<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19170"></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON A DOG FOOD LABEL!!!!!!</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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ingredients are not all the same, and a label can be out of date by 6 months.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 -
</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>Yet beet pulp is listed on a huge portion of dog food bags and consumers
say "Oh, Beets are good!".</DIV>
<DIV>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!!!</DIV>
<DIV>While it IS true that not all foods work for all dogs, one thing that is
rarely said is that many foods ARE NOT </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thump. Okay, done with venting for this moment - let the food wars
begin!!</DIV>
<DIV>Sorry Mods - but you knew it was coming!!!</DIV>
<DIV>On behalf of the houndage near and far - all dear</DIV>
<DIV>Dawn of the West -throwing the first stone</DIV>
<DIV>Basset Rescue Network at Daphneyland</DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.daphneyland.com">www.daphneyland.com</A></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.facebook.com/daphneyland">www.facebook.com/daphneyland</A></DIV>
<DIV>661 269-2682</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>