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The subject of dog food has been given much attention during the
past several years and with very good reason. Prior to, let's say, 10 years ago the majority of breeders and nearly all dog owners relied on what the pet food industry told us as to what was
good for our pets. Rrecently, thanks to some very informed and caring individuals, what we feed our four legged friends, food
information has been "stood on it's ear".
I'm nearly 66 years old and for most of those years
the main ingredient in all dog food was CORN and all the pet food manufactures assured us they only used the very best ingredients
in their products. I'm not talking about a few obscure companies, I'm talking about companies, including the makers
of Science Diet, Purina, Mainstay, Come & Get It, Kennel Ration, Gravy Train, Pedigree, Atta Boy, Old Roy and just about
every other label you can think of. Corn, to a dog's system is nothing more than"hollow calories" which not
only tend to make your dog fat but is used in pet food to create volume. This is one reason that a 30-40 pound
bag of regular Purina Dog Chow costs around $23 - 28.00 while 30-40 pounds of a truly good dog food will cost in the neighborhood
of $45 - 60.00 dollars (depending where you buy it). Your getting the same weight either way but with the purina,
your may only be receiving somewhere around 18-20 pounds of efficient dog nourishment. With the "good"
food, your beloved friend will surely be receiving about 70% or better of essential nutrition. This can translate
into being able to feed you pet less per meal.
PLEASE, read the ingredients on any food you may consider feeding.
Ingredients are listed in the order of their volume so, the first item listed is the ingredient of highest volume. If
the first item is "Venison meal" for instance, that would mean that probably around 55-70 % (depending
on the brand) of the 40 pounds in the bag is Venison meal. If that same first ingredient is CORN, guess what??????????
Right! 55-70 % CORN!!! How often do you think any wild canine searches out a CORN field
and sets to eating 70% of his meal each morning and evening? CORN IS NOT FOR DOGS! Corn, wheat, soy and even beef have
a strong history of not only causing skin problems but the corn, wheat and soy, in more than trace quantities, will surly
aid in making you dog FAT! Fat dogs and you feeding your dog "meat fat" is the leading
cause of diabetes in our four legged friends. NEVER, NEVER feed you pet meat scraps, meat fats or the juice from any
meat that may contain fat. Meat fats can cause inflammation of the pancreas gland (the gland which produces insulin)
and continued inflammation will lead to the reduction in that gland's ability to produce insulin, hence diabetes. You
would be surprised at how many dogs suffer from disease to one degree or another and most of the time it is caused
by feeding table scraps and allowing your "supposed" beloved friend to become overweight!
Here at
La Terra Dios Ranch our West Highland White Terriers and guard dogs are fed Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance (Limited Ingredient Diet) Lamb
meal and Brown Rice formula kibble (dry food). Van Patten
has another Natural Balance (Limited Ingredient Diet). All Natural Balance foods use Canola
oil as their fat content. This is the best, following Olive oil.
. Another Good quality food is "Nutro" Natural Choice Venison
and Brown Rice Formula. We used this food for years and found it to be a very good food for most dogs.
Another good food we are trying is "Wellness" Duck and Rice. We have been using it for a couple of months,
with a couple of our dogs, and are very pleased with what we see. Many times, a certain food is better for
one dog than it is for another dog. It's good we have choices.
There are several other brands
out there, with more coming onto the market all the time that are very good feeds. What ever you decide to feed you
friend, be sure to carefully read all the ingredients and the order in which they are listed (most quantity first - least
last) and remember that all protein must have some sort of fat to be digested but animal fat is not for your dog. Canola
is probably the single best and will not damage the pancreas gland. I hope this has aided you in understanding the need to feed a "good" food to you loving friend who will
always be there for you --- you need to always be there for him/her also.
If there are any questions you may
have concerning this writing please contact me. I'll be more that happy to assist in any way I can. Thank you
for taking the time to read, what I feel to be, this very important information.
Rodger
Morales
La Terra Dios Ranch Up-dated 3/23/10
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