The Best First Ingredient - Page 1

What do you guys think the best first ingredient in a dog food? Is it chicken,lamb,fish,beef or pork?

chicken ,unless you have an allergy problem to chicken

I prefer to use a chicken-based food myself, but will offer some opinions after being a farm boy for much of my youth. It is not just the source of the meat, but how the meat was produced. The things that really concern me about the meat source are the levels of antibiotics and growth hormones that can be present in commercially-produced meats. (1) Chicken-less fat vs. protein but possibly a lot of antibiotics and growth hormone. (2) Fish-less fat vs. protein but possibly more toxins present. (3) Lamb-more fat vs. protien, but virtually no antibiotics present. (3) Beef-reasonable fat vs. protien but possibly high antibiotic levels. (4) Pork-higher fat vs. protein but low antibiotic levels. By all of that it almost sounds as if pork is the best? Well maybe it is, but it is also the most expensive meat to produce. Bob-O

Bob-O Excellent Points made there !!! I would only add (and ask ? ) that I do know for fact that heiffers in feedlots are fed a product that keeps them from having heat cycles, (unless they are spayed which is becoming the procedure of choice for more and more beef growers) have to wonder if that hormone is residual and what effect it may have on our dogs heat cycles ? Almost all Commercially raised food is supplemented be it plant or animal. Makes it hard to make educated decisions about our dogs feed, when we take all into consideration is my thought.

I would also add that the corn in the commercially produced dog foods is almost all genetically engineered corn. Studies are showing that that is having a negative effect on fertility of farm animals. I don't believe there are studies on dogs but since the other animals are being effected ,it is something to keep in mind. The reason I am bringing this up is to try if you can to also consider this when picking out what ever based food you choose.

EchoMeadows, this is really not the forum for a statement like this, but here goes. I prefer to be a vegetarian, mainly because of my family's history with high chloresterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Personally I see nothing wrong with eating meat, especially if it was organically-raised, and certainly to each his own. During my youth I paid no attention to all of the vaccinations (no growth boosters) that we administered to our one-hunderd-plus beef cattle, young heifers and steers. Of course we gave virtually none to the sheep, goats, pigs, or rabbits, and we had very few chickens. And we ate what we raised with seemingly no ill effects. But, as I became older and began to become aware of my family's issues I began to avoid certain meats, and finally said "no" to all of them. And wow, a country ham sandwich is still so hard to turn away! For a five-year period I lived in western Arkansas, and was much more exposed to how chickens arwe commercially raised. It's amazing-the "peeps" are delivered to a commercial farm and after a very few weeks of feeding a "special" food become two-pound fryers and are off for processing. Are our children larger than they once were? Yes they are. For example, in my later teens I was 6'-4" tall, and seldom met anyone who was taller. Now just over one (1) generation past I find myself surrounded by young people, even young women, who are as tall or taller than me. Some would say that it is due to better nutrition, but I feel that it is due to different nutrition. I will not immediately blame the presence of growth hormones in beef or chicken products for I am not a research scientist and I have no proof. But I am suspicious. Bob-O

Bob-O, excellent post. My first GSD had horrible allergies and the GP vet was blaming it on food (as it turned out it was inhalation, another story). Anyway, I started cooking for this dog and using some recipes from Pitcarin's book - organic soy beans and chick peas as the protein sources along with cooked carrots, broccoli and other non-root veggies and brown rice, etc. Fruits and veggies for treats. No meat of any kind. Boy, did I ever see a difference in his overall body condition. He dropped his excess weight in a matter of 2 short months and had more energy that he'd had since I got him at 8 weeks. Unfortunately I wasn't able to follow through with this diet for too long as he developed some life-threatening diseases and when it became clear that he was nearing the end frankly I gave him anything he wanted to eat. I often wonder how well he would have done on a vegetarian diet had he lived a normal lifespan. I've been tempted to try vegan diet myself, just might. I've just stewed a Perdue chicken and am now wondering what I should do with it. Eat that or a Boca Burger with soy cheese. Thanks for the good information althought I am now feeling very paranoid!!LOL

I know that for many years that vegetarian dog foods have been available, but other than trying a small bag or two, I never used it. I feed Royal Canin, and remebered being at a breeder's presentation by them that someone (not me-he beat me to it) raised the question about the source of the chickens for their food and the type of supplements they received. Be aware that this presentation was being done in the heart of the commercial chicken farming industry, so that may have been why the question was presented. The representative assured all present that the source chickens were raised under what were basically EU rules; were chickens with natural pigment (not all-white commercial chickens) and were considered safe for human or canin consumption. In my opinion a dog can certainly use meat in its diet. Meat is the most efficient source of good protein for the body's nutrition and growth, especially in a youngster. Dogs are a bit unique, as unlike a feline they can thrive from a diet that is nearly identical to that of a human. Bob-O

I would hesitate to use a meatless diet for a growing puppy but would use it again in a trial for a food allergy. An adult dog might do OK in the long run fed as a vegan, Pitcarin seems to think they would and states that since humans do well without meat so would dogs. But he doesn't really promote it. He is big on home cooking and protein sources like free range chickens, venison, duck, turkey, all free of growth hormones. When I think back to my first dogs, I remember that they ate Purina Dog Chow from the supermarket, there were none of the designer foods we have today. When I started to breed I fed a food milled locally. The dogs often got table scraps and some days the house dogs ate what we ate. I didn't really pay much attention to the protein source(s), just the percentage. We used caricide then for h-worm preventative, it was a daily dosage, dogs were vaccinated annually with DHLP's and given rabies in accordance with the local lasws. For the most part these dogs lived long healthy lives as did most of my friends' dogs. We expected our dogs to live for at least 11, 12 years and that was a reasonable expectation. We didn't really hear as much about cancer, seizures and all the other life-threatening diseases we hear of today. Not sure what, but something must have changed and it seems to not be for the better.

Bob-O: "unlike a feline they can thrive from a diet that is nearly identical to that of a human." Well Bob, my dogs are with ya there. They tell me every day how much they believe that human food trumps dog food, ROTFLMAO!!!! Not criticizing your post at all, it's just that my guys are all over this.