[springermom]

Actually I don't think Nutro is any good.

It's not opinions.... it's the truth. If you want to buy into the purina commercials, that's fine. I'm just glad I don't have to be the one picking up the stinky poop.

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by all4thedogs

Personally if an ingredient is going to be repeated, I want to see it in a form of protien (Chicken, Chicken Meal).

Then, how come NutriSource is considered to be such as "crap" food? First two ingredients are Chicken and Chicken Meal, but everyone says it's a "junk" food too. I'm just pointing this out because you cannot have it both ways and it just goes to show that the quality of a food or an ingredient is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone has their own OPINION of what is a good food or ingredient, but that can never be FACT- which most people try to pass it off as around here. This is how all this misinformation get's floated around and what I am so tired of.

I'm not going to sit back anymore and watch people bash certain brands because it is their OPINION that they are "junk", "crap", or "low" quality and they want everyone to believe it as FACT. I've seen it. Someone comes on this board and they are feeding a certain brand. Then, without out actually knowing how their dog or pup is doing on the food, everyone proceeds to jump on their case about how they are not doing right by their dogs feeding such a "low" quality product- they are feeding "garbage", you know. How do we know? We can't see their dogs. We don't know how well or how poorly they are doing on the food. Only the owner can decide what is good for their dogs and what is not. Yet, everyone presumes to "guilt" a lot of people into spending a lot of extra money on these so-called "higher" quality foods (which IMHO aren't necessarily any better) because if they don't, they are bad owners, ignorant, stupid, etc. This needs to stop!

If someone is looking for a new food, fine. Give them your suggestions. But, do not proceed to pass off your opinion as fact! I'll freely admit that there are certain foods I don't like. However, I will not tell some one they are feeding "garbage" if they happen to be feeding one of those foods. Think of how that must make some one feel...To be told you are feeding your dog "garbage" and all you ever were trying to do is feed him something he does well on. People can make their own choices and do their own research if they think they want to try their dog on a "higher" quality food. They don't need for you to tell them they are feeding "garbage", "crap", "junk", etc (which is just of your opinion anyways) to start that process. They can look at what everyone has suggested and do some asking around from there.

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by Curbside Prophet

I think this thread illustates exactly why you can't and shouldn't rely on anyone's opinion about what you should feed your dog. The best advice, for your own peace of mind is, to do your own research, and contact the manufacturer of the brands you are looking at. Base your decision on what you personally believe is best for your dog based and the research that you gather. It's nice that others have studied what is and what is not good in dog food, but after it is all said and done, the only opinion that matters is your own. So don't be afraid to call a manufacturer, or speak to multiple vets, or numerous reputable breeders to form your own opinion.

Amen. Exactly!

[all4thedogs]

Originally Posted by LabLady101

Then, how come NutriSource is considered to be such as "crap" food? First two ingredients are Chicken and Chicken Meal, but everyone says it's a "junk" food too.

I never said anything about NurtiSource and actually had never heard of it, but I did just look it up. I dont consider it a horrible food, but its not a food I would feed to my dogs.

I like that it has Chicken and Chicken Meal as its first 2 ingredients. I dont like that the ingredient rice repeats (brown rice, brewers rice), although being that one is brown, its not as bad. I dont like the poultry digest, or the poultry liver digest spray. Nor the beet pulp, egg product or salt. It does have some positives though such as flax seed and yucca for example.

[Ibizan]

When I say I wouldn't eat it myself, I mean the things put into it. Animals generally can handle a wide variety of things from species to species, and omnivores have a wide variety of food. If there's things in my OWN food I can't pronounce, I won't eat it. It goes no different for my dogs. Why would I want them eating food colouring, or pump them full of preservatives? I wouldn't, and I don't.

I've done research with clients' dogs as well as my own, testing kibble to raw and back again. I agree that what works for your dog works for your dog, but, I also agree in trying the higher roads that have worked for others. Just because you're getting good results, doesn't mean they are great.

I've had people say "well my dog is alive, and I've fed Purina for years" but when they switched to a higher quality food or raw diet, they noticed the change.

[springermom]

"I've had people say "well my dog is alive, and I've fed Purina for years" but when they switched to a higher quality food or raw diet, they noticed the change."

