of wanting to do it all over again.

admin answers:

No… It’s not ok. Cat food has special added vitamins that cats MUST have or they can suffer heat disease and blindness.

Feed your cat only cat food… Even if you have to sit there and feed him one bite at a time out of your hand.

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It’s completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don’t need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol’ house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones, urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall, wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

I recommend varying the diet with a constant rotation of accepted canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cats’ digestive system won’t be so sensitive and you won’t have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

Canned foods I recommend for your rotation:

Nature’s Variety – http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?r=0829192&page=1172&-session=naturesvariety:D04EC9250c614143FDKiM2BA9520
Wellness Grain Free Formula’s – http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_wellness_can_index.html
By Nature Organics – http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productpages/catmain.php
Organix – http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/store/organix/organix_organic_canned_formulas_for_cats
Evanger’s Holistic Pheasant – http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/20089.html
Evanger’s Organic Braised Chicken – http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50103.html
Evanger’s Turkey & Butternut Squash – http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111.html

admin answers:

Well stay away from brands like purina, science diet, eukanuba, iams, alpo, pedigree, ol roy. Pretty much anything u see on tv or see at walmart. Go for a better brand like canidae, innova, chicken soup brand, timberwolf organics, or solid gold. These foods r made of holistic ingredients that ur dog will love. There r no fillers and no allergens such as corn

admin answers:

Only the By Nature is organic (and it’s not completely organic-it’s not even the most organic…the dog food with the most organic ingredients, at 95% is Karma).

I think they’re all good foods, here’s the order in which I would choose them:

1. Wellness Super5mix
2. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
3. Halo
4. By Nature

The foods I would consider the best: Innova, California Natural, Healthwise, Merrick, Solid Gold, Merrick, Flint River Ranch, or Prairie.

admin answers:

A higher quality dog food might very well help your mutt.

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.

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!, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and Taste of the Wild.

If he still experiences problems, you may need a food specifically designed for dogs with food allergies. California Natural is a good, high quality allergy food and Natural Balance puts out a few allergy formulas as well.

Darksong~

admin answers:

The best brands I know of are Wellness (which I feed my dogs), Timberwolf, Innova and Eagle Pack, all of which can be found at most pet stores (sorry, not at retail superstores). The food you are using right now has high amounts of corn and wheat (very bad for dogs and can shorten their life span and cause numerous long term health problems) and can also contain meat by-products (ground up chicken beaks, feet, bowels other gross meat toss-aways). While the pet store foods are more expensive, you dog will not eat as much because they do not have the fillers that commercial brands, including Purina, Iams, Science Diet, Pedigree, Eukanuba, etc.

I used Science Diet Natural for years because I though a natural food would be best. After years of skin problems, allergies, diabetes and other pet health problems, I switched to Wellness. Within two weeks my animals were all more energized. Skin problems cleared up as well as congestion in my one cat. The change has also alleviated some of the swelling my collie has from arthritis so she can move easier.

Also, thank you for not feeding your dog Iams (who also owns Eukanuba). They like people to think they are a good animal company but are out to simply make money off of poor quality, expensive food.

admin answers:

Nutro Ultra is a great holistic food. It’s packed with “super foods” to help with her immune system, healthy heart, brain function, vision, hips & joints, etc. Also, Nutro does not use ground yellow corn, which is a filler and big allergen among dogs. They don’t use by-products (heads, feet, intestines). And there are no artificial colors or flavors. It has high levels of essential fatty acids to help keep your dog’s skin and coat healthy. And it’s 100% guaranteed!

admin answers:

I have three Mastiff type dogs and they hate Canidae. So I’d say get the smaller bag first to see if your dogs will like it. I ended up dontating the bag to the local animal shelter!

I did find another food though that they all love – Embark Dog Food.

Its a dehydrated raw food that you can either add to their kibble or simply feed on their own. Embark is a grain free, low carbohydrate dog food. This diet was designed for dogs of all life stages including active adults, puppies, pregnancy and nursing. It contains higher protein and fat to support muscle structure, function and body mass. It contains no by-products.

Made from: USDA turkey, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, spinach, carrots, coconut, apples, organic kelp, eggs, sesame seeds, bananas, cranberries and rosemary.

You can find out more about it here if you are interested: http://www.petwellbeing.com/embark-dog-food-p110.cfm

admin answers:

Well first off if someone does reply, be aware that there are people out there scouting for free cats/kittens for lab experiments and such so be sure to ask them good questions, like the cats name, their vet, etc. Detailed stuff that may throw someone off if they are just some weirdo.

