How To Choose Healthy Dog Food For Your Pet

Is healthy dog food a myth? You’ve probably wondered, since hearing about the recent dog food recalls. Pet lovers like you fear that their dogs will suffer like so many others that ate food containing dangerous ingredients - wheat gluten and a product used in the production of plastics.

If you’re like other dog owners, you’re taking a much closer look at those dog food labels. They claim to offer the top quality, balanced diet for your pet, but how can you know if it’s true? How do you guarantee that your dog eats only healthy food? Is it even possible to get healthy dog food from manufacturers now? Read more »

If you are in the habit of buying whatever dog food was on sale that week, and never read the ingredients, keep reading, you are about to be shocked.

Poor diet in dogs could mean many things. Dogs with a poor diet don’t have high energy levels, they may develop health problems down the line, they can be overweight or underweight. They can have teeth problems, bad breath, infections… As a general rule, an unbalanced diet for your dog means a shorter lifespan for him. Read more »

There are a lot of myths about the best Dogs‘ diet. I found this story yesterday and I got Mum to read it as it recommends some of my favourite food:

“Milk and cheese are probably the only important sources of calcium and phosphorus among the foods that are not fed as much as they should to dogs, especially as sources of these minerals. Magnesium is found in nuts and beans, potassium in almost any natural ingredient. Most trace minerals in a natural diet are derived from natural ingredients.

Liver: Newborn puppies, dying from the ‘failing puppy syndrome’, have a tablespoonful of chopped liver added to their mother’s diet. Overnight, the pups snap out of it and start gaining again. Orphan puppies, stunted because their formula is inadequate, have a little liver puree added to that formula and those same puppies suddenly begin to grow and gain weight. A dog struck by an automobile fails to respond even though surgery has successfully corrected its injuries. About a week after the operation a tablespoonful of liver is prescribed three times weekly. By the end of the third week all of the dog’s lost weight has been regained and healing of the external wounds appears complete.

All of the dogs described above had one thing in common; liver was added to their diet. Perhaps liver should be called a ‘miracle’ food rather than a mystery food. But whatever you call it, the recoveries described were the results of liver, and whatever it is that enables liver to produce such ‘miracles’ remains a mystery.

For years veterinary nutritionists have referred to the ‘unidentified liver fractions’ and their seemingly miraculous effects. Whatever it is in liver, known or unknown, few canine nutritionists deny that liver does something special when it comes to a dog’s diet. If there is one single food that every dog should have in its diet, that food would have to be liver.”
Aboutdogs.info

I had to show you this great picture of my friend Loui. He lives quite close to me, and he recently visited one of the bigger pet shops in Enfield. Here he is, nosing the dog biscuits. This is something I can’t resist doing whenever I visit a shop or stall, I’m glad I’m not the only cheeky dog. If they don’t like us doing it, they should move the biscuits up higher.

An industrial chemical that led to the US recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in a second pet food ingredient imported from China. The discovery expands the month-long cascade of recalls to include more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the chemical.

“This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers’ confidence in the pet food industry’s adherence to food safety standards,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.

The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said. The FDA has there is no evidence so far to suggest any of the rice protein went to companies that make human food, said Michael Rogers, director of the agency’s division of field investigations. But the FDA, which is continuing to update its list of pet food recalls, has not yet accounted for all of the imported ingredients.

Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate wheat gluten used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.

Both ingredients were imported from China, though by different companies and from different manufacturers.

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At the moment lots of dog owners in the United States are frightened to feed any packaged food to their pets in case it contains poison, following the recent discovery of toxic dog food. An easy way to feed your dog ‘human’ food safely for the moment is as follows:
one-third cooked brown rice
one-third cooked chicken or lamb
one-third cooked vegetables - but no sweetcorn or mushrooms.
Dogs should find a meal like this very appetising, especially if you add some stock or gravy. This is a fairly low fat meal and gives your dog everything he needs for a few days. This recipe is along the lines of the Burn’s Dog Food that Kevin the Collie is now eating.
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