Exactly. I dared a family member to try a higher quality food for a month. I believe she put the dog on Innova after feeding dog chow. She was so happy that he ate less (instead of the 6 cups or so of dog chow a day), he was pooping ALOT less and it didn't smell as bad, he didn't shed as much, breath didn't smell, etc. He's been eating Innova ever since.

[mcate]

Vets will differ, too -- I've heard "anything by Purina is good," plus the usual selling of Eukanuba, Iams, etc.

My friend has her German Shepherd on cooked ground beef & rice on the recommend of her vet, nothing else.

I use IAMS Puppy food and my 7 month old poops 4-5 times a day. I'll look into the price tags of some of those foods

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by Ibizan

When I say I wouldn't eat it myself, I mean the things put into it. Animals generally can handle a wide variety of things from species to species, and omnivores have a wide variety of food. If there's things in my OWN food I can't pronounce, I won't eat it. It goes no different for my dogs. Why would I want them eating food colouring, or pump them full of preservatives? I wouldn't, and I don't.

I've done research with clients' dogs as well as my own, testing kibble to raw and back again. I agree that what works for your dog works for your dog, but, I also agree in trying the higher roads that have worked for others. Just because you're getting good results, doesn't mean they are great.

I've had people say "well my dog is alive, and I've fed Purina for years" but when they switched to a higher quality food or raw diet, they noticed the change.

I beg to differ! I am getting GREAT results from the food I feed. Otherwise, I wouldn't be feeding it. It wouldn't be worth it. You can believe what you want, but I know what kind of foods my dogs do best on and I'm not going to be "guilted" or "fooled" into jumping on the rollercoaster. I don't think you understand what I was saying at all if you think YOU can make judgements about how well or how poorly MY dogs are doing on their food- and without even seeing them I might add!

I don't think you have read the ingredients lists of Purina's better lines if you think they are full of coloring and preservatives. Yes, foods like Beneful, Kibbles'n'Bits, and Dog Chow do have food coloring and preservatives- all of which I personally wouldn't feed anyway. However, I've yet to see it in Pro Plan. So, your point about food coloring and being "pump full" of preservatives is void in that food.

As far being able to pronounce the ingredients in your own food, am I to assume that you've never eaten at a restaurant? You don't get to see the ingredients in those foods- and even if you did, I'm sure at least half are unpronouncable. And I guess you can count foods like bread and pasta out of your diet. Even with a "classic whole grain wheat" bread or whole grain wheat pasta, I can't pronounce all the ingredients. Salad dressings are a no go, as is Spaghetti sauce, cheese slices, steak sauce, ketchup, mustard, etc. Even butter would go out the window. So, what do you eat? It would seem to me that would leave you with just plain meat, fruit, and veggies. Seems like a bit of a boring diet to me. Now I'm sorry to go a bit overboard, but do you see what I mean? You're not going to be able to always find products where you can pronounce every single ingredient- heck, there are some food with names that I can't even fathom a guess as to how they're pronounced, yet I know they're healthy or at least harmless because I can still stay fit eating them. Bottom line is, you're just going to have to trust that they're quality ingredients, and you should be able to let the results tell you if they are or aren't. I, myself, am a label reader and if I have a concern, I call the manufacturer and ask questions- of which, I've almost always been satisfied with the information I'm provided. Food (human or canine) is not nor should it be rocket science.

Also, I know of MANY seasoned trainers, breeders, handlers, etc. that have tried "higher" quality products only to switch back to what they had known to be tried and true. Their dogs did very poorly on those so-called "higher" quality products, and I can tell you it was not from overfeeding- they did cut back portions to compensate. Their dogs stools were never the same, their ears were always yeasty, and their coats were horrible- some even reported their dogs' coats had actually fallen out in clumps (and no, that's not an exaggeration!). Now try to tell me that those "higher" quality foods were so much better for those dogs. I, along with all those professionals, would certainly disagree and they wouldn't be the only ones. I could almost guarantee that they would never switch their dogs to those types of products again.

You can do what you want with your own dogs, but do not proceed to tell others what to do with theirs. I believe when it comes to the health and fitness of one's dogs, only the owner (or the person who most frequently cares for the dogs) knows their dogs well enough to make a judgement call of how well or how poorly they are doing. It is not up to you or anyone else to make that call or to put any kind of pressure on someone to feed anything other than what they are feeding. That is a choice they need to make on their own. The decision of what is high or low quality is, and will always remain, a personal opinion- and one most people can form on their own without being told that it's "garbage" or "very good".

