Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Karen Stasky on August 6, 2009 at 1:03am

I've worked in animal hospitals for over 30 years-back then, cancer was uncommon-now it is not. I had no idea about the differences in dog foods until I worked for a Holistic Vet-the change in dogs that had health issues for a long time that vet, after vet, after vet was not able to help, got better with a change of diet-alot has to do with the quality of the ingredients used-meat that is deemed "not fit for human comsumption" and grains that are by-products from other industries-the companies are out to make as much as they can, cheap product
Our dogs have been bred into many different breeds, but internaly they are still wolves and wolves eat fresh and raw-this is species appropriate diet-before commerically made food became available, our grandparents dogs survived very well on table scraps and what ever they could scounge-
If you check out the Whole Dog Journals' food list, Diamond makes Taste of the Wild, Wellness, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup, and a number of "good" foods-several years ago, they had food recalls that were not made public when they were a smaller company, with the huge volumn of foods that they are currently manufactoring, I fear they will be the next big food recall
Our doctors tell us fresh food is best as well as variety in our diet-raw is best if you can do it
I currenty consul with our clients on healthy nutrition for their pets and my own Cori has survived a year and a half (so far) longer than he should have with a very nasty cancer-he looks and acts great and I owe it to a raw diet.

Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on August 6, 2009 at 8:01am

HI Karen,
I did know that Diamond food did have a recall several years back...and that was (I believe) before their Taste of the Wild and Premium Edge. Not that that changes anything but I hope their standards have gotten alittle better as to how they manufacture. I use stainless steel bowls,give no treats,toys etc. made in china and try my darndest to provide the safest of anything for my dogs...one question I have is for the people that do provide raw food for their dogs is where are you getting the meat??? Are you buying it from a place that doesn't use growth hormones and antibiotics? I try to use organic when possible for family and my 4 legged creatures, I have my own range chickens for eggs and use no cleaning products or insecticides that aren't green (I make my own usually) (oh unfortunatly I do use Ivergaurde(sp) for heartworm because I weighed the consequenses.
Unfortunatly we as people are also at such a risk with our food too! We use dangerous chemicals in many things daily that people have no clue are in what we use! I recently read that to stop ecoli in cows all farmers would need to do is to pasture feed the cows for 1 week but oh no they decide to use a sweet blend of food mixed with ammonia to feed the cattle...I won't even go there.I do hear what you're saying....but what do we do??? I love Solid Gold and maybe I will need to check a little more too! Thanks for thoughts...it made me think (or rethink)!

Permalink Reply by Karen Stasky on August 6, 2009 at 9:18am

Hi Jane-We're seeing what all that processed food is doing to us out there-not good. With the meat, you do the best that you can-I know people who use organic only for their dogs, but eat regular for themselves-if all you can do is "just raw", that's a huge step-I wish I was in an area that I could get free-range, clean organic meat that didn't cost an arm and leg-I do garden organicly and have hunting friends so we get all kinds of good stuff! It's too bad making money is more important than doing it the right way-my experience with life is that things work out if you do the right thing-someone had mentioned Darwin's, who do ship and they have a very good, basic Organic line of beef, buffalo, chicken, turkey and are working on duck and fish. I know the people who are helping to develop this food-Steve Brown and Beth Taylor wrote "See Spot Live Longer" Steve is the "Steve's Real Food" creator

Permalink Reply by Cindi on August 6, 2009 at 7:44pm

Diamond recently had a recall on their turkey products. I believe it was salmonella.

Permalink Reply by Corgibyassociation on August 6, 2009 at 2:04pm

We have to read the ingredients because the dog that Freya shares her food with--is allergic to a lot of things. We feed them Blue Buffalo and they look quite nice.

They were also on Taste of the Wild Salmon and the Bison flavor and prior to that they were eating Avoderm.

I"m not sure about the wheat but I do know there is no corn or yeast involved in their foods. And actually all of the foods have been probiotic in nature too. Avoderm produced smelly gas. Taste of the Wild towards the end produced smelly gas with the Salmon version and we were not on the Bison version long enough to see how that would've worked out.

Permalink Reply by Nancy and Harley on August 6, 2009 at 8:21pm

Our breeder fed Harley and other furry family Purina Pro Plan, which doesn't contain as much corn as regular Purina, but still has corn in it. We are transitioning from the Pro Plan to Taste of the Wild, which is a grain free, all life stages food. He is eating half and half now, plus we put in a spoonful of Merrick Puppy Plate for extra yum.

Up until a year and a half(ish) ago, I had no idea how terrible corn can be for a dog. My other dog Bo had around the clock diarrhea, as I was feeding him Ol Roy at the time. When I found out that the corn was most likely causing the problems, I was horrified. I felt like such a bad doggy mommy, but I was among the majority of the dog owners out there that do not know how terrible the majority of commercial pet foods are.

