[Dailydrool] Costco Food and Education

[Basset911 at aol.com]

Daphneyland always has me running from one hound situation to another,  
currently my email is also acting up so it's hit and miss on posting etc.   For 
those who know what a "Food Beatch" (spelling changed for list) I am, it  
should come as no surprise that I would jump on in to this thread.
 
PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON A DOG FOOD LABEL!!!!!!
Oh, how my toes curl and hair stands on end when I read that folks are  
relying on labels to tell them a food is good for their pet or not !!   There 
are so many things wrong with that it's scary.
 
The biggest problem with pet foods is that governing is so lax,  
ingredients are not all the same, and a label can be out of date by 6 months.  Another 
factor is that often, information is put out by the manufacturers  
themselves. If I had a dime for every time someone tells me the food rep ASSURED  
them the food was healthy... really people? That would be like the tobacco  
companies telling you cigarettes are safe, and I'm a smoker !  We see food  
companies switching manufacturers all the time and disclosure is not out there 
- 
Sad reality is that Diamond, who has been involved in EVERY RECALL  
manufactures 80% of the pet food market.  Not a good quality food and known  to 
have poor quality control and imported ingredients.
Today's great food could move manufactures and become a poorer choice  
without disclosing that to consumers. Actually I think it might be an idea for  
Droolers to get together and call Diamond, we can all Manufacture the same  
Kirkland Food, only sell it as "Daily Drool Basset Food" - it's simple - you 
get  to pick a recipe, they will even design the bag for you and get 
approvals.
 
There are so many web sites, books and resources available for people to  
learn what an ingredient really is - beet pulp for instance. Not really beet  
pulp - it's the scrapings from a sugar vat which is unusable in any human 
or  chemical compound. So they put it in dog food. A hound with cancer should 
NEVER  get a sugar.
Yet beet pulp is listed on a huge portion of dog food bags and consumers  
say "Oh, Beets are good!".
Hydrolyzed animal proteins. Yes, rendered shelter animals. Crude Fiber  - 
is it peanut shells or sawdust? Rosemary extract? A known trigger for  
epilepsy. Added vitamins? Yea, it's called a vitamin block and it comes from  
China. A book that can give you some fairly good insight into dog food  
manufacturing is one entitled Food Pets Die For, by Ann Martin.  Although a  bit out 
of date (the latest edition went to press after the melamine  
contaminations but before manufacturers settled claims) it at least teaches you  what 
questions to ask, gives you basics on the lack of pet food nutrition in  this 
country and suggests some alternate choices. A very easy read, it gives you  
about 30 years of nutrition education and the ability to begin thinking for  
yourself.  PLEASE GET EDUCATED!!!
While it IS true that not all foods work for all dogs, one thing that is  
rarely said is that many foods ARE NOT 
formulated for our breed.  Bassets are dwarfs, and each may have  allergy 
issues whether from ingestion or from environmental is hard to  determine. 
Fads come and go: Grain free, Raw, BARF, Home cooked,  Reconstituted - the 
list is endless. Each has good points - and  bad. Good foods are not 
necessarily the most expensive, and celebrity  endorsed foods rarely are what they 
profess to be. The better quality you feed,  the healthier your hound. That is 
a fact. The trick is not to be fooled by  advertising - which includes that 
danged label.
 
Here at Daphneyland we have been feeding Healthwise / CA Natural.  No  
longer the food it once was, we are shopping and doing food research yet again.  
A never ending battle.  We may end up having to feed a lesser quality food, 
 we sure hope not, right now there are very few choices of quality food  
available.
 
Thump.  Okay, done with venting for this moment - let the food wars  begin!!
Sorry Mods - but you knew it was coming!!!
On behalf of the houndage near and far - all dear
Dawn of the West -throwing the first stone
Basset Rescue Network at Daphneyland
_www.daphneyland.com_ (http://www.daphneyland.com) 
_www.facebook.com/daphneyland_ (http://www.facebook.com/daphneyland) 
661 269-2682
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