Spoiling our Dogs and Puppies

[ArtistLady]

Also, is anyone familiar with the website?
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/

[Jesse]

My Sadie is a Lab mix and a rescue from a high kill shelter.

I feed her Taste of the Wild. I also buy 1lb. rolls of lean ground turkey and mix it with chopped garlic, raw oats, Parmesan cheese and whatever raw veggies I have available at the time and mix it all up and make three logs, and bake at 325 for about 45 min. Two go into the freezer after cooling and one is refrigerated for use. About 3 nights a week, I'll give her a third of the log in her food dish with her dry food, which I've cut back a bit for that night. She loves it! For treats she mostly gets dehydrated liver that has various veggies added. The bag she is on now has sweet potato and broccoli added to it. I've had to teach her to eat veggies, but now she loves getting the odd bite of raw veggie when I am cooking. She gets shed deer or elk antlers for gnawing, they keep her busy and keep her teeth clean, they also do not splinter easily.

[Sachita]

Originally Posted by ArtistLady

Also, is anyone familiar with the website?
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/

yes and its scary.

Pet food companies are now realizing the popularity of non-grain foods or having a meat source as the first ingredient. Because of this they are scrambling to find cheap meat sources. This means that much of it is coming from over seas- china mostly and it is not fit for human consumption. There is also no control over it what so ever. They can even label it chicken but after its dried who knows whats really in it.

For this reason I call the pet food companies every few months to check where they are getting the meat used in their products. I ask questions about ingredients too. This is a crazy process for me but its also important since it can effect the life of my dogs. Even if it didn't kill them their organs and such are still effected by poisoned food. Over time it does have an effect. Most commercial dog foods are harmful to your dog.

There are other brands I love but more expensive. Taste of the Wild is a good food and within most budget. If you feed your dog food with cornmeal and fillers, even rice, your dog will need to eat more. So if your dog is eating 4 cups per day they WILL eat and need less of a non grain quality food. If you do the math you'll see its not really that much more. If you consider the long term effects and what you'll save on vet bills then you'll find room in your budget.

Taste of the Wild - 30 pounds- $1.60 per day for a medium size dog @ 2 cups per day.

Orijen (what I'll be switch to soon) 29 pounds- $2.30 per day for a medium size dog @ 2 cups. There is one less pound.

Now add greens- a tub of organic spinach or spring greens at Sam's Club under 4.00 or a large package or organic romaine also under 4.00. large bag of organic carrots 5 lbs 5.00. Shred carrots of give whole if they will eat them.

So when I start breaking it down like that and what it cost daily for me to feed my dogs which are like my kids, 2.30 a day per dog is doable. If I have to give up a bottle of wine, dinner out, whatever I need to do I will because its that important to me. But understand that I also know that it's not affordable even still for some. I am happy to private work with you to figure out the best solution for your budget.

I'm sorry if I sound fanatically but this is a hot issue for me. Perhaps because I take care of so many dogs and work with so many groups. Pet health is a very huge agenda for me. So much so that I am planning on raising my own livestock and growing to feed my dogs. Food cost are rising and this is effecting pet foods. Even more reason to be concerned about what is really in your pet's food.