When DID dog food get so complicated?
I’ve had at least one dog for most of my life and I’ve never spent more than two minutes choosing a dog food. What’s the cheapest? Have I bought it before, only to have the dog turn up her nose at it, (though honestly, this has always been more likely to happen with cats)? Have I bought it and the dog had any weird stomach things happen around the same time that might be attributed to this dog food.
And that’s it. End of thought process.
So why in the hell am I not only asking people on Chatter/Twitter/Facebook about dog food but also considering only higher priced dog foods — dog foods you can’t get at the grocery store?
Hell, I even asked the damn vet if he had a dog food recommendation.
And when did dogs start having gluten problems? Is that new? Because I’m almost 50 years old and for a good 40+ years of that time, I’d never seen a single gluten-intolerant dog. I worked at a KENNEL for three years and we never had a dog come in with a special gluten-free/grain-free food. EVER.
Skeeter will LITERALLY eat anything at all. It might not do her tummy any good to eat Elly’s sock or the Hershey’s chocolate bar wrapper she dug out of the trash — but she’ll eat it but here I am wondering about what food to buy. Whether we should just stick with the brand she’s used to, just in adult formula, in case she doesn’t “like” a different kind. Then again, she’s thrilled when she can break into the shih tzu’s room and eat his Kibbles n Bits (or whatever inexpensive food HE is eating.)
I’ve become one of those dog owners. I have to just admit it – to myself, and to all of you (who have already figured that out.)
It wasn’t the making of the dog toys last weekend that cinched it. It is the indecision over dog food.
Hell.
From talking to pet food manufacturer reps at BlogPaws last weekend, it sounded like the gluten free pet food trend is merely capitalizing on a human food trend. I can’t remember what they said the incidence of celiac disease in canines was, but it was incredibly low.
ALL the dogs I had growing up at the basic Purina brad dog food. Ruby came to us already on a super expensive grain free dog food and we tried switching her to a less expensive brand. We tried several different brands in fact but they all gave her horrific gas. So we tried some of the cheaper grain free brands and worked out way up to what be use now. Max gets the same food because I’m NOT buying 2 different dog foods.
My dad thinks I’m crazy but I’m one of those dog owners too. I even make them special grain free treats!
Just as we’re becoming more aware of what we’re eating, I guess we want the same health benefits for our pets. In my case, it was my daughter who shamed me into caring more about what was in our pet food. I was shopping at a natural pet foods store for a while — then a friend pointing me to a site that analyzes the ingredients and rates all the different brands and varieties of dog food and you know what? Costco’s Kirkland brand was as good as the very expensive stuff I was buying at Kriser’s. (Four stars — so not the top — but definitely not the worst!) So we both win.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
If she is doing well on what she’s eating, just switch to the adult version. I did the expensive food diets while we were doing rescue, and honestly? I didn’t see less poop (as promised) or any significant changes to any of the dogs. Just my wallet. You know, dogs have a way with people, they worm their way into your heart and take over your life. And they ask for so little in return. Just a lap or a scratch. Welcome to dogpeople world!