This is an article I wrote about a year ago. I want to update it and include more information on feeding RAW as this is the way to go! But for now, I am posting THIS article in hopes that you will educate yourself in dog foods in general and make decisions from there.
What Should I Feed My Beloved Dog?
Julie Weiss, Owner, Spicewood K9 Club, www.spicewoodk9club.com,
What to feed your dog is a question every human should consider very carefully. Your dog is what he eats – just like humans are. Through these suggestions and information, I hope to spark you to follow up with your own research and learn more. Many diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and kidney failure can be linked to your dog’s diet and develop over time.
Different types of diets exist for dogs: raw, canned, dry, home cooked, mixed and vegetarian. I am a raw food feeder – that means I feed my dogs fresh raw meats, bones, organ meats, with very small amounts of fresh vegetables. I also supplement with a omega 3 essential fatty acid (salmon oil) and a glucosamine for my older dogs. I have done a lot of research and have been interested in this for years. I believe “raw meaty bones and organ meat” is the best diet to feed your dogs as it is a Species Appropriate Diet (S.A.D.).
If you’re ever interested in learning more, do some research! A great resource is http://www.drmarty.com/feeding.htm (Oprah’s vet) – with sound advice on what to feed. Here in Austin, you can checkout S.A.D. Dog Sushi, www.saddogsushi.com, which is a local raw food supplier. You just freeze it and take it out when you’re ready to feed. You can also buy raw food in medallions (the bones are ground) from Nature’s Variety or Bravo – these are usually sold at higher end pet stores like Dogadillo, Bark N Purr, and Tomlinson’s in Austin.
If you’re just not ready to take the raw food plunge, take baby steps up the food chain – first at least switch from any food that contains corn, corn gluten, wheat or wheat gluten, soy bean meal or flour, digests of any kind, or that contains by products or unspecified meats and fats, and bad preservatives (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin) and dyes – to one that doesn’t!. (Note that the animal source is not specified and is not required by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) to originate from “slaughtered animals”. The rendered animals can be obtained from any source, (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter) goats, pigs, horses, rats, road kill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on. This is disturbing and should motivate you to read on.)
The key to making the switch to a better dry food is learning how to read food labels and recognize what your dog is eating. Dogadillo (www.dogadillo.com) in the Hill Country Galleria carries a wonderful selection of good kibble and canned food (Orijiens, NOW, Pure Vita, Nature’s Logic, Life 4 K9, Weruva) and Mike Conrad of Dogadillo has done scientific comparisons of the foods he carries (he has his own rating system which he will share with you!). Bark N Purr and Tomlinson’s also have good foods – consult with their experts – look for a grain free food (Taste of the Wild, Wellness (Core), Blue Buffalo, California Naturals).
So, there are good kibble (dry food) sources out there – but if you read Dr. Marty’s recommendation (www.drmarty.com/feeding.htm) a “high quality kibble” is still at #9 out of 10 for what he would recommend you feed. #2 on his list is a diet of raw bone, organs, meat, etc. which is the aforementioned “raw diet”.
If you want to be somewhere in between – consider a high quality canned food – again referring to http://www.drmarty.com/feeding.htm – list. Or even consider cooking for your dog – this is not that hard and is far better than kibble (dry food).
I’m hoping these suggestions and information inspire you to follow up with your own research and learn more. Your dogs deserve the best so they can be with you in good health as long as they can.
