Dog forum opinions please

As some of yall may know, I was thinking of starting my own dog forum, but was excited about finding one called www.bestfriends.org.

It even had vets as moderators.

Well, I posted some comments about something that I am very interested in, and involved in, and received some very interesting comments from one of the moderators.

Read it here:

http://www.bestfriends.org/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=4651&sessionID={A3542A79-5717-45DE-8539-EAA8B24D4C63}

It was under the health and behavior topic, and the thread was titled "Dog Food Recommendation".

(I am BuddTX here, as there).

I felt her comments were, while correct, are misleading in that she is implying that her views are the only correct views.

Saying things like all authors who recommend anything other than feeding your dog commercially available mainstream pet food is a "quack", and saying that no one could feed a dog with home cooked food, is, in my opinion, not appropriate responses.

While her responses are, not wrong, they are not the only correct answer.

It would be the equivalent of saying, "SureFire is the only light you should use, as all other lights are crap, and should be outlawed".

If your a dog lover, read this thread, and tell me what you think.

Some of the wording makes me think that this forum may be backed by a major, or several major pet food companines.

"home cooked food". Do you mean the BARF diet?
B.Bones
A.and
R.Raw
F.Foods

No, I believe in cooking all food to human sanitation standards. I make a dog food stew. After I have perfected the recipe, I will post it. I have spent a lot of time and research into home dog food cooking, I don't take it lightly. I do not just throw "whatever" into a pot, and cook it. You need the correct ingredients, in the correct amount.

I have friends that to the BARF diet, they follow the Billingshurst model, and their dogs seem very healthy and fine, but I do not agree with the Raw diet (also called Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods). They love their dog as much as I do, and want what is best, as much as I do, but we have different concepts.

The one thing that I have "adopted" from the raw diet, is to cook the meat (beef, chicken, turkey lamb, and salmon, and I am leaning toward mostly poultry and salmon) seperately just to the proper temperature, then remove from heat, and referigate the meat. After all the vegetables, and grains are cooked, and the fire is off, I add the meat. This is different from a human stew, where you would brown the meat, and let the meat simmer in the stew for hours.

You feed your dogs salmon? Wow, we give our dogs the regular old dog food, and a LOT of table scraps, and I though we were spoiling them. Why do you feed them salmon?

For the Omega 3 Fatty Acids!

Sounds like; post your opinion, then shut up after the experts give you the real answer! I don't care for the tone of either of their answers.

Wait a minute... your dogs are more spoiled than I am! (That just might be a first!) But before my dog died, mom feed her table scraps mixed w/ dog food.

She was way up on the ego scale. Higher than most men I might add!
I wouldn't worry about it, let her be
ego-istic

opps! g2g, late for work

Rosetta

Now I do buy the Salmon when it is on sale, and freeze it!

I agree with what you said, Starlight, and BrightShadow, it does sound like she has a big ego.

I was looking for a forum similar to CPF, but with dog lovers. Maybe I will consider to start one up again. As much fun as flashlight are, no comparison to my dog!

For all the complexities of dog food, it is simply the same ingredients as human food, in the right porportions. The dog food industry wants you to think that the only thing to feed your dog, is dog food. They want you to think it is some complicated big scientific ordeal, that "mere mortals" can't accomplish in your kitchen.

Until WWII, there was no, or very little dog food industry. Dogs ate what people ate. If you ate healthy, your dog ate healthy, and if you ate crap, so did your dog!

The dog food industry was created to use the by-products of the meat and grain industry, that could not be sold to humans. That in itself is not necessarly horrible, but there ARE better options!

I personally believe, that while millions of dogs live their whole life on dog food, there are better options to feed your dog. I think that increased cancer rates in dogs has to do with their eating habits.

And I probably would not be as gung-ho on this, if my dog was a 100 lbs and wolfed down a quart or two of dog food a day! However, my friends who have big dogs, do spend a lot, feeding their dogs the BARF diet. It's expensive if done right.

