[ladyandjan]

Please do yourself a favor and check out the 2 sites so you'll be better informed about what is really in dog food and choices you can make so your pet will become healthy and whole. They are: http://www.belfield.com (article Food Not Fit for a Pet) and http://www.api4animals.org (article What's Really in Pet Food] I have living proof that this works-she is my baby girl named Lady!

[labman]

Suppose you knew a breeder that bred hundreds of dogs a year, mostly Labs, Shepherds, and Goldens. They provided all the medical care for most of them the first year. At the end of it, they did a complete physical including hip X-rays on all of them. They then spent $30,000 training them before giving them away. They have a large data base of breeding records. Dogs with any physical or temperamental problems are unfit for the program and are a waste. Their well equipped clinic is available for serious problems as long as the dog is working. When the dog is no longer able to work, it is replaced at again the $30,000 plus a large emotional upheaval for the person depending on the dog. They have experimented with different diets and exchanged data with other such breeders. Don't you think that what ever they are feeding is healthy and safe? What kinds of controlled studies do you have backing your choice of diet? How objective are the sources of your information? Is your dog's health, their top priority?

I have been raising puppies since 1991 for a large dog guide school that does exactly that. What do they feed? They instruct us to feed Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow until 4 months and then switch to adult Pro Plan chicken and rice. I know enough of the people with the trained dogs to know they continue the Pro Plan. The group I meet with monthly for training includes people that have raised puppies for 6 different service dog schools. Some of them are feeding other premium commercial chows including Iams and Eukanuba. Any dog owner wanting a healthy, long lived dog can make this regimen work, leaving more time to spend on the dog. It is also relatively economical.

[ladyandjan]

Suppose you knew a breeder that bred hundreds of dogs a year, mostly Labs, Shepherds, and Goldens. They provided all the medical care for most of them the first year. At the end of it, they did a complete physical including hip X-rays on all of them. They then spent $30,000 training them before giving them away. They have a large data base of breeding records. Dogs with any physical or temperamental problems are unfit for the program and are a waste. Their well equipped clinic is available for serious problems as long as the dog is working. When the dog is no longer able to work, it is replaced at again the $30,000 plus a large emotional upheaval for the person depending on the dog. They have experimented with different diets and exchanged data with other such breeders. Don't you think that what ever they are feeding is healthy and safe? What kinds of controlled studies do you have backing your choice of diet? How objective are the sources of your information? Is your dog's health, their top priority?

I have been raising puppies since 1991 for a large dog guide school that does exactly that. What do they feed? They instruct us to feed Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow until 4 months and then switch to adult Pro Plan chicken and rice. I know enough of the people with the trained dogs to know they continue the Pro Plan. The group I meet with monthly for training includes people that have raised puppies for 6 different service dog schools. Some of them are feeding other premium commercial chows including Iams and Eukanuba. Any dog owner wanting a healthy, long lived dog can make this regimen work, leaving more time to spend on the dog. It is also relatively economical.

If you have gone to the 2 sites and read about what is really in 99.9% of all dog food you might have a different opinion. I took to heart what I read and took my dog off all dog food/treats and switched to (there are only 4 recommended) foods that do not contain the poisons and my dog is my living proof after 1 year that not feeding these poison, chemical laden foods is great for her health considering she's 13 yrs. Old. I might not have stopped her from aging but have slowed it down quite a lot so she's more like 10 yrs or younger in age. People are free to do their own research and figure out what will be the best diet for their pet as I have done and am very satisfied with her health.

[labman]

The net is highly polluted with junk science garbage. I have looked at those sites and they have nothing except highly emotionally charged descriptions of the ingredients. There is absolutely no references to any testing that proved the diets are any better than the carefully tested commercial diets. I have debated this with others on the net, and none of them could provide me with any controlled studies showing dogs do better on anything other than ordinary dog chow. Since I control my emotions, and base my care of my dogs on facts, the sites lacking any factual material give me no new data to base a new opinion on.

You should see how lively my 11 year old Lab Aster is in the afternoon when she has decided it is time for me to take her on her walk. She started life on plain old, corn based Purina, only switching to Pro Plan later in life.

My emotions do get away with me where I read about the horrible byproducts in dog food, and I laugh. What do canines, wild or domestic, eat first when they kill something? The very internals http://www.belfield.com froths at the mouth over going into dog food. Back when man lived closer to the land and could throw away less, the internal organs you disparage, were considered delicacies.

[ladyandjan]

The net is highly polluted with junk science garbage. I have looked at those sites and they have nothing except highly emotionally charged descriptions of the ingredients. There is absolutely no references to any testing that proved the diets are any better than the carefully tested commercial diets. I have debated this with others on the net, and none of them could provide me with any controlled studies showing dogs do better on anything other than ordinary dog chow. Since I control my emotions, and base my care of my dogs on facts, the sites lacking any factual material give me no new data to base a new opinion on.

You should see how lively my 11 year old Lab Aster is in the afternoon when she has decided it is time for me to take her on her walk. She started life on plain old, corn based Purina, only switching to Pro Plan later in life.

My emotions do get away with me where I read about the horrible byproducts in dog food, and I laugh. What do canines, wild or domestic, eat first when they kill something? The very internals http://www.belfield.com froths at the mouth over going into dog food. Back when man lived closer to the land and could throw away less, the internal organs you disparage, were considered delicacies.

You as well as I are free to feed you dog whatever you decide. Those sites I gave you pointed out what the final outcome is of the food once it has been subjected to the poisons, dead/diseased animals etc. rancid fats, etc then put on the market for people to feed to their pets. Continue to feed your dog what you feel is best because that's what you should do. But at least give people a choice as to how they should feed their own animals-not just what you think is good for yours and everyone else should follow what you do.

[labman]

My feeling is that you are the one insisting we all change to your way although you seem to be short proof it is really better for dogs.