Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahandElisha  |
I agree, it does have some great info, but the info on that site is based on the sole opinion of the site editors...you can only take that for what it's worth--one opinion.
To the OP, I understand just what you mean! I actually just posted something similar in another thread. I was once made to feel like I was poisoning my dogs be feeding anything less than a home prepared or 5 start product--against my better judgement, I bought into it and tried feeding only the 'premium' foods to my crew. A few costly vet bills and malnourished dogs later and I finally snapped out of buying into that propoganda, kicked my own butt a few times and started doing what
I thought was best for
my dogs.
I now feed a mixure of home cooked with kibble (not the 5 star kibble either) and supplement their diets as well. But that is what I have found works best for mine--yours may be different. I
f you are wondering how you can tell what is best for them, the best tool you can use to judge the quality if the dogs itself and how it is contributing to their overall health, weight/fat ratio, eyes, coat, skin, teeth, etc etc.
Hopefully you have a vet you can TRUST. As you mentioned, I see so many comments about how 'vets only recommend a certain food because they are getting paid to' or 'vets don't really know what is best for our pets' and these are some of the scariest, most bizarre statements to me. Alls I can say is, if this is the way anyone feels about their vet, it's time to find a new one! I'm sure it is the case from time to time....but I can't convince myself that is the case 90% of the time.
In regards to the 'I'm not eating anything if I don't know what every ingredient is and neither is my dog' argument...
I'm thinking there are alot of hungry people in this world. As I type this, I'm drinking a Diet Pepsi which contains potassium benzoate and phenylalanine--no clue what in the heck that is!
And don't get me started on the by-products that are in the hot dogs I chow down on every 4h of July!
A dog food that only uses quality meat--ha, that's a good one. I have a mental picture of a pristine kitchen and a white-clad chef w/ a French accent cutting up only the finest, juiciest chicken breast to prepared for a bag of dog food...
<sigh>
Long story short...I understand your frustration. Don't get caught up in the endless circle of 'reasoning' to try to find the perfect, ideal, flaw free well balanced diet, that everyone across the board is going to agree on and approve of for your pooch because it doesn't exist. There are always going to be pros and cons to any suggested food and those who praise it and criticize it. Figure out what your dog needs from a food and if your dog isn't getting that out of what they are eating, supplement what is missing. Try a few things and evaluate the results
yourself. The end result of a 'good diet' should be a healthy, happy dog. When you find something that yeilds those results, then you have found a 'good food.'