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by springermom

"I've had people say "well my dog is alive, and I've fed Purina for years" but when they switched to a higher quality food or raw diet, they noticed the change."

Exactly. I dared a family member to try a higher quality food for a month. I believe she put the dog on Innova after feeding dog chow. She was so happy that he ate less (instead of the 6 cups or so of dog chow a day), he was pooping ALOT less and it didn't smell as bad, he didn't shed as much, breath didn't smell, etc. He's been eating Innova ever since.

I got a family member to switch from Dog Chow to better quality food, and they've seen GREAT results as well. After just a few weeks on Pro Plan, their dogs' coats and skin have tremendously improved, their ears are clearing up, their eyes are bright and clear, they have a good amount of energy, and they poop smaller poops 2x a day as well as eat A LOT less- which is helping them shed some excess pounds in the process. Even their older, less mobile dog greeted me at the door for Thanksgiving today, which is very different as she used to just lay in the living room taking no interest at all of the comings and goings of the household- even on holidays. So, foods such as Innova, while they can have good results, aren't always the answer to everything.

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by springermom

Actually I don't think Nutro is any good.

It's not opinions.... it's the truth. If you want to buy into the purina commercials, that's fine. I'm just glad I don't have to be the one picking up the stinky poop.

No, I don't buy into the Purina commercials. I buy into the results. I have personally seen MANY, MANY dogs do wonderfully on foods like Pro Plan. And, no, since switching, my dogs actually poop less and their poop smells less. So, no, you wouldn't have to pick up any stinky poop from my dogs. But, if you wouldn't mind traveling all the way to my place to pick up a backyard full of stinky poop, I can gladly arrange it by switching to any food anyone says is good. Since I seriously doubt anyone here is willing to do that, I'm going to stick with their current food.

Also, YES, IT IS PURELY OPINION! You cannot, with certainty, say that your opinion is the truth. It is not. It is mearly your opinion and I see no reason to give it anymore weight than anyone else's. The only way you could even possibly say that your opinion is the truth is if you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that my dogs will do best on a supposed "higher" quality food. I know that you don't (since you don't even know my dogs), so your point (and your opinion in this case as far as I'm concerned) is invalid.

[LabLady101]

Originally Posted by all4thedogs

I never said anything about NurtiSource and actually had never heard of it, but I did just look it up. I dont consider it a horrible food, but its not a food I would feed to my dogs.

I like that it has Chicken and Chicken Meal as its first 2 ingredients. I dont like that the ingredient rice repeats (brown rice, brewers rice), although being that one is brown, its not as bad. I dont like the poultry digest, or the poultry liver digest spray. Nor the beet pulp, egg product or salt. It does have some positives though such as flax seed and yucca for example.

I realize that you never said anything about NutriSource specifically. I was trying to make a point that quality is indeed in the eye of the beholder. For example, you said you wouldn't feed this food to your dogs (which, I also want to point out you say having never tried this food with your dogs), but I think it's a very good food that I've had great success with. These are just either of our opinions. Neither one is completely correct, nor is either completely wrong.

[Ibizan]

I'm not sure where you got that I was telling people what to do with their dogs. I never did. Feed your dogs what they do best on. They aren't mine, if they were they'd be one something else (it's a little silly to keep so many feeding techniques in a house chock full of dogs!) but that's just me.

I'm speaking from experience. And specifically referring to people who REFUSE to even try anything other than commercial pet food. I've dealt with it a lot. I deal with working dogs that run top speed all day long and only stop to catch their prey and drop it to their handler. I don't know anyone in my clubs or anyone who does the same thing I do with my dogs who can feed a commercial food. The fact that the dogs eat less, and aren't gaining extra weight when they eat if they are out for a while on injury is a fact that we keep in mind, among others.

As I have said a few times before, what works for your dog works for your dog. I did not jump on a bandwagon for feeding RAW, I've been feeding it for over 10 years in various ways. I recommend it to everyone because of the amazing results that I've seen that have worked for me and hundreds of others that I know and talk with. But I never push it on anyone. I offer free samples of certain dog foods that I believe help (due to my own and others' personal experience) with energy levels, coat condition (which is very important to me, which a lot of unexperienced hound people think is rubbish, not sure why) eyes, teeth, etc.

