Food that makes you go ...Hmmm.. - Page 3

I also feed raw and I supplement occasionally with either natural balance or halo, fish variety.  I provide as much variety as I can, but sometimes it is difficult.  Back in the day I fed pedigree....yeah.  I still have a shirt from when they sponsered a championship.  My dog did well on it...I am sure she could have done better on something else.  That was the "in" food then.  I think dog food and knowledge about it has come a long way.  It is interesting to see how dog food companies change over time with their formulas. I read the other day on some treat package "animal digest" on the list...I guess that means poop?  hmmmm......      

 Again, I interject my smoking analogy. Just because you can eat like crap for many years without dying doesn't mean you're thriving. Also, people who feel differently, I would wager to guess that they've never taken their blinders off to see what thriving really is. 

I can look at most dogs and tell you roughly what they eat. I am frankly appalled at what some dogs look like that people think look 'fine.' My animals have been mistaken for being MUCH younger than they are (a vet guessed my cat was 3-5, and my cat is every bit of 15...she was a stray so I don't know exactly. My oldest male GSD looks younger/healthier than most dogs half his age. There's just a "look" about a truly healthy dog. 

People can argue all they want and give examples of exceptions, but I don't think that's a fair attitude to take with our best friends. They deserve the best we can give them, not what we deem "good enough." 

i feed a pre mixed raw,


I hate to be late to the smokng party but my grandfather started at 13 and lived to 99 years 11 months.  I loved it when the smoking police were at my kids school, made them admit exceptions to the rule!

I  I had jack in the box tonight, If i only fed myself as good as I do the dog!!

I feed raw to the breeding dogs, Blue Ridge Beef products, (Breeders Choice, Green Tripe, Natural Mix (contains organ meat)) chicken leg quarters, beef heart, turkey necks, fish, deer when I can get it. I use Blue Ridge Beef Puppy Mix  and TOTW to start puppies on. That way they can adapt fairly easily to what the purchaser wants to feed. I try to ascertain that before the puppy is picked up so that I can go whichever way they are going to be comfortable with. I recommend TOTW, Origen or whatever grain free they can get in their area if they aren't going to feed raw.

When I was a kid we use to feed our dogs either Pedigree or Sturdy dog food. The dogs lived to be 14-18 years old. I have also fed Iams in the past, WAY before it was bought by P&G. My mom had a lab that lived to be 18 years old on Sturdy or Pedigree (dont remember which one he ate).
I will say that the study of nutrition sure has come a LONG way. I agree with Jenni78 that you can look at a dog and know if it is fed good food or cheap food.

 Jyl, did those dogs eat canned or dry versions of those foods (the ones when you were a kid) and did they eat table scraps?

I ask this because my grandma's dogs used to eat grocery store canned food, and they lived 15+years regularly...but thinking back, they ate a lot of canned food (more meat, less additives) and they at a ton of stolen food and table scraps. I honestly think their longevity had more to do with that than the food they were actually being intentionally fed. 

Also, look at the difference in vaccination schedule. I think dogs could do better w/more vaccinations on better food, or less vaccinations on crap food, if you know what I mean. Neither is ideal, of courseBut the way we bombard them with both crap food and vaccinations today is mind-boggling and why I think we see sooo much more cancer, allergies, diabetes, Cushing's, Addison's, and other auto-immune problems. 

I never meant to suggest that feeding Iams was appropriate nutrition...I was only commenting on the fact that my two oldest females lived long and healthy lives on the nasty stuff....Again, the exception, not the rule.....I do believe that most normally you ARE what you EAT......

             Deanna...: )

Ruger1 wrote:

I never meant to suggest that feeding Iams was appropriate nutrition...I was only commenting on the fact that my two oldest females lived long and healthy lives on the nasty stuff....Again, the exception, not the rule.....I do believe that most normally you ARE what you EAT......

Just wondering--how many 'exceptions' can be overlooked before the 'rule' is called into question?  Because there are literally *thousands* of dogs who *are* thriving on this particular brand of food (despite Jenni78's contention that they couldn't possibly be, and that anyone who thinks they are doesn't know what a thriving dog looks like), and there are thousands more that are thriving on a variety of other brands that would probably be branded as even worse by those who deem Iams to be 'nasty stuff'.

As for whether or not Iams is 'appropriate nutrition', I challenge you or anyone else to provide the scientific evidence that proves it is not--and that goes for any other commercially available food that isn't a 'specialty' brand.  You can't do it--because the peer-reviewed scientific literature does not support your allegation.

And just to reiterate--I have nothing against raw feeding, or any of the other alternative feeding protocols that are the trend, if the diet being fed meets the needs of the dog and its owner.  I'm just sick of hearing owners covertly--and oft times overtly as well--being accused of not caring about their pet as much as someone who's feeding an alternative diet.  (I don't take such intimations personally, since all three of my GSDs are a direct contradiction of that nonsense...as were all of my Siberians and Alaskans back in the day, which were still sound and working in harness at 10, 11, 12+ years of age.)

I agree Hexe.  I know many dogs that are doing as well on cheaper kibble as opposed to expensive.  How much of it is a marketing ploy?  Human grade food.  Since when did a dog have the same digestive system as a human?

And kibble no matter what the price is still a dead food.  Any type of kibble isn't the best food source IMO.

      hexe,

         All I can tell ya is I had a 14 year old female GSD and a 12 year old Great Dane that is still living that have been fed Iams all their lives.........Great health, nice coats, and happy too....

         I said that most normally you are what you eat. Being a nurse I see exceptions to lots of rules with regard to health issues both positive and negative.....I do not have the answers.....However, I choose to feed what I consider to be better quality food to my young male...I think I know more now....lol...I think....


                Deanna...: )