Permalink Reply by Linsey & Grissom on August 6, 2009 at 9:33pm

When I fed kibble, I absolutely did not feed anything with Corn, Wheat, Soy, or Beet Pulp to name a few. I also stayed away from foods with unnamed animal sources, and grain-heavy formulas. I don't feed Grissom kibble at all anymore, he's on a prey-model raw diet and flourishes. He hardly sheds one bit. I used a Furminator on him and got hardly anything out, his teath are white as can be, and his coat is so glossy it's unreal. No doggy odor, and NO bad breath. It's better than any kibble you can buy, and you don't have to worry about what they're "really" eating. It's the best move I've ever made for my dogs.

Permalink Reply by Beth on August 6, 2009 at 9:51pm

Ok, I'll bite. I'm asking you because you mentioned it last, but you are not the first person in this thread to mention "he hardly sheds" as a plus.

I am seriously curious here. How is NOT shedding a healthy thing? I looked at your profile page, and I don't know what the climate is like in Utah, but here in Pennsylvania it was about 5 degrees F every night for weeks on end in the winter, and it was 90 the other day and will usually hit 95 or so several times in the summer.

If my dog did not shed, he'd be a dead doggy.

A Corgi is MEANT to blow his coat. He's a double-coated dog who is meant to blow his undercoat every summer, and shed his topcoat once or twice a year, depending on climate and dog.

Jack starts blowing his coat in May or June. In April, before he sheds but after it starts to get mild, he is a hot and miserable dog. If he did not shed, he would collapse from heat exhaustion in the summer.

I thank God he sheds like he does, because it means he is as happy outside playing in the snow for an hour as he is taking a walk on an 80 degree summer evening.

So please explain this "he doesn't shed" thing to me; a dog grows a heavy coat in winter and sheds it in summer as a natural part of its coat cycle. My understanding is wolves and deer and all sorts of wild critters shed like crazy.

If my dog did not get a heavy winter coat and then blow it all in the summer, I'd be taking him to the vet for a complete blood panel, as I'd know something was seriously amiss.

Now in the winter, my kibble-fed dog hardly sheds at all. I brush him once a week and get a tiny little sprinkling of loose hair, like you would get from your own hairbrush. But summer is shedding season, and I'm happy enough for that.

Permalink Reply by Linsey & Grissom on August 6, 2009 at 10:06pm

Shedding.. and blowing coat are two very different things.
I said he doesn't shed hardly at all. (not that he doesn't shed at all)
I didn't say he doesn't blow his undercoat. Keep in mind he is barely nine months old and hasn't even had adult coat for a full year of seasons yet.
For this post I will have to use my Shepherd as the example, as he's older and has been on the diet longer, and has the same type of coat.
He blows his coat when the weather gets warm, and it's honestly only about a ten day process. He does not shed hardly at all until he blows his winter coat again the following year. Everything in between is just a little bit here and there, but by no means does he constantly shed like other Shepherds.
Hope that makes more sense.

Permalink Reply by Karen Stasky on August 6, 2009 at 9:51pm

Some people thrive on junk and processed food, but pay for it down the road-same for our pets-they are here with us for such a short time, we need to provide (cause we don't let them hunt for themselves) the best food that we can so they are with us as long as possible with a healthy lifestyle-good food, fresh air, exercise and lots of love! Those of you who feed grain-based kibble will be amazed at the difference in your dogs' if you go grain-free,even if you think they look good now-if you go raw, you will be astounded at the change-as Linsey wrote, no odor, great teeth, glossy coat and poops that are gone in 2 days because they can digest most of the food and it breaks down very quickly. Lots of poops shows the dog is not digesting the food well, and in turn, they want more of it to meet their nutritional requirements.Grains are not a natural part of a dogs diet, are very hard for them to digest and are generally stored as fat. Many dogs are allergic to grains, especially corn and wheat.

Permalink Reply by Beth on August 6, 2009 at 9:57pm

Domestic dogs live way longer than wild wolves that provide for themselves.

Ok, I reread the profile on the non-shedding dog. He was born in November 2008. Of course he did not have his seasonal shed, as he's still in puppy coat. Jack was born in April of 2007 and had his first big shed mid-summer of 2008, and his winter 2008 coat (when he was not yet a year old) was nothing at all like his winter 2009 coat (when he was going on two).

A Corgi should shed, unless perhaps it's in a year-round warm climate and hardly gets an undercoat, or is almost an exclusively inside dog that only goes out to potty.

Permalink Reply by Beth on August 6, 2009 at 10:00pm

And one poster here went grain-free and her dog developed high liver enzymes. Her vet suggested she switch back, and the dog immediately improved.

I understand the passion of the grain-free people, but please don't think that those of us who don't feed grain-free are feeding our dogs "junk" food. Thanks.

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