OK.

I would keep her quarantined in a room by herself for about 2 weeks, just in case of anything like ringworm. Ringworm shows up about 2 weeks after initial infection, and is highly contagious to both animals and people (but mostly ones with compromised immune systems, or the young or the elderly). Wash your hands after handling. Also, keeping her in a separate room will get her used to scents and sounds in a low key environment.

Oh and keep her indoors b/c it is very dangerous out there for a kitty! The last thing you need is her to get injured/attacked, pick up Feline AIDS, etc…

Get a scratching pad (really cheap, my cats love the cardboard ones you set on the floor and they come with catnip to rub in). They have yet to scratch furniture! A cat bed is good, we keep ours on the couch. We kinda spoiled her with that, oops. She won’t go in it if it is on the floor! At least the fur won’t go on the couch. Plenty of toys too, but be careful you don’t get small ones so your dogs won’t eat them! Things she can play with by herself are good too b/c they are a form of enrichment. A cat teaser is a must, That way your hands are out of her reach so she never associates them as being OK things to play with.

Foods – a mix of soft and dry food is key. Both are necessary. Read ingredient labels and make sure there is no wheat gluten. For hard food we use Purina One Kitten Formula (always seem to be coupons for it too) and for soft you have to be careful, we use Friskies but only certain flavors do not have wheat gluten so read the label for every flavor. We get the Poultry Platter, Ocean Whitefish and Tuna, and Salmon Dinner. Unless you are loaded, you don’t have to break the bank by going straight for the super expensive organic stuff, there are ways around staying away from bad ingredients.

She sounds like a real sweetie and has a similar story to a kitten we adopted recently. She is 8mo old now. She showed up at a persons house, very friendly. They thought she was one of the foster mom’s cats so they brought her to the foster mom and she kept her b/c she was so sweet for a feral. Then along came my husband and I, and now she’s the little princess of our home!

Lastly – give her lots of love!

admin answers:

Yes, vegetarianism is a word! 🙂
I went from an omnivore to vegan literally overnight and have been for eight years now. There are many vegan and vegetarian meat substitutes out there (but please be careful with too much processed foods). Boca Original is a very tasty vegan burger. Tofurky makes a lovely roast with gravy and it’s sooooooo YUM! (They also make keilbasa and Italian “sausage” that makes a wonderful “sausage-dog”.) Tofutti makes a vegan ice cream line that is DEEEE-LISH as well as a sour cream and cream cheese that is to die for (not low-calorie, though. Use sparingly.)

There are many ways you can become influential in the community and help animals who are tortured through factory farming, domestic animal abuse, etc. Look online for your particular state, city or county. Also, look on Amazon.com for vegetarian cookbooks — there are many, and the recipes are mostly really great! Becoming vegan and/or vegetarian opens you up to a whole new world of ethic foods that you may never have known existed. And you’re doing a good thing for yourself and the animals!

Many people say they don’t like tofu, but there are great ways to cook it. Buy a block of it and freeze it (it makes it more “meaty-textured” after defrosting!). Defrost it, gently squeeze as much water out as you can. Cut it into fairly think slices and put a few drops of soy sauce on each, allowing it to soak in. Coat them in Shake-n-Bake mix (any kind; I like the kind for pork chops) and cook in the oven. YUMMY!

Oh, and if you find a vegetarian or vegan product you particularly love, email and tell them. They will usually send you coupons for free or discounted product! Good luck and happy eating!

admin answers:

I am not a vet and will not tell you what to give your dog. Understand that. Besides researching the milk thistle also look into SAMe to help with liver problems. Also when your vet gets back ask about doing a check on your dogs liver values. Ask about Denamarin for dogs.
As for the peeing blood, that sounds like a UTI. See a different vet, not the one so willing to euthanize an energetic dog.
Good luck to you and your beloved dog.

admin answers:

To my knowledge, milk thistle dosage is up to 67mg per 10pounds of body weight. Although it could be higher.
Doing some conversion, your dog is 97lb. Which would mean your dog’s dose is 647mg per day. If you need to give both the liquid and the capsule in order to get to that dosage, I would say that it’s okay. According to Jean Hofve, DVM, that canine dosage is a third of what she gives really really sick dogs with liver disease. But I assume that because your dog has a lot of life in him, I’d only give the 647mg daily. Be aware that too much milk thistle extract could cause upset stomach, gas, and/or diarrhea. If any of that happens, just lower the dose. Good luck!