I'm sorry if you felt as if I was putting you or your dogs down. You clearly have tried other things, and they were not good enough compared to what you already had. That's perfectly fine. I have no problem with that. I DO however have a problem with people never trying anything because they aren't willing to, for whatever reason. To me, there is no excuse to not be willing to possibly increase the quality of your dogs life, perhaps even make him live longer.

[APBTgal]

ood Even a Dog Shouldn't Eat - Killing Our Pets with Every Meal

Each year, Americans spend $10 billion on pet food for our beloved companion animals, animals we treat like members of our families and whom we love as our closest friends. Yet 95 percent of the food fed to these treasured creatures is made up of materials that are unfit for human consumption and contain little nutritional value.

As a result, "man's best friend" has skin disorders, arthritis, obesity, heart disease and a variety of cancers. Without speech, our animal companions cannot tell us of the insidious, often life threatening ill health they experience.

A large percentage of commercial pet food is made up of meat by-products, a toxic brew containing diseased and contaminated meat from slaughterhouses, animal heads, toenails, chicken feathers, feet and beaks. It also includes dead animals picked up from the nation's roads, rancid kitchen grease and frying oil from the nation's kitchens, and millions of pounds of dead animals from the country's animal hospitals and shelters.

Meat Packing Plant (Photo courtesy Sterling Industries)


The meat industry produces a tremendous amount of waste. Half of every cow and one-third of every pig butchered is wasted. Add to that the millions of tons of dead animals each year and you have an incredible waste problem.

In the United States alone, rendering is a $2.4 billion industry with 286 rendering plants disposing of over 100 million pounds of dead animals, meat wastes and fat EVERY DAY.

A few years ago, Baltimore reporter Van Smith visited a rendering plant in his city and found that the large vats that collect and filter the animals prior to cooking contained a vast array of animals including dead dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, deer, foxes, snakes, a baby circus elephant and the remains of a police department horse. This one rendering plant alone processes 1,824 dead animals every month. Every year this one plant turns 150 million pounds of decaying, diseased and drug filled flesh and kitchen grease into 80 million pounds of meat and bone meal, tallow and yellow grease. This nutritionally dead, often toxic material provides the base for most pet foods and is found in a vast array of products used by humans as well.

Shredding before boiling at the rendering plant (Photo courtesy Fan Separator Company)


This meat and bone meal is used to augment the feed of poultry, pigs, cattle and sheep destined for human consumption.

The deceptive product label names to watch out for that indicate the presence of this deadly soup include meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, poultry by-products, fish meal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat, chicken fat and fatty acids.

Fatty acids can be found in lipstick, inks and waxes and other rendering products such as tallow and grease go into soaps, candles, tires, many drugs and gummy candies. The health conscious consumer should avoid all these ingredients in human and pet foods.

Downed dairy cow waiting to be picked up by the rendering plant (Photo courtesy Farm Sanctuary)


Many toxic chemicals make their way into the rendered products. In addition to the unused meat from the livestock slaughtering process, dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals are also included. These animals are known as "4D meat" in the trade. Along with the meat comes disease, antibiotics and other drugs used during the animals' lives, pesticides, cattle ID tags and surgical needles.

Unsold supermarket meats, still in their plastic and Styrofoam wrappings, go into the mix as well as the plastic bags they are delivered in.

The millions of dead dogs and cats from veterinarians and animals shelters go into the rendering pots, including their flea collars containing toxic pesticides, ID tags and a variety of powerful drugs.

The city of Los Angeles sends 200 tons of euthanized cats and dogs to West Coast Rendering plant every month. This is just from the city's animal shelters and does not include animals from private veterinarians.

Euthanized dogs (Photo by Barbara Ward)


A common drug found in the rendering brew is phenobarbital, commonly used to euthanize sick animals. The American Journal of Veterinary Research did a study in 1985 that showed there was virtually no degradation of this drug during the typical rendering process and that measurable quantities of it remain present in the rendered material used for pet foods and for feeding cattle destined for human consumption.

The grains in pet food bear little resemblance to the nutrient rich cereals we assume are present. Pet food grain consists of the leftovers after the grain has been processed for humans. It also contains moldy grain that has been declared unfit for human consumption. Some of the mold is toxic and potentially deadly.

