I will continue to buy my dogs the better foods out there, as long as they can tolerate them (I have to stay low protien/fat) but if they stop eating then I will have no choice but feed them what they will eat. Which will be SD, not the worse food out there. I appreciate all your feedback. I do feel better and feel that Im doing what I feel the best for my dogs. :)

^ Agree.

I've posted this before, so I'll just copy/paste and post again, sorry if you're sick of reading it (those of you who have already read it), LOL. But it pretty much sums up how I feel.

The way I see it, it's just like with people... you have those who live off TV dinners and McDonald's, and you have those who shop all organic, and eat healthy every single day.

People who eat terribly, smoke heavily, etc. can live perfectly normal lives.

Just like the person who exercises, eats excellent and "does everything right" can drop dead at age 30 from a heart attack. Or a person who never smoked a day in their life can die from lung cancer. That's life.

Just because a dog does "well" on Eukanuba or Pedigree or Purina doesn't necessarily mean they're eating as good as they could.... but it also doesn't mean they're going to be unhealthy dogs and die young either necessarily. That's not to say Jackson doesn't get to enjoy a little Cesar wet food every now and then, or a Milk Bone, I just do it in moderation... just like people.

You gotta do for your dogs what you personally decide is right... but in the end you can't place blame and say 'this dog didn't live as long as this one because it ate better food.' There's too many other factors out there. Do your research, and feed what you feel works best for your dog.

Lots of great information on this thread. I'll add my thought and try not to cause a war! :p Actually, foods we crave are genetically programmed into us, they are NOT bad foods, in fact, they are necessary for survival. In the past, starvation was the problem, not being too fat. This is true of all animals, not just humans. Only humans who are living with food abundance believe fats and carbs are bad, they actually are good for you, but we need other nutrients as well. Corn got a bad name because mixed with other amino acids it forms a protein, and some companies were listing a high percentage of protein in their food, and they were allowed to count corn with the overall percentage of protein. This is misleading if you haven't studied nutrition, but it's not such a bad thing unless corn is listed as the first ingredient in a food. So try to avoid foods where the first ingredient listed is corn. Some people say their dogs developed allergies to corn, but most dogs have no problem with it. This site has some good information about nutrition, and the author has great credentials. The Dog Food Project - Myths about Dog Nutrition

i was super hung up on food, then they kept getting sick over and over when on a raw diet. i attribute that to not being able to travel with raw food because it spoils and can make them sick. we're on a natural dry kibble now from Acana Grasslands and they like it, they'll both eat it, and they stay well on it and it can travel well and it's not a pain to set it out and thaw it and all those things...we're happier and still grain free. i do believe in going grain free, but it's up to the owner and what works for me doesn't always work for others.

I think it's mainly the "forbidden fruit" phenomenon." They don't get it/aren't allowed to have it so when they get the opportunity, they go crazy.

We see this all the time, even in humans. Think of kids that can't drink soda at home but go to a friend's house and it's on. Or kids that have no freedom at home so they go crazy in college. I think it's just normal psychological behavior.

Thanks everyone for your input.
Happy Holidays all..:)