admin answers:

Nutritional deficiencies are linked to bi polar and other mentall problems.Look at these books Balance Your Brain,Balance Your Life,Gut and Psychology Syndrome The LCP Solution and look at reviews for the books on Amazon.You need essential fatty acids,B Complex 100 and a good multi vit and mineral supplement and not cheap grocery store vitamins,they contain bad fillers.SWanson`s on-line has good priices,or go to an herb shop or health food/organic grocery store.5HTP may help.The way food is processed today,kills the enzymes needed for digestion.Without enzymes,there is no digestion.All you get is adverse reactions to the food,if you can`t digest it.Noursing Traditions is a good book.Talks about how food was properly prepared in generations past.Also Gut and Psychology Syndrome talks about that as well.That one is a bit pricey,but well worth the money.

admin answers:

I know this does not directly answer your question, but if you are looking to do more perhaps this will interest you.

Here is an idea where you can accomplish something worthwhile and demonstrate you have many skills such as leadership, organizational skills etc:

Start a cybermentoring program.

You can easily start this program at your school. It is is fun to do, will make a difference in people’s lives (and will look great on your college applications also). A full guide with EVERYTHING you need is at: www.OnGiantsShoulders.org ; (note: NOT .com).

Let us know how if you are considering starting a branch of “On Giants’ Shoulders” at your school through the “Contact Us” section of the website. And be sure to ask us any questions you may have.

Source(s):
www.OnGiantsShoulders.org ; (note: NOT .com).

admin answers:

I would say your middle colleges have a pretty high chance of accepting you but your dream one no…bbecause your gpa isn’t high enough

admin answers:

I think that academically, you have a great chance of getting into your ideal universities, and maybe even your dream universities. However, another important factor is your SAT or ACT grade, which you have not taken yet. If you do well on that, you will most likely get accepted by the college of your choice. You can look up information about colleges on the website http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/
it lists lots of information about the college you search for, such as acceptance rate, whats required, common SAT scores, etc. Its a very useful website.

Wish you luck, Athena

admin answers:

Yes there are much better foods out there. Iams used to be a great food until the corparate world bought it and started adding things like corn, byproducts, wheat, soy, dies, and artificial preservatives. The more natural you go the better. Here is a list of some great foods that i recomend and i feed the top brand….
Eagle Pack Holistic Select ( it has digestive enzymes to make the food even easier to digest and be absorbed into the system. Less cleanup, more immunity, lower serving size!)
Innova
Karma
California Natural
Wellness
Merrick
Natural Planet Organics
Oven Baked Holistic

just avoid corn, soy, wheat, byproducts, dies, bha, bht, ethoxyquin, beef, dairy,….

admin answers:

I can understand completely how you feel…

Here is a site that sells only Vegan dog food.

Please note, I do not feed my dog vegan dog food but my sister does.

I do sympathize with the cruelty in which cattle are kept before being killed for food as well as the methods used in killing these animals. I am not against eating animals but I will not support specific companies who do not allow their livestock to live happy, healthy lives up until the point that they are killed.

This does not make a lot of sense to people, but it does to me 🙂

I purchase meat from a local butcher shop who only sells meat from his own farm. They are free range and fed only organic feed. You can go and visit his farm to see how his animals are treated. The meat is better quality and you can rest assured that no animals were tortured so that you can eat it.

You can do a google search for free range organic meats and poultry in your area or go to your local butcher and ask about their practices.

I buy my meat from the above mentioned butcher and feed my dog a raw diet. He is very healthy and happy.

Best wishes!

ADD: I forgot to post the link! Www.v-dogfood.com This is where my sister orders hers from online. You can also purchase it in stores, but there are none in the state where we live. She has a very healthy 8 year old rescued JRT

admin answers:

Those are really bad dog foods. You are not going to find any good dog foods at the grocery store. In a good dog food, whole meat (chicken, beef, etc) should be one of the first ingredients. Canidae, ProPlan, Nature’s Variety,and Solid Gold are probably some of the best foods.