The preservatives added to pet foods, and human foods, are highly toxic. Sodium nitrite, a coloring agent and preservative, ethoxyquin, an insecticide, BHA and BHT have all been linked to cancer. Your dog could be consuming as much as 26 pounds of preservatives each year if it is fed these foods.

The state of ill health that these non-foods generate is responsible for a host of health problems and can cause a hypersensitivity to flea and insect bites. Many flea allergies would go away in animals if their diets were changed.

8,000 gallon fat boiler ((Photo courtesy National Bi-Products)


The pet food industry is unregulated by government bodies. An organization called the Association of American Feed Control Officials sets the standards. Its membership includes a few state agency representatives, but it is mostly run by commercial pet food industry workers.

Don't be fooled by pet food sold at a veterinarian's office. Depending upon the brand, this food can contain most of the same ingredients as commercial pet foods sold in supermarkets. The corporations that own these brands are simply very clever with their advertisement and product placements and begin courting vets during their training with free food, lectures and even clothing.

Fortunately, there are alternatives and some are presented below, but you will need to pay more. Rather than paying 15 cents a pound for toxic commercial pet food, you may need to spend a dollar a pound. But the thousands of dollars you could save in treating your pet's food-caused illnesses could more than make this up.

As always, larger issues loom. We must cast off the comfortable assumptions we have lived with all our lives, discover the truth and act on it. Change your pet's food today. And change your own, while you are at it!

And don't forget the water - if you wouldn't drink tap water, why are you giving it to your pet?

[LabLady101]

Wow, I hope you didn't type all that because a lot of it only pertains to "lower" quality products such as Ol' Roy and other foods that IMHO are at the bottom of the barrel. "Higher" and "decent" quality foods do not use these ingredients. As for the pet food industry being unregulated, that is very untrue. They do have standards and regulations that they must follow as well as laws that do pertain to them. You can research that if you want. But, I suppose you're too busy "exposing the evils of the pet food industry" to actually go out and seek the truth. Well, have fun with that!

[APBTgal]

Originally Posted by LabLady101

Wow, I hope you didn't type all that because a lot of it only pertains to "lower" quality products such as Ol' Roy and other foods that IMHO are at the bottom of the barrel. "Higher" and "decent" quality foods do not use these ingredients. As for the pet food industry being unregulated, that is very untrue. They do have standards and regulations that they must follow as well as laws that do pertain to them. You can research that if you want. But, I suppose you're too busy "exposing the evils of the pet food industry" to actually go out and seek the truth. Well, have fun with that!

AT WHAT POINT DID I SAY ANYTHING TO OFFEND YOU? IF MY POSTING THIS INFORMATION HURT YOUR FEELINGS, IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR FEEDING THAT "FOOD" TO YOUR DOGS. I NEVER PUT ANYONE DOWN OR BELITTLED ANYONE FOR BUYING IT, I SIMPLY WANTED TO SHARE WHAT I HAD READ , SO THAT ANYONE WHO READ IT COULD BE AWARE. I PERSONALLY DON'T CARE WHAT YOU FEED YOUR DOG (I'M JUST GLAD I DON'T RELY ON YOU FOR MY WELL-BEING!)
AND AS FOR ME BEING "too busy "exposing the evils of the pet food industry"
APPARENTLY I AM TOO BUSY LETTING YOU EXPOSE HOW RUDE AND UNINTELLIGENT SOME PEOPLE CAN BE.

P.S. IF YOU HAD BEEN ABLE TO PAY ANY ATTENTION TO WHAT WAS POSTED THE SCRIPT FOR ALL THE PHOTOS THAT WERE ON THE PAGE I "CUT AND PASTED" WERE STILL THERE. SO IT WOULD BE OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN THAT I DIDN'T "type all that". AND JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT WHEN YOU TRY TO BE HELPFUL AND SPREAD KNOWLEDGE , SOME PEOPLE WOULD RATHER BE RUDE THAN LEARN.

[Curbside Prophet]

Settle down people. Just provide the information you have, share your opinion, and move on. There's no need to get so personal when we're all just trying to help people. I know some of us have our agendas, but please keep them civil. We all start to lose credibility with the name calling. This isn't directed to anyone in particular, so please let's all just be courteous. Thank you.

