New dog owner

jrtlady

Hi...
I have two Jack Russell Terriers a 10 month old male and a 8 month old female. Since I am new to pups I really don't know too much. I am feeding my JRT's puppy chow...is it true that commercial dog foods can poison dogs?
Also my female squirts urine when she is over excited or being told no heck sometimes just if you look at her wrong. How do I change this?
I am new to this site and hope that someone can help me.
Thank you

cshellenberger

As far as the food, it's not the best. Try going to Petco, they carry a brand called Solid Gold which makes a product called "Barking at the Moon" it's a small breed formula that is GREAT. Your dogs won't need as much and you'll have less waste.

As far as your female, it's called excitable or submissive urination. Your dog is lacking in confidence. Try these things

When you greet your dog, do so calmly and briefly.

No is too general, train her to do what you want, if she's jumping up, TURN YOUR BACK and tuck your hands under you armpits, reward her when she calms down. If she is on the furnature and you want her off, make it worth her while by training 'off'.

Do you raise your voice or hand to her? If so, she's urinating from fear, Give her training (positive reenforcement is best for fearful/submissive dogs) so she understands WHAT you want from her and can become CONFIDENT in her relationship to you. Remember she NEEDS to trust you in order to have a healthy relationship with you. Yelling and threatening is betraying that trust.

jrtlady

Thank you very much for all of your advice. I will work on building up her confidence level. I wouldn't hit her although I have raised my voice to her.
thank you, again.

Lexie'sHealthWarrior

It is true that commercial dog food has some very toxic chemicals in it. Eating it once in a while is not going to kill them, but if them eat it on a continuous basis for their entire life, the toxins can build up in their system cause many health problems. The dog food companies are not as legally regulated as people food so they can end up putting things in their food that are disgusting and harmful to make it cheaper. And just because a brand is well known does not mean that it's healthy! Euthanized animals get sent to the dog food companies and ground up to be put in the food. Animals we love that we had put to sleep to help them not suffer are being made into food! What's worse is that a lot of the diseases those dogs died from don't get processed out so they wind up in the food. Plus the chemical they use to kill them still remains in the food as well. There is also feces, rotting road kill, pieces of chemically dipped flea collars, and plastic bags, not to mention rancid parts of the meat we won't eat! You can find all natural pet food, but it's best to give them real, raw meat and vegetables. Dogs should be living 25 years or more but instead they are dieing young due to commercial dog food, so I plead you, please feed your dog all natural food!

jrtlady

Wow...the things we do not know. Although I had heard a little bit about this I wasn't sure if any of it was true. I am not sure how much food (meat and veggies) to give them. Do you know?

Puppy & Dog Forums

 

Aggie

Although dog foods can have some things that are not good for the animal (ie all the of the expired cake mixes/canned food/etc from the grocery store), the majority of this is untrue. If you are going to say this sort of remark, I want some academic citations. I'd also like up-to-date citations; what may have been happening in the 60's and 70's is NOT the same as what goes on today.

All dog food labels MUST BE APPROVED through the FDA, with HACCP and GRAS certification, as well as AAFCO for ALL animal feeds- anything non-human has to go through AFFCO certification to ensure the labeled ingredients match the listed ingredients, and that the nutrition labels are accurate as to what is in the food; ie nutritional profiles. I don't like how the second part of that is done, but that's another story. In Texas, the Office of the State Chemist at Texas A&M does the testing and regulatory work.

I also don't like "Natural." The USDA is currently taking bids on defining it for human foods, although atm AFFCO, says the term means:

"(1) that all ingredients and components of ingredients other than vitamins and minerals have not been chemically synthesized; and (2) that chemically synthesized vitamins or minerals present in a pet food using the term natural have a disclaimer juxtaposed in the same size, style, and color print as the term natural, such as "Natural with Added Vitamins and Minerals."

This is also being looked at atm, and will be more stringent once it's defined by the FDA, most likely using their definition.

As long as a food is AAFCO approved, it should meet all nutrient needs of the animal to live an average, healthy lifespan. This doesn't mean that it's the best, or that the dog will be as healthy as possible on it, it means that it will sustain the animal, and meet the bare minimum requirement of life for him.


As far as foods, I like the review website that's quoted all over this website, as well as some brands people here hate. "Grocery Store" brands should be avoided whenever possible though, imo, since they are usually on the shelf longer, made with cheaper ingredients, and profit seems to be the primary consideration instead of health for these brands. Low Cost foods will have low-cost ingredients, more fillers/colors/preservatives.

jrtlady

Like I said I am new to this and am learning...thank you for this info.

The primary ingredients in pet food are byproducts of meat, poultry, and seafood, feed grains, and soybean meal. Among the animals used in rendering are livestock, horses, and house pets which have been put to sleep. The National Animal Control Association estimated that each year about 5 million pets were shipped to rendering plants and recycled into pet food during the 1990s. They are generally listed as meat or bone meal in the ingredient lists.

The animal parts used for pet food may include damaged carcass parts, bones, and cheek meat, and organs such as intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs, udders, spleen, and stomach tissue.
I found this at madehow.com...it is a good site, and I am learning more.

Aggie

Right, by products which doesn't bother me.

I work in the industry, and I've never seen pet (ie cat/dog) or euthanized animal s or their by-products used. Nor have I ever seen "meat meal? canine meal? feline meal? although bone meal is, listed, but I'm not sure how they would go about listing that on the bag. Livestock, sure, but not pet. All the pets I've ever seen euthanized were cremated in an incinerator. That's vet clinics, and humane societies/shelters. I won't say that people don't do it- there is always someone who will do anything to make a buck- but I don't think that is anywhere near the norm.