Start with a grade of 100:
1) For every listing of “by-product”, subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source (“meat” or “poultry”, meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain “mill run” or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. “ground brown rice”, “brewer’s rice”, “rice flour” are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
Extra Credit:
1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count “chicken” and “chicken meal” as only one protein source, but “chicken” and “” as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

Hope this helps!!

admin answers:

You have good resume, so you will probably be accepted to most of listed colleges. Good Job!

admin answers:

Use the site below and compare your profile with those of the enrolled freshmen./

admin answers:

Well, I would say that things look pretty darn reasonable for you – and that is putting it conservatively. I went to an Ivy and my brother went to George Washington. To be frank, I can’t understand why you list GW along with Stanford, Yale, and Georgetown. GW, although a good school is not in that league. Well, not for undergraduate education anyway, perhaps GW competes with the others for some graduate programs.

I can’t speak confidently for some of the schols you listed but really think you ought to bump GW into the Ideal University section rather than keeping it as a long shot.

One of the important elements you left out is your SAT score or at least what our expectation is from and practice exams you took. The GPA and activities look pretty good but more detail on activities would also be helpful. Keep in mind that top schools look for depth rather than breadth so choose a couple of activities that you did best with, or the ones that interest you most to emphasize. The entrance essays also are given weight, as are your choice of reccomendations, so choose wisely.

Best of luck.

admin answers:

Am listen to this as I type this. G A C,are the first opening chords.first three. Then Em D G. This is the opening.verse is G A C.is most of the song switchs to the Em D G once more the change up is D an C Most of the song is G A C. Easy tune took me five minutes to figure it out.Sit with the song play along using the chords I wrote down.Shouldn,t take you more than ten minutes to be playing along.Never heard of this guy. Cool song.E mail me at spudmonster58 at yahoo if you have any trouble. Remember to tune your guitar to the song. It is standard 440.

admin answers:

Easiest way is to download it from YouTube using the YouTube downloader (free) then get an MP4 to MP3 converter (free also). Rip the music track from the video, import it into iTunes and bingo load it on your iPod.

admin answers:

Blues, especially Blues guitar. Because I have the blues a lot.

Stevie Ray Vaughn; Muddy Waters; Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown’; Bonnie Raitt, etc.

admin answers:

Here are some of the BEST foods out there!

Innova, Innova EVO, California Natural ..:
http://www.naturapet.com

Canidae:
http://www.canidae.com

Timberwolf Organics:
http://www.timberwolforganics.com

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul:
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com

Stay away from Pedigree, Science Diet, Kibbles and Bits .. Basically anything that you can get at petsmart/petco — walmart .. Etc.

Search for a food that has no corn, wheat, soy, fillers .. Etc.

Here is a list of the top 10 dog foods:
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/toptenfoods.html

Here is a dog food star review:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php/cat/1
I would feed my dogs ONLY a 5/6 star reviewed dog food.

Hope that helps!

admin answers:

Cereal… Food?

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:

You can find MUCH better than Purina.

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.

Merrick Puppy Plate –
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/detail.php?c=14&s=20280

Chicken Soup Large Breed Puppy –
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/products/dogs/dry_food/large_breed_puppy_formula/

Innova Large Breed Puppy –
http://www.innovapet.com/products/default.asp?id=1259

Canidae ALS –
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html

Wellness Just for Puppy –
http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/dog_wellness_dry_just_for_puppy.html

Eagle Pack Holistic Selects Large & Giant Breed Puppy – http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_LGPuppy.html

Artemis Medium/Large breed puppy –
http://www.artemiscompany.com/products_detail.asp?product=breed_puppy

Solid Gold Wolfcub –
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=61&code=180

If you’re on a budget, the Chicken Soup and Canidae brands are probably your best bets. Those are very reasonably priced foods.

Most of the foods I listed are typically available at holistic or locally owned petstores. If you are shopping at Petco or Petsmart, here are some better foods:

Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy –
http://www.bluebuff.com/products/dogs/lp-large-puppy-chick.shtml

Natural Balance Ultra Premium (All Life Stages) –
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/UltDog.html

Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy –
http://www.ultraholistic.com/lbpup.shtml

=== === ===

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

Here is my “short list” of rules when I am looking at dog food 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

—

Here are some examples of high quality foods:
* Artemis
* California Natural
* Canidae
* Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
* Eagle Pack Holistic Selects
* EVO
* Fromm
* Innova
* Merrick
* Nature’s Variety
* Orijen
* Solid Gold
* Taste of the Wild
* Timberwolf Organics
* Wellness

Or check this website; the 4, 5, or 6 star rated foods are all good foods, 3 or less stars I would stay away from. Http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

—

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 of a low-quality food to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, higher-quality food will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

—

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 )

—

“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 higher 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

—

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
.

admin answers:

Lots of extra curricular stuff you got
GPA is a little on the low-ish side, and the ranking 28/380 is a bit weak so to speak
Get GPA higher, and try climbing your rank up a bit too.

