The more I get involved in the dog industry, the more I hear about dog food and nutrition. Just like dog grooming, I’m finding out that there is a lot of misinformation out there. Sometimes great marketing is just that, great marketing. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s what’s best for your pet. I used to think that I was the best dog owner because I fed my dog Purina Beneful! Not that there’s anything wrong with it if you do feed that brand to your pet 🙂 It just turned out that it wasn’t all that it was hyped up to be in the commercials.
While working with Michelle Knowles at Cave Creek Animal Hospital I learned so much about the skin and coat, but also some things about diet too! They have an amazing nutritionist on staff who explained that animal by products are not necessarily bad. When you watch animals on the National Geographic channel like lions or wolves, even wild dogs, you’ll notice that when they take a prey animal down they usually go for the guts first. That’s the good stuff! All the organs and guts are what the dogs really want and need. Then they go for the breast and legs and ribs. We like the chicken breasts and premium cuts of steak, but for dogs they really want the “by products” like the livers, kidneys, hearts, and so on. All the parts that we discard as inedible. Since that conversation with Michelle, I’ve noticed that a lot of the premium priced dog foods will say “No By Products” and “Premium Cuts of Steak”, “Angus Beef Steak”, “100% Wagyu Steak” or “Fresh Chicken Breasts – No byproducts”. What if that’s not what the dogs really need?
Next week I will be attending the annual SuperZoo event in Las Vegas, and I have scheduled several interviews with some of the leading experts in the dog food industry. I want to learn more about how to provide my dogs with the proper diet that they need. In this vast ocean of premium dog food brands, how does one choose the right one for their pet? I’ve been experimenting with my own dogs, and I have some interesting observations to share. But I’m not done with my experiment just yet so I’d like to share my findings in a later article. Let’s just say that just because certain foods are good for us doesn’t always mean that they’ll have the same benefits on our dogs. 😉
If you’re as interested as I am about dog food, please email me your questions. Perhaps you’ve heard about feeding your dogs an all natural raw diet, and you have questions like I do. I’ll be more than happy to ask them to the appropriate people while I’m conducting my interviews during SuperZoo next week. Almost every single company and brand will be there at this event – it’s huge! Even if I don’t have an interview lined up, I can always stop by the booth and ask a question. So feel free to ask any question related to dog food or diet, and I’ll be sure to find the right person to ask. 🙂
Jun the Groomer 