It is not all that expensive to do, and you make a big (huge 20 qt plus!) pot, and it can last for months (I had to buy a seperate freezer).

Very interesting post BuddTX. I never thought about that before.

You might be interested in the Whole Dog Journal. I came across this by accident and at first glance I nearly dismissed it as holistic mumbo jumbo (based on the title) but then read an article titled "Canned Answers" (sorry, you have to pay to view).

I have to say I'm a very skeptical guy* and found the article extremely informative and well written.

While there appears to be a bit of "holistic" type stuff here and there, it isn't nearly as much as I would have thought. To quote from the Editor's note of the same issue:

"We have a dual mission, here at WDJ. First, we promote the use of anything that can make a dog healther, whether it's conventional medicine or alternative care; in most cases, we advocate the judicious use of both! Second, we're here to spread the word about positive training - building a relationship with your dog that is all pleasure, and no pain."

In general, I'm impressed with WDJ more than any dog publication I can recall. It's professional, honest and obviously written by people who both think AND care.

Just for fun, here are a few other articles in the same issue:

"What's a Seal of Approval Worth?"
Dog owners shouldn't put much stock in a humane organization's endorsement of a product; these things are routinely bought and sold.

"Talking the Talk"
But Sensible Choice doesn't seem to even TRY to "walk the walk."
[ Sensible Choice is a pet food]

"Can Meat Cause Kidney Failure?"
Veterinarian and raw-diet advocate Ian Billinghurst addresses concerns.

Based on this article, we ended up feeding our dog, Sophie, Innova. This food is night and day compared to your grocery store food. I seriously wouldn't streniously object to eating it myself. On the other hand, I would seriously avoid most dog foods based on this article.

In regards to the vet's (and others) response to BuddTX's post, I don't think their response was particularly constructive and I don't think you win many minds by trotting off blanket statements and then whacking over the head anyone who offers questions.

Too bad.

-john

* To the point I have an active dislike of anything "holistic" which I generally consider a nearly criminal scam.

Lesse...quoting stuff that's just been handed down from person to person as if fact = "dogma"



I've had a theory for a long time that whatever a company advertises on TV as being true is usually the exact opposite of the truth. An example is a well known pickup manufacturer that advertised their trucks as tough, yet they had the worst crash rating, and lowest towing capacity, of any truck made. I see it as just being spin control, or "perception becoming reality".

Now I'm thinking about dog food companies advertising how healthy their food is, and what it MUST come from, considering what they're able to pass off as edible in this country for ground beef sold to people.

As I've said before, about Craig's wallet being stolen: people suck

John N.

Your review of Whole Dog Journal sold me! You sound very much like me. For the most part, I will take proven, sound scientific advice, and a lot of times, the holestic stuff is just folk lore, and urban legend. But, on the other hand, I also believe that natural and fresh, is better than procesed and preserved. If the best whatever, say medicine, for example, comes from a bottle or an herb, as long as it is the best, it doesn't matter to me!

I knew about WDJ for a while, but never subscribed, because of the feeling that it might be too "crunchy granola" for me. You know, anything mainstream just "has" to be bad. It sounds like that is not the case.

(As I was multi-tasking here, I just subscribed to WDJ as I was writing this!)

If I could ever motivate myself enough (and have a couple of hundred dollars extra laying around), I would like to start a dog forum. That "BESTFRIEND.ORG" web site really bothered me with the interaction I had with that one vet.

Inova is supposed to be the best known of the "ultra super premium" dog foods.

I use Old Mother Hubbard's Wellness, Super5Mix, as a base, with my home cooked "dog stew" that I mix with the dry.

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_overview.html

With my next batch of dog stew, I intend to cut back to a 75 % home cooked dog stew, and 25 % wellness.

Also, according to the Old Mother Hubbard Wellness web site, Neura Wellness was rated #1 by WDJ.

Thanks for the info!