But, without your AP exam scores or your SAT’s scores I can’t really fully judge

With all your extra curricular activities I’m sure you’ll be a highly sought after candidate, though

yale and stanford and maybe even GW uni will be hard to get into if you don’t have 2100+ SAT scores. I know people say it’s not all about SAT scores, but they’re big on it, since a lot of people have your resume but with better grades and scores, too

admin answers:

Your resume is fine and well written.

You need to realize that the top schools receive many applications form outstanding students and do not have room for many of them. If you are rejected do not take it personally.

In the site below enter each school individually and then compare your profile with that of the enrolled freshmen./

Good luck.

admin answers:

WOW GREAT RESUME!
But it also depends on your SAT/ACT scores
get a 21+ on ACT or 500+ in every subject it the SAT & maybe you get on ur top college

admin answers:

How often are you bathing? If you are overbathing, it is drying out their skin and causing their bodies to go into overdrive to produce more oils to lubricate the skin.

Do their anal glands need to be expressed?

What are you feeding? A low quality dog food will end you up with stinky dogs.

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!

Seriously on a budget? Two of the most affordable of the high quality foods would be Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul and Canidae All Life Stages.

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!, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and 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 Select, 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 week or so), 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.rawfed.com/ (Excellent raw feeding information)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (More excellent raw feeding information)
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (Even more!)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths about raw feeding)

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times based on the feeding instructions on your dog’s food.

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.)

Darksong~

admin answers:

Please never feed Iams. They’re #1 on the list when it comes to animal lab testing/killing.
I would actually vote for EVO. It’s an all organic food, but you can’t buy it at chain stores like Petsmart or Petco.
Http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500

admin answers:

Purina puppy chow is crap, no matter what type, so I’d just switch to a higher quality food.

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 really can’t say much in terms of your “dreams” – I completely struck out on competitive college admissions.

You should get into most (if not all) of your “ideals” and “safes”, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see scholarship offers either. You’ve got a wide variety of out-of-school activities and a good GPA. Usually, a 3.75 weighted GPA and SAT/ACT around 2000/32 is good for a 1/4 – 1/2 half scholarship at some of the universities you’re considering. You’ll have to do your own research there, though – it varies from university to university.

Great job keeping track of all of your volunteer and extracurricular activities – you will love life come senior year, and your applications will be much stronger as a result.

admin answers:

I know this does not directly answer your question, but if you are looking to do more perhaps this will interest you.

Here is an idea where you can accomplish something worthwhile and demonstrate you have many skills such as leadership, organizational skills etc:

Start a cybermentoring program.

You can easily start this program at your school. It is is fun to do, will make a difference in people’s lives (and will look great on your college applications also). A full guide with EVERYTHING you need is at: www.OnGiantsShoulders.org ; (note: NOT .com).

Let us know if you are considering starting a branch of “On Giants’ Shoulders” at your school through the “Contact Us” section of the website. And be sure to ask us any questions you may have.

Source(s):
www.OnGiantsShoulders.org ; (note: NOT .com).

admin answers:

Your credentials are great and GPA is solid. Unfortunately, solid doesn’t cut it for the ivy league schools because there are people who devote all their time and lives to school so they can go be ivy-league (boring). I think your Targets schools are on the money, and you should easily get into at least one of them. So the safety schools are nice to have but not really necessary.

admin answers:

I second the view the ear infections are often immune system reactions due to either food intolerance or allergies.

Constant ear infection is not normal.

You don’t mention what food you feed – some things to consider:
– proteins are more often the problem – so if you feed chicken based diet – switch to lamb, venison or beef
– cheap food is never good. Forget grocery store brands and consider grain free diets (FROMM makes a good one)
– ideal world – feed your dog organic raw diet

Antibiotics are not good for long term infection. Cleaning them won’t prevent infection and can actually make it worse (secondary infection).
***********************************************
I would suggest raw hamburger, do NOT cook it and I would go easy on the beans and carrots. Honestly, they dont’ need many veggies – about 1/4 cup for a large dog like yours per day is enough per day. Make sure you cook them (steamed is ideal) – I personally don’t like giving raw veggies although I know some do.

