What are you feeding your precious pets???

With the huge scare of tainted pet food, a lot of pet owners are re-evaluating what they are feeding their dogs. We all think that we are providing the best for our pets. But a lot of us are not educated on what is good and bad for our little babies.

I have had a huge awaking and I have had to re-evaluate what my kids consume. My little Jerry Lewis has been to the vet three times this month, surgery once and is back there again right now as I type this blog. He has stones in his bladder and can not urinate. My vet said it was food related.

When he asked me what I fed my dogs, I replied "Kibbles and Bits". The vet got a serious frown on his face and said that food was one of the worst. So, off to the Internet I go in search of a better dog food.

I had no idea what I was to look for. I was lucky to be able to have a dear, dear, friend of mine forward to me a chart where you can rank your dog food. She also provided me a link to the Whole-Dog-Journal and explained food labels for pet food. Her little Sophie has health problems too and Sophie had to make a change in her diet. I don't know what I would have done without Linda and Sophie and the information they forwarded to me!

I am hoping that this will help other pet owners like it did me. When I ranked the Kibbles and Bits, it scored a 34 which was an "F". Needless to say, I was shocked and felt like such a horrible pet owner to have been feeding my kids CRAP! When you read this article and grade your dog food, I believe you will be more than shocked!

Read this article Pages 3 through 7. This will give you a better understanding of what to look for in a pet food. Then move down and grade your pet food.

Please post your reactions to this post. Let others know how your pet food ranks. Hopefully this blog will enable us to all be better pet owners and give our precious babies the best we can.

http://villagepawsandclaws.com/WDJ_Feb2007.pdf

How to grade your dog's food:

Start with a grade of 100

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

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

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

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

5) 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

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

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

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

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

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

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

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

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

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

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

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

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

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

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

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

8) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

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

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) 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 "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

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

Here is the scoring chart

94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D 69 = F

How did you dog food rank? Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Dog Food scores: Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+ Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F Canidae / Score 112 A+ Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+ Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+ Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+ Foundations / Score 106 A+ Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 A Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D Innova Dog / Score 114 A+ Innova Evo / Score 114 A+ Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+ Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+ Purina Benful / Score 17 F Purina Dog / Score 62 F Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+ Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+ Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+ Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97

Homespun Dog Treats

I thought I would share with you a few dog treat recipes that I have. I will try and add to this list every week. These recipes are the BEST! Your canine companion will go gaa gaa over these.

No Flea Dog Biscuits

2 cups of unbleached flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup brewers yeast
2 minced garlic cloves
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease up 2 to 3 cookie sheets. Combine all dry ingredients. In another bowl combine oil and garlic. Now add slowly the dry ingredients into the bowl with the oil and garlic and alternate flour and chicken stock. Mix thoroughly. Now form into a dough ball. Turn out on wax paper with a little flour and roll out with a rolling pin until 1/2 inches thick. Now take a 2" biscuits cutter and cut out rounds. Place on the cookie sheets. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned. Turn off oven and leave sheets in there for a couple of hours to let the treats dry. You can freeze them or store in the refrigerator. Makes about 26 biscuits.

Garlic is a natural flea repellent. The old timers use to feed their dogs cloves of garlic to rid them of fleas. The garlic will release from the skin. You can't smell it, but the fleas can! The pesky tenants will vacate and your pooch will be awe so happy!


Aloe Vera Pet Shampoo

2 cups of Water
2 teaspoons liquid castile soap
2 tablespoons of Aloe Vera gel
up to 1 teaspoon of glycerin or vegetable oil

Combine all everything in a jar and shake...shake....shake. Get Fido's coat wet and pour a tablespoon or two onto the coat. Work it up to a really good lather and massage into the skin. Fido like that! Rinse all of the shampoo out of his coat. Towel dry unless you want to let him shake it off. Warning....if you let him shake dry...remove anything you don't want wet. This shampoo blend is wonderful and moisturizing to the coat. Drop in a couple drops of lavender essential oil in the shampoo mix for a nice clean scent. Look Fido is smiling from ear to ear!