January Thaw - On avoiding upset tummies

It’s thawing in January...

 “Oy this smells delicious” thinks your dog as the dead rodent begins to thaw near the tree in your backyard.

“Let’s have a drink of this fresh flowing ice melt” ... thinks your dog as she’s drinking the run off water or puddles.

15 mins to 3 hours later....

 “I need to go outside right now” yelps your dog anxiously.

 15.mins to 3 hours later...

“I’ll never drink that water again” thinks your puppy... for a moment, then gets distracted.

It's wise to supervise... even the best trained dogs find these irresistable in this weather.

Food is Medicine... Food is Poison

This is my humble opinion... two things present in all Kibble (except for one that I know of) are far more detrimental to our dogs' health then we think... Ingested daily, these are viewed as toxic and life shortening.

1) Flavour Enhancers = chemicals, not naturally digested by the body but they make the food desirable.  Think Chicken McNuggets and children.

2) Preservatives = how do you think a bag of food can last up to a year (even after it's opened)... these chemicals slow down the digestion process and as a result, don't get truly eliminated from the dog during digestion.  

This morning an 11 year old shih tzu came in... his skin is slightly better than it was this summer.  He was flakey,itchy and unpleasantly smelling... and all this was a big concern for his mom.  So she had a long chat with her vet and he highly recommended 'medical' from Royal Canin (another popular kibble recommended by vets).

Food is Medicine

Carna4 Ingredients: Fresh Chicken, Chicken Liver, Eggs, Organic sprouted seeds, sprouted barley seed, wild salmon, whole peas, sweet potatoes, amaranth, ground whole brown rice, organic sprouted lentils, potato starch, organic sprouted flaxseed, whoe apples, sea salt, kep, rosemary, parsely.

I did a quick lookup to see the make up of the ingredients and discovered.. shockingly...  this food is loaded with low quality ingredients... aka, it's probably highly profitable.

Food is not Medicine: Royal Canin Skin Care - Ingredients listed in order of quantity:

 Brewers rice, chicken meal, corn, brown rice, chicken fat, natural flavors, wheat gluten, dried beet pulp, rice hulls, brewers dried yeast, dried egg product, fish oil, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, vegetable oil, sodium silico aluminate, L-tyrosine, fructooligosaccharides, salt, sodium tripolyphosphate, L-lysine, choline chloride, taurine, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), biotin, D-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, niacin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], green tea extract, trace minerals (zinc oxide, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), chondroitin sulfate, rosemary extract, preserved with natural mixed tocopherols and citric acid -

See more at: http://www.royalcanin.ca/index.php/Veterinary-Products/Canine-Nutrition/Veterinary-Care-Nutrition/Dental-Dry#sthash.2s5JGbW0.dpuf

My feelings on dog food that comes from the vet.

I just learned that the number 1 trusted source for recommending dog food is your vet. My food supplier told me this and I believe him.  He also said number 2 is the dog groomer... so I have a responsibility to tell you what I really think.  And what I really think is that it's very convenient to buy from your vet... but other than convenience, there isn't much reason to continue buying it... In my humble opinion.

I've had the good fortune to meet over 2000 dogs in the last 3 years...In a nut shell, I've seen dogs who are 18...19 years old (granted not many of them) with flawless, shining coats... they have some aches and pains, sure, but they are still moving with grace.  They have no fat lumps in their bodies.  Their breath is great.  Teeth clean.  No surgeries.  They eat super clean premium kibble or raw food.  

This is why you'll see our business innovating in January... we're already stocking select, premium kibbles (at ranging price points), top of the line clean wet foods, and locally sourced frozen raw foods/chews.

I'm tired of seeing young dogs who look like this... they have fat lumps, they're over weight... they have allergies, discolouring on their bodies, they're excessive scratchers... the list can go on.  All in the name of ignorance and profit seeking from food manufacturers....  What else is new.

The manifestations of all of these problems... I believe... is bad diet...aka cheap filler that is added to food in abundance and weird chemicals like flavour enhancers (that make your dog addicted to food like kids are addicted to chicken nuggets)... and also preservatives which help the food last in an open bag for 1 year... think of how the body can't digest this.

So why does this happen... Did you know it's cheaper to sell waste products to pet food companies than it is to throw it out...check out the list of ingredients below and decide what's filler and what's chemical.  Then ask yourself if you would eat this.  You might even ask the vet if they pay for the inventory, or if it's supplied on concession along with those fancy merchandising shelves.

Anything you can't pronounce in the ingrediet list the body probably can't digest.  It builds in the system and turns into fatty deposits... then it might turn in to cancer.  This is my unofficial opinion, but it gels with leading theories on human health.  

As a comparison, Maydel is advised to eat 1.75 cups a day of super premium and clean carna4 kibble... on hill's diet (ingredient list below) she is advised to eat 3 cups!!!  

Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Brown Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Sorghum, Pork Fat, Cracked Pearled Barley, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Lactic Acid, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Tryptophan, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, L-Threonine, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Natural Flavors.