I too feed raw apples – and nothing wrong with eggs. I have also found raw lamb chops a good option and I always give my dogs raw knuckle soup bones (do NOT cook these as they will splinter).

Bones are cow hocks – buy at least as big as your fist and start slowly if your dog has not had before – dog need calcium and these bones are great happy meals for dogs – but too much fibre at once can give them a tummy ache.

I do find chicken to be a problem in my Doberman – and regardless of quantity or cooked or raw – so I just don’t feed it.

I also use homeopathics – but if you are new to this, it seems intimidating (or maybe hokey).
Anyway, If you get tired of having your vet give you scripts for drugs that never work, here is another option.
It is a book worth buying written by a holistic vet – I’ve had his books for 20 years and never tire of them – a very good reference and emergency guide for $15 – he gives lots of recipes for sick dogs and some specific remedies for things like ear infections and other common doggie problems.

Its been a lifesaver for me.

Http://www.amazon.com/Pitcairns-Complete-Guide-Natural-Health/dp/0875962432
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Last comment: If the dogs ears are inflamed – fast her for a day. Then begin an elimination diet to see if you can isolate if the problem is food.

Start with your brown rice on day 2 – nothing else. (except water)
Try the rice for at least 2 days.
Ideally by day 4 you should see your dog’s condition improved or even healed.

If you see SOME improvement, you know you are on the right track. Then you can try adding hard boiled eggs – to rice.

Do this for a couple days.

I would add the raw burger next, and then wait for about 1 week – ideally if the dogs condition has reversed and healed you know you can go forward.

Add new foods sparingly, one at a time, and monitor for a few days to see.

I have found if the allergen is removed completely for a period of days- then reintroduced, the dog will IMMEDIATELY begin showing symptoms (scratching followed by inflammation ).

If that happens, immediately note that food is not tolerated and eliminate it permanently .

Good luck
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Dogs need 6x the calcium as humans – you don’t mention a calcium source in your diet plan. Raw soup bones are perfectly balanced for this (calcium /phosphorous ratio). I prefer bones to pills -calcium carbonate is not easily assimilated and your dog would need ALOT of it.
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Sorry – last add. Fasting is fine for dogs of good weight and not suffering from wasting diseases (like cancer). Assuming your dog is otherwise healthy and a good weight – its a great way to detoxify and sort out her diet problems.

admin answers:

You have very nice grammar by the way- so I assume your 13- 18, but obviously you still live with your parents. You really- give in the fact OF living with your parents, you can not supply yourself and your dog. In other words, you can not afford tCherishsh these things. But I do very much wonder your age- because at around 15- 16 you could get a good job, and pay for some of these things, even 12-14, babysitting! If your able to support your self with your veganism and for your dog, let your parents be and go by your own terms. The book you have requested, was indeed a good choice, and hopefully yes they can understand for themselves the true meaning or nutrition and nutritaiol value.

admin answers:

I’ve never had a ringneck, but I was once told to use Harrison’s pellets for my BF Amazon, Military Macaw, Quaker Parrot, and Sun Conure. It made a WONDERFUL improvement in the appearance of their feathers, and their stools looked a lot healthier.

That organic food sounds very nice, too. I think either one of those two would be great.

The first ingredient in the Kaytee food is corn. Not an expert on bird nutrition, but I do know that not a lot of animals can properly digest corn. This is why your better brands of dog and cat food are advertised as having NO corn. I wouldn’t feed the Kaytee. Avoid anything with corn as the first ingredient. As a third, fourth, or fifth, it’s ok.

admin answers:

You have a very good chance of getting into your ideal colleges. You’ll easily get into your safeties. Your gpa seems a little low but you’re in the top 6% guess you go to a pretty tough school. I’m pretty sure most people take the SAT/ACT in their junior year so you might want to think about that.

admin answers:

Unfortunately, until you have your test scores, it is absolutely impossible to tell a thing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit.
That being said, gwu isn’t that hard to get into. It is by no means easy but with your grades you should be fine with decent test scores.
Georgetown should be achievable with good test scores (32+ act).
For Yale and Stanford, a 34+ is necessary and even that won’t guarantee you a thing.

admin answers:

I think you have an excellent chance of getting into the schools you mentioned. I’d even say you have a good chance of getting into George Washington!
Stay on the track that you’re on and you’ll be accepted at a great school. And you’re only a junior, don’t worry about this stuff yet! Just focus on keeping your grades up. You still have a full year before you apply to colleges and your priorities might change in that time, so keep an open mind.