Sunday, March 15, 2009

Everything you ever wanted to know about dog food....

... but were afraid to ask!

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. ~Gilda Radner

Do you ever notice that when you're focused on something, it's all you want to talk about? As though nothing else in the world exists for ANYONE except that thing?

That's me and dog food. So be prepared... I'm talking about it again, and hopefully I'll have it out of my system now.

I've been researching it for so many days, and reading books (two I can recommend: Food Pets Die For and Protect Your Pet -- check them out from your library and prepare to have your eyes opened), surfing the 'net. I even joined a Yahoo group on raw feeding, as I was considering that as an option for Dakota.

Yesterday, I decided to give it one more chance. I went to the food store, list in hand (I want: all these things ... I do NOT want: all these things) and started attacking the bags of food. I'd already narrowed my choices down to a few brands based on http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ , but wanted to really read more.

The thing is: I'm VERY tempted by a raw food diet for Dakota. I think both humans and pets can benefit from one .... but I have to admit to being squeamish about feeding her raw chicken and meat. Fact is, if I could afford organic, I'd be all over it. But conventionally raised animals are unbelievably unhealthy and bad to eat, even cooked, so the thought of giving her an antibiotic laden, salmonella (or ecoli) carrying, growth hormone bringing RAW piece of meat was a deal breaker.

(As an aside... the reason I seldom eat meat isn't because I'm a card-carrying vegetarian. I LOVE meat. I do... but between the unbelievable cruelty of the conventional farming business and the chemicals they pump into the critters, I just prefer not to eat it unless it's organic. Now... moving on...)

So, I finally opted to buy a bag of EVO Brand beef. They consider themselves an alternative to a raw food diet -- the food is "gently cooked" at lower temps (which attracted me), they use human grade ingredients (so... no rendered companion pets or road kill... yes, really), and they are grain free (which was top of my list of "wants"). Additionally, the beef flavor contains no chicken fat, which can contribute to "bloat" in dogs -- and Dakota's breed is particularly susceptible to bloat.

Because it IS grain free, I feed her significantly less (almost HALF what she's eating now), so although on the face of it, the food seems expensive ($2.45/lb), usagewise, it's actually cheaper than what I currently use.

Also, I have every intention of supplementing her diet with healthy table scraps (all the evidence I've read indicates that feeding your dog only one thing -- their kibble, for instance -- isn't healthy) or mix her up a bit of homemade dog food now and then.

Assuming her tummy likes Evo.

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You Are a Bay



You are a blissful, peaceful person. Some might call you spiritual.

You are easy-going and tranquil. You take solace in life's sweet moments.



You are sentimental and open-hearted. You love many people, places, and things.

You try to live an enlightened life. You are benevolent, noble, and intuitive.



Wait... wait... ME blissful and peaceful? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.........

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7 comments:

Dru said...

Good luck with the dog food preparation. Sounds like you're on the right track and I hope Dakota like the Evo brand.

You Are a Pond

You are modest, pleasant, and reliable. You are content and confident.

You are harmonious and caring. You truly like other people for who they are.

You are a very genuine, humble person. Because of this, you're very approachable.

You are soft-spoken and a bit sensitive. Your mild personality is a refreshing change for people.


For someone who doesn't like going in the water, that's a pretty good analysis.

Have a great Sunday!

Ceri Hebert said...

Wow... who'da thought. I'm not a dog owner, but I assume the same would hold true for cat food.

I would love to eat organic and we found a farm that we could buy at, but they're expensive.

I just don't know if I could go vegetarian though.

Marianne Arkins said...

Ceri, those books I mentioned are for all companion pets (dogs and cats). They should be "must reading" for pet owners. I currently feed my cat Eagle Pack Holistic, but that may change after all the stuff I've been reading. We'll see! She's 15 y.o. and acts like a kitten, so something must be working.

MomJane said...

Yesterday when I went to the "Truth or Dare" section you mentioned in your blog,in the columnn next to it was a question saying:" If there were 19 items and all but 7 were destroyed, how many were left?"

I thought that was a stupid thing, but when I mentioned it to several people they didn't even get it. Am I the only person who sees things like that? Oh well. I guess people see what they think they are supposed to see.

As todays thing, I was going to do it, but since I don't swim well and don't like to be in the water much, there were several questions that I couldn't answer, so I skipped. Usually they are fun though.

Let us know how the dog food works out.

Brandy said...

My cats are thriving on the cat food we buy for them, I'm not sure I want to know if it's bad! *G* I hope the EVO food works for Dakota.

I also hope you have a nice Sunday!

Brandy said...

Oh, and I was a Pond. *G*

Maria Zannini said...

Good post, Marianne. We won't even go into the tankage pet food producers put into pet food.