October Rant - Diet

I’d like you to take a look at the packaging of the food that you feed your dog. Tell me what’s in it. If I were feeding my dog Bakers, this would be my initial thought:

•  Mmmm… Moist meaty chunks, with fresh meat and protein for growth & muscle development!
•  Lots of calcium, for healthy teeth and strong bones!
•  Fibre, for good digestion and iron for healthy blood!
•  Creator of energy, with vegetables and important vitamins and minerals!
•  It’s scrummy, crunchy, and doggylicious!!

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Let me look at the ingredients. I would expect to see lots of fresh meat and plenty of sources of vitamins, as well as vegetables. Here are the ingredients:

Cereals, Meat and animal derivatives (min. 4% fresh meat in the soft moist kernel, min. 4%
beef in the natural and brown kernels), Vegetable protein extracts, Oils and fats, Derivatives
of vegetable origin (o.5% beet pulp in the natural and brown kernels, Various sugars,
Minerals, Vegetables (min. 4% vegetables in the green and yellow kernels). With
antioxidants, coloured with and preserved with EC additives.

Hmm… So let’s analyse this, shall we? Let’s not forget that the ingredients are listed as highest content first, and ends with the ingredient there’s the least of.

•  Cereals – what kind? Chances are it’s the cheapest kinds, such as wheat and maize, both which do nothing to help your dog’s digestion, and can lead to skin problems. And there’s lots of it in this food! Here is what the government says it means: “All types of cereal, regardless of their presentation, or products made from the starchy endosperm.”

•  Meat and animal derivatives – again, what kind? Again, most probably the cheapest kind. Generally this will be an animal by-product. So if your dog eating what’s left of road-kill grosses you out on a walk, chances are you’re feeding him a very similar thing in his daily meals. Here is what the government says it means: “All the fleshy parts of slaughtered warm-blooded land animals fresh or preserved by appropriate treatment, and all products and derivatives of the processing of the carcase or parts of the carcase of such animals.” So, only 4% of the meat and animal derivatives are fresh. Not even 4% of the entire food!

•  Vegetable protein extracts – here’s Mr. Guv again: “All products of vegetable origin in which the proteins have been concentrated by an adequate process to contain at least 50% crude protein, as related to the dry matter, and which may be restructured or textured.” Whatever that means. 

Anyway, you get my point – there’s absolutely nothing there that tells me that this is good for my dog! Now, let me list the ingredients of the food that Bumble eats (Healthy Paws):

Brown rice (min. 51%), Rabbit meat meal (min. 26%), Oats, Dried Carrot, Lucerne
meal, Seaweed meal, Chicken oil, Fish oil, Organic Sunflower oil, Minerals,
Vitamins, Dandelion herb, Cleaver herb, Dried Cranberry.
 

I don’t know about you, but this sounds more like the kind of thing I’d want to put in my dog’s belly. 

This is from Green Dog, another excellent brand:

Turkey  (25.5% dry » 58.21% fresh*), whole white rice, vegetables and herbs
(15%), whole brown rice (14%), whole oats, whole barley, fat. Vitamins,
Minerals (all from natural sources).
 
So, here are my thoughts on different brands, categorized as Super-Duper, Acceptable and Crap:

Super-Duper

•  Healthy Paws – stocked by Cassy & Co. (incl. free delivery)
•  Green Dog (hoping to stock)
•  Wainwright’s Complete
•  James Wellbeloved
•  Arden Grange
•  Burns
•  Fish 4 Dogs

Acceptable

•  Science Plan
•  Pets At Home Complete 
•  Royal Canin
•  Iams
•  Pro Plan
•  Collards

Crap 

•  Bakers
•  Pedigree Chum
•  Wagg
•  Beta
•  Chappies
•  Eukanuba
•  Hill’s Natures Best

Feeding food from the ‘crap’ section is like just feeding McDonald’s to your child every day. They might love it, but it’s not good for them! Dogs love it because it’s full of sugar and salt. So many people have asked me for a sample of Healthy Paws and then told me “no, I’m going to stick with what I’ve got because he likes it”. Great, then I’d like to only eat chocolate brownies for the rest of my life.

The ‘acceptable’ column includes brands that your vet might stock. The reason these are in this column is that there are so many ingredients that it’s confusing. I prefer to feed my dog things that I know and understand the contents of.

I’m not saying your dog shouldn’t enjoy his food, but there are ways to make healthy food enjoyable:

• First off, if your dog is already on e.g. Bakers, then introduce the new food slowly, mixed in with his existing food. Then gradually increase the good stuff and decrease the crap stuff.
• Mix in something nice in with the food. I mix Bumble’s Healthy Paws with either pureed carrots or with good wet food, such as Wainwright’s or Nature’s Harvest. But only a little so as to make it moist enough to stuff into a Kong. If I used a bowl it would probably be given dry, but that’s because I give Bumble ‘special’ food as a reward for working, e.g. doing a recall, sitting at the
  door, retrieving a dumbbell, etc.  
• If all else fails, don’t just give in and go back to the crap food! Your dog will not starve himself! If your child told you “I just want to eat KFC, I won’t eat anything else”, would you oblige? Of course not, because you know what’s best for your child. And you do for your animal. 
• Feed the right amount. Your dog should be eating the right amount for his ideal weight. So if your dog is overweight, don’t feed based on his current weight but what he should be. If you give your dogs a lot of treats, reduce his food intake. Is your dog overweight but you hardly feed him anything? Start a food diary for your dog; jotting down everything your dog eats. Compare it against an exercise diary. I guarantee you’ll be surprised.  

Here’s a chart that can help you decide whether your dog is overweight: 

Yes, good food costs more, but instead of buying that expensive collar or dog bed, spend a bit more on healthy living for your dog. Isn’t he worth it? Only 60p a day can keep an average dog super healthy! And a healthy diet can help with many behavioural problems too!

Treats – check the ingredients on these too, and consider switching to something natural, like cheese, chicken or liver. And remember, treats should be rewards and not given just to show you love your dog. If you love him you’ll give him the active, healthy lifestyle every dog wants and deserves. 

You may think this is a sales pitch for the food I stock, and to a certain extent it is. But the reason I stock the food is because I believe it’s really good and what I chose to feed my own dog. The least I can do is offer others the same great food?

Doggy Day Care

Please check out www.cassyandco.com for all your Doggy Day Care needs in Nottingham. If you're looking for a dog walker or boarding kennels, Cassy & Co. could be what you're looking for.