I'm still not able to find any sources for all the allegations on it, either. All I can find are he-said she-saids. Gr! It'd be interesting to find out, and if it happens to be a company I support in some way, I could stop... but I can't find any definite sources. Thanks for another place to look though!

jrtlady

This is a report from the FDA...I found it at www.fda.gov/cvm/foi/dfreport.htm....very reputable



Center for Veterinary Medicine
FDA Home Page | CVM Home Page | CVM A-Z Index | Contact CVM | Site Map

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February 28, 2002
Edited for Typographical Errors, March 1, 2002



Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine
Report on the risk from pentobarbital in dog food



The low levels of exposure to sodium pentobarbital (pentobarbital) that dogs might receive through food is unlikely to cause them any adverse health effects, Food and Drug Administration scientists concluded after conducting a risk assessment.

During the 1990s, FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) received reports from veterinarians that pentobarbital, an anesthetizing agent used for dogs and other animals, seemed to be losing its effectiveness in dogs. Based on these reports, CVM officials decided to investigate a plausible theory that the dogs were exposed to pentobarbital through dog food, and that this exposure was making them less responsive to pentobarbital when it was used as a drug.

The investigation consisted of two parts. First, CVM had to determine if dog food could contain residues of the drug. Second, if residues were found, the Center had to determine what risk, if any, the residues posed to dogs.

In conjunction with this investigation, the Center wanted to determine if pet food contained rendered remains of dogs and cats.

How pentobarbital can get into dog food

Because in addition to producing anesthesia, pentobarbital is routinely used to euthanize animals, the most likely way it could get into dog food would be in rendered animal products.

Rendered products come from a process that converts animal tissues to feed ingredients. Pentobarbital seems to be able to survive the rendering process. If animals are euthanized with pentobarbital and subsequently rendered, pentobarbital could be present in the rendered feed ingredients.

In order to determine if pentobarbital residues were present in animal feeds, CVM developed a sophisticated process to detect and quantify minute levels – down to 2 parts per billion of pentobarbital in dry dog food. To confirm that the methods they developed worked properly, CVM scientists used the methods to analyze dry commercial dog foods purchased from retail outlets near to their Laurel, MD, laboratories. The scientists purchased dog food as part of two surveys, one in 1998 and the second in 2000. They found some samples contained pentobarbital (see the attached tables).

Dogs, cats not found in dog food

Because pentobarbital is used to euthanize dogs and cats at animal shelters, finding pentobarbital in rendered feed ingredients could suggest that the pets were rendered and used in pet food.

CVM scientists, as part of their investigation, developed a test to detect dog and cat DNA in the protein of the dog food. All samples from the most recent dog food survey (2000) that tested positive for pentobarbital, as well as a subset of samples that tested negative, were examined for the presence of remains derived from dogs or cats. The results demonstrated a complete absence of material that would have been derived from euthanized dogs or cats. The sensitivity of this method is 0.005% on a weight/weight basis; that is, the method can detect a minimum of 5 pounds of rendered remains in 50 tons of finished feed. Presently, it is assumed that the pentobarbital residues are entering pet foods from euthanized, rendered cattle or even horses.

Finding levels of pentobarbital residues in dog food

Upon finding pentobarbital residues in dog food, the researchers undertook an assessment of the risk dogs might face. Dogs were given known quantities of pentobarbital for eight weeks to determine if consumption of small amounts of pentobarbital resulted in any physiological changes that could indicate potential effects on health. In short, the scientists wanted to find the level of pentobarbital dogs could be exposed to that would show no biological effects. The most sensitive indicator that pentobarbital had an effect is an increase in the production of certain enzymes collectively called cytochrome P450.

cshellenberger

Here's a way to 'rate' your dog food along wit hthe grade of several popular brands.


Giving Dry Dog Food a Grade:
Start with a grade of 100:

For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points


For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points

If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer’s rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points


If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points

If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points

If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points

If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points

If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point

If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points


If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points

If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

If the food contains barley, add 2 points

If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "turkey" as 2 different sources), add 1 point


If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point



94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F

Some foods that have all ready been rated:
A's Score
A+ Chicken Soup for the pet lovers soul 113
A+ Eagle Pack Holistic chicken 114
A+ Eagle Pack Holistic LG and Giant Breed Adlt 113
A+ Eagle Pack Natural 104
A+ Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison 136
A+ Solid Gold Bison 123
A+ Solid Gold Wolf King 109
A+ Solid Gold Hund N flocken 105
A+ Solid Gold Mmillennia 111
A+ Innova 117
A+ Natural Balance Ultra 117
A+ Natural Balance Duck and Potato 114
A+ Canidae 119
A+ Foundations Chicken and Vegetable 109
A+ Flint River Ranch Fish and Chips 109
A+ Wysong Synorgon 110
A+ Flint River Ranch Lamb, Millet and Rice 117
A+ Back to Basics 107

B's
B Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice 87

C's
C Nutro Lamb and Rice 85

D's
D Iams Lamb and Rice 74

F's
F Pedigree Adult Complete 14
F Ol'Roy 9
F Science Diet Chicken Adult Maintainance 45
F Purina Beniful original 23
All Purina and Pro Plan foods rate as a F
F Pro Plan Giant Breed Adult 41
F Pro Plan Performance 53
F Pro Plan Chicken and Rice
F Purina Dog chow
F Purina Large Breed 40
F Diamond Lamb and Rice 61
F Diamond Performance (formerly professional)
F Diamond Large Breed 55
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jrtlady

Ok...I can do this...who ever set up this system is really very smart. Thank you for this info.

Puppy & Dog Forums