[APBTgal]

I don't know if you heard about this but anything could happen no matter what you feed.If you are not eating it how would you be able to tell something was wrong?

By LiveScience Staff
Updated: 9:39 p.m. ET Jan 6, 2006
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At least 100 dogs in the United States have been killed in recent weeks by toxic pet food despite a recall of the products, scientists said today.
Some 19 brands of Diamond, Country Value and Professional dog foods have been recalled. But many pet owners are not aware of the recall, researchers at Cornell University said Friday.
Dogs have refused to eat the food and, in some cases, their owners have enticed them with gravy and other lures without knowing they were killing the animals.



"Entire kennels have been wiped out, and because of the holiday these past few weeks, the dispersal of recall information was disrupted," said Sharon Center, a professor of veterinary medicine who specializes in liver function and disease at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell.
Toxic food damages the liver
The dog food is tainted with deadly aflatoxins that waste the liver away. The bad food could be present in a dozen other countries, too, the researchers say. About two-thirds of dogs that show symptoms from the toxin have died.
The dogs seemed to know their food was deadly.
"Some dogs were stealing food from the kitchen counter," Center said. "Others just stopped eating the food and begged for treats. Unfortunately, some owners used gravy and other mixers to entice their dogs to consume what they thought was safe, quality dog food."
Only about two dozen deaths have been firmly linked to the tainted pet food. But Center and her colleagues know the toll is far higher.


23 dog deaths linked to contaminated food


"Every day, we're hearing reports from veterinarians in the East and Southeast who have treated dogs that have died from liver damage this past month or so," Center said. "We're also concerned about the long-term health of dogs that survive as well as dogs that have eaten the tainted food but show no clinical signs."
Surviving dogs may develop chronic liver disease or liver cancer, she said.
"Despite our understanding of this complex toxin, we have no direct antidote," Center said.
Symptoms arise over days or weeks. Early signs include lethargy, loss of appetite and vomiting. Later, look for orange-colored urine and jaundice, which is a yellowing of the eyes and gums. Severely affected dogs produce a blood-tinged vomit and bloody or blackened stools.
The details of the FDA recall are here.
getCSS("3053751") Recalled pet food
— Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food
— Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food (Sporting Dog)
— Diamond Maintenance Dog Food
— Diamond Professional for Adult Dogs
— Diamond Performance Dog Food
— Diamond Puppy Food
— Diamond Low Fat Dog Food
— Diamond Maintenance Cat Food
— Diamond Professional Cat Food
— Country Value Puppy
— Country Value Adult Dog Food
— Country Value High Energy Dog Food
— Country Value Adult Cat Food
— Professional Chicken & Rice Adult Dog Food
— Professional Puppy Food
— Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food
— Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food
— Professional Adult Cat Food

Source: FDA

[LabLady101]

My philosphy exactly! Anything can happen no matter what you feed. All anyone can ever do is feed the food their dog does best on- no matter what it is. If only more people would understand that dogs can still get cancer and die at a young age eating Innova, Solid Gold, Wellness, etc...but then, I suppose, of course, it would not be blamed on the food. Nope, only foods like Dog Chow get the honor of being blamed for such tragedies. Just doesn't make sense to me! Did it ever occur to anyone that a tragedy happened simply because a dog just happened to be born with a bad set of genetics? Or worse yet, there was a smoker in the home? Some one once told me "cancer is an equal opportunity killer" and I totally agree. Sure, food does make a difference in the health of your dog, but if something like cancer is going to happen there is no way to say for certain that it was the food that caused it. I'm more inclined to believe that genetics and environmental factors play more of a role in that area than food ever will.

As far as food related deaths such as the Diamond incident, it's a risk we all take. No company is any different to the next in that respect. Even if you feed raw, the risk for illnesses related to ecoli and such are still there. There is just no getting around it. We just have to stick with the food our dogs do best on and hope it never happens to us. But, if you do feed a kibble, I would think if it makes you feel any better, a call to manufacturer to ask about their safety practices may be in order.

[APBTgal]

good post lablady101

[Dogend]

I feed my Spike a mix of diffrent foods, from dried cheap, (when funds are low) to a more expensive dried mixer. In the winter...(now) i feed him half a tin in with his mixer, plus some warm water.

Im in the UK, so the winters can be cold. Ive been told by some, that hot water in a dogs meal can be bad for them.

Any thoughts???